Does it really matter what is causing global warming?

Question

A lot of people in this section are debating over how much influence, if any, mankind has on global warming and climate change in general. But does it really matter?

People who believe we are the cause (or one of the major causes) of global warming tend to see this as the reason why we should find ways to do something against it. People who think otherwise usually suspect everything to be fear campaign by politicians and the media.

I'm all for being skeptical of what those people try to tell us, especially if they are trying to make us afraid of something. But in the end, if global warming is going to be a problem for us, what does it matter if we are to blame in the first place? It's like "A comet is going to hit Earth and extinct all life" - "Well, we didn't cause that, so let's do nothing about it."

Do you agree with me that knowing about the causes is secondary to ensuring our own survival, or if not, what is your POV?

Answer 1

Global warming does matter. Not only does our lives depend on it but the total existence of mankind. Death would be everywhere. The falling out of the comet from the sky is beyond our control but the deforestation is mankinds doing. We should be glad that there are some politicians who care about it including the non-profit organizations.Perhaps one should read the importance of trees in our sorroundings and the benefits that can give us.

Answer 2

We will have to adapt to the warming but that is much much simpler than adapting to cooling.  Climates, sea levels, and habitats change all the time.  As a geologist, this has become very obvious and second nature to me.  Adapting to warming is simply building a little higher and simple modifications like that.  The only thing that really matters with global warming is if we are to blame.  The left would love to link all warming with human caused warming.  This is why they push the term global warming rather than anthropogenic warming.  In this way, they magnify the problem and its cause.  Clearly, it is primarily a political problem, or at least it needs to be taken in context with much more serious problems.  At best, AGW is a relatively minor problem that should not have valuable resources thrown at it.

Answer 3

"Green jobs" is just the latest example of the "broken window fallacy."

As for "we'll have to adapt to the changes" - what changes?    We HAVEN'T had constantly increasing temperatures.   They can call the last several months' temperature decline "noise" all they want - that only means that 30 years of what they call "signal" is reversed by nine months of "noise" - which means it's not much of a "signal."

Market forces will result in development of and migration to alternatives to fossil fuel within the next century anyway.    Light, sweet crude has gone past $100/bbl.   That becomes $120, $130 and alternatives - alternatives that don't involve CO2 emission - become more economically viable.    

The world can tolerate another 1-1.5 degrees F until that happens.

That would take us to the peak of Medieval Warm Period temps.

And apparently another 1-1.5 degrees F, just based upon the record so far, is all we can expect in the next few decades, even if the warming resumes.

Answer 4

IMO it dose matter what is causing it. I'm not going to get into the proof that we are causing GW but if we are not causing it and something, for example the Milankovitch cycles are causing this warming. we carnt do anything about it because it would require us to alter the earth's orbit which we carnt do.

Answer 5

It definitely matters.. Whether political or environmental.. Which, this issue strongly affects both. It is still a fact that we have environmental issues that make it very necessary to know the cause and effect.. More importantly, how to arrest and reverse the damages global warming is creating.   Regardless of the "political" there is evidence of the efforts global warming is having around the world..  I am glad we do have politicians who see this as a grave concern and try to appropriate the necessary funds for research to keep this from worsening and causing devastating damage to our environment, and ultimately to us, as a human race.. You don't have to be a conservationist to be concerned... if you have children or grand children it should "matter".. as it does affect all of us, and will have a profound  impact on  future generations..  I think all of us should take the issue "seriously" and stop complaining about it and help solve the problem.. We are all responsible for helping to protect our natural resources.

Answer 6

It seems, to me, that in order to do something about anything, we need to know what caused it in the first place. That is the start of doing anything about it.

Answer 7

It matters immensely.  If the cause of warming is natural, then politicians have no reason to raise taxes and to implement control over the people.

Don't let anyone fool you - global warming is more political than it is environmental.  If the environment was the concern, more nuclear power plants would be under construction.

Answer 8

If it were a natural cycle, we could adapt because it would correct itself and be gradual. If it is caused by massive amounts of co2 being dumped every day with no end in sight, then it won't correct itself and can potentially lead to a catastrophe on many levels- loss of species, drought, famine, massive disruption and imbalance of ecosystems leading to disease, infestation, and unknown damage. Not to mention the economic cost of having to rearrange infrastructure to deal with the changes. Worst case scenario it could be catastrophic in ways we can't fully predict right now, causing a near permanent decrease in human living quality.

