Belief of Global Warming?

Question

Ok. This is just out of my curiousity. Why do some people say global warming is real and others say no. Is it cause it true and the people who say no say that because they are afraid of facing it. Or is it that people who say its real say it so they can prepare us for the future?

Answer 1

There are many reasons why people could choose not to believe in human induced global warming.

Some that come to mind are:

A) A rudimentary understanding of physics tells many people that the climate is not sensitive to fluctuations of CO2 because there is no relationship between CO2 variability and temperature.

B) Climatologists have not made any accurate projections as of yet, and in fact they have predicted many things that in reality, just the opposite have occurred.

C) People have failed to see any change in their local environment that would lead them to believe the climate has achieved any sustained warming.

D) No individuals with reasonable credentials that support the theory ever attempt to give a reasonable explanation for the large fluctuations in climate observed in human history before the industrial revolution.

Why someone could believe in this theory?

This is hard to fathom, but I will give it a try:

A) People need a villain in their life such as the Soviet Union, fascism, bird flu, global warming,The USA etc...

B) People feel an inner guilt for being born and living in western society.

C) People don't know any better.

D) Large numbers of people that share common values are easily manipulated by organizations such as the UN.

E) There's a sucker born every minute.

Answer 2

Well, taking a rational/logical approach: 1. I'm sitting here looking out my window at 2 feet of snow, so global warming is not occurring 2. I can't see global warming with my own eyes, so global warming is not occurring 3. Global warming should be causing drought conditions and we got plenty of rain this past summer, so global warming is not occurring. 4. I've never seen the North Pole (isn't that where that imaginary Santa guy lives), so global warming is not occurring. 5. The government is trying to force us to "believe" in global warming, therefore, because I'm free to think for myself, I will deny that global warming is occurring. 6. People are asking me to give money to stop global warming, therefore, it's just a money making scheme and global warming does not exist. 7. I would have to change my lifestyle if global warming were a reality, therefore, global warming does not exist. Sorry for the sarcasm, but it was just too easy to rattle those off. I actually believe global warming is occurring, and am trying to do what I personally can. I do agree though, that there are cyclical variations that are not fully understood, but obviously pumping all those toxic fumes into our atmosphere is not a good thing for the planet. I hadn't heard the "Christian" argument against global warming, so I find it kind of strange that there would be any "Christian" reason to prove global warming is not a reality. What was their reason for wanting to promote that viewpoint anyway?

Answer 3

Watch this movie by Al Gore called 'An Inconvenient Truth'. It discusses all the topics on global warming and he makes a convincing presentation. I don't know where that first guy heard that, but research shows that the CO2 gasses in the atmosphere off the charts compared to the last 1 billion years or so. And no, its not a made up idea by all the democratic liberals to have something to argue about against republicans, most scientists agree that it has evidence to back it up. Come on...all that pollution from power plants has to have some adverse effects to the environment.

Answer 4

Patterns show that in the past the earth has gone through a cycle of warmer and cooler temperatures, and some people may believe that global warming is just the earth going through a warmer period. Others may feel that global warming isn't really going to affect them, it's something that won't really start showing up in our day-to-day lives for several more years. Personally I feel that while the earth may be going through a time of warmer temperatures, that is defiantely not the full extent of it. We are burning holes in the ozone layer, polluting... and already we are seeing scary consequences- the ice caps melting, tropical storms raging throughout the world, record high tempertures. If we want our children and their kids to be able to enjoy a world similar to that that we live in now, we need to start making some changes, and decreasing our daily impact.

Answer 5

I think that's a very good question but one that doesn't have a simple answer.

From a scientific viewpoint there is no question that global warming is occurring. So why do some people deny it or are sceptical of it?

Humans naturally resist change, change means we have to adapt and sometimes face the unknown and in generally we’re more comfortable with what we’re already familiar with. For some people embracing global warming means having to make changes.

For others there’s something known as the ‘diffusion of responsibility’. It’s not a conscious reaction it’s an automatic psychological one. Basically it’s a case of, not my problem, other people will deal with it. By getting involved it becomes a persons problem and they have to deal with it so for some it’s easier not to get involved at all and this can be achieved by denying there is a problem in the first place.

Which leads on to the next point – denial. To concede global warming means admitting to being a part of the problem and this doesn’t sit well with some people. They may, consciously or otherwise, not wish to acknowledge their role in global warming and so deny it is happening outright or attempt to play it down in order to mitigate themselves from blame.

Then there’s the issue of loss of face. Several years ago many governments and major corporations denied or played down the effects of global warming. Today the world has changed and all governments and big businesses acknowledge global warming. It’s easy for them to switch ‘sides’ as they’re faceless organisations. For an individual to switch sides means standing up and admitting they were wrong, again it’s psychological.

There are some people who quite rightly question global warming and a certain degree of scepticism can be healthy, lead to a balanced viewpoint and also advance understanding of a subject. But there is a clear distinction between a healthy level of scepticism and denial.

The misinformation campaign propagated by some large businesses (especially the oil industry) some years ago hasn’t helped as it’s brought to the public arena all manner of mistruths, distortions and outright lies. To the lay person there is no way of distinguishing some facts from fiction and there is seemingly much contradictory evidence, naturally this leads people to question just who and what to believe.

Answer 6

The safe answer is that we really don't know enough, even those who are 'experts'.
The world's environment is so complex that there are, or will be, factors we haven't even thought of yet, that influence what is happening.
Current dogma on "Global Warming" is driven by political pressure, resorting to political correctness, to shame and blame and thus score brownie points with those of influence.
IE: political power, influence and money.

Answer 7

well, there are several factors.

-Some people think its just nature or they can waste as many resources as they want. According to the rings on the many samples of polar ice that have been taken however each ring reperesents an ice age. This melt that is happening right now is happening too early. Something is really out of whack. I certainly can tell that the insects are certainly comming back faster with more disease than normal. Probably do to the fact that many are able to mutate and eventually produce a successful offspring after many adults and babies alike die of various abnormalities, diseases, and such. This is due to the fact that there are so many insects per square mile even than bigger animals so mass breeding occurs. However due to this observation I can tell you, yeh humans certainly affect things.

Answer 8

Temperatures measured in degrees Fahrenheit or Celsius are quantifiable and comparable to other specific yearly dates. That's fact, not opinion. It's hard to argue with facts. The thing most of them are debating is the cause of the global warming and the weather changes. People who refuse to recognize the factual nature of global warming are hiding from reality.

Answer 9

People want to work it out for themselves. They trust different sources of information. If the belief has consequences, they are wary of being hoodwinked. Some mistrust an establishment view or science whilst others customarily go along with authoritative sources. Some people like to have quirky views. Some have political or business affiliations and go along with what they are saying. Some mistrust some political or business group and think the opposite to what they are saying must be true. Selection of evidence which supports one's point of view is common rather than attempting to examine the totality of evidence.

Answer 10

We do not know
It is impossible to base a large theory like this on 200 years of science.
Reality is the climate CHANGES
2 million years ago the Sahara dessert was a fertile valley, then, suddenly it changed into a dessert. Back then, there were no C02 gases, or anything like that, just the climate. Global warming is just a theory, and nothing more.