what's your opinion on global warming?

Answer 1

It's my line of work and after a great many years of studying it from all angles I have been forced to conclude that it is a very real threat, not something that might happen in some far off future but something that is happening right now. The effects of it are there for all to see, we know how and why it's happening. We need to take stock of the situation and come up with practical solutions to the problem, it won't go away of it's own accord and unless we act sooner rather than later we're just compounding the future problems.

Answer 2

The issue isn't really whether global warming is happening. It is happening. Even those scientists whose political leanings don't encourage them to admit it, admit it. Global warmings and coolings are natural parts of the earth's cycle, and will occur as long as the Earth is alive and intact. The true issue is: What kind of impact are we having on the current cycle? The vast majority of scientific research finds that we are contributing to conditions which greatly increase the speed of this event. Over the last century, 'improved' human technologies, fossil fuel consumption, and ballooning populations have increased the amount of heat-generating gases trapped by our atmosphere- with the results of wildly fluctuating and generally increasing climates world-wide. So, the question becomes: Is this something that is beneficial or detrimental to the planet? To what, or to whom, on the planet? After all, some species will thrive in a warmer environment. Cold places could be made to grow. Melting ice reveals treasures in minerals and fossil fuel deposits. But then, some species, like the increasingly threatened polar bear, and the seals it hunts, may very well be gone in a few decades. Coastal areas may flood, destroying homes and delicate brackish water wetlands. Changing weather patterns could turn the American bread basket farmlands back into the Dust Bowl.

And who gets to make the decision on whether this is good or bad? Are human beings all that count in this equation? Which human beings, the bustling socialites of Manhattan or the bush people of Africa? Should we attempt to preserve what we have now, when millions die of starvation and disease, or should we sit back and watch the warming occur and hope, like every other species undergoing it, that we'll adapt in time?

I know my feelings. I'm sorry I missed the dinosaurs and I'm sorry I won't be around in a million years to see what pops up then. But if I had lived then or if I would have lived in the future, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to see such tremendous and potentially deadly changes. Because all I know is what I've known my whole life. I know that I love this earth and the fantastic diversity of environments and animal life and human cultures. So I'm for preventing (or at least slowing down or trying to manage) changes from occurring. Selfish? You bet. Like every other opinionated human being on the planet.

But thank you for asking me how I feel...

Answer 3

We can't even predict the weather, and we can predict global warming....get real. It happens naturally and nothing we can do to stop it. Media feeds the gullible masses into hysteria. Telling us about global warming is another way for the mass media to control us. Listen up, the world will rid itself of us, this is a guarantee. We are not gonna be around to see it, but in the end human race will be wiped off the earth. Then guess what, the earth will still be here and some other species will begin again. People stop being led into hysteria, get over it and live life for today.

Answer 4

Global warming is said to be the biggest single issue facing modern leaders and peoples. But there is a huge mismatch between what people say they want to happen and what they do.

There is great uncertainty about the effects of climate change, but all too often if you discuss these - you are accused of not caring, or of being in denial.

Even if one accepts the seriousness of the threat, there is great uncertainty about the value of any policy anyone might realistically propose.

It is quite likely that mankind will not limit climate change to any great extent, at least not quickly.

Answer 5

You asked, so here go's, it is an outright lie, lead by fools and charlatans who hope to scare the American public into destroying our ecomny. I base this on the following facts that any 5th grader can easily check out if they really want to know the truth, instead of being lead by the nose like a complete fool.
1. The alarmist claim that burning fossil fuels is the cause of recent warming, however most of the warming took place before most of the increase of CO2. There was actually a significant cooling period from the mid-1940s to the late 1970s, while CO2 was increasing rapidly, and there was another increase from 1979 to 1998. In fact there has been no warming since 1998 – an eight-year period, and even a slight statistically cooling, despite the fact that CO2 has continued to rise.
2. The correlation between co2 emissions effecting global warming is extremely small compared to the correlation between global temperature and sun cycles. The sun cycles affect temperature in two ways first by the cycling up and down of actual heat energy that is emitted by the sun. This has a small effect on global temperature. The more important one is cycling in solar winds. Solar wind blocks cosmic radiation from coming into the Earth’s atmosphere. The more cosmic rays come in the more low level clouds there are and low-level clouds reflect solar heat energy back into space. If there are more clouds the earth is cooler and if there are fewer clouds, the earth is warmer. As solar wind cycles up cosmic rays cycle up and down in reverse and clouds up and down. So the solar window is very important to earth’s temperature, and that is something that neither you nor I can change.

Answer 6

I think that arguing about global warming is a waste of time and energy.

Most of the things that are believed to contribute to global warming make common and economic sense to remedy whether man-made global warming is real or just theory.

For example, reducing gasolione and fossil fuel comsumption will reduce CO2. But that can simply come from getting better fuel economy because CO2 emissions are in direct relation to gasoline consumption -- cut consumption 25% and you reduce CO2 emitted by 25% (assuming the same mileage driven). Plus you save 25% on your fuel bill.

Use CFL bulbs and you will save more than the cost of the bulb several times over plus you reduce CO2 emissions.

Get an air conditioner wtih a higher SEER rating, and you can cut your colin gbill by 40%, again saving money and cutting CO2 emissions.

Finding a way to cut dependence on decadent regimes that control oil resources is not just sensible in global warming terms, but critical in terrms of national security. Terrorists would have a lot less money to spend on their activities is the oil barons didn't have so much cash to pass around.

To me this is rather like the philosopher-mathematician Pascal's view about whether or not there is a God. He thought believing in God and being wrong (no life after death) had less downside than not believing in God and being wrong (damnation).

