Global warming: what do you think?

personally I feel we should be doing everything we can to preserve. For instance; I drive a ford focus, and I ride a bike. I also bring cloth bags with me to the supermarket. That s just a couple things I do as my part for the enviroment. Mt question has 2 parts. First , if there is such things as global warming is it our fault. And whether it be our fault or not,what can we do about it. and if there is liberal agenda behind all the hype, what is that agenda. I s it just money for green jobs, or is it anti capitalist agenda?

Global warming is real. You can't dispute that the global mean temperature has risen over the last 35 years. And you also can't dispute that CO2 levels in the atmosphere are substantially higher as well. These are facts.

The question is, what will global warming do to the planet? This is where climatologists are in disagreement. It will probably affect different regions in different ways. I happen to disagree with the alarmist position taken by Gore and some others over the impacts of global warming. Models make a very wide range of predictions, and become more inaccurate the further out you predict, especially if any of the variables change even slightly. Using one set of data to scare people into a certain mode of thinking is irresponsible.

I happen to believe it's possible to reduce the ecological footprint and still maintain a decent standard of living. There are a lot of changes in our lifestyle that we can and should make, and certain environmental issues should remain at the forefront of national policy. We also have to be realistic, though. It's unlikely that fossil fuel consumption is going to decrease in the near future, as countries like China and India continue rapid industrialization. That is going to be a serious concern in the next years.

I think global worming is everbodys fault we all do little to hUrt the earth but all that little stuff comes together and look what you got GLAOBAL WORMING

Yes, I believe in Climate Change (that name is a bit more accurate than the term 'Global Warming', which the sceptics laugh at every time it snows).

I agree with what you're doing to take it seriously.

I agree with mjax1979 that there are a lot of fairly simple things we can all do to make the situation better, although I think he might be a bit too relaxed about the earth's current prognosis!

I'm in the UK, visiting my parents. There is no real notion here, or where I live (France) or in mjax1979's current home (Germany) that there is any liberal or anti-capitalist agenda behind the science.

I particularly remember the UK Conservative environment spokesman in the 1990s - he'd been put in place to 'keep the greens quiet' and 'make it look like the Conservative party is doing something'. Suddenly he was in a position to meet the experts and read the reports in full, and he horrified the Conservatives by genuinely 'going green' on them! Since then all but the few die-hards have recognised that Climate Change is real and that our behaviour is a major cause. It's not a party-political issue in Europe any more.

We have a Fun Advice group called Green Living - I've sent you an invitation, but anyone with a concern for the environment is welcome to join!

Many out there claim: 'All scientists agree - case closed' - not true - here's a few who don't:

Information: 31,072 signers, including 9,021 PhDs: http://WWW.petitionproject.org/gwdatabase/GWPP/Frequently_Asked_Questions.HTML

"There is no real notion here, or where I live (France) or in mjax1979's current home (Germany) that there is any liberal or anti-capitalist agenda behind the science."

Although that notion does exist in the US, it's not as widespread as it used to be. For example, although the US government refuses to sign the Kyoto protocol and it's subsequent treaties in Ottowa, several hundred major US cities have agreed on their own to abide by the protocol. And California is already working to slash emissions, and of all 50 states they matter the most.

That being said, I am seriously concerned by reports like this:
http://environment.newscientist.com/article/dn13447-china-emissions-to-swamp-kyoto-reductions-by-2010.html

What to do about China?

The New Scientist also produced what has become my favourite report (I must find a link for it) which pointed out that China's industrial carbon output, whilst bad, cannot begin to compare to the combined personal output of each European, American and Australian.

That's the report I keep quoting which I think was entitled: 'Is there any point in going green?' The question was, if developing nations are going to dramatically increase their emissions, can my little individual efforts make any difference? The answer was a resounding YES, individual lifestyle choices in developed countries add up to 60% of those countries' emmissions.

So whatever China and India do, they will not match our personal comsumer lifestyles. We need to look politically at other countries, but we need to look at our own consumerism at the same time.

Scientists think in 50 years humanity would be wiped out if the emmision of harmful substances like CO2, methene, e.t.c, continue as its present rate. If something is to be done, I think the Americans will be the sacrificial lambs because' a higher % of this emmision is from the U.S.A

 
I, personally, don't believe that global warming is being CAUSED by man. He may be contributing a little, but global warming is a cycle that the earth goes through and has gone through many times in the past and will continue to do in the future.

The problem with global warming, besides the fact that it may cause flooding in coastal areas, is that it will expedite the next ice age. Man can deal with global warming but I don't think he will adapt very well to the next ice age.

I do think man should learn to be a little more conservative with non-renewable resources and even with renewable resources such as forests. Mainly so that our future generations may enjoy some of the benefits that the earth presently has to offer.

I'm not too worried about the extinction of various species, like polar bears, etc., since that is part of evolution's way. If species can't adapt to the continuing evolution of the earth's environment then they perish and new, fit, life evolves to fill the niche.

I think man's brain has evolved to the point that he can adapt to earth's environmental change. What he does have to watch out for are meteors or comets that could imperil the earth.

