As another large chunk of the ice sheet falls into the sea, isn't it time to admit Climate Change is real?

Question

http://www.thegobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080729.wice29/BNStory/National/home

Basically, a huge chunk of ice shelf has snapped off into the sea, and the implications are that we have to do something about Global Warming, FAST!!!

Answer 1

OK again, the climate always changes, and we're coming off a multi-century cool period known as the "little ice age."  

"Ice melted = Al Gore is right" is like saying "it's raining, we should all be building an Ark"

Answer 2

Yes it is real, no one disputes that but climate change has occured NATURALLY throughout history

edit - and that link is fecked

Answer 3

Climate change is a natural cycle of the Earth. It has been/will be happening for the rest of the natural life of the Earth.

Answer 4

Well the way I see it is as follows, if its us that are really responsible, no-one in power is going to allow us to change the status quo, too much money at stake. So nature being what it is, will I believe sort out the situation, if that means removing the root cause of the problem, ie us then it will do so. If its a natural occurence then it will right itself and all will be well. I am of an age where I probably have more time behind me than I have in front of me, so how I equate it is, there will be enough time left for me and my friends to live out our  days in happy contentment, however its you younger folk that ought to be worried very, very worried

Answer 5

When ice melts in the summer it gets world wide mainstream media exposure, when it freezes again in the winter nothing is said. This proves to me that we are being subjected to a propaganda campaign.

Without man made global warming Al Gore's carbon trading business would go broke.

Edited to add comment to ayala  

An Inconvenient truth is just a promotional film for Al Gore's carbon trading business. Like any commercial advert it is full of half truths, half lies, distortions and exaggerations. It is a well produced piece of propaganda, but not science.

Answer 6

Climate change is inevitable. It has happened before and will happen again. I think we should do our bit to minimise our involvement, but the fact you have a computer on the internet means you aren't that conscientious.

Answer 7

u spelled ur link wrong i think it's theglobeandmail, anyway, global warming is real, is it that hard to accept the obviousness of the situation

Answer 8

I accept that global warming is a fact

I also have scepticism over the claim that mankind is fully responsible.

Global warming has happened many times on this planet, long before our ancestors put in an appearance. You only have to take a look at ancient sand dunes to know the sea was a few hundred feet higher than it is today.

Answer 9

I knew the second I saw that on the news that the global warming Chicken Littles would be screaming the sky is falling.  The fact is, this is nothing unusual.  Randall E is right, we are coming out of the Little Ice Age, so naturally things will get a little warmer.  Not to mention, if you look back over recent history in the last few thousand years, this has happened before.  It's nothing new.  Man made global warming is only a scare tactic to increase your taxes and control all to "fix" a naturally occurring event typical to the earth's life cycle.

Answer 10

Of course climate change is real, and human activity producing greenhouse gases is undeniably the major cause. The current rate of ice break up at the poles simply adds to the already overwhelming evidence.

Yes, ice has always broken off in summer and has been reformed in the winter, but the rate of summer breakup is currently so high that the volume of ice reformed in the winter is simply far too small to make up for it. So the ice caps are currently shrinking at an annual rate that has never been seen before.

We should be in a cooling phase of the natural cycle at the moment and size of the the ice caps should be increasing, but the global temperature is still rising and the ice caps are shrinking, so the argument that the global warming happening now, is  "just part of the natural cycle" is arrant nonsense.

I just can't understand the mentality of these people who insist on toadying to the massively rich companies who produce oil and other fossil fuels, by continuing to disbelieve the overwhelming evidence.

The only thing that will suffer if major action to reduce carbon emissions is taken, is the profits of those companies. If we fail to take adequate action, the entire human race will suffer.

And as far as reducing your own carbon footprint is concened, what is the harm in trying whether you believe it will make a difference to global warming or not? Saving energy is a great way to save money and to lower your personal and household costs. Especially important considering the current "credit crunch", I would have thought.

Edit: Looks like the "head in the sand" apologists for the super rich oil companies are out in force on Y!A today.

Answer 11

this is why the ice shelf snapped off in the arctic http://www.livescience.com/environment/0...

Answer 12

Sorry Heralda - can't agree with that! These people who keep using scare tactics re the Global Warming issue NEVER state that this type of thing has happened naturally for thousands, if not millions, of years. The other thing that bothers me is that the way the politicians waffle on you'd think that we Brits are causing this all by ourselves, when in fact Britain has only TWO PER CENT EMISSIONS. Just another ploy to get more money out of already over taxed people.  Wonder what the papers and "experts" will be saying when the bloody Ice-Age hits us again!

Answer 13

Ice always melts during the summer months.....in the last 10 years the planet has been cooling anyways.

Wouldnt get yourself in a muddle...its just the propaganda machine squeezing you for taxes.

We all need a common enemy....then you control the masses.

Answer 14

Of course climate change is real, it's been going on for 4.5 billion years. Al Gore's idea of "Climate Change", AKA a way to blame man no matter what happens, is a fallacy, however.

To answer your question. Ice melts every summer. Not only that, but one side of a glacer usually grows, pushing the other side into the sea. This is a natural process that always happens. And while some glaciers shrink (like in the Himalayas), others grow, such as here in America, and over in Europe. While some parts of the Greenland ice cap are being pushed into the sea through this natural process, the top continues to grow.

Most of the ice that melts apparently without explantion is due to magma. Magma is also why the oceans have been warming for awhile. However, mysteriously, the Earth's temperature dropped 1 degree last year, erasing 100 years of global warming.

Answer 15

There will always be people who deny climate change & also deny global warming as the cause. There are also people who acknowledge all that but deny global warming is caused by us. Then there are people who admit THAT but insist we can't change it.

