Interesting to note that the shipping industry is waiting for the earth to warm up...soon the famed "Northwest Passage" will actually become a reality. It's creepy and sad to think about...man is going to kill himself.
I wouldn't cut my wrists just yet. Global warming is a poorly understood phenomenon. Very poorly understood. Although I do worry about global pollution and our careless impact on the environment in general, global warming is not an issue I lie awake over at night. On a geological timescale weather patterns on Earth have been very, very changeable, swinging from positively balmy to ice age in relatively short intervals. A multitude of factors are involved, ranging from periodic changes in the tilt of the Earth axis interacting with periodic Earth orbit fluctuations, normal fluctuations in solar activity, normal magnetic pole wandering on Earth, continental drifts, volcanic activities and occasional accumulative cataclysmic dumps of glacier fresh water into the seas... the list goes on. Fact is, the last 50.000 years on Earth have been unusually mild and stable compared to the rest of its weather history. So the fact is that we don't know whether global warming is actually the result of our pissing about or just another natural run-up to another ice age (yes, this is how screwy weather gets). We don't even know for sure whether the ozone hole is our fault or just another one of those fluctuating things. I'm sure that we are making some impact, but most likely on a million-year timsecale the little blip that we are producing is insignificant compared to the massive changes that the planet habitually experiences.
Read State of Fear by Michael Crichton (Jurassic Park Fame) A techno thriller laced with facts with scientific studies and refrences to back it up - a better way of understanding the "Global Warming" phenomenon than reading the press or being force fed the money making propaganda! Eugenics anyone?
That is a VERY short sighted stance on the topic. No one is debating that the Earth has gone through significant climate changes through out it's history. However, those changes took place over tens of thousands of years. The current changes however have taken only several decades to a century. Life can adapt, but not even close to that rapidly. Our planet is also being covered in a thick blanket of polluton... with rapid deforestation and the pollution of our oceans, this blanket may take centuries to lift even if we stop producing pollution immediately. 2/3rds of our oxygen comes from ocean plant life, so what happens when that life dies from quickly increased temperatures combined with the immense amount of garbage dumped in it's backyard? All these factors, combined with the increasing population and demands on our planet will lead to very real consequences within OUR lifetimes. The delicate balance in nature cannot change quickly enough to keep up. Mass famines for everyone! yay!
Oh ya, and this point is moot because during the era you speak of the "South Pole" was actually somewhere near the equator.
But then for every global warming hypothesis (usually exacerbated by the media)... there is also an equally legitimate hypothesis against the concept. Both sides make compelling conclusions backed up by scientific research. I have personally come to the conclusion that global warming whether a fact or fiction is a by product of increasing media attention and trivialisation. Meaning that there have been a few conclusions that have come about based more on biased speculation than scientific experimentation and hypothesis. I personally believe that the human race has had an impact on the environment, it's obvious and naive to think we have not, but neither does it mean we are at any point accelerating the planets demise or effectively killing the planet. This earth has survived a long time, (including the inhabitants within) adapting to changes, and it will continue doing so for a long time to come. Simply, this smells a lot similar to scare mongering in my book.
I don't know, seems kind of true, take Edmonton for example: this is a city that has been known over the years for its -40c degree weather, mountains of snow, and general crap winters. Two years ago (when I moved back here), we had a moderate amount of snow, maybe only about a foot and a half at any one point in time, and it never got below about -25c. Everything was nice and cozy again in the beginning of march, and we had one hell of a snow storm late march, though it never got too far below 0c at any point during the storm (just mountains of snow for a couple of days, then it all dried up). Jump ahead one year, and we had a late winter, very mild amounts of snow (barely hitting one foot on the ground at any point in time), with all the snow going for the year at the end of feburary. Average temperature from late december to early feburary was roughly -15c or so. There were a couple cold snaps in march, but nothing that got below -10c. Fast forward to this year, and throughout december we had above-freezing weather coupled with a lack of snow up until we got our first bit of snow in early to mid january. At which point most of it melted anyway, as we were still having above freezing temperatures. Now its feburary 15th and we are having the coldest day of the entire winter at -15c with tiny patches of snow on the ground that are about 1-2mm deep. We've had about 4-5 total snow fall periods this winter, and they've all managed to dry up within a week or so. So you tell me: is the world warming up? I think we know the answer
Yeah, I don't know if humans are having an impact on earths heat levels, but the heat levels sure as hell are changing, year on year it just gets hotter and hotter here in Scotland, things are changing, regardless of whether its down to us or not. However, if it is down to us, then this is why we need to switch to nuclear power as much as possible right now. We could transfer energy needs from nuclear to renewable over time, but the only capabable oil and gas replacement is nuclear power, and its the only thing that could save our world, depending on which view on global warming you take(although the guy who came up with the Gaia theory agrees with me there).
