Any wise old nature watching codgers on here?

Question

If so I am interested in your opinion of climate change, man or nature etc

The Bill, Thank you they are both cocker spaniels and are very well looked after.

Geomatic7000, shrink land masses?

Nutser, I asked for old codgers to answer, you answered.

Nutster neither of us are ignorant i was just saying that i didn't call you an old codger, however i don't believe it's man-made, altho i do believe we should go green and back to nature.

Geomatic, sorry i'm with you now, apparantly SE UK is sinking and Scotland rising, could it be that too many buildings in SE making it sink?

Robert P, I agree we do need to fiond someone or something to blame for everything, I think it's natural and poossibly with a little help from us, but i also believe theres bugg3r all we can do about it, instead our gov's should be preparing us for what may happen instead of blaming us, and I should imagine dinosaur farts were quite mighty.

spot on rosie recipe

Answer 1

man made.
see link below.
i only answered because i thought you didn't know it was man-made.
your ignorance or mine?

Answer 2

I have no doubt it is a combination. We are still in an ice age, still in the warming trend of an interglacial period, so changes are to be expected. However, with the vast forests that have been cleared and fields tilled, we have to be affecting the climate. Just the changes we've caused in water vapor released during transpiration could be enough to alter our climate drastically in my opinion. Tilling unbroken ground also exposes something like 300 times the surface area if I recall numbers correctly from a seminar on climate change nearly 20 years ago. That releases many gasses much faster, but it's a short term effect that corrects itself once the tilled ground lies fallow a few years. No till methods might help that a great deal.

But mainly, I think that even if man were causing 100% of the climate change it is not the problem, it is a symptom of the problem. We have 6 billion people on this planet, almost all of them hell bent for leather trying to "improve" their lives by getting more and getting it faster. Almost every problem mankind faces today (energy, pollution, global epidemics, water shortages, land disputes, etc) is either caused or compounded by our overpopulation. If we were any other species we would be called a plauge. It is simply not sustainable, and the population must be reduced. If we don't do it volantaritly, it will happen naturally with much greater efficiency. Those are the only two options we have at this point.

Answer 3

Yes!!!
I don't know about wise or old, but try 65 as a young codger.

My opinion of climate change.
It is known through geological history that the earth has warmed up and cooled down. This is a cyclical event, and we are probably in a warming up period. Don't forget that approximately 15,000 years ago the Earth was glacially cold - the ICE Age. Man's release of CO2 is probably a contributory factor only.
The cyclical mechanics of climate change are probably not fully understood even now. However, the Sun and convection currents in the Earth's mantle both have and effect, also the Earth's motion through space about the Sun may also have an effect - our orbit is known to be almost round sometimes and elliptical at others, also the poles precess - that is the angle of tilt varies- refer to Milutin Milankovich an Yugoslavian geo physicist of the 1920's.
These cyclical events can be short cycles ( Days Months Years) or long cycles ( Centuries, Millenia, Millions of years), and all these cyclic events interact. So all these interacting cyclical events will effect climate change.

Answer 4

Climate change (some far more extreme than we're experiencing now), and mass extinctions have been going on throughout the Planets history.

I wonder how many species have become too successful and ended up destroying themselves through over population or exploiting a niche in the ecosystem that changes too drastically for them to cope.


Climate change is a fact of life on Earth. Luckily as humans we've reached a level of technology and understanding, that will hopefully enable us to manipulate the environment for our benefit. But thats gonna need a bit more cooperation between all the worlds people before that will happen.

So for now we're just gonna have to sit tight and do the best we can as individuals.


P.S I'm nearly 41.......does that make me a codger? If you're under 20 then the answer is probably (and sadly) yes! :-(

Answer 5

We had a period of about 80 years of really mild, convenient weather, so that few people are now living who remember the weather of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

It was hotter than today's heat waves, and colder than today's Alberta Clippers. There was much more flooding and many more forest fires than we are having today. Hurricanes were worse, and tornadoes killed hundreds of people in the breadbasket states every year.

So now the weather is swinging back toward the way it was in the late 19th century again. And it will swing back.

Having said all that, it is true that human activity is making it worse--in some cases MUCH worse--than it would be without our greenhouse gasses, industrial pollution, and other forms of profitable ruination. The liberals are right about the absolute necessity of curbing CO-2 emissions and other forms of pollution, and the conservatives are wrong.

There are many reasons besides global climate change to clean up the environment, even though it means replacing greed and profit motive with more of a realization that we are all in the same boat.

What are the rich industrialists and other conservatives going to get for their money if everybody is sick and dying? Do they really want to make the USA like another third world country just so they can pocket a little more money?

So yes, much, or most, of climate change is a matter of natural cycles, some so subtle they can hardly be detected. But some of it is our fault, and we need to be about fixing things up. The key to a survivable future is overcoming greed.

Answer 6

I'm not old, I'm not wise, but I did a senior thesis on climate change through Earth's history.

We are experiencing a warming trend, globally. Its not the first time for the planet. In fact, temps have been much warmer over the planet than we are seeing today. But what we seeing now is consistent with warming and its acceptable to think we will continue to see warming.

