IS IT REALLY GLOBAL WARMING
I don't beleive that global warming is actually real. I know for a fact that before the whole issue of global warming was brought up we were in an ICE AGE. I know it may not have seemed like it, but if you look it up, we were in an ice age. I think that we are just coming out of one, and everyone just states it as global warming. It is just the natural cycle our earth takes. You know how they have found tropical plants and animals in artic places, maybe it is just going to be a polar shift. I know that is not that much better than global warming. But I think that is what is going to happen. It is the cycles. This is how our earth cleans itself. We can't stop it from doing this it is just how it works. I beleive that we should take care of our earth, but global warming is fake.
I respect your opinions on this but it is really Global Warming. The Ice Age is long over. If we were still in the Ice Age, The whole world should still have been covered in Ice until now. The constant change in climate patterns is a symptom of Global Warming. Global Warming or Ice age, Human beings are still the ones who are putting our Human race in danger. Whether you like it or not, Global Warming is happening. And whether or not you believe what I'm saying, we should still all help each other in making our planet a better place.
we started this mess, so we should clean it. global warming may not be as alarming now but it will be in just a few years. we need to start lowering our CO2 emissions now in order to prevent it from being a huge problem in the future.
Global warming is because of us. Our cars realese CO2 or Carbon Dioxcide into the Earths atmosphere. Then the suns heat (and light) come down here to Earth.
Then because of the CO2 in the air, the heat stays trapped inside. It is a fact that each person on the Earth realeases around 3 lbs of CO2 gas a day, and that all adds up. It is real!
Well...you know how Al Gore continues to tell us how what is happening with our earth is global warming, I don't believe him. A person (dont remember his name) in England happens to contridict everything Al has said. The person in England has challenged Al Gore in a debate, but Al has refused numerous times due to the fact that he does not have enough evidence to support his claims, while on the other hand, this person in England does. You can still go green and protect the planet, but you dont have to do so because you think it will help stop global warming. It will happen because it is Earth's healing cycle.
I personally agree with the 'Global Warming Is Real' side of debate. It's just more scientifically correct of a theory.
But when you think about it, whether Global Warming is real or not isn't really relevant. Even if you don't beleive in Global Warming, there's still air pollution, water pollution, overfishing, litter, and a lot more environmental problems. If we can fix (or at least make better) air pollution, it would make both beleivers and non-beleivers happy, wouldn't it? I mean, CO2 emissions cause Global Warming (if you beleive in it), but it also causes plenty of other problems, like acid rain.
Now I'm ranting. Woops!
Finally! Someone who's actually thinking, rather than repeating worn out information!
99% of what you hear today about global warming is enough to scare anyone into thinking that the world will end if we do not stop with the CO2 emissions and the greenhouse gasses. Most of the articles that you read in the papers or on the internet will preach the apocalypse rather than presenting you with the facts. They will say that the ocean levels are getting higher, that the Earth is getting dangerously warm, and that it is our fault. However, if you actually take a minute to sit down and take a look at the facts, you might find that the mainstream media is not being entirely straight with you.
Ask any climatologist, and they will tell you that the Earth has been both much warmer and colder than it is today. First, there was the Ice Age, one of the most well known theories for how the dinosaurs were wiped out. Next, only 500 years ago, there was a period in North America and Eurasia known as the Little Ice Age. Lastly, around 1850, the Little Ice Age ended, and the earth has been growing warmer ever since.
But how could the warming of the earth be attributed to Carbon Dioxide, when the Industrial Revolution did not begin until mid 20th century, yet somehow the earth has been warming since the mid 19th century? How can global warming cause the ice on Mars to melt when there are no cars or industry on Mars. Most of the recorded warming has taken place before 1940, and therefore before CO2 was being widely released by cars and factories. The most well known warming after 1940 was the hot year of 1998 which was caused by El Nino (El Nino and La Nina are temperature changes in the waters of the Eastern Pacific Ocean).
