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by Im Alec has abandoned this account on November 20th, 2006
I have been asked to put in my $0.02 on this.
There are actually three questions here:
1. Is global warming occurring?
2. Is it caused by man?
3. Does it matter?
The answer to #1 is pretty solid - it is occurring. Even some of the skeptics are now agreeing that it is happening, and the evidence, as Stableboy has pointed out, is overwhelming. *All* the major scientific institutions accept it. And in answer to Mr.McClister, scientists are not so stupid as not to notice the towns growing; the measurements they use are taken at that sites that are still isolated. Or, more certainly, use indirect measurements like isotope ratios in coral and Antarctic ice. The fact of warming is beyond reasonable dispute.
#2. Is it caused by man? People point out that the world has been both warmer and colder in the past. Maybe it is just the sun, or something to do with the earth's orbit, or a regular cycle, or something else. This is a comforting thought, because (a) there is nothing that we can do about it, so we don't need to worry and certainly don't need to change our habits, and (b) whatever the effect is, it may have stopped, so we can stop worrying about it going any further.
The trouble here is that no-one has come up with a convincing case for any other theory. The case that warming is cause by CO2 emissions is not quite as strong as the case that it is occurring at all, but it is pretty good - and it is the only working theory in sight. If a policeman finds a body and a man standing beside with a smoking gun, he doesn't think that it might be someone else who had rushed out of the room - he arrests the man with the gun, and they can sort it out later in court. Burning fossil fuels are the smoking gun in this case - there is a very strong case to answer, and we need to act on it until something else is found and demonstrated to the same level of conviction as the greenhouse effect.
#3. Does it matter. Hey - throw away your parka and buy a new pair of Ray Bans - summer is a-coming! Well, it doesn't work so easily. The problem is not so much the absolute temperature as the change in temperature. Give enough time, the Earth will stabilise in a new pattern - as, detractors point out, it has so many times before. True - but that time is measured in thousands if not tens of thousands of years. And during the change a *lot* of damage will be done.
In the natural world, thousands of species will go extinct. Of course, in a few thousand years, their ecological niches will be occupied by new species - but there is a gap when the world ecosystems will look significantly more battered. And the effect will be worsened because of man's other effects on the environment. When forest is felled, the seeds left in the ground will be the wrong kind to grow in the new climate, so man's harm to the environment will be increased.
And for the man-made word, lots of systems and structures designed for the world as it is now will malfunction in the new environment. Hurricane Katrina was an example of the sort of thing that will become more common. Of course, New Orleans was uniquely vulnerable, and Katrina may have occurred without warming (or may not), but weather systems will continue to attack the chinks in our armor ever more aggressively. And 200 million people may be made homeless when most of Bangladesh disappears under water.
More subtly, the wheat growing belt of the US Mid West may move north, so that wheat can only be grown near the Canadian border or north of it. Farmers will have to change crops. For US farmers, this is handleable. OK, the wheat growing equipment becomes obsolete and they have to switch to other crops. This means that all their customers have switch as well - wheat bread may become a luxury. But we in the developed world can handle it. But in the poor world, without agricultural advisers and crop research institutes, their crops will fail and they will have no substitute. And they will start moving, because the alternative is death.
If you take the outer space view, in ten thousand years it will all have settled down - and with 6 billion of is, there are already too many. The human species can lose a few hundred million without being at any risk.
But if you take an earth based view, those ten thousand years are the ones we, or children, grandchildren etc. have to live through. And those few hundred million people, if not ourselves, are our fellow humans. Normal human decency demands that we take action.
by Nulinvoid on December 21st, 2006
Before anyone reads this, I'll warn everyone, It's is a very strong rant.
I personally do not care whether global warming is provable or not. The fact is enough scientists are concerned about it that it is worth considering.
And what are thes scientists asking us to do to fix it? Clean up our air, our water, and the fithy industrial habits that are polluting our earth. They are asking us to do things that we ought to be doing anyway, regardless of global warming.
Yeah, they are asking companies and the government to do extremely expensive things to accomplish this. SO WHAT???
Is money worth more than life?
Even if global warming is not happening, there are enough other threats resulting from our filthy habits.
Would you rather wait until it's proven before we do something? At that time it will be too late.
The purpose behind the alert is to get people to do something before it's too late.