This is a largely natural cycle. Just like global cooling (ice ages) is normal so is global warming. Many factors affect this. Such as changes in the Earth's orbit and gradual changes in the atmosphere.

Are we helping the situation? No. Are we accelerating it? That's the debate. Will we face many problems due to a warming planet? Yes.

The real issue is that we stop arguing about whats causing it and get started on solutions for shrinking land masses, polluted water, huge storms, and the spread of tropical disease.

*****Landmasses will shrink due to rising sea levels.

Answer 7

I'm 57 if that qualifies as old. I may or not be a codger as that is a definition that others provide me.

I prefer Global Climate Change. Not all parts of the earth are experiencing warming. This phenomenon, whatever its cause, stands to be the greatest challenge to mankind yet seen.

I am concerned yet somehow amused at the typical human reaction of casting blame in all directions, and with the usual conspiracy theories thrown in for good measure. At the end of the day, however, Global Climate Change just might provide a view into the workings of science and (hopefully) some of that thinking might rub off on the citizenry.

I personally feel the evidence supporting human activity as a major contributor to global climate change is quite robust .
I also feel the arguments used by the detractors of this hypothesis are weak scientifically. The confusion that the lay public has probably has as its root the general dismal scientific understanding of these individuals as well as the innate human inability to understand processes that evolve over eons of time.

The challenge presented by global climate change is less the climactic change itself; I fear the greatest difficulties will be seen in the human response to the phenomenon.
If one uses the Spanish Flu outbreak of 1918-20 as an analogy it was not the influenza infection itself that wreaked havoc on the victims; rather it was the body's inappropriate response to the virus that caused the majority of deaths. It should be remembered that the majority of victims of the Spanish Influenza were relatively young individuals age 20-35 whereas influenza typically devastates the very old and very young.

I unfortunately foresee conflicts arising as desertification accelerates and the productivity of the land decreases.
The American Southwest will get progressively drier and potential for squabbles with Canada will increase as a progressively parched US eyes Canada's fresh water.

China cannot both continue to accelerate it economy and take steps to decrease environmental degradation and greenhouse gas emissions; will her neighbors attempt to modify her behavior? Would they resort to military action? Would the US try to enforce emission accords by force?

Just as it is a challenge Global Climate Change presents to the enlightened an opportunity. For the US the opportunity to separate ourselves from the enslavement of foreign petroleum dependence may become achievable. What will be needed is enlightened courageous leadership something not in particularly great supply these days.

I believe the chances of conflict outweigh the possibility of rising to the challenge and taking advantage of the opportunities.

Answer 8

I think it is a little of both but we always look for someone or thing to blame for everything rather than try to sensibly deal with a situation. Just last week I read an article that Norway is considering killing moose (The National symbol of Norway) because they are emitting (from both ends) 2100 kg of methane a day, the equivalent of two flights from Norway to Santiago Chile can be saved for each moose killed. We have a similar debate going on in the U.S. over cows passing gas. So maybe it isn't us, it is the animal kingdom?
I look at it this way...I do not think mankind caused the ice age and I don't think moose did either but it happened. Our ability to learn and our technology may have contributed to many atmospheric problems but it can also contribute to solutions if we use our fingers to work out the formula for success rather than to point at perceived culprits.
I am sixty four, I hope not as old as I'll ever be but certainly about as wise as I ever expect to get.

Answer 9

I don`t know about wise (my slice of humble pie for the day), but i`ll soon be 54, and I`ve gardened and watched nature all my life. First, it used to snow more when I was younger, and I don`t really believe it was this HUMID. Also, in my area, we have had TWO droughts already this summer, broken by a short rainy spell in between. We`ve had droughts before, but not back to back like this. I am planting earlier, and I have been gardening for at least 30 years. I used to plant summer crops in early may, now I`m planting in late April. Population has doubled in America since I was born (that`s awfully fast), and automobiles on the road has quadrupled, so that has to contribute to pollution. It got so warm, so early in this area, when temperatures returned to normal, an overnight freeze killed a lot of plants indigenous to this area (usually sets them back, but doesn`t kill), because they had already put out full spring growth. It is staying warmer longer. I did my final mowing of the lawn last year on the first of December, the year before, the last week of November. Yet, with all of this, I`ve noticed we are breaking some heat records SET IN the 30`s and 40`s !! If it is global warming, how did it get SO HOT to set those records BACK THEN?

Answer 10

I think it is a combination of natural cycles and humans. We can't do anything about the natural part, but we can do something about humans' part. My fear is that it's too late and the huge amount of ice melting at the north pole will cause the ocean currents to reverse and cause another little ice age like during the dark ages or worse. Either way, we should be looking for cleaner sources of energy if for no other reason than our own health and well being and our future generations.

Answer 11

We're just speeding the warming process up.

O.K. we should know better, but we Globally think in terms of profit and expediency.

I've often wondered if there was a highly intelligent Dinosaur around during the final years.

It probably thought to itself '' If only I could stop these Bronto's breaking wind, I could slow down global warming''.

Then wham; millions of megatons of 'Earth-strike' later it didn't matter anymore.

65 million years later another creature is mulling over the same sort of question.

Anyway the answer is Nature, plus Man stirring the pot.