global warming?

Climate Change....without a doubt. Global Warming, that depends on a very complex series of events which could Warm, or Cool the world depending on feeback loops, and the location of temperature measurements taken. Added to this is the stigma attached to the term "Global Warming" as it tends to draw loonies from both sides into an endless debate on symantics, and the inevitable CO2 graph.
 
dt3 said:
Is the Earth hotter on average now than a few 100 years ago? Yes. Can we prove that it's becuase of us, or that it will have devastating effects? NO!!!!
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I quote my good friend because he doesnt even make a comment here. all he does is raise more questions. GLOBAL WARMING says to me me that the world is getting hotter. On average sure. it looks to me that the hot places are getting hotter and the cold places are getting colder. GLOBAL WARMING....NO. deserts grow and ice caps get bigger. Its the normal cycle of the earth. we are way over due foe an Ice age 10,000 years overdue by my calculations. But by the best scientists calculations they really have no idea when we should fall to the cold. If the hot places didnt get warmer while the cold places got bigger and colder how would life survive? Its a cycle folks....we cant end milinea upon milinea of lif life without having some help. There is no proof. ABSOLUTELY none. How can these scientists predict weather change over a 100 years if we cant predict it tomorrow?
 
dt3 said:
Is the Earth hotter on average now than a few 100 years ago? Yes. Can we prove that it's becuase of us, or that it will have devastating effects? NO!!!!
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Exactly. This could be a normal cycle that happen. Are we helping it along? Maybe. I think that we do need to cut back on what we release into the atmosphere because it's not healthy for anything. But I don't think it's doing nearly as much damage as people are saying it is. Of course, my 5th graders are convinced otherwise.
 
co2-temp.gif


The blue line represents the fluctuations in the earths temperature. The red line is the fluctuation in CO2 levels. So yes, there have been documented rises and falls in temperature and CO2 levels long before we ever had an impact on the environment. The question is; how are we effecting it now and what does that mean to future generations?

surface_temps.gif


From this graph you can see we get our historical data from many sources. Scientists have been able to piece together a picture of the Earth's climate dating back decades to millions of years ago by analyzing a number of surrogate, or "proxy," measures of climate such as ice cores, boreholes, tree rings, glacier lengths, pollen remains, and ocean sediments, and by studying changes in the Earth's orbit around the sun.

Greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere will increase during the next century unless greenhouse gas emissions decrease substantially from present levels. Increased greenhouse gas concentrations are likely to raise the Earth's average temperature, influence precipitation and some storm patterns as well as raise sea levels. The magnitude of these changes, however, is uncertain.

All of the above information is from the US EPA. A government agency, Our government... The same ones that have been changing the information in scientific studies to "hush" them.

Nearly half cited edits
The Union of Concerned Scientists, a private advocacy group, and the Government Accountability Project, a legal-assistance group that represents whistle-blowers, sent out the survey to 1,600 scientists. Surveys were returned by 308 scientists. Not all answered every question, but the survey found that:
  • 43 percent of respondents reported edits during review of their work that changed the meaning of their findings.
  • 46 percent felt administrative requirements that impaired climate-related work.
  • 67 percent said the environment for federal government climate research is worse now than five years ago.
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I have SOO much more on this subject, I just don't have the time right now to get into all of it... but Yes, we are effecting climate change, and it's not good.
 
yay! we are all going to die!!!

run for your lives!!!!!

(woah, wait a second... this is global warming right? well, then i guess you have no where to run..)

ok people, not a big deal, just sit and die.

yay!
 
I will say this, just like what Ali said, we only have historical accurate (not estimated) records of weather and temperatures for about the last 150 years. Regardless of whether you believe the earth to be billions of years old, or only thousands of years old, 150 years worth of data is next to nothing. So all these estimates of the future weather and temperature changes are just that... estimates. Nonetheless, if the Global Warming scare will help change people's attitudes about pollution and spur us to start decreasing our dependence on fossil fuels then I say go for it. It can only help us in the long run. Anything we can do to help fuck Big Oil... know what I mean? Record profits my ass. They have been shafting us at the pumps for the last few years and we have just sat by and let them. Ugh! Anyway, I'll save that tangent for another day.
 
But we do have data dating back more than 140 years. Just because we weren't taking physical temperatures, doesn't mean that science can't see what happened with the climate.

Scientists have been able to piece together a picture of the Earth's climate dating back decades to millions of years ago by analyzing a number of surrogate, or "proxy," measures of climate such as ice cores, boreholes, tree rings, glacier lengths, pollen remains, and ocean sediments, and by studying changes in the Earth's orbit around the sun.
 
There are a couple of things that are regulating the Earth's temp, obviously one of them is the level of CO2 in the atmosphere but another major one is the Gulf Stream. This carries a constant supply of warm water & air from near the Equator to Europe, if this stops then Europe may well be plunged into another Ice age. The fear is that a rise on tempurature may stop the flow or change it's direction - either would be devestating.

A number of Pacific islands are about to be abandoned because they are shrinking due to rising seas. Venice is also having more frequent flood days.

The world is changing but it's outcome is far from decided.

Allan
 
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