Is global warming a real threat?

Question

What causes global warming?

Answer 1

The only honest answer to your question is: Nobody knows.

The best anybody can actually give you is their opinion, which is really nothing more than their own biased views based on the scientific data that they choose to refer to (whilst often ignoring other scientific data which refutes their claims).

The best example of this would be Trevor’s answer, above. He states: “The potential consequences of global warming are catastrophic” and this may be true, but that statement is no more likely to be correct than “The potential consequences of global warming are insignificant”. This is because, to arrive at the “catastrophic” conclusion you have to assume that all the worst-case scenarios for global warming are going to happen. However, if you assume that all the best-case scenarios are what will actually happen, you arrive at the “insignificant” conclusion. Both are potentially correct, so take you pick.

In this situation, the usually correct course of action is to assume that things will carry on as they currently are (which is technically called the “naïve” prediction), until conclusive proof emerges to suggest otherwise. Thus, for the time being, it is the “insignificant” conclusion that we should be basing our decisions on.

Keep in mind that there is an awful lot of scare-mongering rubbish spouted about global warming and you should try to be aware of this stuff so that you can spot the alarmists and filter them out. Many of the answers on here are guilty of this. Anyone who claims that hurricanes are getting worse, for example, should be ignored – it’s simply not true and they are just hoping you don’t know that so that you’ll get worried enough to jump onto the bandwagon. Other examples are: Polar bears are dying (no they’re not), sea levels are going to rise 20 feet (the IPCC’s worst case scenario predicts only 17 inches. Sea levels only rose by around 1 inch every 15 years, so about 6 inches in the last century, and that rate shows little sign of accelerating), droughts are getting worse (actually a study of the actual data shows that droughts are becoming less common in a warming world), millions of people are dying (research suggests that, while more people will die during the hotter summers, the milder winters will prevent ten times as many deaths. So global warming will actually result in fewer deaths), the ice caps are melting (The Arctic may be, but the Antarctic isn’t and that’s where the vast majority of the world’s ice is), etc, etc. Whenever you hear anyone claiming any of the above, they are either misinformed, or, worse, deliberately lying to you. Either way, you shouldn’t listen to them.

As to what is actually causing global warming, again the truth is nobody knows.

What we do know is this…

1) CO2 levels are rising. They have risen by slightly more than a third since the industrial revolution and mankind is the likely cause of most of this rise.

2) CO2 is a greenhouse gas. This means that, in simple terms, it absorbs some of the heat from the Sun that is reflected back by the Earth’s surface and prevents it escaping into space. This absorbed heat warms the earth slightly.

3) The temperature of the Earth has probably been warming since around 1750.

That’s all we can say with certainty. The problem is the climate in general is not well understood. We’re not sure how much of an effect CO2 is having, so we’re not sure how much of the warming we’ve experienced is caused by the rise in CO2. For sure some warming is cause by the rise in CO2, but how much? Nobody knows. All the estimates are nothing but guesses based on the current assessment of the effects of CO2. But if those assessments of the effects of CO2 are wrong, which they may well be, then the estimates of the warming caused by CO2 are also wrong.

As you can see, it’s a very complicated issue and currently we just don’t know enough to make any costly decisions based on the existing data. It would be like trying to decided whether on not to spend billions, based on the projected future of air travel, before the Wright brothers had even got off the ground.

As ever with global warming - don't believe the hype.

Answer 2

Swiss girl lay off the crack pipe. Great New England Hurricane of 1938 also known as the Long Island Expressway killed 600 people. Heatwaves, the worst was during the Dark Ages which was hotter back then. Flooding umm worse back in Egypt when Noah had to build his Ark. Tsunamis ummm have you ever cut the continents and put them together. So does anyone have any legitimate arguments. And, did we forget when pollutiuon was at it's all time rate in 1940's the temperatures dropped.

If you want to know the truth go back to Middle and High School Science Class. Planet orbit and rotation is what causes the temperatures to rise and fall.

Closer to the the sun warmer it is.
Farther away form the sun colder it is.
The sun hitting a certain location which is why there are seasons.

Why does Global Warming ALWAYS brought up in the summer only and not during the winter. Brrr it is cold and where is this Global Warming now?

Answer 3

The first thing to remember is that back between 800 AD and 1100 AD the Vikings were farming in Greenland and called Labrador Vineland, we are a far cry from raising crops and domestic animals on Greenland even at the present rate of increase..... So what exactly is the NORMAL variation and over what time period...... The biggest issue here is nobody knows exactly what is the normal fluctuations, remember in the dark ages there were several years for almost a decade where there was severe starvation because the summer season was so short that crops failed. This was proven by tree rings from the 1400s. In my opinion are we creating an impact, probably, is it enough to alter the global temperature or even cause a temperature raise who knows. Remember this we only have weather forcasts for the last century plus or minus a bit depending on where you live and not all of these are that accurate. Just because it has not occured in your lifetime before does not mean it is a major calamity. When I can sun tan and surf for more than 200 years in Greenland or elsewhere in the arctic then I will believe that we may be responsible for global warming. The polar bears etc survived the weather during the Vikings so leave mother nature to her own design. Acting on too little knowledge can be more dangerous than no action especially where previous information is available to show that these conditions may be NORMAL.....

