How many of you think that people are in denial of global warming?

Question

They get so defensive!Instead of o.k.,we should take better care of the planet now!We have devastated it enough already!We will take this as a lesson to make changes!We will think of the poor people,creatures,and nature that have already been affected by it,and not be so arrogant about wether its really man-made or not!Its a good thing we found out now,before its too late!The guilt and the shame!

Answer 1

I think a lot of people choose to ignore the reality and I would ask them to please consider these points:

If the earth was a (circular) football the atmosphere would be a layer 1mm thick on top.

Asshat Mcpoops suggested volcanoes contribute more CO2 than humans. Well, to supply some form real data to this, Gerlach 1991 estimated 130-230 million tonnes CO2 per year - sound a lot? Humans produce an estimated 27 billion tonnes of CO2 per year (marland et al 2006). 150 times that from volcanoes

Scientists are not part of a conspiracy, they simply present the facts as they are best understood. The ozone hole was pointed out and a solution agreed upon, thanks to alternatives to CFCs. The lack of a single, easy, oil alternative (and the strength of the oil lobby) has resulted in this vicious backlash against scientists which will get us nowhere.

Answer 2

Emotional Gobbledygook is used by those that think we should "do something" or "act now" or "save the planet" and other such bumber-sticker platitudes.

That very same emotional gobbledygook leads people into action based on the Precautionary Principle.

The precautionay principle has a tendency to run into the law of unintended consequences. This is especially when we have the worst of humans making decisions (politicians with zero science or risk management skills).

One only needs to look at the ban of DDT to see that the precautionary principle should be invoked only rarely. Malaria had been nearly wiped out on the African continent using, now there are millions of dead every year. But, since the environmental movement was acting on the PP and not even doing a cost/benefit analysis of use vs no use of DDT, they didn't foresee the millions of deaths that would occur. All they could see was that they were potentially saving birds.

What will happen when governments really start ratcheting down CO2 emissions? What will actions to control CO2 emissions cost in terms of dollars AND human lives?

The poor people, creatures, and nature you seem to care about so much deserve better than whiny, mealy mouthed, emotional appeals to "do something" without any thought of the consequences of those actions.

Answer 3

This is not a question it is a Rant. It is time you actually looked at the facts instead of looking at media hype. Is global warming happening undoubtedly, is man wiping out species and wrecking the environment, certainly, Is man causing global warming, no I don’t think so, he is not helping that for sure so there is still a reason to take better care of the environment but variations in global mean temperatures are part of the normal process of the earth, from the moderated intergalcials, to ice ages and tropical jungles we are not causing the problem we are exacerbating it. The other thing you need to consider is that nature not only looks after its own but also destroys them, what of the dinosaurs for example....Whether it were a meteor strike or global cooling it was still nature that killed them off.

We did not find out now we new about the potential for Global warming of the order of 25 to 30 years ago and we could have done a lot more by now but its only ever easy to be moral when you have a full belly and a roof over your head, don not be so quick to judge this situation exists in China and India now , who are you to tell someone they cant feed their children?

A lesson to make changes, well yes there have been some and perhaps there should be more but it is easy to say and less easy to do, Go to you school college or work place and ask everybody there to commit to paying say 10% of there income or time to an environmental charity, not just for a day but for a lifetime, and see what happens. my guess is that there will be lots of fervent activity to start with everyone wanting to be a part, but when that 10% starts to be the difference between spending time with your kids, or being able to pay your rent I'm guessing that there will be a decline in activity.

I understand your sentiment, but if you wish people to pay attention, do not rant use resoned arguments. It does work in the long run.

Answer 4

I live in southern Spain. The temperature in July was about 32c - 34c but a few years ago it was a great deal hotter. Last year it only got above 38c (100f) once. Now I believe in general terms the climate is changing but the weather predictions (forecasts) for this part of the world are invariably wrong. Forecasting weather is by scientific data just the same as forecasting the cause of Global warming.
All I'm getting at is, if you can get it wrong one way can someone prove different that they can get it wrong another way.
I'm not just going to believe what an eminent scientist has said. Much of what I've heard and read is second or third hand. It could be like playing a game of Chinese whispers.

