Ha ha ha! I voted once and have 33% of the votes!
Shawn as you know, weve talked about this in depth (as far as my knowledge of this sort of thing goes). My knowledge is based on the little scraps of information that Ive come across. Im not really "into it", but I have my own idea based on what little I have read.
Its kind of a common fact that global warming exists. Then there are thousands of scientists that have their own opinion on what it is man made vs. natural.. and then they like to quarrel on how much its really impacting the earth.
I think its safe to say based on research that the earth is definitely warming up! Maine was covered in a glacier 1 mile thick 10 million years ago. There are aquatic fossils on the TOP of our highest mountains. I tend to side with the scientists that say that the earth goes in cycles and considering the earth was mostly tropical and then went into a deep freeze. The ice has to melt, right? I think were just on our way towards another "tropical" earth.
I also believe that man *IS* playing a part in the grand scheme of things. What took millions of years to freeze and thaw before is now happening an alarmingly high rates of speed because of mans "technology". We are in fact upsetting the "natural" balance of ecosystems. To what extent, I dont know.
This planet has been around for millions of years and documentation of temps
with accurate instruments has only been used for what, 150 years? So whos to say this
isnt part of our big planets normal cycle.
When a volcano goes off, it pushes more gases and debris into the air than all the cars,
planes, trains in the world could do and that too has been happening for millions of years.
You notice the only time the global warming crowd is loud is when there is a heat wave, last
month in Nebraska we had record lows, where was the voice of the global warming gang then?
Sun spot cycles every 11 years and has been again for millions of years and those too effect our climate.
All the big hurricanes that have been happening?..once again , there is a pattern.
NOT global warming!!
Who are we to judge what is going on with the weather over the last 150 years when
our own planet have been around for millions of years..
Now to get away from fossil fuels so we are no longer dependant on terrorist and the use of Nuke ,wind and solar power, thats a great idea but again nothing to do with the myth of global warming just our own safety and security..
I think global warming is a natural thing that has been happening for a long time. Mankind is not helping but the weather conditions with polution but on the scale of things we can do a bit to slow things down but it is a natural progression towards the end of this planet. Probably in about 1.5 million years.
A different perspective
I work in the built environment (architect). I can tell you that some of the companies that I deal with are huge manufacturing companies, steel melts, carpet manufacturers etc etc and they think it is real. Indeed a lot of them have started sacrificing some profitability to bring their companies to a "green" standard. Now there is no doubt some measure of that is marketing and good public relations but the extent they have gone to is unnecessary just for good PR.
The way I see it, our big problem is the massive human overpopulation of the planet. We are living in the era of "here we all are" There are in fact more human beings alive on the planet right now than have ever been alive right through to prehistory. What is more we are getting fairer - in that poorer countries are being allowed to consume at a level more equitable with western and first world countries. That means massive consumption of resources. China and India are going to lead the way in this global expansion of consumer demand. That is rushing us towards Peak Oil (the point at which demand exceeds supply) and it is rapidly expanding the amount of C02 pumped into the environment.
Effects are being seen - we have them here in Australia, some of our neighbours are starting to go under water. Now I know that we have had Ice ages and warm ages before - the issue is it is happening so quickly. What global warming does is produce larger variations in temperature - it sounds stupid but warming can produce cold snaps and floods. Easiest way to explain is to think about a clock pendulum - push it hard one way and it swings back harder in the opposite direction, same principle different application.
Its not all doom and gloom - people are making changes. 10 years ago the Hole in the O-zone layer was debated as to whether it was real or a threat in any way - it was, its here, it hit Australia some years back. Our skin cancer rates were already through the roof and they just went higher BUT the hole is in fact shrinking (well it ebbs and flows but in the main it is shrinking very slowly) and in 30-40 years it may not exist - it can be fixed (is being fixed because people and governments reacted to fix it) and we will be better off for it.
Same goes for Global warming - we dont all need to become tree hugging hippies - for instance to offset my entire families carbon footprint I can plant 68 trees (well actually a company does it for me - talk about armchair conservation) at $2.50 each, ensuring they will grow and be maintained for 30 years sucking up all the carbon we have produced this year. We still fly, drive cars and use plastic. I design buildings that are made from materials that in their manufacture use less carbon - this is way more effective than my tree planting in the larger scale of things and it helps. Carbon is important - trees need it to grow and produce photosynthesis and feed us eventually (be it as stock feed or veggies direct) - we are just on the wrong side of the balance at the moment when talking about how much is being produced/used.
With some serious thought and some well timed and placed action we will overcome this and get on with our lives and evolution.
Just my two cents
Matt
Well There! I just learned a whole bunch of stuff! Thank you!
sorry
have a tendency to harp on some times
Matt
dont say sorry bro...its a debate ;D
sorry
have a tendency to harp on some times
Matt :afam:
LOL That was a SINCERE apology. I stated in the beginning I didnt really know what I was talking about... LOL You need to stop being such a softie! I can dish it out if need be. Thank you for giving a second thought about my feeling though!
Mother Earth has been doing what she wants for millions of years. Humans have a small impact over what happens and absolutely no way to control the climate. She will do what she wants.
Global warming is just a new liberal religion and Al Gore is the self appointed Pope.