what is the cause of global warming?

Question

i believe this is accurate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming also, i have believed this since before the gore movie and b4 i read this article

Answer 1

Wow. The alleged science knowledge of those who have chosen to answer this question is immensely underwhelming, to say the least. Save for one Trevor, whose scientific regimen and logic are sound. So, I'll address his answer:

>>The levels of emissions exceeds the capability of natural cycles so the excess accumulates and traps more heat within our atmosphere.

This does seem to be the foundation for the AGW proponents' argument. Can you explain the coincidence that we - the globe, that is - just happened to be operating at peak (carbon cycle) capacity at the dawn of the Industrial Age? How do we know the full "capability of natural cycles"? Do natural cycles always run at full capability, or is there an immeasurable "fudge factor" that natural systems often display - only AFTER we push it too far.

Don't get me wrong. I FIRMLY believe that is foolish for mankind to push a natural cycle, only to pull back when we've reached or exceeded that limit. I believe that we should live as close as we can to our roles within our set of natural cycles WHILE still living the purposeful life that differentiates us from other animals, who live generic, thoroughly un-unique, lives, fulfilling their roles within natural cycles, more or less exactly like their predecessors and progeny.

Answer 2

Quite simply, as things stand, we just don't know.

First, who says there even *is* a problem? Planet Earth has been much warmer than it is today many times in the past - most recently less than 1000 years ago during the Medieval Warm Period. So who made the decision about what constitutes "too hot"? Surely, unless and until it can be convincingly proved that the temperature is higher than it's ever been before, then it's within natural limits and should be nothing to worry about. Yes? Isn't it a little arogant of us to say that we must stop the planet warming up any more, just because we've noticed it's happening?

Second, many people here are quoting the same tired "fact" that rising levels of CO2 in the atmosphere (caused by mankind) are trapping more heat, thus causing global warming.

Unfortunately, a quick look at the Earth's past climate shows that this is not the case. Ice core data reveals that, in the past, temperature started rising 800+ years before CO2 started rising. I'm sure all the Global Warming Alarmists will instantly point us in the direction of realclimate.org (or some other GWA site) for their answer to this question, but what they *won't* be able to give an answer for is why this same ice core data shows that temperatures started falling again 800+ years before CO2 did.

Let's say this again, because it's important. In the past, when temperatures started falling, CO2 *continued to rise* for a futher 800+ years. Clearly, in the past, temperature completely ignored CO2.

More recently, of course, we had the Post War Economic Boom, when man made CO2 skyrocketed, at a time when global temperatures *fell*! Again, clearly temperature was ignoring CO2.

So, the central argument of the Global Warming Alarmists - that when CO2 goes up, temperature follows - is proved to be false.

Third, I don't know about you, but I'm a little bit reluctant to believe what someone tells me, when they've been caught telling lies. And the Global Warming Alarmists *have* been caught telling lies. The best example is the infamous "hockey-stick" graph that:

a) Deleted any data that showed the Medieval Warm Period or Little Ice Age (but left it unused in a folder marked Censored Data!)

b) Used proxy data that scientists had warned was an unreliable proxy for temperature (it actually showed CO2 levels, but the graph makers still used it anyway and gave it 390 times more weight than any other data!)

c) Used a computer climate model that produced hockey-stick results even when random data was used!

Amazingly, almost nobody knows about it - it's just been brushed under the carpet. Why? If you want to read about it, and see how the graph looks with the ramdom data, have a look here http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/graphics/2006/11/05/warm-refs.pdf The discussion of the hockey-stick graph begins on page 6. If you're anything like me, you'll find yourself exclaiming "NO WAY!" several times - especially at the graphic showing 8 results of the climate model, 7 with random data and 1 with the "real" data. I bet you can't spot the real one without checking the labels!

Another example of the lies is Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" Have a look at this... http://www.cei.org/pdf/5539.pdf it's a review of the science in AIT. It sums it up as follows...

