Is Global Warming a real concern?

Question

I don't believe in global warming. I've studied it long and hard, and have found it to be a hoax that the media is pushing at we the people, simply because adopting orphans is out of style, and they need a new "cause" to care about.

However, a woman in my art class doesn't seem to agree with me. Could I get some more points to bring up to her the next time we talk about it?

Answer 1

Real and mostly caused by us.

The evidence proving this is enormous and varied. So this post will be long. The real proof is in the even longer links.

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://ipcc-wg1.ucar.edu/wg1/wg1-report.html
summarized at:
http://www.ipcc.ch/SPM2feb07.pdf

It's (mostly) not the sun:

http://solar-center.stanford.edu/sun-on-earth/FAQ2.html

And the first graph above shows that the sun is responsible for about 10% of it. When someone says it's the sun they're saying that thousands of climatologists are stupid and don't look at the solar data. That's ridiculous.

Science is quite good about exposing bad science or hoaxes:

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/ATG/polywater.html

There's a large number of people who agree that it is real and mostly caused by us, who are not liberals, environmentalists, stupid, or conceivably part of a "conspiracy". Just three examples of many:

"Global warming is real, now, and it must be addressed."

Lee Scott, CEO, Wal-Mart

"Our nation has both an obligation and self-interest in facing head-on the serious environmental, economic and national security threat posed by global warming."

Senator John McCain, Republican, Arizona

“DuPont believes that action is warranted, not further debate."

Charles O. Holliday, Jr., CEO, DuPont

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/412.php?lb=hmpg1&pnt=412&nid=&id=

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

"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://environment.newscientist.com/channel/earth/dn11462
http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/science/
http://www.realclimate.org
"climate science from climate scientists"

Answer 2

Well, first of all to point a fact of the matter global warming is real. That is to say it is a natural factor of the Earth. There are geological historical points where they know that the Earth has experienced global warmings. It seems to be a pattern over 10,000-100,000 years. The thing is, we could have just as well have been going into a global cooling phase too. But the evidence does come from the last 135 years of geographical data and before this they have been able to use dendrology, glacier core sampling, and other things as well. Now, do we contribute to this global warming factor??? Again, there is considerable evidence that we do. But what is not known is how much of an impact on global warming do we have???? The truth is, no one really knows . . . but they can speculate. And if I were to speculate, I would say that we have a minor impact overall. There are forces that are far beyond our capabilities at play in global warming, and the main global warming or greenhouse gas is water vapor. Another major contributer are CO2 and Oxygen. But, really one can argue the truth is vulcano's produce the most greenhouse gases in the world. That is they produce almost all the water, and most of the CO2. The oceans in fact store over 50% of the worlds oxygen and CO2. This will of course vary with the varying temperatures of the oceans over time. Because of the varying temps you have an increase and decrease in the level of these gases in the atmosphere due to the saturation content. These are the main determinants of the greenhouse effect/global warming in my humble opinion.

Answer 3

Hello Sarah,

I firmly do beleive in global warming having also studied it long and hard. All the same, I'll give you an honest answer here...

You will find very little credible arguments that refute anthropogenic global warming. Strip away the media, the politics, Al Gore and all the rest and you're left with the science - the cold hard facts. When you look at these there's nothing for you to go on.

Sure, there are plenty of arguments doing the rounds of various websites and forums such as this one but they don't stand up to scrutiny. There are loads of points you could bring up but then, there are loads of points you could bring up to support an argument that the world is flat.

Sorry.

PS - If you have the time, I'd be interested to know why you beleive global warming is a hoax.

Answer 4

I am curious to know what exactly you have studied long and hard about, because it most certainly was not global warming. Global warming is real and it's an issue for the entire planet to be concerned about. Do some more research.

Answer 5

Since you are so convinced that it is a hoax and you pose as an expert on the subject matter, why in H*%& are you asking us?

I happened to be a professional (Retired) Environmental control engineer and I wish I could corner you into a debate on the subject to teach you a few things about the (I know better) attitude you express in your question!

Answer 6

It soesn't matter if you believe it or not-global warming is real. And if you really had "studied it" you'd know that. As for getting some "points to argure withh"--there are none. Scientific facts are not decided by opinion, but by evidence. The evidence proves global warming is real--so there are no "points" for you to use.

Answer 7

Have a look at Michael Crichton's "state of fear" or "the great global warming swindle" for a few more perspectives. These sources and this webpage...

http://www.stuffintheair.com/globle-warming.html

...make good places to start.

Answer 8

No it is just a natural cycle of the planet it has happened many times before and it is happening again.

Answer 9

http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2006/08/30/mits_inconvenient_scientist/

Answer 10

now if it was then why would every body do when the ocean is rising