Why do most of the questions asked here on Y!A Global Warming seem completely absurd?

Question

Is it because there are many here trying to shut down serious discussion of this topic?

Here are some examples of questions asked on Y!A:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ak3XrpEdDL1xBTPwoYVyvKsS.Rd.;_ylv=3?qid=20070910141742AAva97r
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=ArZEisb1HmWVOs695hePkfAS.Rd.;_ylv=3?qid=20070910092016AAJchkL
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Aiz6a32DkZ2WZ4Iv_eujJycS.Rd.;_ylv=3?qid=20070910091503AAE0hnF
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AqYOpETIPnN8yp.zCMsAIucS.Rd.;_ylv=3?qid=20070910023700AAf0lCP

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ak3XrpEdDL1xBTPwoYVyvKsS.Rd.;_ylv=3?qid=20070909173304AALMqMw
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ap9TAV6REvGb9u3AmPRdVkkS.Rd.;_ylv=3?qid=20070908223532AARBlat
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ak3XrpEdDL1xBTPwoYVyvKsS.Rd.;_ylv
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AtY6NsES3.P7AWUF2pwv2yIS.Rd.;_ylv=3?qid=20070908144518AAzAV13
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AsMATXYyF3WJff2sQ2def8AS.Rd.;_ylv=3?qid=20070908140551AATbPjE
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AhSBAJzz4OEARaGN2VaZ9MgS.Rd.;_ylv=3?qid=20070908125948AAWAgD3

Answer 1

Clearly a lot of people just want to know, because it's the most important scientific issue of these times. When I was young the exploration of space was the big issue, and I asked a lot of questions.

I don't pretend to understand the conspiracy theorists and their bond to the idea that it's all a hoax. It's obvious they are from the same mold as Alex Jones, Bill Kaysing, Ralph Rene and any of the rest of them. They're almost always promoting multiple conspiracy theories, not just one. Often their theories and "proofs" are contradictory, and mutually exclusive, as with GW, but it doesn't bother them.

I saw a special on 911 consiracy theories this week, and it was eye opening. They would show one of the theorists stating one of the aspects of their theory, usually an interpretation of a written or recorded comment, or an interpretation of technical evidence such as a photograph. Then they would show someone like the person who originally made the statement, or a leading expert on the subject. When they were corrected about the item, they would not accept it, no matter what. Anything that disagrees with their belief is fake evidence. For example, one of their points was that debris was found in a suburb 6 1/2 miles from the flight 93 crash site. This "proves" that the plane was blown up, and didn't just crash. Now that claim has been looked at multiple times by NTSB and FAA experts, as well as representatives of the News media who originally published the information, and the people who live in the suburb. The consensus was that the reporters (by their own statements) had used Mapquest to estimate the distance. Mapquest will give you the distance by road, not line of sight. The distance as the crow flies is about 2 miles, well within the normal crash site debris radius. Did the theorists take the factoid out of their theory? Of course not! Those other people are all paid to conduct a hoax, of course.

GW Deniers like to claim that scientists were "screaming" that another ice age was coming back in the 1970's. I saw one guy say "I know it's true, I saw it in Newsweek, so the people who say it is false are all blankety-blanks." The truth is easy to establish, because there was only one scientific report about Climate Change in the entire decade. That was by the National Research Council. It discussed both Global Warming and the ice age theory. That sort of tells me Global Warming existed back then, and wasn't invented in the 1980's, as the theorists say. As far as the ice age business, that originated with one guy, Lowell Ponte. He published one book, and I read it when it was new. It contradicted all the rest of the experts and said it was going to be an ice age instead. It made the NY Times bestseller list, so naturally it got written up in Time, Newsweek, etc., and the tabloids. He never published a scientific paper on the subject, and neither did anyone else. The Conspiracy Theorists like to state that there was an article in National Geographic saying "An Ice Age is Coming, An Ice Age is Coming!" There's a grain of truth to that one too. National Geographic did do an article discussing climate change, both global warming and the ice age business. They did NOT say one was wrong and the other right. I have that article, and every other National Geographic issue from the 1970's that mention weather, climate, or "ice age". Rush Limbaugh likes to refer to this article as the best proof of their ice age. He has been corrected by National Geographic, the people who wrote the article, and thousands of others, but he continues to say it. I suspect the reason National Geographic took no stand was that one of the conclusions of the NRC report was that we didn't know enough to predict either one. They made some recommendations about things we needed, like supercomputers. I see people posting that they discussed it in science class when they were in elementary or secondary school. When I was that age, we discussed flying cars and cities under the sea. So what?