What about the glaciers and the polar bears? Scientists have been preaching that the glaciers will melt, sea levels will rise, and the polar bears will be out of a home. But what part of that is actually true? In the past year, rather than the glaciers melting, as scientists have predicted, instead, they’ve grown larger. For example, the Briksdal Glacier which is growing at a record 7.2 inches per day, along with six others in Norway that are also expanding. Glaciers in Canada, Ecuador, Switzerland, Kirghiztan, and Russia are growing. A glacier in Greenland is progressing by 12 kilometers per year. All 48 glaciers in the Southern Alps have grown. Argentina’s Perito Moreno Glacier is advancing by 7 feet per day. Even glaciers in the United States’ Colorado, Washington, Montana, Alaska, and California have been growing. Scientists’ response to the growing ice sheets? “We’re not sure why this happens, but not all glaciers respond equally to climate change”, says Andres Rivera, a glacialist with the Center for Scientific Studies in Valdivia, Chile on the growing glacier in Argentina. However, even if the glaciers do spontaneously decide to start melting, the polar bears should be fine. They’ve been through much warmer times before in the past.
So what else do scientists really think about global warming? In 1992, the Gallup Organization took a poll of members of the American Geophysical Union and American Meteorological Society, two professional groups for climatologists. Only 17 percent of them said that the warming trends convinced them that an artificial greenhouse effect was in progress. A survey conducted by Greenpeace revealed that only 13 percent of scientists believe that catastrophic climate change will result from the popular patterns of energy use (in other words, CO2).
Global Warming alarmists also like to predict horrible apocalyptic-type natural disasters like hurricanes and volcanic eruptions. However, the doomsday fashion 2006 hurricanes that they were predicting, never came, and it was a relatively unexciting year. However, the hurricane records will continue to be broken because we have only been keeping them for about 100 years. As for the imminent volcano eruptions that we should be expecting, try looking back to the 1991 eruption of Pinatubo, which caused the earth to cool by ½ degree for over a year and before that, the eruption of Tambora in Indonesia in 1815. It caused the “Year Without Summer” because of global cooling.
So what is causing the temperature to rise? Sunspots (explosions on the surface of the sun that send waves of heat far out into the universe, often hitting our satelites and causing blackouts) simply make more sense than CO2 emissions. Solar cycles and temperatures follow each other very closely. However, you will find that it is not exact. This is because weather is not based on one element. The sunspots could double, but one major volcanic eruption could counter every sunspot for years. You can increase sunspots, CO2, and have no volcanic eruptions, but if the earth’s orbit around the sun is at a farther distance, it could cancel everything else out. If you look at a chart that goes back further, you would find that there was very little solar activity between 1645 and 1715, which corresponds with the Little Ice Age. Going back even earlier than that, you would find that decreased solar activity is also a plausible explanation for the Ice Age. Today, sunspots are reaching a 1000 year high, which easily explains the warmer temperatures. Stronger solar storms should peak around 2010 and the next solar cycle will be 30-50 percent stronger than the last, meaning, don’t be surprised by warmer temperatures and possible blackouts. It seems a fairly simple explanation for something that has been blown so wildly out of proportion.
If you still believe that Carbon Dioxide and Global Warming is our fault, there are a few things that you can do to help: Stop breathing, you produce CO2 every time you exhale. Don’t drive, cars produce lots of CO2. Don’t live in a house, apartment, condo, or any other building that uses gas or electricity, homes produce 2-3 times more Carbon Dioxide than driving. Quit school, those buildings produce more CO2 in one year than you do in 20, no matter how many schools have started "Green Programs", it's not going to make that much of a difference. Basically, if you want to stop emitting Carbon Dioxide, you’re going to have to crawl into a lake and rapidly evolve into a fish.
However, you don’t have to do anything to call yourself a good global warming activist. Many people who believe in and speak about global warming don’t do anything to reduce their carbon footprint, e.g. Al Gore and his Nashville residence that is four times larger than the average American home and uses more than 20 times the national average of electricity. Not to mention the private jet that he flies around in. Does that sound like someone who is really worried about Global Warming?
