Could Global Warming be called a misnomer?

Question

I've been reading a lot of the questions and have a difficult time trying to figure out what it really is. What does climate has to do with anthropology?

Answer 1

Global warming, as a term, is merely used to describe a condition that the Earth is going through.  The natural cycle of Earth's climate varies from very warm to overall cold depending upon a great deal of factors ranging from salinity of the oceans to the amount of radiation penetrating Earth's ozone layer.

In terms of anthropology, global warming can be used to assess many of the major events both in the Common Era (C.E.) and Before C.E.  

For instance, the "Little Ice Age" during the more recent common era had a great impact upon events that shaped the history of the western world.

The Little Ice Age brought bitterly cold winters to many parts of the world, but is most thoroughly documented in Europe and North America. In the mid-17th century, glaciers in the Swiss Alps advanced, gradually engulfing farms and crushing entire villages. The River Thames and the canals and rivers of the Netherlands often froze over during the winter, and people skated and even held frost fairs on the ice. The first Thames frost fair was in 1607; the last in 1814, although changes to the bridges and the addition of an embankment affected the river flow and depth, hence the possibility of freezes. The freeze of the Golden Horn and the southern section of the Bosphorus took place in 1622. In 1658 a Swedish army marched across Øresund to Denmark and invaded Copenhagen. The winter of 1794/1795 was particularly harsh when the French invasion army under Pichegru could march on the frozen rivers of the Netherlands, whilst the Dutch fleet was fixed in the ice in Den Helder harbour. In the winter of 1780, New York Harbor froze, allowing people to walk from Manhattan to Staten Island. Sea ice surrounding Iceland extended for miles in every direction, closing that island's harbors to shipping.

The severe winters affected human life in ways large and small. The population of Iceland fell by half, but this was perhaps also due to fluorosis caused by the eruption of the volcano Laki in 1783.[4] The Viking colonies in Greenland died out (in the 15th century) because they could no longer grow enough food there. In North America, American Indians formed leagues in response to food shortages.[5]

One researcher noted that, in many years, "snowfall was much heavier than recorded before or since, and the snow lay on the ground for many months longer than it does today."[6] Many springs and summers were outstandingly cold and wet, although there was great variability between years and groups of years. Crop practices throughout Europe had to be altered to adapt to the shortened, less reliable growing season, and there were many years of death and famine (such as the Great Famine of 1315-1317, although this may have been before the LIA proper). Viticulture entirely disappeared from some northern regions. Violent storms caused massive flooding and loss of life. Some of these resulted in permanent losses of large tracts of land from the Danish, German, and Dutch coasts.[6]

The extent of mountain glaciers had been mapped by the late 19th century. In both the north and the south temperate zones of our planet, snowlines (the boundaries separating zones of net accumulation from those of net ablation) were about 100 m lower than they were in 1975.[7] In Glacier National Park, the last episode of glacier advance came in the late 18th and early 19th century.[8] In Chesapeake Bay, Maryland, large temperature excursions during the Little Ice Age (~1400–1900 AD) and the Medieval Warm Period (~800–1300 AD) possibly related to changes in the strength of North Atlantic thermohaline circulation.[9]

In Ethiopia and Mauritania[citation needed], permanent snow was reported on mountain peaks at levels where it does not occur today. Timbuktu, an important city on the trans-Saharan caravan route, was flooded at least 13 times by the Niger River; there are no records of similar flooding before or since. In China, warm weather crops, such as oranges, were abandoned in Jiangxi Province, where they had been grown for centuries. In North America, the early European settlers also reported exceptionally severe winters. For example, in 1607-1608 ice persisted on Lake Superior until June.[6]

Antonio Stradivari, the famous violin maker, produced his instruments during the LIA. It has been proposed that the colder climate caused the wood used in his violins to be denser than in warmer periods, contributing to the tone of Stradivari's instruments.[10]

The Little Ice Age by anthropology professor Brian Fagan of the University of California at Santa Barbara, tells of the plight of European peasants during the 1300 to 1850 chill: famines, hypothermia, bread riots, and the rise of despotic leaders brutalizing an increasingly dispirited peasantry. In the late 17th century, writes Fagan, agriculture had dropped off so dramatically that "Alpine villagers lived on bread made from ground nutshells mixed with barley and oat flour." Finland lost perhaps a third of its population to starvation and disease.

