Let's assume global warming is man made or not happening, what does that mean we should do or not do?

Question

I'm genuinely curious here - what do you do differently or not if there is no global warming or if humans have no impact on it?

Please refrain from snarky "liberal" or "conservative" quips.

Refrain from pre-packaged opinions from any source - simply tell me about what YOU think - not what Rush or Greenpeace thinks.

Talk about yourself - not what evils "those other people" will do.

I'm not asking if global warming exists - I'm asking what we should or shouldn't do if it doesn't exist or isn't man-made.

Great answers.

Answer 1

We should try to clean up the environment and break our dependence on fossil fuels by developing alternative energy sources.

Our “addiction” to oil, for instance, is causing political and economic problems.

Answer 2

I think there have to be two answers to this. First, if global warming were a natural cycle, then I'd at least need to plan for rising sea levels, and move the population to higher elevations.
If global warming is not happening, then we don't need to do anything about the effects of global warming. I think that part is a no-brainer.

Was the question wider, however? For example, are you asking if we should still do something about greenhouse gases? If so, then the answer is yes, no matter what. For three reasons: 1) too much greenhouse gas might cause future global warming, and 2) we are running out of fossil fuels, and need to find an alternative before we don't have enough oil to smelt the solar panels/wind vanes, and 3) along with fossil fuel burning comes a ton of associated pollution. Just look at the oil spills in history, including one this week!

Answer 3

I live in New Mexico, and I have come to be very conscious of the need to preserve what we have. Water is an issue here, we don't have much, and as a result, we have very few green lawns, we rarely water our grass, and we have made an art-form out of desert foliage.
I personally don't drive a big car, and I don't drive anywhere I don't have to.
I heat with a pellet stove,(low emissions), and I cool with a swamp cooler.
We have central heat and air, but we don't use them.
This has been going on for years, not just recently, and because of this, I cannot think of anything else I can do to preserve what we have.
I have a philosophy, the philosophy is, I will do what I can, and let God take care of the rest.
We cannot control everything, and as long as we do our part, we shouldn't worry about the rest. There are many things that require my worry because on those things, I haven't yet done my part.
If people want to feel guilty about something they have no control over, then they have the right to amuse themselves.
I don't have time.

Answer 4

Both assumptions would be in error. However, I think your main question is, what do we do, not do about it? We do our best to bring the science to a meaningful level where the Earth's cycles of warming and cooling are better understood and overwhelmingly agreed upon by real scientists using real data and proven principles.

We continue to study the ice core samples, the natural extinction and and replacement by different species. Connection to our Sun's cycles, the shifting magnetic field of our own planet, etc.

We SHOULD, start to plan for locating/building new port facilities in accordance with a revised shoreline. We SHOULD start to slowly move the cities populations further inland, for they will eventually flood, and some might even be hit by Tsunamis if an ice sheet of very large size were to suddenly drop into the ocean.

Answer 5

Look to cleaner fuels.
I've got perhaps a hundred Scientific Americans, with dozens upon dozens of ideas for energy.

Such as an efficient, clean solar-powered array that, instead of producing electricity, produces pure hydrogen from water. It's made of nano-tubes, which pose no environmental threat, and produce a clean fuel. And it would be cheaper. No high prices because of faulty refineries, or because of OPEC, or any of that. Imagine a nation driven off of dew in the morning.

And more people need to walk than drive. Driving half a mile? Waste of gas and increases pollutants. Even three-four miles are easily walkable.
I feel like I'm one of the few people who can say I've walked two miles to school every day, and two miles back (though now I changed schools, and so it's too dangerous for me to get there. No sidewalks and cross walks at all, and I have to cross a busy intersection)

Answer 6

If humans have no impact (which is really not possible, since CO2 is a greenhouse gas), then there's clearly little we can do. We would need to figure out what is causing the current warming so we can predict whether it will continue, because if the planet is going to continue to warm then we need to prepare for the consequences.

If humans are the primary cause, then we need to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, beginning immediately. Scientists have predicted that we have to reduce our emissions by at least 50% by the year 2050, and to meet this goal we need to begin reducing them significantly within the next few years in order to avoid catastrophic climate change.

Answer 7

Even though global warming is real it is natural just like global cooling. There has been no evidence that proves that climate change is man made. the biggest companies to profit from cap and trade would be companies like GE who use so called green energy like wind turbines.

Answer 8

*IF* it ends up true that we are not largely responsible for Global warming, then there are NO actions we can take to keep it from getting worse.

I believe we are responsible, so what we can do is take all or at least some of the several courses to ween ourselves off of fossil fuels. (green energy, solar energy, geothermic energy, clean burning crop-based energy etc etc)

on the other hand...if Global warming isn't even happening, we don't need to do anything.

though we should still try to shift our enegery dependence from FINITE resources (there is only SO MUCH oil in the earth's crust) to infinite resources... for the good of our future generations.

Answer 9

I have no problem with being responsible for waste and natural resources within reason.

However, Global Warming, caused by man, is a myth in my opinion.

I think there is not enough scientific evidence to prove in favor of.

There is still too much we just don't know yet to blame humans alone.

I see contradictions on both sides of the argument, but I can only go by my own experiences with climate change.

Answer 10

Well, since man-made global warming doesn't exist we should concentrate on real problems like energy independence and reducing environmental pollutants. I think we should build nuclear plants because they are the cleanest and safest fuel available. Meanwhile we should continue to investigate viable alternative fuels.