Have any of you ever been to your local dump?
Were any of you there at the same dump twenty years ago? Thirty years ago? Have you ever studied how long it is expected to be before the land used for dumping will be usable again?
If you can see the full picture of what is happening with our solid waste alone, and cannot see that we are slowly destroying our planet, then you have no eyes.
So what if there is no global warming? What if the rainforests being destroyed is not having any effect on our global oxygen supply? What if there is no acid rain? What if all of these threats are unprovable? SO WHAT?????
It's simple common sense that allows us to look at billows of toxic smoke eminating from factories, exhaust from our cars, household trash in our dumps, twenty to fifty year old toxic waste dumps, etcetera, etcetera ad nauseum, and say to ourselves, "*THIS* *IS* *WRONG*!" AND "WE NEED TO CHANGE!"
As far as I am concerned anyone who can look at all that and then turn to another human being and say "it'll cost too much, and besides it hasn't really been proven any damage is happening" can go suck an exhaust pipe!
Then I want them to tell me how refreshing it is.
Edit: I feel I should mention that my remarks are not directed at anyone in particular here on AB. After reviewing this it almost looks like it is.
I realize there are different opinions on global warming. I'm responding to attitudes I have heard elsewhere, not on AB. So please don't take this personally. It's a response to an attitude I am reminded of by the question itself and other responses I have heard. Most noteably that of Rush Limbaugh.
by Stableboy on November 15th, 2006
If one reads actual science literature (e.g. Scientific American and other journals written and read by scientists) as opposed to politically-flavored science, it seems clear that the consensus is overwhelmingly in favor of (a) C02 levels are rising and causing excess global warming and (b) human consumption of fossil fuels are a major factor and (c) the projected effects are full of unpleasant possibilities.
I'm not a scientist, and I'm not qualified to evaluate the details of everything on this topic. But I do have the sense that those who are disparaging the prevailing wisdom have a lot more non-science "agenda" than those who agree with it.
SciAm pointed out a couple of months ago that there have been something like 900+ peer-reviewed articles on climate change in scientific journals over the last 13 years, and not one of them has disputed the majority view. So it sure seems like people who claim there is no consensus have a lot of tide to hold back.
by Anonymous on November 21st, 2006
I agree. check the temperature of the north and south poles for the last 20 years. the icepacks are slowly melting.
by Anonymous on November 20th, 2006
I believe that global warming is a real phenomenon. However, I don't think it's quite as much of a threat as some people make it out to be. I also don't think it's the government's responsibility to pass legislation to curtail global warming.
Please understand that I am an environmentalist, and that's just my current, possibly ill-informed opinion.
by buddybuddy on October 17th, 2008
i believe that science doesnt have the ability to predict such long term events with such short recorded history.
having said that, global warming and cooling happen on regularly irregular cycles.
to say whether we are in a warming trend or cooling trend is impossible to say.
its tougher than determining whether the stock market will be up or down tommorrow.
by BobSaccamano-is-back on November 19th, 2006
84 degrees the other day here in texas, how can you deny it.
by RockyRun2011 on December 23rd, 2006
I agree it's happening. There's proof, the ice caps are melting. Simple as that.
by Anonymous on October 27th, 2007
I do believe that global warming is happening but I do not believe the politico-scientists on this one. Yes over the last 100 years CO2 levels are rising because of fossil fuel consumption but, I have studied and listened to various theories on the subject and believe it is mostly caused by natural occurrences . The last Ice Age ended about 10,000 years ago as most every one agrees on. Several theories state that the warm an cold cycles last for 10s of thousands of years. We are in the warm cycle. Remember that the cycles were pronounced since the asteroid strike on the Yucatan peninsula 65 million years ago which moved the Earth off it's original orbit by a few hundredths of a degree and stopped the rotation by .000001 of a second. When the tip of the asteroid touched the planet the back end was still 5 miles high. We must remember that even though the changes sound too small to matter when you take into consideration how many millions of miles of space we deal with a few thousand makes a difference. So I believe the cycle effect is running it's course no matter what we do to stop it.
by Shelby on June 17th, 2007
I absolutely agree. Anyone who says it is not real or is "made up" by Al Gore is delusional. I was first taught about global warning like 3rd grade. In Canada. Where Al Gore is completely irrelevant.
by haggis on May 18th, 2007
here in europe they seem to be taking it pretty seriously. i know having come from the US there is a lot of debate but here it is quite overwhelming. i feel like in the US there is a lot of censoring happening especially on the television and major newspapers. we need to educate ourselves and look for alternative ways to reach that information relying on the mainstream will lead us nowhere and fast.
by teknimage on December 27th, 2006
I agree. It's a rare thing when scientists speak out on any issue so loudly and distinctly. The evidence for global warming as being an issue pertinent to our continued comfortable existence on this planet is overwhelming and really indisputable.
