(Global Warming Believers) What do you base your opinions on?

Question

Facts, word of mouth, teachers, articles, al gore, emotions, etc... please answer

Answer 1

i base my oppinion on facts  

like almost extinct polar bears melting polar ice capps fadeing ozone and higher sea levels

Answer 2

honest science.

from honest science organizations.

such as NAS, NASA, NOAA, NSF, National Geographic, Exploratorium, and others.

as opposed to fauxlies, junkscience, co2science, cato instute, oism, heritage foundation, etc.

http://www.nasonline.org/site/PageServer

"May 19, 2008: The National Academies have released the 2008 edition of "Understanding and Responding to Climate Change," a free booklet designed to give the public a comprehensive and easy-to-read analysis of findings and recommendations from our reports on climate change."

http://dels.nas.edu/dels/rpt_briefs/clim...  <== here's a good description.

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

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/globalwar...

http://www.exploratorium.edu/climate/  <== not regulated by the government.

http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cn...

http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cn...

http://yosemite.epa.gov/OAR/globalwarmin...

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/...

i find all the "I do my own research" folks interesting (deluded).

as if they're smarter than the PhDs that have been studying the climate for many years.

it used to, and still does, bother me that people seem to really think that they know things.

however, i found this interesting:

http://www.kqed.org/epArchive/R805291000

the shorter version of this is,  "It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you know that just ain't so."

which has been attributes to many folks, including  Mark Twain,  Yogi Berra, Ronald Reagan, Satchel Paige, Will Rogers,  Appelacian folk saying, and many more.

or, one might say,   "The greatest obstacle to knowledge is not ignorance; it is the illusion of knowledge."  Daniel Boorstein.

Answer 3

The sun natural cycle of solar minimum and solar maximum

Answer 4

the increase in global temperature

the melting of ice in the poles

the extinction of a large numbe of microorganisms that can not live in high temperatures

Answer 5

I base my opinion on peer-reviewed science. Sometimes I refer to non-reviewed sources if they cite reviewed sources that I find useful. Here are some of the links I've collected that I use to form my opnions.

http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends...

ftp://ftp.cmdl.noaa.gov/ccg/co2/trends/c...

http://cdiac.ornl.gov/trends/co2/content...

http://cdiac.ornl.gov/trends/emis/tre_gl...

http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/aggi/?

http://www.springerlink.com/content/631t...

http://atoc.colorado.edu/~dcn/ATOC7500/m...

ftp://ftp.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/anomali...

http://hadobs.metoffice.com/hadcrut3/dat...

http://hadobs.metoffice.com/hadat/hadat2...

http://hadobs.metoffice.com/hadcrut3/dia...

http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/tabled...

http://www.cgd.ucar.edu/ccr/publications...

http://www.atmo.arizona.edu/students/cou...

http://data.giss.nasa.gov/modelforce/str...

http://ams.allenpress.com/perlserv/?requ...

http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cp...

http://www.cgd.ucar.edu/ccr/publications...

http://tyndall.webapp1.uea.ac.uk/publica...

http://hadobs.metoffice.com/hadat/images...

http://cdiac.ornl.gov/trends/temp/sterin...

http://www.gfdl.noaa.gov/reference/bibli...

http://www.pnl.gov/main/publications/ext...

http://www.gfdl.gov/~gth/netscape/2002/j...

http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2001JGR......

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v36...

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v35...

http://members.aol.com/bpl1960/ClimateSe...

http://www.springerlink.com/content/k136...

http://arxiv.org/ftp/physics/papers/0411...

http://www.ecd.bnl.gov/steve/pubs/HeatCa...

http://correio.cc.fc.ul.pt/~apereira/aer...

http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/cru/data/temper...

http://gaw.kishou.go.jp/wdcgg/

http://ams.allenpress.com/perlserv/?requ...

http://ams.allenpress.com/perlserv/?requ...

http://www.pubs.royalsoc.ac.uk/media/pro...

http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/stp/SOLAR/solar...

http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/stp/SOLAR/ftpso...

http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/stp/SOLAR/ftpsu...

http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bi...

http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bi...

ftp://ftp.ngdc.noaa.gov/STP/SOLAR_DATA/S...

http://www.acrim.com/ACRIM%20Composite%2...

http://ieg.or.kr:8080/abstractII/G010252...

http://www.mpa-garching.mpg.de/mpa/publi...

http://www.atmosp.physics.utoronto.ca/pe...

http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/stp/GEOMAG/aast...

http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bi...

http://www.springerlink.com/content/g6t2...

ftp://ftp.pmodwrc.ch/pub/data/irradiance...

http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/arc...

http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/arc...

http://www.realclimate.org/index.php?p=8

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/icecore/a...