Actually, believing in global warming and being wrong has an upside. Acting as though global warming is real, we can get cleaner air, reduce our extravagent waste of natural resources and save money. Even if we are wrong, we still win.

So I don't ultimately care who is right or wrong. I am encouraged by the fact that we are starting tt move away from some of our more frivoulous behavior to fix a perceived problem. And not only is there no downside to taking the action, but lots of upside.

Answer 7

I think its very real . i don't believe that we caused it that its just cycles the the earth goes through . I think its what killed off the ancients back in the days we dig up there ruins from time to time but there's no clue why they just vanished off the face of the earth . I believe we all need to work together so that many can survive not just the rich that can afford to stay out of the heat . i think for a mass of humans to make it though this its going to take each and every one of us on the face of the earth to accomplish this task . That means that we are going to have to open our border kill off the war mongers and come up with a hole new plan not the old plan that our grand and great grandparents had . everything changes including the earth we must change with the earth its allot bigger then us and isn't going to change for us we must follow its changes. We must come up with a new energy get rid of the old such as oil . I believe a person figured out cold fusion its cheap reliable clean compact adaptable to any motor that would be the way to go .

I believe for a mass of people to survive this global warming spell where going through we need to start on it now not tomorrow when all the politicians get through arguing trying to figure out how to tax us for whats good for us .

Answer 8

It's not a matter of "opinion", it's a matter of science. Science has proven, with data, that global warming is real, and mostly caused by us.

"I wasn’t convinced by a person or any interest group—it was the data that got me. I was utterly convinced of this connection between the burning of fossil fuels and climate change. And I was convinced that if we didn’t do something about this, we would be in deep trouble.”

Vice Admiral Richard H. Truly, USN (Ret.)
Former NASA Administrator, Shuttle Astronaut and the first Commander of the Naval Space Command

Here are two summaries of the mountain of peer reviewed data that convinced Admiral Truly and the vast majority of the scientific community, short and long.

http://www.globalwarmingart.com/wiki/Image:Climate_Change_Attribution.png
http://www.ipcc.ch/SPM2feb07.pdf

It's (mostly) not the sun:

http://solar-center.stanford.edu/sun-on-earth/FAQ2.html

And the first graph aboves shows that the sun is responsible for about 10% of it. When someone says it's the sun they're saying that thousands of climatologists are stupid and don't look at the solar data. That's ridiculous.

There's a lot less controversy about this is the real world than there is on Yahoo answers:

http://www.worldpublicopinion.org/pipa/articles/home_page/329.php?nid=&id=&pnt=329&lb=hmpg1

And vastly less controversy in the scientific community than you might guess from the few skeptics talked about here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_opinion_on_climate_change
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/306/5702/1686 and:

"There's a better scientific consensus on this [climate change] than on any issue I know... Global warming is almost a no-brainer at this point,You really can't find intelligent, quantitative arguments to make it go away."

Dr. Jerry Mahlman, NOAA

Good websites for more info:

http://profend.com/global-warming/
http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/science/
http://www.realclimate.org
"climate science from climate scientists"

Answer 9

It's just like the symptoms of a slow painful death.. These are, of course, theories and projections based on how the planet and its climate is behaving now.
☻Extreme weather conditions
☻Rising Sea Levels
☻Health problems
☻Death of Corals
☻Destruction of Ecosystems
☻Threatened Food Supply
☻Increasing Greenhouse Gases = Greenhouse gases naturally occur in the earth's atmosphere. They trap heat from the sun and keep the Earth's temperature at a livable15 degrees Centigrade. But human activities have led to an increase in the amount of greenhouse gases, warming the Earth's temperature above normal.
<*-*>

Answer 10

Climate change has happened since the beginning of the Earth. It swings one way, then the other. Sometimes the changes happen rapidly. Instead of complaining about it, pointing fingers, and thinking we can actually effect the World's climate; it's time to wise-up and do what species are supposed to do. Adapt! How about trying to figure out ways to deal with the change, and implement them? In Holland, they are building houses near the coast that can float in the event of a flood. Maybe we should start building all coastal homes this way. It's a challenge for engineers, get educated and step up.

Answer 11

It keeps us warm and helps the plants grow. The Earth has warmed and cooled through out its entire history. I believe man made global warming science is flawed after reading the following information.

Check out the Oregon Petition, in which 17,100 scientist have signed and believe man made GW is not good science.

http://www.oism.org/pproject/s33p357.htm

More information on the poor science of man made GW from a PhD in Climatology:

http://www.sitewave.net/news/s49p1828.htm

I don't think the Earth is the fragile planet that others do. I have spent a lot of time outdoors in my 48 years of life and I have noticed more vigorous plant life as well as much more wildlife in the past 15 to 20 years. I fish and hunt every year, so I spend a lot of time in the woods and on the rivers and lakes. I see about twice as many deer, quail, squirrels, coyotes, bobcats, raccoons, wild turkeys, hawks, owls, blue herons, beavers, ducks, geese, (just to name a few), as I did 20 years ago. CO2 could be a contributing factor to the increase in plant life as well as the animal life that feeds on them.

"Human activities are believed to be responsible for the rise in CO2 level of the atmosphere. Mankind is moving the carbon in coal, oil, and natural gas from below ground to the atmosphere and surface, where it is available for conversion into living things. We are living in an increasingly lush environment of plants and animals as a result of the CO2 increase. Our children will enjoy an Earth with far more plant and animal life as that with which we now are blessed. This is a wonderful and unexpected gift from the Industrial Revolution. "

http://www.oism.org/pproject/s33p36.htm

I believe the Earth and the solar system were designed to take care of themselves. The Earth has been warming for at least 300 years, well before the Industrial Revolution.