The only inconvenient truth about Global Warming is that it is simply a convenient lie. An easy way to scare people into purchasing special lighting for their homes, solar panels, and other “green” products that will supposedly reduce their carbon footprint. Global warming is an industry. It's not something that even it's big shot advocates take seriously. It’s become a deciding factor of elections, both state and national, (I don't care how many people say it's not political, it is) and is one of the media’s favorite topics to cover again and again, but they only ever seem to cover one side of it. You’re either a believer in global warming, and therefore a saint (except for all the hypocritical things you do that the media simply “forgets” to mention), or you don’t believe, and then you must work for an oil company. Believe it or don’t, but if you do, then you shouldn’t be reading this because of all the electricity that you’re computer is using right now.
Now with that said, I don't think it's right to trash the earth, I simply do not believe that it is our fault. The Earth will warm and cool as it has been doing for HUNDREDS of years. Just because we've learned to drive, doesn't mean we've caused global warming.
I do apologize for the long comment, and I'm sorry if it seems at all insensitive, but those who are advocating global warming need to take a look at the other side. If you've done your research (like I have) and can give me a good reason or two as to why global warming is for real, I'd be happy to listen. It's your opinion and I'll respect it, but everybody else who's just repeating what they heard on the news needs to get a clue and investigate BOTH SIDES for yourself.
I must say i agree with you. the one major problem with the global warming theory, and it is a theory, is the Carbon story. If carbon dioxide was up, plants would be thriving, producing more oxygen. The problem is plants aren't over growning, things haven't changed. The earth heats up and cools down all the time. Al Gore has been trying to scare people so they will think he's a god or something and elect him for president if he decides to run. Sorry but that's how it is.
im not so sure that global warming really exsised. i mean every year theres some group of people who think "omg the worlds going to crumble," or "if we dont do something then we are all going to die," But i just think its a fase the earths going through. like the ice age for example. they probaly thought the world was coming to an end too, right?
If it doesn't exist then explain why the whole world is going through their climates changing! OF COURSE IT DOES! We need to act!
SouthernBelle, your position is well researched and well presented. In fact, I'd say it was the single most eloquent and thorough rebuttal to the theory of global warming I've ever seen. I really enjoyed reading it. If you could provide sources for your information I would be even happier, I'd love to read some more on this.
I have to admit, I'm no environment otaku, so maybe I'm a little ignorant of both sides, but that doesn't necessarily change how I respond to the idea of global warming.
Science is imperfect; we can't always use it to accurately predict the future or even describe the present. Combined with the fact that there seems to be solid science on both sides of the argument, I have come to consider both viewpoints equally valid. I can't be certain which is true or which I should act on.
Luckily, we don't typically wait until we are absolutely positive before we make decisions. I'd even go so far as to say it's a terrible idea to wait until for certainty before you act: if you think for long enough about anything, you can produce the doubt you require to be totally immobile.
So how to decide which to act on? Well it boils down to risk assessment. What happens if I don't act and the global warming crowd was right? Global catastrophe. What happens if I DO act and the global warming crowd was WRONG? Well, I've lowered my monthly energy bill by using more efficient bulbs and appliances, improved the economy by using American grown energy instead of relying on oil bought from countries who I don't even politically agree with like Saudi Arabia, Iran, Russia and China, improved air quality (for all those friendly asthmatics), and probably produced new jobs for Americans who build and maintain solar and wind farms. Maybe the planet is still getting hotter, or maybe that cycle has passed, but look at all the auxiliary benefits. We don't need to live on hippy communes to make a difference, so why not make a few changes?
And, of course, let's not forget the risk of doing nothing.
PS. I know I've left out some of the risks/benefits, so feel free to add to or argue with my points.
weve had ice ages, mini iceages, plagues, droughts , we have had had warming trends before the industrial revolution and who was to blame for that? in the 70's i grew up thinking a ice age was happening, 20+ years later the SAME people are preaching diaster from global warming, and this time you just need to follow the money trail.
i believe that global is happening, but i also believe everyone is making it sound worse than it actually is. yes it will eventually contribute to deaths and what not, but over a period of thousands of years. however, if we act now, it may take thousands of years more. i believe that global warming is a major contributor to the ice melting, the drastic changes in weather, and i also believe that it could be a contributor to earthquakes. i know it's just an opinions (for a contributor of earthquakes) but, i have a theory: the major earthquakes around the world that we have been having are in areas that have been inhabited by many people in the last 15 or 20 years. the population has gone up dramatically, therefore the pollution has too. pollution is a major contributor to global warming. and since earth is heating, and the weather is having dramatic changes, i believe earth's crust (and plate tectonics) are changing too, as a result of heating. because the eath is changing on the outside, it must be changing on the inside as well. though there is now known way to stop earthquakes from happening, there is a way to slow down global warming.