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/icecore/a...

http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/ap...

http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1985cca..p...

http://md1.csa.com/partners/viewrecord.p...

http://cafethorium.whoi.edu/s-ocean/Bues...

http://web.awi-bremerhaven.de/Publicatio...

http://www.solarsailor.com/media_uov_270...

http://www.uovehicles.com/UOVFAQ.html

http://www.robosail.com/research/publica...

http://www.virginearth.com/

http://www.grida.no/climate/ipcc_tar/

http://ipcc-wg1.ucar.edu/wg1/wg1-report....

http://cdiac.ornl.gov/trends/temp/conten...

http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/fs2-00/

http://cegis.usgs.gov/sea_level_rise.htm...

http://www.abelard.org/briefings/anthrop...

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez...

http://www.realclimate.org/index.php?p=8...

http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/arc...

http://www.wmconnolley.org.uk/sci/iceage...

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/env...

http://www.cgam.nerc.ac.uk/~jonathan/doc...

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/researc...

http://environment.newscientist.com/chan...

http://tigger.uic.edu/~pdoran/antarctic_...

http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract...

http://www.friendsofscience.org/assets/f...

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/ab...

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v27...

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

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

http://www.cgdev.org/

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/ab...

http://jisao.washington.edu/pdo/

http://www.esr.org/pdo_index.html

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/ab...

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/ab...

http://www.pol.ac.uk/psmsl/author_archiv...

http://www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/ar4-wg1.h...

Answer 6

Scientific organizations like NAS, AAAS, NASA.

"The scientific evidence is clear: global climate change caused by human activities is occurring now, and it is a growing threat to society. Accumulating data from across the globe reveal a wide array of effects: rapidly melting glaciers, destabilization of major ice sheets, increases in extreme weather, rising sea level, shifts in species ranges, and more. The pace of change and the evidence of harm have increased markedly over the last five years. The time to control greenhouse gas emissions is now."

AAAS Board Statement on Climate Change

Answer 7

I don't believe there is one piece of evidence that confirms global warming.  However, there are so many items that, when put together, give credence to a greater truth.   As an example, what would a jury say in a murder case, with no witnesses, but you could find the defendants fingerprints on the weapon, had the receipt for its purchase--to the defendant, found the defendants blood at the scene, and it just happened that he/she had the murdereds blood still on his shoes when he was questioned about it.  None of that made it 100% certain that he/she commited the crime, but it would be quite hard for it to have just been a coincidence.

Answer 8

Facts and observations.

Its a fact we pump 24,000,000,000 (+- a few million) tons of CO2 into the air each year.   This is above and beyond what would naturally occur due to forest fires and such.

Its a fact CO2 lets in sunlight and helps keep more of the heat that the sunlight turns into in so it cannot escape back to outer space (look at Venus as an obvious example).   Yes, this is good, to a point.   A blanket in the winter on a bed is nice, but ten blankets is a little too much.

Observations- the snow doesn't stay on the ground as much anymore as when I was a kid.   It snows now and then rains most often.   The hill I used to sled on all winter is often bare now.  

Monks on the British Isles have been keeping track of when certain trees flower.   Some flower due to the amount of light while others flower due to temperature.   The ones that flower due to temperature are now flowering at an earlier date than the ones that flower due to the amount of light.   It wasn't that way 3-400 years ago.

Answer 9

science...and of course the fact I see the effects of global warming with my own eyes

Answer 10

Science, summarized in the link below.

http://greenhome.huddler.com/wiki/global...

Answer 11

I base my opinion on articles I have read in Nature, Science, JATP, JAS and other science journals. My work mates who are climate scientists, who have been working on this for over 20 years. The talks I have attended from visiting scientists from all over the world, U.S. Russia, U.K., China, Germany, Japan etc

re: polar bears numbers, this one keeps coming up and it keeps being stated that their numbers have been increasing, their number have been increasing because the hunting of them was banned in the 80s overall numbers are still very low for a sustainable population.