Edit; Okay Rickolish, I'm prepared to listen to any argument because I'm adult to admit I may be wrong in my thinking, however, I made a point on here and as you are a scientist can you please reply to my reasons about scientific forecasting.

Edit; IngelaD, your facts are a little way out if you think the world is about 10,000 years old. So many people telling so much science and getting it wrong......Chinese whispers syndrome perhaps!

Answer 5

By the look of the answers so far I'd say not many, and I can't say I'm disappointed.

If by global warming you mean that the climate is changing, then this is undoubtedly true. If however you think that this is solely through the actions of the human race then you couldn't be farther from the truth.

Do people actually believe that if not for the actions of man the world would remain the same forever?

As has been pointed out in some of the answers above, the effects humans have had to date on our climate alone is nothing compared to what nature is capable of inflicting upon itself.

What bugs me more is that most people seem to think humans are so much more superior than anything else and stand apart from the rest as if we really are in control of everything.

They seem to forget that we ourselves are a product of nature which could wipe us from the face face of this planet in the blink of an eye and there's nothing we could do to prevent this should it happen.

I'm amazed sometimes by the sheer arrogance of the human race.

Answer 6

It is fairly obvious which side you come down on and whilst I am not denying that things are changing and it it is not for the good, I am not at all convinced that is not also in part (emphasise in part) the natural cycle. We know that the earth has gone through significant temperature changes before - the ice ages came to an end for a fairly obvious reason i.e. it got warmer, for example.

You take a stand point that people get defensive, which of course is not true of everyone BUT people on the other side of the debate can also get just as blinkered and defensive of their stand point.

In my opinion I feel a better way would be for people to be reasoned with rather than preached at. By encouraging people to think about things rather than beat them about the head with a big emotional stick. People should also not be demonised if they still have a car or take a holiday flight - which are just easy targets for politicians' and tree huggers to get brownie points and in the former case raise more revenue.

Answer 7

First of All--Global Warming is a chain reaction and the government ad-visor and consultant are the last idiot you can find from here to the Sahara including the European too.
The people react the way they do because the people in general are accuse on a daily basis of been the one guilty of this entire catastrophe, how ever the majority of the people if allowed, they will find the answer to the cause and apply correction to the mistake. But a special group of murder in control of North America and Europe just don't allow the people to provide the answer as required.. To better understand this answer please visit: www.santanaeffect.com and you'll be a total new person once you get to know the truth.

Answer 8

confident, this is a thoroughly political flow. you will discover those on the left and staggering accepting AGW as a in all risk possibility. people who say this is all scam basically come from the staggering. Edit: additionally I do have a tendency to be a skeptic while it incorporates new clinical theories. i think of darkish count number is genuinely bogus. in case you discover you observations do no longer adventure your calculations, you do no longer invoke a clean style of count number. You examine your observations and/or calculations returned. i do no longer care plenty for string thought the two, in view that it rather isn't any experimental data to back it up. Edit: 2 of Jimmmbo's links are actual peer reviewed and neither solid doubt on MGW, they only improve subject concerns with countless the parameters positioned into the climate fashions. those subject concerns are properly familiar and not skipped over.

Answer 9

You are so wrong. I don't believe anybody disagrees that global temperatures are rising, its all the bu!!sh!t being pumped out about the causes of it. The planet has been here for so long and varied in temperature from day 1. All this nonsense will get forgotten about once the suitable taxes are in place.


PS If scientists all of a sudden changed their mind on climate change, do you think they will still keep their budgets and their jobs ??????

PPS Science is only 'mans best GUESS'

Answer 10

Global warming is not man-made! True we do not care for our planet as good as we should, but man is not to blame for the natural cycle of our planet!

Instead of getting at people who believe / don't beleive in GW, we should be getting at the governments, media agencies and big frims that are using scare monger tactics to con us into giving them more money.

Forget about global warming - we should be stopping the global con! Just don't forget to recycle and be a nice person as well!