I completely agree, and am so happy there are people out there who are with me on this.
However, I'm going to admit, I absolutely ADORE the subculture that the newfound (created) environmentalism has created. There are a lot of people who are aware of their waste and are actually doing something about it. Yes, it took some hype, but I am sincerely thankful for the the action taking place.
It takes something drastic to get people moving, I suppose.
First of all, "global warming" regardless of cause is happening, its kind of hard to deny that the Earth's temperature has in fact been increasing. It is also true that we are "recently" coming of of an ice age, so it makes sense that temperature would increase. However, the earth has had several ice ages in the past. None have lead to a warming of this magnitude, so I don't see how you can back it up with natural causes. Also has it occurred that maybe the plants in the world have a threshold of carbon dioxide that they can absorb? I don't think if there is excess they can just photosynthesize faster, you would need more vegetation (which we are destroying, not increasing).
All this being said it is fact that humans have significantly added to the amount of green hose gases being put in the atmosphere. The studies show extremely similar correlations to carbon dioxide and temperature throughout a large span of earth's history. Global WARMING can also be a misnomer in some cases. The average temperature may be going up, but it can cause significant climate changes (ranging from the long period of unusually long period of cold weather Florida experienced this winter, to flooding in typically dry places and vice versa). I'm not exactly worried that we're all going to die or anything, but I feel that the world should take more action on it because based on scientific models it can have huge impacts.
I don't suggest this of anyone here, but I believe a majority of people refuse to accept the reality that something so big could effect the entire globe, it really seems unreal that there could be a problem that would require so much time and cooperation amongst the whole world. Maybe religion has something to do with it too, because why would God let something like that happen? I don't want this debate to be about religion but I base me beliefs on logic and I've looked at both sides of the story, leaving me with what I have explained above.
If it global warming is or is not true, we still should try to help put the environment so we won't have so much pollution.
The earth does have temperature spikes every so often. However, this one just keeps going up with no sign of coming back down. And if global warming isn't real, then why are all the glaciers melting?
So, I guess the fact that my area just went from being 32 degrees, to 70 (overnight may I add), to 50 again is not global warming. This is normal correct? I don't remember this happening before...
If you miss that sarcasm...Oh I don't know what to say...
Over the years, the earth as been gradually warming. But these last few years we have been pollting more and more and the temp is just getting higher Animals are dieng and water is becoming scarce
My opinion on global warming changed, but I still think we should try to lower the CO2 levels. If it is global warming, we should change. If it isn't, we should still change. We shouldn't conflict about this, but change it!
it may be a combination of what you said and pollution together.
To all concerned of whether "global warming" exist or does not exist.
It does exist. That terminology we have given to our world heating up is becasue the rate of change in our tempature has not steadily rose as if the world was on a natural course. The tempatures have risen inconsistantly that directly relates to the amount of CO2 we put out. Since some control has taken effect, in certain countries that sees the world warming as human's fault, and lowered the CO2 stats there is proof that "Global Warming" caused by our industrialization and over-population. In understanding that burning fossil fuels like they are going out of style causes the world to heat up we must consider anything that may reduce the environmentally harmful effects of our actions. The only thing I have to offer the world/humanity is LIEA. I have posted several forums to be discussed but they somehow end up moved to another location where they can not be discussed. Hopefully this attemp to further inform the world of LIEA will be successful. LIEA is a direct tax on employers for unjustly taking advantage of globalism's benefits. This taxation includes the employers having to pay for all the harm they do to humanity for stealing one country's economical survivability factors. By siding with the cheapest item, product, labor, service, (often an immigrant or foriegn product or service) Americans have created great transportation requirements to their greedy wants and immoralizing materialistics. These outstanding shipments of stuff and people has greatly increased our consumption of fossil fuels. Hence, the enactment of LIEA will bring not only economic prosperity for America and other countris in the world but LIEA will also (as a side-effect) reduce the amount of fossil fuels we use due to less demand for foriegn products, services, and immigrant workers.
