What is Global Warming and the facts all about it? Anybody knows????

Answer 1

it's the latest natural phenomenon turned political scare tactic, used primarily by the libs, to try and justify more government control.

Answer 2

Climate change, more commonly known as global warming, is caused by the emission of heat trapping gases produced by vehicles, power plants, industrial processes and deforestation. As these gases build up, they act like a big blanket, over-heating the planet and threatening our health, our economy and our environment.

Research shows that the world has now become hotter than at any time during the past 1000 years. Climate models that project future conditions show that global warming will continue if emissions of heat-trapping gases continue to increase.

Earth's Ecosystems at Risk
Global warming is changing distributions of plants and animals, population sizes, growth rates, timing of plant flowering, and timing of animal migration. Climate change is changing the intensity and frequency of storms, droughts and fire, raising the level of the oceans, and melting glaciers.

While land is fixed in space, the climate is not. Many of the places we protect are selected because they provide the proper habitat and climate for unique and important plants or animals. Unfortunately, given global warming, these places may no longer have the right climate for the species or communities that were the reason underlying their selection.

For example, as the planet warms, Peter’s Mountain mallow in Virginia, or the California gnatcatcher in San Diego County, or wet prairies in Oregon may no longer be able to survive on the same lands where they once flourished.

Scientific research shows that heat-trapping emissions from human activities have caused most of the global warming observed over the past 50 years. In addition to those emissions, the intermingling of highways, human developments, plantations, and farms with nature has enormously circumscribed the options for nature’s response to the current warming.

Source(s):

www.nature.org/intiatives/clim...

Answer 3

Here's the important information. The earths climate has always been changing. Either getting warmer or cooler. There have been several Ice Ages each of which have been followed by cycles of "global warming" which of course melted the ice. All of these previous global warming events have one thing in common. Humans, SUV's, the industrial revolution, and the burning of fossil fuels had nothing to do with them.

Many of the temperature recording stations used to monitor global temperature have been located so as to increase the average temperature. Such as near incenerators, near asphalt parking lots and near large buildings. So while the increase in mean temperature may be happening the extent is definitely in question.

Also while we may be experiencing an increase in the global temperature we know that only 1000 years ago it was warmer than it is right now. The Vikings were able to farm in Greenland. Which even with our recent cycle of global warming is too cold to farm.

Answer 4

Here is what I sent to Nancy Pilosi,
Her Question;
Congress is working on legislation to address global warming - what would you like to see included?
Yahoo! Answers Staff note: Yahoo! Answers is a forum for people from all over the world to engage with one another and to find information on topics that interest them. This is not an endorsement. We are not siding with any candidate or party -- in general or for the 2008 US elections. We're hopeful that people from all perspectives will realize the great insights that the Answers community can have, and will turn to us for future discussions.

My Answer;
The three little words near end of this paragraph Say's the hole thing. The words; (Turn to us). Meaning vote for us, so we can make laws that will cost every tax payer in this nation have less money in there pocket, at the end of the day.
We in congress can do your thinking. If we ask your opinion, it is only to let you vent your anger. Because, we in the congress are smarter than the scientist of the world. So we will make laws that cost the public real money. We the congress, are not here to do what is for the betterment of the nation, we are here to make you fearful of everything, so we can find more ways to get your money, and stay in power.
The truth is that the planet earth goes threw climate changes all the time, and always has. Lets see, maybe the end of the last Ice Age would give us a clue. The world didn't end.
Or how about sometime more recent. Was it in the 1970's, that the government was trying to embed fears of global cooling. I find it strange the mankind could have lived through that. No matter how much all the steel mills and other factories in the world were putting as much crap in the air as possible, it did not warm us through the 70's. And the world did not end.
So, I think the real way to avert Global Warming, is to get rid of all the hot air in Washington.

Answer 5

"Global Warming" is the opposite of "Global Cooling", which was what all the "consensus" was all worried about 30-40 years ago. After lots of plants cleaned up their dust and ash emissions to prevent global warming!

Global Warming is a rise in the overall average temperature of the Earth. It can have multiple causes, and happens on a regular basis about every 90,000 years...a short fast warmup to temperatures above today's as I read the charts, followed by a fast plunge into near total glaciation. That is what History shows, according to the scientists.

The "Consensus" goes one step further in usually discounting or eliminating the MWP and the LIA from real consideration...messes up their curves! "Inconvenient Truth"

Right now, the "Consensus" applies it to the idea that the earth will very soon get too hot, 2 or 3 degrees more than scientists think is usual, and areas of moisture will shift, all or most of the earth's ice will melt and oceans will rise from 3 to 15 feet, depending on which estimates are right, and very low-lying areas will become oceans or ponds. While the ice melting will mean there will be more new cropland in the north and south where now it is ice. And with the CO2 levels up, as they will naturally, the plants grow much more rapidly and larger. Beautiful for farming.

The "Consensus" tho feels the extra farmland and the extra ocean space is terrible, and the extra CO2 growing plants is worse, and so they want Global Warming stopped in its tracks right now, before we have any of the normal and exaggerated effects.

Hence they demand that the developed nations go backwards, and let the under-developed nations take over the job of pollution and emissions to bring on Global Warming.

Now, their computer models they base this on are suspect in much of the output, because the measurement points are few and skewed to the big cities, which warm a lot faster naturally.

So we have to go on the past history which says this is natural and expected, and the "consensus" which includes many politicians and non-technical people as well as scientists, and after the global cooling fizzled on them, are now saying global warming is here, terrible, we all in the developed nations have to stop it in its tracks, don't worry if the data is a bit off, do something this instant. I think the unsaid is"...before we lose our credibility AGAIN with a muffed prediction"!!