Surely, the planet goes through very natural phases of warming and cooling, but these temperature variations and the climactic changes that result occur over a much longer time frame than what we are currently experiencing. The temperature increases that we have witnessed over the past 100 years normally would take millions of years. This has been well-documented in research into geological records. Scientists are able to do look at different rock strata within the Earth's surface and look for CO2 levels that occur in different concentrations in different layers. Increased CO2 brings with it increased temperatures, because of CO2's ability to trap radiation (such as solar/light) as heat. The extreme rate of increase we have seen over the last century has not been found in ever throughout this geologic record.
Really, the evidence for global warming is only disputable by those who choose not to use actual, empirically gained data. These people are either ill-informed or are choosing to disregard impartially presented truthful evidence in favor of ulterior motives which are harmed by these facts. Personally, I would ALWAYS choose to listen to what scientists present over what politicians and oil executives say, mainly because scientist's work and research is open for scrutiny and can be challenged if found to be false. Politicians need to get elected, and pay for the campaigns to do that, and oil executives are beholden to their bottom lines and their shareholders. Who would YOU rather listen to, to get unbiased truth?
by wilmaf on November 15th, 2006
Thank God for global warming or we would still be in the ICE AGE
by Mr. McClister on November 16th, 2006
Disagree completely. Firstly, how do you monitor the Earth's surface nayway. Well, what the "advanced" countries have been doing is using accurate surface thermometers for about 100 years monitoring the same spots; however, we have been monitoring prodominently populated urban areas. Areas which have grown considerably in 100 years and due to the levels of asphalt and other materials have caused the temperature around the city to rise therefore of course the thermometers are going to read that. Secondly, now some will argue, "well, what about the new satellite technologies?" Guess what...the satellites do not favor global warming. If you take into account the temperature raises caused by the cities getting bigger you would see that the temperatures have stayed pretty constant and have recently actually dropped a tad. Also, many will argue, "What about the increased hurrican activity?" Once again you would see hurricanes were up in the early 1900s dropped in the 50's and raised again now...almost as if it is a pattern, like everything else in nature.
Global warming is an overemphasized theory which doesn't have enough solid evidence to be proven. And by the way most noteworthy climatlogist actually disagree with global warming such as Lindzen, from MIT, often referred to as "The most renowned climatologist in all the world."
by redb_ball is away on November 15th, 2006
Disagree- because my science teacher said that in the polar regions of the earth the temperature changes naturally and not because of pollution. plus there is no way that scientists can prove it. But I do think that we should look into new ways to make the air cleaner because putting polutants into the air is gross if nothing else.
by Jim100 on June 2nd, 2008
33 million years ago the acrtic cirle was even warmer than it is today and that is not a theory and there where no humans to 'help' warm the globe then. Of course your question has beckoned an answer since Novermber 2006 so I will dare to say that a theory is only a theory, can someone really give other than another theory? Yes. The earth changes orbit closer and farther away from the sun regularly, ALSO the earth wobbles on its' axis allowing warming of the more sun exposed hemisphere. Beyond this it is also KNOWN that the intensity of the sun varies daily and sun spots tend to increase this intesity.