Answer 4

I think this is a very viable question and one that needs addressing as a lot of people I know feel blinded by the sci-fi element of global warming and don't believe it will really ever happen. Many people think that out weird weather is just part of a natural cycle, the Earth has experienced ice ages in the past so why should some floods and hurricanes seem so weird?

However, the truth is that the Earth is heating up and that the majority of the evidence points towards man made causes (carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases). I'm not saying that there's no doubt, but if 90% of scientists say it's happening then that's good enough for me!

As the Earth warms we will being to see more and more erratic weather; hurricanes, floods, tidal waves and droughts. The hot places will get hotter and we're likely to see months of dry spells followed by torrential floods. This could also mean more diseases, new animal and insect life and increased death rates.

Evidence suggest that, in the short term (30 - 40) years, we won't be able to do much to reverse this trend, we'll only be able to control it. However, if we can start to decrease emisssions now we may be able to prevent disaster for our kids and our grankids.

Answer 5

No, the threat is minor. The recent meeting of scientists in Paris predicts minor problems from it, although they do try very hard to make the rather mild prediction that are making sound as terrible as possible. The estimates are for about 5 degrees temperature rise and 1 foot sea level rise in 100 years. Not very scary. They say bad weather will get worse (storms, droughts and so on), but never really try to back that up with numbers, because they don't have any. It is just a scare tactic. No, the reason to find an energy source other than oil is because the Arabs have all the oil.

Answer 6

It's a combination of information that's been in science texts since the 19th Century and all the climate data accumulated since then. There's a pretty powerful anti-science initiative underway, powered by Carl Rowe and his ilk. They'll tell you we don't know if it's real or not AND it's probably a natural cycle AND we don't know if people caused it AND we couldn't do anything about it anyway. There are 26 of these myths being spread through the internet. They've all been debunked and disproven years ago, but as Joseph Goebbels said, people will believe ANYTHING if they hear it often enough. They have similar stories about stem cells, contraception, evolution, the creation of the world any many others. These people are not Republicans, they're fascists. We're starting to see politicians jump to the Democrats because of these "antiscience" policies. Before the election, that will become a stampede.

Answer 7

Yah, it's damn real. If we do not do something to it, most of the human race will be wiped out in a few decades.

Green house gases such as carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide are a few of the main causes of global warming. And burning fossil fuel is one of the main culprit for the few green house gas.

Answer 8

Very. It affects the weather, the climate, disorganizes everything, kills a lot, demolishes structures, etc. The negative effects is making the rainy season either hotter than the summer or heavier rainfall that brings flood. Animals are suffering to, after animals give birth, some young die instantly because of intense heat. It is generally caused by harmful emissions to the air by factories, cars, more to blame on America. It is caused by man's carelessness and inconsiderate actions.

Answer 9

Is GW a real threat?
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The potential consequences of global warming are catastrophic, especially for those in pooorer countries that lack the resources to take measures to protect themselves and mitigate the consequences. Around the world we've been seeing the effects of GW for many years and things are getting worse. The incidence of flooding, droughts, storms, wildfires etc is increasing. Some low lying areas have been inundated, island communities evacuated, millions forced from their homes because of desertification, 150,000 people die ach year and 10 million become infectged by disease due to GW.

What Causes GW?
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Greenhouse gases have an unusual physical property in that they prevent heat from Earth escaping back into space. GHG's occur naturally and keep the planet at a habitable temperature. By increasing the levels of these gases in the atmosphere, which is what we've been doing through industrial and agricultural processes, this insulating effect becomes greater. Put simply, the more GHG's there are the warmer the planet becomes.

More Info
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The causes of GW - http://profend.com/global-warming/pages/causes.html
Is GW Real - http://profend.com/global-warming/pages/establish.html
The effects of GW - http://profend.com/global-warming/pages/effects.html
The effects in the future - http://profend.com/global-warming/pages/future.html

Answer 10

there is NO threat.

global warming is hype created by "experts".

these same "experts" claimed in the 70's, there was evidence of an "ice age".

THIS WAS DUE TO A TREND OF COOLER THAN NORMAL TEMPERATURES CAUSED BY EXCESSIVE USE OF FOSSIL FUELS.

right now arizona it supposed to be under 10 feet of ice.

obviously, nobody listened. more importantly, nothing even remotely close happened.

now the "experts" swung 180* and say we are going to fry to death.

they come up a theory to support their goal, then try to make the facts fit it.

this is "junk science". it's intellectually dishonest.

"get enough people to believe the lie, then the lie becomes truth".