OK...
1. Global warming is real...the rise in the average temperature over all the earth.
2. History tells us it is time for this to happen on a normal Earth cycle.
3. Nobody seems quite sure what makes the Earth kick out of glaciation every 90,000 years.
4. Mankind can effect the size of the warming by dust, which reduces it, and the emissions of some gases, most effective of which is H2O, but the easiest to measure, and maybe to control is CO2...and we just have to control the net increase, as farms and forests and small animals in the ocean use it up, and volcanoes and forest fires and cars and trucks and power plants and people release it. Also wood fires in fireplaces and when out camping, and charcoal or LP gas in BBQs.

Global warming is natural and normal for about now.. We do have to decide if we live with more shallow ocean for sports and fishing, and moving the beach cottages back a ways, and with new land for agriculture and new cities to the north and south where it is now too cold, or fight nature to keep the status quo.

Scientists make predictions and use computer models that seem not to work well, yet, a sprinkling of data points not sufficient to get solid data, and join in the "Consensus" which says the US must change now!!

And the computer statisticians will smooth the data and pick only parts of it, and prove whatever you ask and pay them to.

And in general, the "facts" depend on which experts you choose to believe right now, since this is probably new to humanity, and the first time we have had to wrestle with how much is too much, and who has to pay the bills.

Hope this helps.

Answer 6

The movie, An Inconvenient Truth was very easy to understand. I even followed it and I get really bored with science. A lot of people bash Al Gore, who made the movie, but I'm not sure why. I guess they don't like the fact that he had to use fossil fuels to make and distribute the movie, but I think it does much, much more good than harm by informing us about global warming. If he had stayed home and not made this educational film, so many people wouldn't be aware of this earth threatening danger.

The truth is (and most serious scientists will say this) that the earth may change, within the next 50 to 100 years, to the degree that we cannot grow enough food or have enough fresh water to sustain any decent living standard.

Answer 7

here is a fact,ITS FAKE!

Look,Global warming is a total fake sim,made up by Liberals,here go's Hilary spreading it around when it is not true,Even if there was Global Warming think about the people who are stuck in snow in the Poles,they need heat,the world go's around and gets cleared up by rotating weather,HELLO!It is Summer,of couarse it's gonna be hot,Where I live it is like 100 degrees.And I realize that it gets pretty windy to sometimes and cold.So you Liberals shut your mouth.

Answer 8

This can't be answered in this short space, it can only be debated. Debate is not science. Here's the science (links) and, you have to actually look at the data and the facts. It takes time to do that. The first link is the quickest to see what's going on.

It's real and mostly man made.

http://www.globalwarmingart.com/wiki/Image:Climate_Change_Attribution.png
http://ipcc-wg1.ucar.edu/wg1/wg1-report.html
summarized at:
http://www.ipcc.ch/SPM2feb07.pdf

Scientists agree about it, BECAUSE of the scientific proof:

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

Here's the plan to fix it. Basically conserve energy and develop alternative sources of energy.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,481085,00.html
http://www.ipcc.ch/SPM040507.pdf

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

Global Warming = the increase in average temperatures over the entire earth.

That can be a bit misleading... since the increase in temperature in any given location is not necessarilly required. Typically temperature near the poles would be affected more than at the equator.

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Facts? Facts that are 100% provable are slim.

We have records of the rate of gasoline and other fuel useage in many countries... but not quite the whole world... but there's enough information to develop reasonable conclusions about the rate fossil fuel is being burned.

We have information about the efficiency and exhaust content of vehicles when new... and not as good data about the emissions of older vehicles. (as they age the emission control systems, particularly catalytic converters, become less effective.)

A modern typical US car is more efficient than the cars of 30 years ago... and the emissions controls are much better. Overall automotive emissions are DOWN from the mid 1970's... despite increased numbers of cars and more average miles being driven. (thats important, and often ignored by Global Warming alarmists)

We have implimented major emissions control requirements for fossil fuel burning power plants... effectively reducing emissions from them, despite increased demand for electricity (ignored by Global Warming alarmists...)

In the 1970s we had GLOBAL COOLING, with massive air pollution problems. It used to be that flying into LAX (Los Angeles California International Airport) you could see the huge wall of smog. That wall of smog is not there now.
(I like facts)

There is evidence that warming of the earth actually causes CO2 output from decaying vegetation to increase. The vegetation decays faster. (Fact.) So... if CO2 amplifies global warming... then its a self-amplifying phenomenon.

Fact: Solar output was low durring the 1970's. We had global cooling in the 1970's WITH HUGE LEVELS OF POLLUTION.
Fact: Solar output is higher now and has been on a rise since the mid 1980's.... and we have warming.

Maybe solar output has something to do with the environment.

Man's contribution of CO2 production on the Earth is a small fraction of all the sources... Decay of vegetation... animals breathing... (maybe we should kill off all animals other than man to stop them from making CO2... That should make Al Gore happy) Fish produce CO2... Aquatic plants produce O2 by photosynthisis.

Trees are a minor contributor to O2 production compared to algae in the oceans... Some kinds of trees are net CO2 producers. (fact... Facts are wonderful things)

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Essemtially we have alarmists trying to take the data gathered over a very short time and make lont term predictions based on that limited data.

The EXACT SAME DATA was used 30 years ago to promulgate a big environmental scare about the comming ice age due to man's production of pollutants.

The ice age didn't happen...

Answer 10

Oh wow, how long have you got?

Rather than provide an extremely long answer it might be better if I refer you to this website. It's been adapted from a report I wrote a few months ago and is designed to answer just the sort of questions you have.

http://profend.com/global-warming/pages/intro.html

Answer 11

Riddlah, you're completely wrong. It's science, not political agenda. CO2 emissions directly influence global temperature. I sincerely doubt the trees are paying off our liberal Congressmen. :-P