Obviously when these forces combine themselves resulting in maximum heat intensity it has over millions of years resulted in much farther ranging temperatures than humans have ever experienced. This is a known fact as humans continue to discover remains of both plant and extinct Wolly Mamouths in what is still today mostly frozen regions such as Alaska. So, let me ask you a question, is your 'theory' of global warming, as we obviously are comming out of another ice age, that we are comming out of an ice age, OR is your theory that some how man kind can actually increase this comming out measurably? Further more what 33 million year study to you propose to finance to find the answer? And further more than that which arrogant scientist would you empower to imagine Gods forsight to know what fraction of a degree or not could be attributed to diferentiating between a natural burning forests contribution to atmospheric gas change and the volcanic activity variations over ions. Further more since this plant is known to have been a ball of motlen stone without an atmosphere when it began and even before it collided with the Moon and had 3,000 foot tides (as the moon continues to move away only measured in inches per year) do you add to the theory that we will continue on this cooling trend, and increase in atmospheric gas acumulation over billions of years compared to the cooling that has taken place over 33 million PLUS years? Or is the theory that this temporary blip of mankind can only obviously affect earth so long, especially since three billion years from now the sun will 'theroetically' become a red gaint so large it will consume the earth by becomming so large that its expansion will go far beyond earths orbit? Please expound on THE theory you speak of so I may comment on it. :) Oh by the way here in Chicagoland it is spring so we know this part of the globe WILL heat up until late August, and that is no theory. Beyond regular cyclic warming AND cooling, is there really any intelligent theory? Please let me know of one because I have NEVER heard ONE yet.
OH look at that skyrocketing chart of CO2!! then look at it in reality that it is only a fraction (less than a tenth of a percent) that has been charted in such a way as to scare the crap out of millions(billions?) of people. Or, is that just a theroy that it was intended so. If the facts of this planet repeat themselves you will not know if any cycle of warming of this earth is out of the norm until the polar regions are tropical again for many times longer than it took to form the huge oil deposits in Alaska from tropical sediment. Give me a call in 1 billion years when someone COULD know. I see why no one answered this, it was SO rediculous to speculate on. Though we should all be very worried about those who have tried to scare us on this subject, and I wonder what people's theory is on them. Perhaps they are just forseening high oil prices and want us to find an cheap, safe, environmentally friendly-(not meaning global warming), permanent alternative. Me too!
by Megaman-man COAT in my name on December 16th, 2007
YEs it exist - tottally - The world went into a great Freeze before and now its time for a giant ass Heat, we'll be living in giant Bio Domes to protect us from UV's And all the cars will run or Kerosene() or some other non polluting fuel
by koldkanuck on December 15th, 2007
Its a cycle; humans have little to do with it,
it would still occur with us or without us!
by Quaere Verum on October 29th, 2007
I definitely agree. it's happening, some people don't believe it but i do. just look at the major temperature increase over the past few years! there hasn't been that amount of temperature difference over that amount of time (not sure on the exact figures) since the last ice age!
by Zandalee.Lonely.Lunatic.3yrs-here on August 19th, 2007
Newsflash.....
The Earth goes through ice ages and periods of tropical temperatures..... Humans appeared at the end of an ice age.... so, of course it is warming up!!!
The theory is flawed, this is a natural process.
However I do agree that for the planet and our own health we should find ways to pollute less. I think we should respect our planet and clean it up.
by Anonymous on June 12th, 2007
YES. And i think that we need to find a way to reduce our emitions.
by cayley on June 3rd, 2007
omg! yes,yes,yes! this is not a joke. people need to stop being so selfish and start giving back to the environment.
by Scifisuz on May 24th, 2007
ImAlec's answer was great. No dispute that global temperatures are not constant and never have been. Are human's impacting the warming/cooling cycles? No one has proven conclusively one way or another. Al Gore is full of sh*t and a hypocrit regardless....but I digress.
by tieleffe on April 17th, 2007
global warming does happen. the question is why.
looking through history we have had "ice ages" and itense heat. going back to dinosaur times that is.
it is occuring cuz we are losing the polar ice caps.
but we just need to ask if human beings caused it.?
i think we are helping but we are not totally to blame.
the gasses they say that cause damage are naturally occuring anyway. i just think we helped to speed it up slightly.
and sending shuttles and satalites into space does not help.
the real question is why do we send shit into orbit and spend billions to do it, rather than convert to solar power and other helpfull things.
does it matter that we can see a time lapse video of the ice caps melting over a period of twenty years, NO.
just help to stop them from melting.
does it matter we can see how much rainforest is being cut down by topographic map, not really. STOP CUTTING THE TREES DOWN.
end of transmisson!
by Danny Haszard on April 10th, 2007
I agree and believe it's aggravated by man.All the carbon was put into solid form over millions of years and taken out of the atmosphere and made into fossil fuel.At that time the earth WAS HOT and experienced a greenhouse effect that's why there are coal deposits in artic regions.NOW we are putting the carbon back in the air and will return to the prehistoric conditions.
by Simply msFortunate on December 27th, 2006
With the insane 70 degree weather and tornadoes in New Hampshire December 1st, I think the concept of global warming hit home for me (finally). When you add it all up, the climate is rapidly changing, and it does have a lot to do with our CO2 production.
