Do you belive in global warming?

Question

Do people really belive in global warming and why?

Answer 1

I believe in climate change, I believe it is a natural process and not human driven.

Answer 2

Yes, because there is loads of scientific evidence supporting the idea, and it is manifest in, for instance, the fact that 11 of the last 12 years are the warmest on the instrumental record going back approximately 150 years.

Answer 3

Global warming is a fact, but the reasons for it are shrouded in mystery.

Folks like xxLLynnxx above believe they understand the dynamics of it and have the answers, but there are a thousand more variables they haven't considered, so neither their conclusions about the causes nor the potential solutions can be trusted.

For example, did you know that forests, which absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen, also release thousands of tons of methane every year through the rotting and decomposition of vegetable matter? Did you know that based on the output of carbon dioxide per mile, the average bicycle rider produces more greenhouse gases than the average car?

Should we take steps to reduce our carbon and methane output? Of course we should. Will it make any difference to the apparent warming of our planet? We have no idea.

Answer 4

i not only believe but i *******KNOW******

Its happening every day and we ourselves are the ones contributing to it

y i believe in global warming

well since i was born in 1993 to not the earth has changed as the years go by

changes like more natural disasters, food crisis all over the world, people's behaviour has changed drastically like they do more crazy things

sooo hope this help

**********Chel***********

Answer 5

yes i do, and because there are so many experts out there with proof of higher average temperature, hotter summers, longer winters and etc.

Answer 6

No, manmade global warming is not true. I believe the earth is going through a natural warming cycle. just recently 17000 scientists from around the world signed a petition stating that they did not believe in manmade global warming...         i think that speaks volumes about the issue of global warming.

Answer 7

I believe in Global Warming.  Why?  Because there is huge scientific evidence to support that the climate is warming.  Take the massive storms we have been receiving of the past few years.  From the Tsunami that wiped out Indonesia, to the recent monsoon of Myanmar.  Look at the ice shelf's that are melting at a rapid pace.  

Watch An Inconvenient Truth or 11th Hour and decide for yourself.

Even if Global Warming isn't true, what is the harm in making the world we all live in a better place?  Do you really have a problem with a cleaner earth and trying to advance technology to where we wont need oil or gas anymore?

Its like Pascals Gambit, If you believe and its not true, no harm no foul, if you don't believe and it is true, the future is bleak and we are screwed.  (That is a layman's terms translation of the Great Pascals Wager)

Answer 8

Yes. Earth is already showing many signs of worldwide climate change.

• Average temperatures have climbed 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit (0.8 degree Celsius) around the world since 1880, much of this in recent decades, according to NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

• The rate of warming is increasing. The 20th century's last two decades were the hottest in 400 years and possibly the warmest for several millennia, according to a number of climate studies. And the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports that 11 of the past 12 years are among the dozen warmest since 1850.

• The Arctic is feeling the effects the most. Average temperatures in Alaska, western Canada, and eastern Russia have risen at twice the global average, according to the multinational Arctic Climate Impact Assessment report compiled between 2000 and 2004.

• Arctic ice is rapidly disappearing, and the region may have its first completely ice-free summer by 2040 or earlier. Polar bears and indigenous cultures are already suffering from the sea-ice loss.

• Glaciers and mountain snows are rapidly melting—for example, Montana's Glacier National Park now has only 27 glaciers, versus 150 in 1910. In the Northern Hemisphere, thaws also come a week earlier in spring and freezes begin a week later.

• Coral reefs, which are highly sensitive to small changes in water temperature, suffered the worst bleaching—or die-off in response to stress—ever recorded in 1998, with some areas seeing bleach rates of 70 percent. Experts expect these sorts of events to increase in frequency and intensity in the next 50 years as sea temperatures rise.

• An upsurge in the amount of extreme weather events, such as wildfires, heat waves, and strong tropical storms, is also attributed in part to climate change by some experts.

• Industrialization, deforestation, and pollution have greatly increased atmospheric concentrations of water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, all greenhouse gases that help trap heat near Earth's surface. (See an interactive feature on how global warming works.)

• Humans are pouring carbon dioxide into the atmosphere much faster than plants and oceans can absorb it.

• These gases persist in the atmosphere for years, meaning that even if such emissions were eliminated today, it would not immediately stop global warming.

• Some experts point out that natural cycles in Earth's orbit can alter the planet's exposure to sunlight, which may explain the current trend. Earth has indeed experienced warming and cooling cycles roughly every hundred thousand years due to these orbital shifts, but such changes have occurred over the span of several centuries. Today's changes have taken place over the past hundred years or less.

• Other recent research has suggested that the effects of variations in the sun's output are "negligible" as a factor in warming, but other, more complicated solar mechanisms could possibly play a role.

What's Going to Happen?