The best you can do is try to reduce your carbon footprint. Ride a bike more, use less electricity, plant a small garden if you can, recycle, etc. Try to spread the word to your friends, family, and neighbors and help them find ways to live better without annoying them or being seen as a preacher.

Answer 16

Hi,  yes no doubt about it climate change is taking place, but it is only opinion that it is caused by mankind.  I personally believe it is a natural phenonima which has happened so many times in the earths history.  I also believe that some scientists & academics are getting a very good living out of the issue & have a vested interest in keeping the theory going. It's more about saving energy & resources than global warming.

Answer 17

No!

You seem to believe that this is something either new or unheard of in the past, or that it doesn't happen all of the time.

This is all a natural occurence, and nothing to do with climate change.

There is absolutely nothing that man could do to alter weather or climate anyway.

Stop using the internet as a source of reference, learn a little science, and you will realize how badly you are being manipulated and brainwashed.

Knowledge will always(or should) prevail over ignorance.

Answer 18

things are only going to deteriorate. look at it this way even global population will continue to increase as we go into 2050 its going to be 10 Billion people.  THe question is whether the GROWING number ( its not planned to stop at 10 Billion) will eventually level off or will continue to rise and if it does is it  going to be an exponential curve.  Either way with ten billion people ( they will own cars too) global warming is not going to be solved.  I think what will happen is the oil is going to run out and only then will we switch to  cleaner burning fuels like hydrogen.

Answer 19

The way the polar ice caps are shrinking is very worrying, and it is indeed being caused by human production of greenhouse gases. The scientific evidence that most people here are choosing to ignore, either through ignorance or for political reasons, is much too strong to be simply set aside. Not only that, but the more the ice caps shrink, the less reflective surface area there is which can reflect heat from the sun back into space, so the more global warming accelerates.

If something significant isn't done soon to cut carbon emissions, it won't be too many years before the ice caps become so small that a tipping point will be reached and global warming will become irreversible. There is still time to stop it happening, but we must act soon and we must act decisively. It worries me a lot that so many people still seem so ignorant of the situation that they can't or won't accept the truth.

Answer 20

So what? The glaciers have been melting for the last 18,000 years. You should research the topic. never rely on the main stream media. Why do people think the earth should remain in a static state. It never has and never will.

http://www.museum.state.il.us/exhibits/i...

Answer 21

it happens all the time.

people had better things to do before.

now you hear about it because the goverment wants to up the

energy prices.

getcluedup.com

Answer 22

there is nothing you can do about climate change, it is a natural occurrence. Same thing is happening to every planet in the solar system and with no suv's. I do think that we should start to clean-up our planet, we have made a mess down here.

Answer 23

Large sheets of ice have always been falling out into the sea.  If global warming really is a man made phenomenon - who caused it in the past?

Answer 24

Actually its not because of Global Warming but its because of pole shifting......................

Consult the Horizon Project for more details...

Answer 25

dont beleive it,its scare mongering .ice continually falls into the sea and is continually replenished,its a natural cycle

Answer 26

How does acknowledging the situation change anything?  

And just because it's happening, do you think that means that humans either are the cause or the solution?  Do you realize that the temperatures on other planets are rising, too, and that the sun is getting hotter?  Is our carbon footprint somehow responsbible for that as well?

The real answer here is to fall on our faces before the God of the universe and beg for mercy.  We have sinned and turned against His commands, and we are facing judgment for it.  That is the clear cause and effect that I see happening.  He is the Creator and in control of climate change and everything else, and the sooner we acknowledge that and live accordingly, the better.  Or else He will have to keep getting our attention in unpleasant ways.  If God wants the earth warmed, cooled, destroyed, or saved, there is nothing we can to do prevent that.

Yes, we should be good stewards of the resources He has given us.  No, we shouldn't be wasteful or greedy or slothful or prideful.  But it is equally prideful and foolish for us to think that we humans are more powerful than God and that it's somehow up to us to save the earth!

Answer 27

... Do something fast; sure is. But what? Government reacts with painful sloth when economic considerations and the sleight of hand methods of accounting (GAAP) must determine direction and pace. The vested interests in the energy markets will continue to effectively sabotage truth about consequences resulting from their golden goose. We expect their analysis of drilling opportunities from newly ice-free regions to self promote the addiction.

Addiction has a drug & alcohol theme inherent in the word, but applies to the failure of humanity to embrace change, alternative courses, or plan for the future. Our children will condemn our collective momentum, as they consider what might have been. Less than a generation remains to alter the course. The wealthy can reap tremendous increases during that period. They will confuse facts with the tools of propaganda, and the FCC media will promote Corporate agenda.

Answer 28

What ARE we supposed to do about it? What's going on now also happened thousands of years ago, the planet is going thru some changes, granted some are caused my mankind but some of these things are ment to take place. EXAMPLE:  The Great Lakes were formed by similar events thousands of years ago.

Answer 29

God, would you stop your whining. Even if humans are causing global warming, scientists are developing ways of actually taking carbon dioxide out of the air, thus reversing the effects of it anyway, so there's nothing to worry about.

Answer 30

You are wrong. in your assumption that ice didn't break off in the past.  Glaciers in the Antarctic are formed from mostly from the accumulation of snow. They then typically migrate downhill toward the ocean where they eventually break off.  Did you ever hear of the Titantic.  It hit an ice berg that broke off from a glacier on the other side of the earth.  Take it from a geologist, ice is always breaking off glaciers.  Take a deep breath and remain calm.  It is absolutely nothing to worry about.

Answer 31

Was it climate change that caused the chunk of ice that hit the Titanic?

I guess it was all those model T's that we evil American's were driving back then wasn't it?