"can my little individual efforts make any difference? The answer was a resounding YES, individual lifestyle choices in developed countries add up to 60% of those countries' emmissions."

I do agree with this flossheal. I'm certainly not saying, "well screw going green because China and India are just going to pollute anyway, so I might as well live it up." I believe balancing lifestyle with the environment is a must not only to reduce emissions but also as an example to the developing world.

I'm bringing up the developing world out of genuine concern. The reality is, millions of people in China and India already have matched our consumer lifestyle, and tens of millions more have that as their life goal. It's a goal that is encouraged by their leadership.

But we also need to look beyond individual consumer lifestyles. We need to look at wider trends in industry. China's consumption of oil, coal, and natural gas are expected to skyrocket in the coming decades. The country simply cannot maintain rapid economic growth without guzzling fossil fuels, and if you follow Chinese foreign policy, it's easy to see that securing future sources of that energy is their primary goal.

China will soon surpass the United States in emissions from coal-fired plants (some estimates have this happening as soon as next year). As for auto emissions, China already HAS surpassed the US. And this is not only a problem for global warming, it's become a severe problem for air quality and pollution in Chinese cities and for the Chinese people themselves.

No worldwide effort to curb emissions will be successful unless the problem of China is addressed. Of course we should continue to work on our way of living, but do not expect to see results any time soon.

I think global warming is coming and fast!!!

Thanks mjax1979. Do you think that our own governments can have any positive influence on the decisions of China and India, or is there any other way we can help without implying: 'Do as I say, not as I do'?

Some of the Chinese leadership are genuinely concerned about environmental issues and are working to change the direction of China's energy policy. Others perceive criticism from the West as the sort of hypocrisy you point out: ""you Westerners got to where you are by consuming fossil fuels, and now that we're doing it and it's working for us, you suddenly want us to stop?""

China needs to be continuously engaged on the issue. All serious environmental talks must involve China, India, Brazil, etc., and certainly they will not take us seriously if we're not working to cut emissions ourselves.

The struggle for this planet, I think, is summed up in the following example: you have a Brazilian farmer struggling to feed his family. He needs to clear rainforest in order to get suitable farmland, but in that rainforest are endangered species. What to do? Whose interests trump in that situation? That is what our leaders, and us, need to seriously think about.

global warming is made up. me and my homies still ridin on hummers rollin on dubs. We still shynin

anyone who answered Global warming is real... YOU ARE ALL WRONG!! Scientists say that some of the hottest temps were 100's of years ago and there are some current record lows. We learned about these cycles the Earth goes through in school. These cycles make the temp go up and down in over a period of years. It is still important to care for the inviroment however so we can have clean air land and water. Also finding a renewable gas source is important. So to answer yout question Global Warming is the biggest fake ever (Al Gore probally just wanted fame and more money so he made it up) but good for you for riding your bike and be concerned for the enviroment!!

"Scientists say that some of the hottest temps were 100's of years ago and there are some current record lows."

First of all, saying "100's of years ago" is very non-specific. A few hundred years ago the earth entered the Little Ice Age, a period of rapid global cooling. Second, global warming is used to describe a mean rise in the earth's average temperature. Of course certain regions will still experience cooler temps. The earth's climate does change continuously. The concern with the current warming trend is how fast it is happening, and its observed impacts. Check out http://www.realclimate.org for true scientific research on this subject.

De-forestation, gas & noxis gas being put into the air(everything electrical & such, well mostly do to the burning of fossil fuels). It's not just the people but the big companies need to get over the money issies. A guy created a battery that never dies, but the big companies bought it out because they would loose money, they need to sponser the CAT(car that runs on air, runs 75 miles per hour, & they have a van veron of it that can hold 7 people).
people are pitching in more,
but we still need more people

Okay, here we go.

What I think about Global Warming is that it is real and that it will take along time to bring the earth's temperature back down to a point where we will be okay. I think that "we humans" are doing this to our planet. It's simply not good. We burn our fossil fuels and raise the CO2 levels. It's horrible. I'm wondering why the gas prices are going up 3 cents a night. Do they not want people driving? Yeah, because of the bad fumes coming out of the cars. Maybe that's why they are making more and more hybrids.
Another thing, is that the world isn't really working together to help put the temperature back down. Yeah, we're trying to be as efficient as possilbe, but still, we don't have a lot of time to act. If EVERYONE recycyles; saving energy in homes, schools, stores, buisnesses, then we would be okay. That's how we put more CO2's in the air which eats the heck out of our ozone layer.
Well, that's my opinion on Global Warming.
WE NEED TO ACT FAST

HA,HA,HA!! Yes I do believe in Climate Change but everyone is blaming one thing or the other except a few people. Actually it's more of a cycle. You see we had the Ice Age and then we had the melt down. It's just a cycle not the end of the world!!!

Ha ha... you people are funny!! your killing me!!! Record Temperatures today happened fifty years ago. you people need to do the correct research and get your facts straight! global warming is a big HOAX!!!