"In AIT, the only facts and studies considered are those convenient to Gore’s scare-them-green agenda—and in many instances, Gore distorts the evidence he presents. Nearly every significant statement Gore makes regarding climate science and climate policy is either one sided, misleading, exaggerated, speculative, or just plain wrong."

Even Al Gore himself admits he’s exaggerating. He says; “…I believe it is appropriate to have an over-representation of factual solutions on how dangerous it (global warming) is…” (See http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=4938 )

This is very significant. If all the science about global warming is settled, then why do the Global Warming Alarmists feel the need to lie to us?

If the Global Warming Alarmists wish me to jump on their bandwagon, then they will need to prove to me that there is a problem, prove that it's caused by mankind and stop lying about it!

Until then, the whole issue leaves me feeling as though I'm being conned.

Answer 3

The page is accurate. What most people fail to realize is that even a small temperature change (like what we have seen) is a big deal. Yes, the temperature of the earth changes over time. What's disturbing about this is that the change has taken place in a few decades, whereas if it was a natural shift in temperatures, it would take centuries, even millenia, to change the amount we have already seen. Think about it, you take all of these carbon based fuels were buried miles under the earths crust that never would have seen the light of day otherwise, and you burn them in the open atmosphere. How could that NOT affect the planet? Add to that the fact that we are reducing the number of carbon sinks (like forests and wetlands) at an alarming rate, and you got yourself a recipe for disaster. We probably won't suffer the effects of global warming as much as our children and grandchildren will, but we will see changes in our lifetimes. And they will not be good. The only thing that we can do now is to attempt to mitigate the damage.

Answer 4

Humans are the primary cause. A list of things that have been brought up here and disproven as the cause of GW:

The Sun
Volcanoes
vague "natural" causes
cow farts
soda pop
beer
water vapor

Every theory other than humans as the primary cause has been disproven, but nobody has made a legitimate argument that has shown that human greenhouse gas emissions cannot be the primary cause. Moreover, arguments that human CO2 emissions are the primary cause are backed up by scientific data and very convincing. For example, one of my favorite graphs:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Climate_Change_Attribution.png

Skeptics' arguments change on a daily basis (because they're disproven on a daily basis) while the arguments of those who accept the consensus remain the same. It's pretty clear to me. As Al Gore said, any rational person who examines the data should come to the same conclusion. Unfortunately many people are either irrational, refuse to examine the data, or both.

Answer 5

Simple, every time you pollute, you're damaging the atmosphere. The atmosphere absorbs solar energy. Without the atmosphere, more solar energy enters our planet. The planet warms up, the glaciers melt, and sea level increases. Also the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect is the process in which the emission of infrared radiation by the atmosphere warms a planet's surface, so the glaciers also melt.
(I know because I had a debate on this topic)

Answer 6

Funny...I don't think any of that was around to cause the ice age thaw.
Try some research on the new ice age scare that was going around back in the 70's. This is all too funny on how people follow whatever the media throws out there.
It's normal for the heating and cooling of the planet. That's how everything adapts and gets tested for the survival of the fittest. It all works together.

Answer 7

I think that pollution plays an important part in global warming.
I am very angry that people cut down trees in the district where I live. Many forests have also disappeared.

Answer 8

3DM,
They have taken ice core samples which shows the CO2 levels for the past 650.000 years. There are other ways as well. The levels vary between 180 - 300 ppm during this timeperiod. They are currently at 383 ppm.
View p. 446: http://ipcc-wg1.ucar.edu/wg1/Report/AR4WG1_Pub_Ch06.pdf

Answer 9

Greenhouse gasses increasing in our atmosphere with the sun's energy not being able to get out of our atmosphere once it gets in it. That creates a continuous heating cycle with the suns energy/rays being trapped, bouncing off our atmosphere, hitting the earth, and heating us up.

Answer 10

The Wikipedia article pretty much sums it up and includes a lot of good links as well.

To summarise, the main cause is a build up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere resultant from human activities including the burning of fossil fuels and intensive agriculture.

The levels of emissions exceeds the capability of natural cycles so the excess accumulates and traps more heat within our atmosphere.