Not quite true. The Earth habitually goes through massive sudden changes. Krakatoa was responsible for cooling the seas in a matter of months for the next few decades or so. If Yellowstone blows, you'll see some really sudden, drastic climate changes. Glaciers habitually release huge amounts of fresh water in a single event, causing massive gulf stream changes fairly instantly. It is a fallacy to think that everything on Earth happened slowly. And the Earth has lost 90% of its life forms at frequent intervals (251.6 million years ago, and again a sizeable percentage 65 million years ago), and simply bounces back. Again, it's part and parcel of the process. Yes, but is it us who caused this? I think we don't know the answer to that one.
Global warming is a very complex phenomenon. As Nexxo says, I don't think we fully understand it. I wouldn't go so far as to totally dismiss it though. What I find interesting is that Global warming has caused some pretty nasty winters here in Japan and also in Europe. The Earth is constantly changing and going through cycles. Natural disasters as well as the shift in global axis tilt have all led to climatic change. From my point of view, I don't think it really matters. Sorry, but I just won't live to see the consequences. Not that I stand around burning tires or anything. I do my best to use public transport and such. It's kind of like vegetarian friends of mine. They ask why I eat meat. I say Why not. It tastes good. They argue that if I stopped eating meat then that would somehow stop the cattle industry or something. Not likely. Sure if we all one day decided to stop, no more moo cows would have to die. I like my Steak too much I guess. [/gross oversimplification]
At the end of the day the way people live will not change overnight - It will not change that significantly even over 10 years. True they might reduce the amount of greenhouse gases produced - but nowhere near enough as what is really needed. Whatever happens will happen and nature will reach some kind of balance. The icecaps might melt, the climate might drastically change, some coastal areas may go under - but the human race will still keep doing whatever they want for short term gratification - nobody wants to take the hard route and make the required changes. But it wont lead to extinction or something that serious. Chances are these kind of things will go on long enough for the next ice age to come along, freeze a lot of the particulate matter currently in the atmosphere, maybe reduce the population a little bit and the cycle will start again. The next time it wont be greenhouse gases - since most fossil fuels will be used up by then - but there will always be something else round the corner.
If you want to help check, the BBC are doing some number-crunching and can use your PC, like SETI, et al. Climate change is happening, and happening now. No doubt at all, look at the plants in your garden. I personally think human activity is accelerating the change, but it doesn't really matter. It's become obvious nobody in the developed nations will give up the way they live, and third-world residents are now joining in the energy guzzle. And the biggest energy-user nation is in a state of denial. Our way of life is doomed, but it will see me out. Sod the whale.
Personally, I've done enough climate science to believe that global warming is very scary, and very real. Regardless of whether or not you agree with that though, here are a few things to think about: Carbon dioxide and methane are greenhouse gases. That's undeniable. Global warming, if it's real, will be unbelievably bad for mankind. Is it worth gambling that we're *not* the cause? Sam
i say: MY GOD WE ARE DOOMED some of you say things like you dont care. if we do something we can delay this change some years or decades, and gain time to prepare ourselfs for the apocalipse if we dont we will see human life disapear, simply YOU WILL DIE, we must do something to prevent being eradicated, humans have survived a ice age if i recall well, if we are prepared we can survive, we are not prepared and we will die.
