Do you believe the Global Warming theory?

Question

I have trouble buying it....because growing up the "Hole in The Ozone Layer" was the big theory and now it's become "Global Warming"....

Not a big Gore fan either maybe thats why...

I like the Gaia Hypothesis though....

plus there are alot of theories out there like the movement of the earth's axis causing an ice age and so forth....

Answer 1

Yes. The hole in the ozone layer was a similar problem which we solved (research the Montreal Protocol if interested).

There are many basic scientific facts which can only be explained if the current global warming is being caused by an increased greenhouse effect due to carbon dioxide accumulating in the atmosphere from humans burning fossil fuels.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=As6MMc8lLk5ZrMSOAhywS77sy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20071215102828AAxyWW6

Basically we know it's warming, and we've measured how much:

http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/science/recenttc_triad.html

Scientists have a good idea how the Sun and the Earth's natural cycles and volcanoes and all those natural effects change the global climate, so they've gone back and checked to see if they could be responsible for the current global warming. What they found is:

Over the past 30 years, all solar effects on the global climate have been in the direction of (slight) cooling, not warming. This is during a very rapid period of global warming.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6290228.stm
http://www.pubs.royalsoc.ac.uk/media/proceedings_a/rspa20071880.pdf

So the Sun certainly isn't a large factor in the current warming. They've also looked at natural cycles, and found that we should be in the middle of a cooling period right now.

"An often-cited 1980 study by Imbrie and Imbrie determined that 'Ignoring anthropogenic and other possible sources of variation acting at frequencies higher than one cycle per 19,000 years, this model predicts that the long-term cooling trend which began some 6,000 years ago will continue for the next 23,000 years.'"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milankovitch_cycle

So it's definitely not the Earth's natural cycles. They looked at volcanoes, and found that

a) volcanoes cause more global cooling than warming, because the particles they emit block sunlight

b) humans emit over 150 times more CO2 than volcanoes annually

http://volcano.und.edu/vwdocs/Gases/man.html

So it's certainly not due to volcanoes. Then they looked at human greenhouse gas emissions. We know how much atmospheric CO2 concentrations have increased over the past 50 years:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Mauna_Loa_Carbon_Dioxide.png

And we know from isotope ratios that this increase is due entirely to human emissions from burning fossil fuels. We know how much of a greenhouse effect these gases like carbon dioxide have, and the increase we've seen is enough to have caused almost all of the warming we've seen over the past 30 years (about 80-90%). You can see a model of the various factors over the past century here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Climate_Change_Attribution.png

This is enough evidence to convince almost all climate scientists that humans are the primary cause of the current global warming.

Answer 2

Yes, I do accept the theory of anthropogenic global warming. There are a number of things we know for definite: 1. Light from the sun travels to earth. Some of it is absorbed by materials on the earth's surface and they get hot. These hot objects radiate heat back into space. Our atmosphere contains greenhouse gases that prevent some of this heat being lost. Hence the earth and the moon have very different average temperatures. 2. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas. We've known this since the 1850's when an Irish physicist named John Tyndall examined the properties of atmospheric gases. 3. Human activities (burning fossil fuels, for example) release huge quantities of CO2 into our atmosphere that wouldn't have been present had we not released them. The figure is currently close to 30 billion metric tonnes per year. Although some might dispute this specific number, the figure is definitely in the tens of billions of tonnes. 4. CO2 cannot just vanish. So the global warming theory is simple. If we pump gases into our atmosphere in large quantities, and we know some of those gases are greenhouse gases, and we know all that CO2 doesn't just vanish, then the laws of physics tell us our planet will get warmer. The problem with the skeptic view is that they must explain why, if CO2 is a greenhouse gas and we're pumping additional CO2 into the atmosphere, it is NOT having the warming effect the laws of physics tell us it should. This how science works - you don't just speculate but show the flaw in the theory. Skeptics pick away at graphs or papers or particular analysis methods but never deal with the actual issue they need to address - what is wrong with the laws of physics? They would have us believe that it is coincidence that CO2 levels are rising right when we're pumping CO2 into the atmosphere. They would have us believe that a natural cause is causing our planet to warm right when we're pumping huge quantities of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. They'd have us believe that it is coincidence that the naturally occuring CO2 increase and naturally occuring temperature rise just happen to APPEAR exactly like what we'd expect if human activities were causing it. What they haven't shown is a. what are these natural causes and b. how do these natural causes fit the temperature and CO2 concentration data. Or they simply think thousands of scientists are lying to them (why would they lie about something that affects their own wallets? Scientists pay taxes too ...) Finally, in response to previous posters, there is a myth circulating the web that 'global warming has stopped for the last 15 years'. This is nonsense. The planet has warmed by 0.1 degrees in the last 15 years. The last 15 years were amongst the warmest in the last 130 years. What led to this claim was cherry-picking the data - if you isolate a few points close together on a curve they'll look nearly flat, whereas if you take lots of points (ie over a greater period of time) you'll see the actual curve.