I'd always kind of believed the global warming theories, mostly because I consider myself to be on the more liberal end of the spectrum. But I was just jumping on the bandwagon without knowing why. Then the snowless winters started happening in my state, when we should easily have had 3 2+ foot snow storms in the season. Then there were this November and December, both record-breaking for most of the country in terms of average high temperature. Finally, to cement my "new" belief, I watched An Inconvenient Truth. And cried for hours on end.
To put it bluntly, we are so screwed if we don't get down to business NOW.........
by Cool Water on November 19th, 2006
What says we haven't been through this before. It's been so long ago that it was never recorded.
by Anonymous on November 16th, 2006
I agree at 85%. I'm not a Professor of History; but even history can be veiwed as a longitudinal study of cause and effect relationships. Do I agree that global warming is cyclical? Its possible. There is substantial archaeological evidence to support both views. Let me ask you from a historical perspective. What do you think created the prehistoric ocean that covered a third of the United States?
by QueenR eats the Terminator for breakfast on December 31st, 2008
I disagree. It is just one of the earth's natural cycles, are scientists going to claim we started the Ice age?
by Anonymous on June 17th, 2008
Another possible cause of Global Warming might also be the fact that about every 100,000 years the earth's magnetic fields become very unstable. Sometimes the poles have reversed, other times relocated. And earth's orbit, tilt toward the Sun and axial wobble are altered. It is believed that just over 1 million years ago, Antarctica was a warm climate. Core samples bear this out. The North Pole was once located about 650 miles south west of Honolulu Hawawii.
Regardless of weter it is people causing Global Warming due to the use of carbon fuels is just the start. The real cause is 6.5 billion people vying for the limited supply of earth's resources. And it is growing rapidly.(I remember it at less than 4 billion in 1960) India, with over 1 billion people and a rapidly expanding economy has one of the world's highest birth rates. Maybe China has the right idea here by limiting couples to one child. Without birth control, the other options are war, biological plagues, starvation, and Global Warming. (Probably a lot of ohter problems that I have not considered as well. For Apocalypse fans the four problems I mention could equate to those Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse))
by Ec-nal Licensed Bootie Inspector on March 31st, 2008
The Earth is getting warmer, and soon it will get cooler. It is a natural cycle and is not caused by we 'evil' humans.
by DreAnna on March 22nd, 2008
Disagree..the earth is doing what its been doing over and over..people forget the natural cycles
by Cowboy-Matter of Fact on March 22nd, 2008
The earth warms and cools as it sees fit. Mankind has almost 0 effect on the cycle. We could not change the weather if we wanted to. AlGore is a moron.
by KingLeonidas on March 3rd, 2008
the thoery of global warming is as strong as the theory of evolution and that is a very strong theory. so to m global warming is real. the bigger question in my mind is, is it humans who are making this change happen? and my answer would be SLIGHTLY because you must look at the entire earth and see where the co2 come from and humans to create lots of co2 and do cut down rainforests which recycle the co2 but you also have to remember that the sea, dead animals and volcanoes all give off co2 aswell (plus over things). and also remember the government and media centres all over the world are able to create more jobs and money through this.so i think its real but humans should not worry to much as there is nothing we can do to stop co2 rise as it is not just humans who are creating co2.
by Fanscript on February 27th, 2008
My first thought: Remember Chicken Little!!
My second thought: If a lie is told enough times, most will believe it. Some will not be sure. Some will never believe it.
My third thought: Remember Hitler.
My fourth thought: Remember the swine flu vaccine.
Did anyone ever hear of anyone catching that plague?
My fifth thought: Remember M2K? What happened to that disaster.
My sixth thought: Remember legionaire's disease?
Does anyone know why all of those people died in that hotel basement? I have my suspicions.
Do you know what phosgene is? Do you know how it is produced? By what mechanism? Or why Freon 12 has been virtually confiscated from the American public at
large?
