who thinks global warming is rubbish? Climate change has happened through millions of years?

Answer 1

Of course it has. The climate is constantly changing. That has absolutely nothing to do with the question of whether we causing it to change now.

Answer 2

Cyclic changes in global temperature which have been happening for millions of years due to changes in solar output are irrelevant when considering what is happening now.

In 1985 solar output started to decrease, which should have caused the Earth to enter a global cooling cycle. It didn't. The Earth's surface temperature continued to increase as a direct result of greenhouse gas emissions caused by human activity. The effect had been masked for much of the second half of the 20th century by a phenomenon known as global dimming (caused by particulate pollution in the atmosphere).

As a result of great efforts to reduce such particulate pollution, however, it has now become apparent that the Earth is heating up at an unprecedented rate. If governments and industry put the same efforts into reducing carbon emissions, there is still time to do something about it.

Time is running out fast, however, and people who express views such as yours are not helping. Burying your head in the sand at the least sign of danger, doesn't make the danger go away.

Answer 3

No not rubbish. Man made global warming is real. Why would you not think that dumping billions of tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere every year, year in year out destroying over 70% of all natural forests on the planet would have an effect?

Humans now are the single most populous species of vertebrate on the planet. The impact of Humans on the environment is significant and increasing daily. What absolute nonsense to say, no, we are so small and insignificant, we couldn't possibly have an impact on climate.

By now most people accept that it was human activity that created the 'ozone hole' (not a real hole in any normal sense). The best evidence is that since humans have stopped dumping the offending chemicals into the atmosphere, the 'hole' has been getting smaller. The offending chemicals involved in that disaster were just a tiny tiny amount in comparison to the huge volumes of green house gases we dump every day.

Those tiny amounts were enough to produce real, large scale destruction of high altitude ozone vital to protecting life on this planet. Humans are very capable of causing plant wide effects with their activity. Man made global warming is just another example!

Answer 4

I don't think it is rubbish.

The climate has changed through millions years many times previously, what is happening now, and what is beginning to happen now, is quite unique.

1. First, let's have a look at the ice cores showing the record of climate change in the past:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/Ice_Age_Temperature.png

There is a clear record of climatic change here showing a switch between ice age and interglacial over this 450,000 year period.

2. What caused this primary shifting between the two climate states? For this you need to know a little about the Earth's orbit and Milankovitch cycles. Milankovitch cycles are periodic shifts in the amount of sunlight that reaches the Earth. The shifts occur because the Earth's orbit changes ever so slightly over time. Here is another graph detailing how Milankovitch cycles correlate beautifully with the changing climate:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/Vostok_420ky_4curves_insolation.jpg

3. Can Milankovitch cycles explain the climate change all on their own? No.

To explain all of the changes seen in the ice cores you need to include other factors, one of which is CO2 and methane - greenhouse gases. If you examine CO2 and methane concentrations during the period of climate change in the past you see an excellent correlation, look again at this:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/Vostok_420ky_4curves_insolation.jpg

When you include the predicted warming influence of these gases then you can start to explain all of the changes in temperature. CO2 and methane were instrumental and are instrumental in causing the Earth's climate to change in the past.

4. What are the trends in these gases doing at the moment?

CO2:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/88/Mauna_Loa_Carbon_Dioxide.png

Methane:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Methane-global-average-2006.jpg

My point, gases which have a known warming effect on the climate are increasing in concentration due to human industrial activity.

5. What is the temperature doing now?

http://tamino.files.wordpress.com/2007/04/gistemp.jpg

6. Can natural causes explain this temperature rise? No. The Sun, volcanism, cosmic rays either aren't changing at the rate required to explain this temperature rise or aren't acting in a way to change the climate in the way that has been observed. If you try to model the Earth's climate using natural factors only in your model then you consistently fail to describe any of the observed warming, yet if you include greenhouse gases in the model then suddenly the model manages to re-create the observations, have a look:

http://www.grida.no/climate/ipcc_tar/wg1/figspm-4.htm

Answer 5

The climate is always changing, this is a universally accepted fact. We have over half a billion years of climate data that shows us how the climate has changed. The problem is that at no time has it ever been known to change as quickly as it's doing now.

The concern isn't so much that the climate is changing but that it's changing far faster than any natural event could possibly account for.

Answer 6

It sounds like you're referring to the cyclic pattern of ice ages and thaws when you say "climate change". No one can argue with the fact that that those cycles have been around a long time and been known a long time.

Global Warming is a recent (in terms of the age of the earth) phenomenon, caused by human industrial activity. They resemble each other only if you ignore all issues of scale, both timescale, and magnitude.

The paid lobbyists and the people paying them like to apply the climate change term to global warming, to sort of "sanitize" the issue, and make it sound benign.

Answer 7

Climate change is cyclical, and happening all the time. During the last 10,000 years, since the end of the last ice age the planet has been warming. Hence the 300 ft. rise in the sea level since that time. Before the reversal and cooling age begins again the sea level will rise another 90 ft. or so. And what damage will that bring! Think about it. A simple change in the gulf stream causes unbelievable changes in the weather. There is much, much more to climate change than C02 levels. But this is what the media and hysteria mongers would have us believe. Yes, we need to work on pollution, but it will not stop global warming.

Answer 8

Climate change has happened over millions of years. it is natural for the world temperature to rise and fall continuously. But we are making the temprature rise more than it has been over these millions of years and it is showing no sign of lowering again. Any way you look at it we cant escape the fact that we are damaging the environment and need to make a change. many people try and use this fact as an 'escape route' saying we dont actually need to make a change and its natural, but we do!

Answer 9

No, it's not rubbish. Look at the pollutants that we are putting into the air. Have you seen a picture of Beijing? It's frightening.

Before the Industrial Revolution things were very different. Go to some Websites and read up on it.

Answer 10

The warming is happening. Just as it has throughout the history of the earth. The rubbish is the notion that man is doing it rather than nature. Or that man can somehow stop it or even have an effect on it. That part is a scam to keep these phony, so called scientists, from having to get a real job. And to give the leftists like Al Gore a reason to push more taxes and more control of the masses. All we need now is another silly Mikey Moore propaganda movie.

Answer 11

Of course climate change has been occurring for millions of years. It has been hotter than it is now and there have been higher CO2 concentrations that current levels.

The difference is ........ this time there are people trying to make a living off scaring the slow thinking politicians.

Cheers !