Answer 12

Internet research, books, videos, newspapers & magazines, scientists working in the field.  I've gathered information from a broad variety of sources, always doublechecking and verifying before I accept most information.

There are a lot of U.S. agencies doing global climate change research, but what really surprised me was the number of university sites and the scope of the work being done at that level.  I am impressed at the caliber of research being accomplished there, some of it in collaboration with government or other entities.

My background is in environmental education, so my emotions don't really factor into it except in that I love what I do and care about helping the environment.

Answer 13

The National Academy of Sciences, American Geophysical Union, American Institute of Physics, Geological Society of America, NASA, NOAA, Royal Society, IPCC and on and on...

Doubters have the OISM, Inhofe and the Heartland Institute. Hardly the example of reliability.

Answer 14

"Opinions" are irrelevant.  Yours, mine,or anyone else's.  The facts demonstrate that global warming is real and is man-made. End of discussion. Now, do you have any questions or suggestions about what to do to deal with it? If not, please stop wasting people's time.

Answer 15

When we fly, we put our trust in the pilot, the maintenance crew, the air traffic controllers, etc; in other words, people who have training, experience and expertise in the matter at hand.

When it comes to climate change and man’s possible involvement, who are these experts in whom we should trust?

We need to find the top climatologists, specialists in the subject (not just ‘scientists’). We also need to find climatologists who are not all from, or paid by, or sponsored by one country or one industry group – global climate change has such huge ramifications on they would be susceptible to pressure to distort or slant their findings because, in the end, it is a forecast; no one should ever say that they can predict the future, especially of such a complicated subject with 100% accuracy – a trustworthy expert would be expected to use language that indicates probabilities of occurrence.

Finally, we need a group of scientists, not just one individual to further minimise bias or single issue focus.

Fortunately, such a group exists in the IPCC – the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. This panel is a UN body open to all member countries of WMO and UNEP and consists of hundreds of scientists from all over the world.

As it is a United Nations body, it is biased only towards the UNs human development goals – in other words, it has the interests of mankind at heart, not just one political party or the oil industry or the environmental movement. Practically all other quotes and references you will see in YA are made by non-climatologists, individuals, lobby groups for one interest group or another.

The IPCC won the Nobel Peace Prize for its work on climate change and subsequent assistance to governments around the world helping them alleviate the affects.

And what does this internationally accepted body of experts say? In 2007 (after over a decade of research) the IPCC released a report that says that “warming of the climate system is unequivocal” and that there is a more than 90% certainty that this warming is man-made (http://www.ipcc.ch/).

The science, the facts, the studies – everything – is in that report.

The report was produced by some 600 internationally acclaimed experts in climate change from 40 countries, peer-reviewed by thousands more. 113 governments have reviewed and signed off on the report.

http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0202-ipcc....

That's what I base a large part of my opinion on.

This is supported by reading science-based books and articles as well as scientific reports, by following major, credible news outlets, looking outside my window and using my own intelligence and critical analysis.

Answer 16

Mostly bits and pieces of information I come across (books, magazines, television, etc.). The way I see it, if this were shakey science or a hoax, why would it be in the average science encyclopedia? I'm still a little unsure...and I'm still open to new ideas and evidence, so if global warming can be proved false, I'll change my mind. But I'll still try to reduce my carbon foot print because it contributes directly to ocean acidification.

Answer 17

I base my 'understanding' of AGW on scientific facts!

Answer 18

I base my opinion on facts like the ice caps melting faster the naturally normal, or how about a Winter in Northern IL. where it only snows a handful of times and is 65 most of January and tornado warnings in February. That's how our winter was in 05-06!! crazy. The earth naturally goes through a cooling process but we are accelerating the process!

Answer 19

Scientific Fact

Answer 20

Every one know that we can believe Al, just because he is a politician does not mean that he would actually lie to us.

But lets face it, Global Warming was around long before Al Gore.

and the 8 most industrial nations in the world have been holding summits on how to deal with it.

The most resent was last week.

Answer 21

"Honest science."  Science wants you to be a socialist.  Honest.

But seriously, they base their claims on the highly tenuous assumption that CO2 causes climate variations.

Fritz Moeller was right.  It's "highly questionable."