Hope that helps!

-J

http://badhuman.wordpress.com

Answer 2

Its called global warming because too many people don't realize that some places can cool off even while the average worldwide temperature is rising.   Climate change would be more correct, but people can't handle the possibilities that phrase puts out.

Answer 3

Humans have had some impact on climate - but it is dwarfed by natural climate changes.  The last ice age was ended ten thousand years ago as the sun's energy output increased.  There's nothing humans can do to stop this.

Global warming may be the name for the very long-term trend over thousands of years.  However, during this time, there have been cooling cycles, mini-ice ages.  We are just coming out of one of those cooling trends that occurred during the 1960s and 1970s, scaring scientists into warning us of a new ice age.  Well, it did not last and now we are catching back up to the natural warming trend.

[Harley Mike - I'll point out that Al Gore, the guru of the Global Warming cult, got Sir Richard Branson to invest over a billion dollars in Corn-based Ethanol.  That is one of the most environmentally destructive fuels one can create.  Why?  Al Gore created "Generation Investment Management Corporation" to receive carbon offset payments that would be forced on us by government.  He's not in it to make the Earth any better - he's in it to make himself and his investment buddies incredibly wealthy while raping the land to produce corn ethanol destroys ecosystems.]

Answer 4

the word is anthropogenic, meaning man-made (fossil fuel burning, deforestation, etc). indeed, it has little to do with anthropology, which is the study of human natural history (particularly before the invention of writing).

Answer 5

Global warming is not a misnomer, but if you are taking an anthropological perspective, perhaps climate change is a more appropriate term.  Climate is defined by the average weather conditions over a 30 year period.  Since weather events can seriously impact peoples' lives - possibly leading to choose permanent relocation(as is currently happening in parts of the midwest) - then climate, made up of weather averaged over longer periods, has a lot to do with the study of culture.

Answer 6

There is no such thing as total equilibrium in the natural world. Believe me, it that happen, there would be no life as we know it. The irony is, that everything in nature does strive for a balance, but that is obtain from transitional phase's in the environment. You notice some places have four seasons, while others only have two. One degree of an average change is a relatively  insignificant, whether it goes up or down. The only foundation the extremist have is the premise that man controls the environment. I don't agree with that, from the stand point it hasn't been proved, even from a moderate view.

Answer 7

Anthropology involves studying the cultural development of humanity.  Climate changes in the past have had great impacts on that developmental process.

The book "Collapse", by Jared Diamond does an excellent job of covering that topic in depth. He shows how environmental factors (including climate change) in the past have caused previously thriving societies to fail or collapse.  Anyone that still has doubts about the potential impact of global warming (human or natural in cause) could have on modern society should read that book.  Otherwise, they are only burying their head in the sand.

And ignore the posts above by people who try to sound scientific, yet claim humans are not associated with global warming.  Those posters somehow think they're more intelligent than the vast majority of climate scientists throughout the world.  For a good introduction to the subject of global warming, check out these links:

The 2008 National Academy of Sciences Summary Brochure on Climate Change

http://dels.nas.edu/dels/rpt_briefs/clim...



The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research Global Warming FAQs

http://www.ucar.edu/news/features/climat...



Department of Geology and Geophysics at Yale Global Warming FAQ

http://earth.geology.yale.edu/~sherwood/...



NOAA Global Warming FAQ

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/glob...



The Discovery of Global Warming (great history site)

http://www.aip.org/history/climate/

Answer 8

I agree in truth with what the first replier states in regards to how little of an effect we as humans have on the BIG picture as it pertains to Global Warming or most every other Geologic change in our world. However I think that the goal of those who come before us and warn us of the dnangers of global warming is one that is searching for methods of enriching our planet and not taking away from it. We are the caretakers of this home we call earth and those who seek to teach us and warn us are only doing so to make us more aware of the damage we are causing and the ruthless destruction of what we are in fact entrusted to preserve and care for. It may be on a minimal scale when compared to cataclismic affairs that have happened and will contnue to happen throughout our physical existence as a planet but nevertheless, we being of the higher intellect ,have a responisbility to do all what we can to make this place a better place for ourselves, our children and those who follow after us. A people of good conscience will lead their lives in such a way. This is just a wake up call for those of us who need to be reminded from time to time. Lets be sure that as individuals we left the Earth a better place then how we found it or at the very least , none the worse for our being here.