Answer 9

Yes, if we were not contributing to the warming, there would be no evidence that we could reverse or slow that trend.

Confirming our contribution is not a  matter of blame, it's a matter of our ability to influence it.  Fortuantely it's easy to trace our contribution to atmosopheric CO2 though isotope analysis.

Answer 10

The world will end soon...............jello all over us? Of course it is human cause. Look at what you can see.....the water is dirty, the air is dirty, they find our poisons in the most remote places in the world. Our garbage covers the world, and you think in doesn't affect anything? Hmmm, walk out your door and look around, your life style is responsible for pollution. They can hide some it from you, bury your garbage, flush your toilets, but it goes somewhere...........you are just blind to what you do.

Answer 11

It matters. If humans caused it, there is a better chance that we can stop it.

Answer 12

Yes, these theories are making the younger generations believe we are destroying our planet giving them false hope bringing more negativity to people, which in turn makes people more angry and sad more depression etc.  Just like the stupid pharmaceutical companies having the bogus medicine commercials making more people think we are sick- its all in our heads!   They are making hypochondriacs from those commercials.   We will have a generation of worriers running our country.  .

Answer 13

Yes it does.

If the cause of global warming is anthropogenic, we have the responsibility to reduce the emission of CO2, CH4, ......

If the cause of global warming is mainly natural process, no need to reduce the emission of these gas.

Answer 14

That's a fair question.  It does matter a great deal.  If Global Warming is not a result of human activity our science is centuries away from being able to do anything about it.  We can all count our remaining lifetimes in decades at most.  If it is caused by human activity as the evidence indicates, we can stop and possibly reverse Global warming by changing our ways a little bit -- WE HOPE -- but only if we act immediately.

Answer 15

I DONT BELIEVE IT DOES BECAUSE WE ALL HAVE TO DIE SOME DAY  WHY NOT BE FROM SOMETHING WE CAUSED

Answer 16

It doesn't matter to me because I simply just don't care.

Answer 17

we need boosting economies. this mite be yet another option after the much sought green revolution, IT revolutions, may be we can call it as Environmental revolution. this is surely going to create new jobs and it will have a good share in the global job market and make its impact on global economy.

so we can just enjoy the fruits of this revolution as we did it for agricultural and IT.

secondly, i  don't know is this all global warming really driven by anthropogenic activities( though the much sought scientist are shouting--* till they are secure of their research grants*), Nobels are given for them since they have FOR

SEEN the Danger.

but i guess, the manner we are utilizing the resources of our planet it will not sustain for a longer time. and it is this direction(growth and development)  we need to divert our attention than finding some technological solutions for these problems.

Answer 18

Either way, we'll have to learn to adapt to the changes - that's true. But in order to limit future warming we have to know what's causing it. If there was some "natural" source then it would be good to know if this "natural" source are going to weaken soon, because then we probably wouldn't have to worry about it any more. On the other hand, if our emissions of CO2 is the cause and we don't start to limit our emissions soon but let it continue to rise, then we're on a road with constantly increasing temperatures, which would sooner or later definitely lead to more and maybe unstoppable catastrophic events on earth. Knowing that it will be a tricky task to reduce emissions and impossible to achieve over a short time and that once our emissions have stopped to increase, there will probably still be a 0.5 C rise in pipeline due to the slow response from our oceans, there are reasons to be careful not to cross the line.

So to answer your question: It DOES matter what's causing global warming and may be primary to ensure our own survival.

Answer 19

Assume for a moment that the cause of global warming is extra-terrestrial.  

If the cause is solar or cosmic - either directly or indirectly - how can we fix it?

We cannot "fix" the sun or stars.  We will not be able to say "reduce CO2" because if CO2 did not raise the temperature, it cannot reduce it.  What should we do?

While I am all for my own survival, without knowing the cause of a problem, how can I maximize my chances?  If the cause is solar or cosmic the ONLY action to take is to prepare for change.  Any local (terrestrial) activity will waste our efforts and distract us from our real needs.