Jeremy Hawks (LIEA's Writer) Sign its petition today!
Fossil Fuels(green house gasses, CO2) causes global warming.
You are absolutely right, it is a cycle.
But humans are making the cycle highly unnatural.
cycles never exceed 320 PPM. The current levels are past 375 PPM.
You are right if you believe the cycle is in the 'hot phase' and it will ONLY make it a few degrees hotter.
But it ONLY takes a few degrees to make: the polar ice melt, the tundra frost is no longer frosted, the glaciers are melting and,to make forest into deserts, ,the the polar bears are dying because there is not enough ice for them to get out to hunt.
it doesn't matter if you believe in global warming or not, the smoke coming out of smokestacks contains much more than carbon dioxide; sulfur, mercury, uranium, and other poisons that leak into the surrounding area and contaminate water supplies because the coal plants are very underegulated. this is why electric cars and hybrids aren't too good for the environment. they run on electricity, and electricity comes mostly from coal plants, which more than make up for the carbon dioxide that your exhaust pipe isn't emitting with the added bonus of releasing chemicals and radioactive waste into the environment.
ethanol can't help us much because it would take A LOT of corn to make enough fuel for our country and the rest of the world. this will require a vast proportion of the world to be covered in corn fields, which just isn't practical.
humans do in fact have a great effect on the environmental sanctity of the world. you don't have to believe in global warming to think that smokestacks, waste, methane emissions from landfills, deforestation, overpopulation, and acid rain are bad for the environment AS WELL as humans, as often the dangerous products of our unsafe energy production contaminates our water supplies and destroys countless acres of habitat every year.
I think that your opinion is that of most people these days. The media has really confused people about the whole issue more than brought anybody to enlightenment. That said, I agree with what you said about the earth warming being a natural cycle. That is very true, but the whole fear that people have is how we are affecting the natural cycle. It is somewhat difficult to find something that would tell us what the natural cycle would be, but ice cores are very helpful there. They tell us that we are headed way over the highest temperatures in the previous warming trends. Since that is probably an extremely controversial statement without any data to back it up, the issue starts to become more in the humanities.
The earth's weather systems are very complex and easily changed, as is evident with thousands of meterologists studying it every day and still not predicting it correctly! As this system is volitile, excess CO2 in the atmosphere nudging the greenhouse effect a small bit can do a lot of damage. Skipping all the boring meterological textbook pages, warming and cooling affect all climate systems. If excess warming is introduced, strange things start to happen. Hot places get hotter, cold places get colder, hot places get colder, cold places get hotter, dry places get awful flooding, and wet places are suddenly in drought. All this temperature mayhem will eventually settle down when the world's temperature decides to be steady again, but that won't happen in your lifetime unless something darastic is done about the continuous nudging of the greenhouse effect by the millions of tons of CO2 being poured out all day long, every day.
I hope that answers your question and helps you understand the other side of the issue a bit better. Cheers!
People global warming is real! there is alot of evidence it is real. it is a natural cycle, BUT humans accelerate the cycle so much! Something that should of took thousands of years, we done in 50 years. we made the natural cycle so fast,it is not natural. and no, coming out of an iceage would be about 310 PPM. we are over 375 PPM. BIG DIFFERENCE!
It's definitely global warming, depressingly enough... we are having extreme temperature changes and more droughts, precipitation, and major storms than ever before. Though your point about it being an ice age sounds convincing, an ice age is just that... an ICE age. We are coming into a climate change abnormally strong, and these changes have been CONSISTENTLY linked by scientists to increased CO2 levels. We cannot try to push the blame away from ourselves to avoid having to take responsibility and fix our mistakes. Going green is something we seriously have to do.