A follow-up report by the IPCC released in April 2007 warned that global warming could lead to large-scale food and water shortages and have catastrophic effects on wildlife.

• Sea level could rise between 7 and 23 inches (18 to 59 centimeters) by century's end, the IPCC's February 2007 report projects. Rises of just 4 inches (10 centimeters) could flood many South Seas islands and swamp large parts of Southeast Asia.

• Some hundred million people live within 3 feet (1 meter) of mean sea level, and much of the world's population is concentrated in vulnerable coastal cities. In the U.S., Louisiana and Florida are especially at risk.

• Glaciers around the world could melt, causing sea levels to rise while creating water shortages in regions dependent on runoff for fresh water.

• Strong hurricanes, droughts, heat waves, wildfires, and other natural disasters may become commonplace in many parts of the world. The growth of deserts may also cause food shortages in many places.

• More than a million species face extinction from disappearing habitat, changing ecosystems, and acidifying oceans.

• The ocean's circulation system, known as the ocean conveyor belt, could be permanently altered, causing a mini-ice age in Western Europe and other rapid changes.

• At some point in the future, warming could become uncontrollable by creating a so-called positive feedback effect. Rising temperatures could release additional greenhouse gases by unlocking methane in permafrost and undersea deposits, freeing carbon trapped in sea ice, and causing increased evaporation of water.

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The Earth was formed about 4,540,000,000 years ago.

In the beginning, the Earth's atmosphere contained very little oxygen (less than 1% oxygen pressure).

Early plants started to develop more than 2 billion years ago, probably about 2,700,000,000.

Through photosynthesis, plants uptake carbon dioxide into the biosphere as organic matter, and release oxygen as a byproduct.

Through geologic time, oxygen accumulated gradually in the atmosphere, reaching a value of about 21% of atmospheric gases at the present time.

Through geologic time, surplus organic matter has been sequestered in the lithosphere as fossil organic materials (coal, petroleum, and natural gas).

Early animals (the first organisms with external shells) started to develop around 600,000,000 years ago.

Animals operate in the opposite way than plants: they take up oxygen, burn organic matter (food), and release carbon dioxide as a byproduct.

Early humans (Australopithecus anamensis) began to develop about 4,100,000 years ago.

Cool climatic conditions have prevailed during the past 1,000,000 years. The species Homo sapiens evolved under these climatic conditions.

Homo sapiens dates back to more than 400,000 years.

Estimates for the variety Homo sapiens sapiens, to which all humans belong, range from 130,000 to 195,000 years old.

The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was as low as 190 ppm during the last Ice Age, about 21,000 years ago.

The last Ice Age began to recede about 20,000 years ago.

The agricultural revolution, where humans converted forests and rangelands into farms, began to develop about 10,000 years ago.

The agricultural revolution caused a reduction in standing biomass in the biosphere and reduced the uptake of carbon dioxide in midlatitudinal regions, indirectly contributing, however so slightly, to global warming.

The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increased gradually from a low of 190 ppm 21,000 year ago, to about 290 ppm in the year 1900, i.e., at an average rate of 0.00478 ppm per year.

The industrial revolution, where humans developed machines (artificial animals, since they consume fuels, which are mostly organic matter), began in England about 240 years ago (1767).

In October 1999, the world's population reached 6,000,000,000, which is double that of the year 1959 (the doubling occurred in 40 years).

The world's population is currently increasing at the rate of about 80,000,000 per year (about 1.2 %).

The current world population is 6,653,000,000 (March 2008).

The global fleet of motor vehicles is estimated at 830,000,000 (2006).

The global fleet of motor vehicles has been recently growing at the rate of 16,000,000 per year.

Motor vehicles (cars, trucks, buses, and scooters) account for 80% of all transport-related energy use.

The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which was at 290 ppm in the year 1900, rose to 316 ppm in 1959, or at an average 0.44 ppm per year.

Measurements of the concentration of carbon dioxide since 1959 (316 ppm) have revealed an increase to 378 ppm in 2004, or at an average 1.38 ppm per year.

The concentration of carbon dioxide has increased an average of about 1.8 ppm per year over the past two decades.

The concentration of carbon dioxide increased 2.87 ppm in 1997-98, more than in any other year of record.

The year 1998 was the warmest of record. The year 2002 was the second warmest (to that date). The year 2003 was the third warmest (to that date). The year 2004 was the fourth warmest (to that date). The year 2005 equaled 1998 as the warmest of record. The year 2007 equaled 1998 as the second warmest of record.

About 75% of the annual increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide is due to the burning of fossil fuels.

The remaining 25% is attributed to anthropogenic changes in land use, which have the effect of reducing the net uptake of carbon dioxide.

Anthropogenic changes in land use occur when forests are converted to rangelands, rangelands to agriculture, and agriculture to urban areas.