It's kind of troubling that we seem to be getting more of these folks as time goes by. The belief in one's own infallability and/or invincibility is a defining component of bipolar disorder. I'm not saying they all have that, the DSMV-IV is more complex than that, and I'm sure it can be a component of other problems too. It's interesting that we're also getting more autism, ADHD, alzheimers, and many others that no one can give an explanation for. I wonder if it has anything to do with pollution?

Answer 2

Unfortunately, plenty of individuals use Yahoo Answers to not ask questions however to make statements disguised as questions. This is notably common within the Global Warming phase. Although I have levels in central fields and decades of official revel in, I hardly ever reply questions within the phase anymore on the grounds that of the severe positions and language frequently displayed there.

Answer 3

Some of the questions are absurd but then some of the people asking them really don't know what they're talking about - that's not meant to be disrtespectful, it's just how it is.

There are some questions which may appear absurd but they might be being asked by kids or people who don't profess to know anything about Global Warming.

There are also some serious questions from both skeptics and beleivers, it's a case of sorting the wheat from the chaff, but I guess that's the same in all sections of Answers.

Answer 4

I think science can have a fun side, when you familiarize yourself with some of the regulars at this section, you can easily understand some of the play full swats between some of the more interesting ego's within this section.

But some of the questions named are not that absurd, about can we build this, that is what we humans do. For instance the chimney to space question, maybe not a chimney to space, but perhaps a chimney to the stratosphere. That's only about six or seven miles up. You could literally put a thermostat on earths climate, if you built enough of them.

Answer 5

I think that many people are just confused on what global warming actually is and to me global warming means "Global destabilization" since the weather around many parts of the world is not only getting warmer, it is just becoming more erratic with fiercer storms, colder and hotter weather, more floods, etc, so as to why they call it global warming I am not quite sure, but I really think that it should be called global destabilization.

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Along with lots of environmental info, amazing environmental pictures and videos (These videos show the beauty of this world and what life can be like if people take the time to appreciate life’s true beauty).

Let us all strive for a greener/brighter future by helping to create a solid foundation for future generations to build upon, so we can hand them a beautiful world, filled with never ending awe and wonders!!

Where peoples differences and uniqueness are accepted, where we all live as one, helping one another so that we can all play our own mysteriously beautiful melodies in the never ending, awe inspiring, song of life :-)

I truly have faith in humanity and believe that someday our lives and the world in which we live will truly be transformed for the better.

Answer 6

It's not calculated agression.

Most of the people here are not scientists. Many have very little scientific training. Few have read the peer reviewed scientific literature in its' original form, or know how to research a topic, other than getting information from politically biased websites.

It's not limited to global warming, other scientific forums on Y!A frequently have similar questions.

Answer 7

Mr Jello is the joker who started all this fun in the global warming section. Now many people are trying to be like this Mr Jello. He's not a serious man. We get rid of him and we will get rid of the bad apple that is spoiling all the other apples.

Answer 8

Hopefully the new reporting system will help to provide some quality control to curtail exactly that, at least if it is used properly. Read the Community Guidelines and it you believe it violates those guidelines report it.

Answer 9

They're called trolls. If you think that's bad go look at some of the questions in the Vegetarian and Vegan section.

Answer 10

because Global Warming is absurd (not that it isn't a concern, but you have been duped by politicians and their need you have your vote.. Try real science and the the test of falsibility and the scientific method!