Where does freon gas go when it released into the atmosphere? Does it go up into the upper atmosphere and cause the ozone layer to be depleted? Or does it simply go down into the rivers and oceans and dissolve easily with water?
Where does carbon dioxide gas go when it is expired from the fauna (animal life) or from automobile emissions or from huge forest fires or from volcanic eruptions (in the mega-tons)? Does it go on forever piling up into the atmosphere? Do not the plants and chlorophyll organisms breathe in CO2? Do not all of the green sunlight absorbing life need CO2 to produce sugars and starches and more oxygen? Does not the ocean itself absorb most of the excess CO2 and do not many of its creatures take that carbon dioxide and turn it into Calcium carbonate shells and bones and teeth? Do not those same structures turn eventually into limestone which eventually gets subducted and turns back into Carbon dioxide which makes explosive volcanos?
The whole theory of global warming is just that, a theory!! I remember not long ago that the so called scientists were worried about a new ice age. Some still are. Some of you want things to go back to the stone age, which is another theory. You would wish that we return to the days of horse and buggy, oxcarts, people power, ditch digging, hand tilling, fetching water from the well or stream, hard work, manual labor and toil. To you that would be idyllic.
From this man, I have done those things, I have worked hard. Most of you, spoiled by your parents, have not even walked a mile or two to go to school or work.
You and your ilk would not last long under the conditions found in the 17th century. If you do not know what ilk is, I will not tell you, because you are ignorant and that is why you believe the lie of global warming.
Do you remember when the "scientists" went to the Greenland ice cap to measure the ozone layer? They went there in the wintertime when there was no sunshine. Did you know that ozone is only produced under certain conditions? The main cause of ozone is from intense ultra-violet radiation and highly charged electrical fields. That is what you smell after lightning charges the air. The sun produces an ozone layer high in the atmosphere every day and when the sun sets the ozone layer dissipates. Voila!! Ozone hole.
It is true that the ozone layer can be disrupted.
It can be mixed with chorine gas and thus the oxygen ions(O1) caused by ultra-violet radiation do not join with oxygen(O2) molecules (O1+O2 = O3) or ozone. The ozone molecules are highly active and therefore highly unstable and their vibrations block UV radiation by deflecting that wavelenght. The greater the lenghth of daylight and the more direct (summer solstace) and the thinner the atmosphere or higher the altitude the greater the volume of UV at ground level and thereby the more ozone or oxygen free radicals.
The more CO2 in the air the more plants thrive. (They breathe the stuff!!) Just the same as if you had more oxygen, the better for your breathing. Once above 15,000 feet, you will feel the difference in your breathing.
If you really want to be knowledgeable on a subject, do not accept everything you are told by "scientists and politicians or professors". Do some independent study!! Follow the money!!!!
by Richard on February 23rd, 2008
Yes!
by Esteban-- Smartest Pumpkin on February 16th, 2008
mr gore, give it a rest.
by Ms.A on January 12th, 2008
Global warming-lol!Natural cycle of climate change?More like it.I'm still waiting for the ice-age that was supposed to happen 20 years ago!
by Midgardsormr on January 12th, 2008
I suspect some of each is happening. Whether or not the pollution we create is altering the climate, it's unlikely to be helpful and quite likely to be harmful.
Whatever it is that's going on, though, I think that we'll adapt to it. Perhaps cataclysms will seriously alter our relationship with our environment, but the human race will find a way to survive. And the biosphere itself will certainly survive--I think this planet will prove to be a lot harder to kill than some people think.
by thekingcobra63 on October 29th, 2007
I totally disagree with it since they have no actual evidence of anything except they are trying to sell "green" stuff. Huxters, that is what the enviro-nuts are. Don't buy into the hype, that is what I think. If it is happening, driving a damn Prius is not going to stop it, you might as well prepare for it instad of trying to stop it because it is happening on it's own not by man's hand. IT is insane to even discuss it, it is a myth. We might as well discuss the Loch Ness monster with the same theory based information.
by DA BEN DAN yanggui zi on August 28th, 2007
I'm pretty sure that the theory is correct. In any case, nobody can convince me that the fact that we are pumping all those chemicals into the air has no effect.
