do you believe on global warming?

Answer 1

yes. too bad major corps. don't

Answer 2

I was unhappy with many of the answers here. But I am old enough to remember that scientists in the 70s believed that we were headed into an ice age - and very quickly, at that.

It does seem certain that the earth has been undergoing a warming trend over the last few decades. In other words, the average global temperature is, over a period of time, rising. *This*, by definition, is global warming.

I have asked similar questions here (in the global warming section), and even the most knowledgeable could not provide me with a *specific* date for the scientific data showing a beginning of the trend. Suffice it to say that someone with credentials far superior to mine said that the trend seems to have first appeared in the 1st half of the 1900s.

The next question to ask is: is the trend unusual? We know definitely of cooling trends in the past (example http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_ice_age). We know also, because of geological/archaeological evidence, that the earth has been so warm in the past that there were no ice caps. So, yes, it is natural for there to be warming trends - and cooling trends.

The next question: is man causing the current global warming? The evidence is not convincing (i.e. is circumstantial), but there is little evidence *disproving* that humans are the cause. One fact is the melting of the Kilimanjaro glacier. It has been determined, by researching historic eye-witness accounts, that the glacier has been melting since before the current global warming trend began. Another is that, during the last period that polar ice caps were absent, men did not even *exist*. Indeed, the last ice age was about 10,000 years ago. My *guess* is that the earth has been experiencing a warming trend for the last 10,000 years.

So, are humans *exacerbating* (adding to) the warming? Again, we simply do not know. As I mentioned, the evidence is circumstantial at best (and pretty hokey, at worst).

If this warming is natural, how long will it last? We do not know. It could end this year, this decade, this century, or not at all in our lifetimes.

Are politicians, environmentalists, and scientists milking the daylights out of the global warming scare? Yes. Is it something that *should* engender fear? Scientifically, we do not know, because we do not know if and when it will end or its cause. Can we slow the trend? Again, we do not know and will not until we can ascertain *with some degree of scientific certainty* the cause(s) of the warming.

My belief? I believe that we should halt clear-cutting and CO2 emissions - *not* to prevent global warming, though. It's silly to assume that doing this will have any affect on global warming until we *know* what is causing it. We should stop doing these things because they *do* have a *known* detrimental effect on the environment. We *should* have been doing them *before* anyone squawked "global warming".

I do wonder what caused such things as the end of the ice age, however. Mile-high glaciers were in Ohio! There's been some pretty serious global warming going on since long before we discovered that coal would burn. I remain skeptical of "humans cause global warming", and I wish people would stop using that as an excuse for everything that goes wrong in the world.

P.S. - one of the least-dangerous hurricane seasons ever, so far....

Jim, http://www.life-after-harry-potter.com

Answer 3

It's not a question of belief, it's a question of scientific data and facts.

This is science and what counts is the data.

"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

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 4

Yes, every major scientific and environmental research association in the world has identified this, and I saw in the news a head research scientist on global warming say they're "almost completely positive" that is caused by humans.

The reason we are not acknowledging this is because George Bush, **** Cheney etc. have very large stocks and interests in oil and coal companies, as well as other industries, and to criticize their action would be to go against the people who provide them with the most power. Guess this isn't the politics section, but oh well.

Answer 5

We currently seem to be in a mild warming trend. The more important questions are:

- Do humans have anything to do with it and how much?
- Is the end result good or bad?
- How much of the discussion is fueled by politics and greed versus science?

Warming and cooling seem to be part of the history of the earth. Politics, greed, and pseudo science are rampant in the discussion. There is good reason to believe a warmer earth is a net positive.

Answer 6

The geologists have shown anyone willing to listen that the earth has a variable and unpredictable climate pattern.

For some reason though, they remain silent on the global warming debate which is unfortunate because they are the experts.

Answer 7

Yes. I also believe 1+1 = 2.

Virtually every climatologist agrees it is a problem and fully supported by the data.

As far as I know, there is one climatologist with a solid repuation that does not believe it. He believes the earth is warming, but he has another explantion -- one he came up with several years ago. And it is now inconsistant with the data.

Indeed, virtually all arguments against the human cause of global warming are a pile of spin and lies.

A good example is the well, climate change is normal. And this is true. But the rate of climate change is unprecidented and we have proxy data going back 100k years which spans several ice ages.

Answer 8

Yes, there is too much physical evidence to ignore the problem. The debate is not whether global warming exists, the debate is whether humans contribute to it (I believe we do).

Answer 9

Global warming is a proven fact. The debate is whether humans are causing it or not.

Answer 10

no. some scientists think its the earth's natural warming session.

Answer 11

im not sure, but i dont think it as big of a deal as people are stressing it out to be.