Answer 3

You are right to be skeptical. The Ozone hole was baloney.

There was a volcanic eruption in the pacific during the Ozone hole scare. That eruption created a hole in the Ozone layer larger than the one the scientist were watching. Within a few years the atmosphere recovered. Conclusion. The Ozone scare allowed Chemical companies to quit producing Freon, at a few cents per pound and sell the new stuff which is not as efficient (uses more energy) and cost dollars a pound.

I was in college in 1975 the concern then. Ice age. OK it didn't happen but one thing hasn't changed the hottest year on record is stilll in the 1930's. If global temperatures were rapidly increasing due to CO2 emissions from human activities the hottest year on record would be 2007.

The actual data is not consistent with the models predicting a run away greenhouse effect. In fact the average global temperature has been falling for the last three years. Maybe we will slip into an ice age.

Answer 4

The 'hole in the ozone theory' was a very real fact. It's bacause we took action and banned the chemicals that were causing the 'hole' that it's now begining to repair itself. The scientists were absolutley correct in their findings on that occasion. Had we not acted when we did the damage by now would be very serious and we would all be suffering the consequences.

I'm not a big Al Gore fan either. At the end of the day he's effectively a spokesperson reiterating the science of others. Far better to get your information from a first hand, credible source such as NASA.

As to whether I believe the theory, yes I do. Not because of Al Gore or anything like that but because I've spent many years studying it as part of my job.

Answer 5

This week, one of NASA's top scientists concluded that the Arctic Ocean could be nearly ice-free within five years, much faster than all previous predictions.

when the north pole is gone , you may have polar bears soon in America ,looking for a home ,

Calculations do not include the accumulative ,speeding up ,factor with time. the increase in water temperature will get faster all the time as well as the melting,

when the ice is all gone the deeper cold Ocean currents will stop ,and the drag has gone with it ,also changing the higher warm currents,And only the moon will keep things moving


This will affect coastal climates ,world wide ,almost instantly. All aquatic flora and fauna will be affected,many dying off and others becoming invasive,

Right now In Chiapas ,and Tabasco in Mexico .more then a million people became homeless overnight with water coming up to their roofs ,because of rains from super evaporation from the forests,this had never happened before. Millions of animals died.

In India 3000 people died because of super storms .

.A few years ago in Europe 3500 people,died during a heat wave ,many of them in France .

Right now the average death toll annually is 150.000 due to Global warming

. these figures are already out of date and are expected to double soon.

In Northern China millions of people are running for their lives because regular dust storms so far have buried 900 villages under the sand and the whole of northern China is turning into a dessert.

The Sahara is growing by 7 kilometers a year all around the edges ,like a slow burning fire shriveling up their neighbors In the Kalahari huge rivers have dried up and thousand of species are gone due to their habitats disappearing .

The biggest changes are invisible at micro biotic levels species are becoming extinct ,others are multiplying ,

This affects the insect populations that follow ,and changes in that ,affect all that follows in the food chains ,

All life is interrelated of both flora and fauna, And since we are on the top of the food chain ,
we are always the last to know.

So Global warming has its toll there are incidents all over the world ,

But i think that The truth is being distorted at high levels,
And lies have been weaved in.

Some of the real dangers are being hidden because there are no solutions , Public could panic.and Authorities would loose control .

Besides Corporations have other priorities and changes will cause loss of profits ,this also affects the truths being published

Others facts are exaggerated so that the phenomena can be used to milk the people.

This is further complicated with Arrogance that will not admit that mankind could be guilty, or that Gods could be out of control ,unloving or incompetent.

Global Warming is true, there are Natural fazes but we are affecting that to a great extent ,with deforestation ,desertification and pollution., especially air pollution.

I do not think we can make a real difference anymore to change the tide.

On a Global scale,Humanity is not co operative enough .
The poor regions have other priorities such as daily survival.

There is a lot we can do about being more responsible with what we got ,

but In the first world countries many do not care or are more interested in Global Control than Global Warming

Answer 6

How can we close this endless Global Warming thread?
There are thousands of articles concerning the facts of Global Warming in this forum. Everybody can search and read them.

Stop this endless global warming 'questions', please: Go to report and block this spam!

Answer 7

Do you believe the Global Warming theory?

I Agree.

Answer 8

cause and effect ozone layer thinning out allows more radiation in poles warming up ice melts climate changes temperature shifts hotter summers colder winters one thing leads into another one big chain reaction

Answer 9

It is warmer now, yes. Is it an epidemic or something to be worried about or change lifestyles? Resounding N-O! It is called a earth cycle. From the time of the beginning it has been happening. It will continue happening LONG after you and I are gone. We just happen to be in a warmer cycle at the moment.

Answer 10

I believe it is true because the ice age average temerature dropped 6 degrees and it has risen 3 degrees,fast,so yes.