by Kami6969123 on July 2nd, 2007
DISAGREE. My Uncle is a climatologist at a local university here and he told me when he first got his degree and started working the main thing everyone was afraid of was global cooling, now all of a sudden global warming....its a cycle people its no going to be the end of the world or flood out states like CA or FL. This is just a lie by the liberals and liberal media. They are extremly desperate to get the Americans back on their side. Now my Uncle told me April's average temperatures were the lowest in history in the United States. So how can global warming be happening but those temperatures were the lowest in April?
by lemzia on June 12th, 2007
if you recall in the past we had an ice age, yes, 70% of the earth was coverd in ice. the earth is still recovering frome the ice age. that means it is getting warmer. humans in the past 100 years are definatly adding to the warming afect but this is something that has been going on for thousands of years.
by Cannabis its just a plant on June 5th, 2007
The hockey stick graph?
hahaha
Chicken little is right man... dude the sky is falling fast we gotta make some drastic changes.
We should try to work toward new energy sources, watch The Global Warming Swindle it's a good documentary that has some good points.
by vio on May 18th, 2007
I agree.Global warming is a real phenomenon
by Starmaster on May 14th, 2007
Honestly, I agree with people who believe that Global Warming is taking place. How can all those hundreds of scientists be all wrong at the same time? Are they a bunch of knuckleheads? I believe that those who disagree are just politically motivated, they ignore the science in favor of their economic and political interests.
by migarce on May 14th, 2007
Of course I concur.It is a real problem which the humanity must face to solve it.Please see
http://www.chemistryland.com/CHM107/GlobalWarming/GlobalWarming.html
to understand the facts.
by monkey do on April 25th, 2007
Well, Al Gore did have a pretty good documentary on the topic.
by Yunami on April 25th, 2007
yes, i do think there's global warming. in fact, there's global warming in Minnesota right now. The weather has been cold and it's snowing in Apirl. Gobal warming is caused by the gasses let out in the greenhouse.
by daisymae19 on April 6th, 2007
Global Warming is not something that you can agree or disagree with....
Global warming means the temperature of the earths oceans and in its atomospher has risen. They have. That is a documented fact. That Global Warming is occcuring is not a belief or a hypothethis or a theory of any type. It is a documented fact. IF you want to debate the causes of this rise in temperature, then that is theory, hypothesis and conjecture...some with more and some with less factual data to support them.
When the temps in the oceans and atomosphere rise climate change occurs. This change is not just warmer temperatures. It causes tornados and hurricanes/typhoons to occur more frequently and to be more violent. It causes more rain and flooding in some areas. It causes less rain and droughts in other areas. It cause more snow and colder temps in some areas. It causes less snow and warmer temps (which can also have detrimental effects) in other areas.
In short Global Warming causes climate changes.
If you want more info on what Global Warming is (and isn't) here are some sites for info:
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming
http://www.climatehotmap.org/
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by Answerbag Staff on August 6th, 2010
| 1 person likes this
Vital delivieries to Alaskan City of Nome cancelled or critically delayed due to sea ice. Didn't "global warming" melt all that?
by More2Be on January 7th, 2012
| 1 person likes this
are humans effecting the world climate?
by chr1984 on January 16th, 2012
| 1 person likes this
You're reading Do you agree or disagree with the theory of global warming?
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Comments
Good and reasoned answer to the question. I would just state the final part more briefly: It's not a question of our destroying the earth - that is near impossible, because as you say life will almost certainly hang on somehow or other. But we can definitely destroy it as far as we are concerned.
by Jimminy on November 20th, 2006
Excellent answer, and thanks for taking the call!
by Stableboy on November 20th, 2006
Now, there is an answer. Why did it only get a five? Its clearly better than the haphazard opinion I gave.
by Anonymous on November 21st, 2006
Good answer. Our economies will recover and probably even prosper if we force industry to change its present course. However the current big industry players have their own agendas and unfortunately they set the political agenda as well...
Global climate change is occuring in VERY possibly an unnaturally negative way and to protect humanities future we need to take decisive counteractive actions....
by DonDad on December 21st, 2006
Good answer...some fictious and unresearched statements but still pretty solid
by Mr. McClister on December 21st, 2006
Mostly fictitious, try this info.
http://www.clearlight.com/~mhieb/WVFossils/ice_ages.html
other scary info:
"We have to offer up scary scenarios, make simplified, dramatic statements, and make little mention of any doubts we may have. Each of us has to decide what the right balance is between being effective and being honest."