Other patterns of land degradation--deforestation, overgrazing, overcultivation, desertification, and salinization--reduce the net uptake of carbon dioxide, indirectly contributing, however slightly, to global warming.

The link belows shows you what will happen if global warming continues.

RIDINGW.--  I don't think I understand the dynamics those are just answers I put a lot of thought  into.

I cannot say I know it, but I think that these ideas contributed to it.

Answer 9

believe in it?  how can you not?  the ice caps are melting and the water is rising...

I believe the earth is getting warmer over time, because there is evidence.

Answer 10

ya its happing right now

Answer 11

Yes, because there's very good scientific data that supports it.

Answer 12

yeah its obvious it's real.

why has the weather been so weird?

why are the polar caps melting?

with the polar caps melting it's bringing water level an inch higher every year. they say within the next 20 years all the coast lines will be under water.

people who dont believe in global warming are ignorant.

Answer 13

Yes, GW's a buzz word. that's global warming not george.  Why?  The controversy's more about cause and need for action.  Some also dispute data.

Here's a recent article;

Top 11 Warmest Years On Record Have All Been In Last 13 Years

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/200...

ScienceDaily (Dec. 13, 2007) — The decade of 1998-2007 is the warmest on record, according to data sources obtained by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The global mean surface temperature for 2007 is currently estimated at 0.41°C/0.74°F above the 1961-1990 annual average of 14.00°C/57.20°F...

...Since the start of the 20th century, the global average surface temperature has risen by 0.74°C. But this rise has not been continuous. The linear warming trend over the last 50 years (0.13°C per decade) is nearly twice that for the last 100 years...

...2007 global temperatures have been averaged separately for both hemispheres. Surface temperatures for the northern hemisphere are likely to be the second warmest on record, at 0.63°C above the 30-year mean (1961-90) of 14.6°C/58.3°F. The southern hemisphere temperature is 0.20°C higher than the 30-year average of 13.4°C/56.1°F, making it the ninth warmest in the instrumental record since 1850.

January 2007 was the warmest January in the global average temperature record at 12.7°C/54.9°F, compared to the 1961-1990 January long-term average of 12.1°C/53.8°F...

Global 10 Warmest Years Mean Global temperature (°C) (anomaly with respect to 1961-1990)

   1. 1998 0.52

   2. 2005 0.48

   3. 2003 0.46

   4. 2002 0.46

   5. 2004 0.43

   6. 2006 0.42

   7. 2007(Jan-Nov) 0.41

   8. 2001 0.40

   9. 1997 0.36

  10. 1995 0.28

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/200...

Answer 14

i really believe in it because in our world its happening

Answer 15

Absolutley... the weather is not the same as it use to be and many people are getting more and more allergies to the pollution in the air...

It use to snow all the time in nyc... this year it snowed once... and it wasn't a lot... same with last year and the year before... I can't remember the last time I saw real hard core snow in nyc

Same in vermont... last year they had no snow... how ridiculous is that. Even when I travel I notice how the weather has changed so drastically in certain parts of europe.

Many people call it "climate change" which is what the world is suppose to have... however this climate change is happening too quickly... it is proven that pollution has played a big part in that climate change and has speeded it up a lot.

How about up north polar bears and penguines are dieing because they have no ice to life on they are both becoming endangered.

If you don't believe in the phrase "global warming" that's fine with me... but this country along with the rest of the world have got to change our habits and begin conserving energy and recycling.

Answer 16

How many times are you going to ask the same question?

When every mainstream scientific organization (10's of thousands of scientists) states man is contributing to climate change (unnatural) it's not a difficult choice to make.

http://www.geosociety.org/positions/posi...

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library...

http://www.aip.org/gov/policy12.html

http://royalsociety.org/displaypagedoc.a...

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

http://www.agu.org/sci_soc/policy/positi...

Answer 17

I believe the jury's still out (or should be) on whether it's happening or not, and that if it is, it is not human-caused.

Why are the polar ice caps melting?  I don't know.  Why were hay and farming implements found underneath glacial ice in Greenland? Could it be that it used to be warmer there?

Answer 18

yes. About 2 years ago, Al gore said we will know that global warming is happening when the glaciers begin to break off and recede. Last month, a glacier part the size of Rhode Island broke off. I know a man who is a scientist, and he goes to greenland every year, and tracks every year how far the claciers have receded, and it is just shocking to see the difference.

As said, the earth is going through global warming, but we need to ask 1 - why? and 2- what can be done

=)

Answer 19

Sure the Sun and earth go through cycles.  

If CO2 is the cause why did the temp rise more when there was less co2 than now when we have more and why are they reporting we are in for 10 year cool down?

Also most glaciers are growing, some even the one in Antarctica which everyone talk about is lessening in the middle but growing on it side.  

The Polar Bear population 30 out of 28 have increased.

Answer 20

No I do not believe a thing Gore says is true. The green house gas is not there.