Who said this? look below.
Stephen Schneider (leading advocate of the global warming theory)
(in interview for Discover magazine, Oct 1989)
by Jim100 on January 5th, 2007
Good answer Im Alec.I would say it is worse than we can imagine but your points are well taken
by jin jang on February 1st, 2007
Jim, that website is awefull, full of unsubstantiated claims, misleading diagrams, and flawed logic.
Hey, a couple of billion years ago, our planet had an atmosphere of little else than CO2 and Ammonia gas. So that makes our pollution Ok right?
Also, I ask what is the alterior Motive of people touting global warming? I cannot see a reason why someone would argue that everyone needs to be more frugal with resources. Whereas it is in the interests of every oil company, manufacturing industry, and government to encourage excess consumption, because it lines their pockets, and economies. In a big way.
by Anon on May 8th, 2007
Really good answer.
by Hazard on July 17th, 2007
I agree, but we can't stop Global Warming, we can only try to adapt to it, and stop doing more damage.
by Halskiisaklink on October 26th, 2007
Sooner or later, we will become immune to air pollution. I hope!
by Hazard on October 27th, 2007
Wow. did you google the question or are you just really educated on the subject? either way, amazing answer!!
by Joeisme333 is a pastafarian on November 21st, 2007
greeeeeat answer!!
by Disko Fari on April 1st, 2008
I just watched a "horizon" documentary on Google called "Global Dimming". Seems there is more to what the scientists have been saying. New developments, I mean. I recommend that all greensters
watch this.
-danny
by sysyphus on January 19th, 2009
Wow, really great answer! Educated, too!
by royalty101 on January 25th, 2009
I couldn't have put it better myself. Thank God for educated discussions like these. Sometimes, when someone's cramming green, green, green down your throat, you wonder what it would be like if you were having the conversation with an educated person. This answer is what it would sound like. I spent my younger years in the country. We didn't waste. We composted, recycling didn't happen, because many containers from store bought items were reused for storage and we canned our own food, so we used the same Mason jars year after year. My parents weren't hippies with extremist ideas. We lived natural, self sustaining lives. It's not just about the global warming. The earth is a gift, whether you believe it to be from god, or natural occurrence, it's still a gift. It's a completely different way of thinking, whether or not global warming is true, it involves thinking of our fellow humans, as Alec so aptly put it.
by mechazilla on February 2nd, 2009
Excellent answer!
This has always been a touchy subject and you managed to answer it without offending anybody. Someone should this to Hannity!
by MATLABer on May 21st, 2009
Cool answer!
Note on CO2: A popular theory, thanks El Gore, is to blame CO2 rising levels in global warming, but I beleive this is a classical logical error: Correlation does not implies casuality. CO2 levels rise, no doubt. Warming occurs, no doubt. But this does not mean that C02 causes warming. A simple and solid theory tells quite opposite: Warming causes CO2 levels rise. This because 99% of world's CO2 is dissolved in oceans at the depth 50m under the water and below. During a planet warming we observe a champain effect, when some CO2 is depleted in athmosphere.
Is it caused by man? A common sense tells us that burning world's reserves of fossil fuel in a period of 200 years shall influence on climate. The question is how much is this influence? Most conservative estimations talk about 15% of man's influence on climate, but may be much more.
by Pandiri on July 26th, 2009
First of all, Hannity isn't capable of grokking this in fullness.
Second, global warming and CO2 are only the tip. Ozone, particulate
matter, chemicals, and the depletion of the Earth's rejuvenation resources, i.e., trees, will catch up with us. We can stand some temperature change-I reference the book/movie "the Mouse that Roared"- but the food problem, as stated, is real, and possibly closer than we think, for many reasons. Population is one of them and economy/ corporate control is another.
The general consensus seems to be that we will all choke in our own exhaust, one way or another, eventually. I agree, and I support the unpopular notion that nuclear power is the only viable alternative we have at this moment. Solar and wind will help but the most bang for the buck comes from good ol' Uranium.
by sysyphus on October 19th, 2009
That was some answer. Hey, what do you think about population control?
by zander on November 5th, 2009