Global warming?????

Question

who is to blame, us or nature???

Answer 1

The lawn gnomes with sharp teeth and long pikes are eating all the good cooling Kirbies in the sky. They then evolve wings and breathe fire, causing global warming.

Answer 2

hahaa its not real

Answer 3

Recent global warming is attributes to mankind.

One often hears the deniers say that "climate change is natural" or "mankind is only producing about 5% of greenhouse gas emissions". Why, 5% is not much at all, is it? This number is often quoted by global warming deniers, but it is very disingenuous. Out of all of the CO2 emitted from both natural and anthropogenic (manmade) sources, it is true that only about 5% of the total, PER YEAR, is from human activities. I am not sure exactly how many GigaTons of CO2 we are talking about here, but those numbers are irrelevant.

However, those climate change deniers have forgotten (or ignored) their ninth grade Earth Science class. The carbon cycle is central to our understanding of this issue.

Carbon dioxide IS produced naturally here on Earth, by such means as animal respiration (or digestion, in the case of methane) and the decay of plant and animal matter. This carbon is then naturally removed or “recycled” from the atmosphere, mostly through the process of photosynthesis, or plant respiration.

For more then 10, 000 years, since the end of the last ice age (yes! Planet Earth has had climate changes in the past, though not all of these changes have had the same cause) the carbon cycle has been relatively stable. The amount of carbon dioxide that entered the atmosphere equaled the same amount of carbon dioxide that was removed and the overall atmospheric CO2 concentration remained constant, at about 280 ppm.

Climate change is about change. Humans have upset the natural budget of the carbon cycle. We have accomplished this through certain activities such as energy production (burning fossil fuels release large quantities of CO2 into the atmosphere) and deforestation. Humans are only adding carbon to the atmosphere, which is just half of the equation; human activities are NOT removing any carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. In addition, deforestation reduces the amount of CO2 that nature is able to remove from the atmosphere.

The next time someone argues that humans are only responsible for 5% of the atmospheric CO2, or that RECENT global warming is all natural, please mention the carbon cycle. They probably just forgot. Forgetting could be dangerous if they are talking about issues that are important. Suppose that I was budgeting to save money for something real nice. Suppose that I also only added up my incomes, but “forgot” to subtract my expenditures. I would have a pretty misleading amount in my bank account by the end of the year, right?

The atmospheric CO2 concentration has increased by about 35% since pre-industrialization times, and is now above 380 ppm.

Also, we know that most, if not all of the increase in atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations is due to mankind.

This fact is established because 1) humans have burn enough fossil fuels to raise the atmospheric CO2 level to above 500 ppm. The only reason why the concentration is not as high as this is because the ocean acts as a buffer, or a sink, that swallows up some of the atmospheric greenhouse gasses. As the oceans become warmer, they will absorb less gas and will begin to release more of their stored greenhouse gasses.

And 2) Burning fossil fuels changes the ratio of naturally occurring carbon isotopes in the atmosphere. Fossil fuels were formed millions of years ago. They therefore contain virtually no carbon-14, because this is an unstable carbon isotope. Carbon-14 is usually formed when cosmic rays hit the atmosphere, and has a half-life of around 6000 years. So a dropping concentration of carbon-14 can be explained by the burning of fossil fuels. Studies of tree rings have shown that the proportion of carbon-14 in the atmosphere dropped by about 2% between 1850 and 1954. After this time, atmospheric nuclear bomb tests wrecked this method by releasing large amounts of carbon-14.

Fossil fuels also contain less carbon-13 than carbon-12, when compared with the atmosphere. This is because fossil fuels are derived from plant matter. Plants preferentially take up the more common carbon-12. The ratio of carbon-13 to carbon-12 in the atmosphere and ocean surface waters is steadily falling, showing that more carbon-12 is entering the atmosphere.[1]

So to conclude, atmospheric CO2 concentrations are currently increasing because of mankind, and the data proves this. That CO2 and other greenhouse gases warming the surface and atmosphere is simple physics. Solar irradiance has been decreasing over this same time period since the 1970's when the globe quickly warmed.

Answer 4

There is currently no evidence that man has made any significant contribution to climate change.

Some interesting facts.

1. During most of the past 2,000 years, the temp has been about the same or higher. Currently, we are barely over the average for the last 2,000 years.

http://www.worldclimatereport.com/index....

2. During the medieval warm period (820 – 1040 AD), Greenland supported farming. Those areas previously farmed are now covered in glaciers. Obviously the melting and reformation of glaciers is a cyclical occurrence.

3. The earth experienced a little ice age which ended around the late 1860's or so. This is about the time man started recording temperatures. This would be like measuring a lake depth after a severe drought, then worrying about it flooding as it rose to normal levels.

4. The earth has been warming for the last 10,000 years, since the last major glacier time period. Also, for most of the last 1 billion years, the earth had NO glaciers or ice coverage.

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

5. The AGW theory states that CO2 is the primary driver of temperature. They arrived at this idea because they did not know of anything else which could cause it. But during the 70's and during the current decade, temperatures dropped while CO2 continued to rise. This means that natural occurrences are driving temp, not CO2.

6. The Pacific Decadal Oscillation and sun spots provides a much better correlation to earths' temperature than CO2 levels ever have.

http://wattsupwiththat.wordpress.com/200...

7. Polar Bears are experiencing a population boom. Coke sales in the arctics are through the roof. Polar Bears have been around for thousands of years, and remember, we are only at the average for the last 2,000 years. They lived through all the previously warmer climates.

http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/...

8. The glaciers have been melting now for over 10,000 years. the current rate of melting is similar to previous melting.

9. There is no consensus on AGW. This was a lie that has been propagated by the media.

http://scienceandpublicpolicy.org/monckt...

10. Yes we emit CO2 into the atmosphere and it is a greenhouse gas, but, we only contribute about .28% of all the greenhouse effect. Water vapor makes up about 95% of the greenhouse effect. CO2 and other trace gases round out the greenhouse gases at about 5% for all of them. Of that 5%, only 3% is CO2, and most of that is natural. Again, our contribution to the greenhouse effect is a paltry .28%

http://www.geocraft.com/WVFossils/greenh...

11. The spread of disease is not attributed mainly to temperature. If this were the case, Florida would be a giant festering disease ridden cesspool. Economic standing is the primary determining factor in the spread of disease. Poor cultures can not fight the disease or eradicate the pests like more successful nations.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB12077886...

http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.h...

12. Natural climate disasters (hurricanes, cyclones, etc) have never been scientifically linked to global warming (whether natural or man made).

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppa...

http://www.nationalpost.com/story.html?i...

Answer 5

Our sun

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It is the reason why the earth is getting warmer

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Mars polar cap started to melt about two years ago and continues

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NASA JPL has noted that the sun is putting out more energy heat than it has in the past

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Because the sun goes threw cycles of hot times and cool times

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And the earths orbit around the sun is not stable it is in an circular orbit which will elongate into a elliptical orbit which is the reason the big freeze happen

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Haven't you noticed how much hotter the sun feels on a sunny day

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And haven't you ever gone out into the country and noticed how many stars you see in the clear night sky

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Where is the polution that is suppose to be the blanket to keep the earth warm

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It really is the BLACK TOP that all the parking lots roadway are made of

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Walk across a Wal Mart parking lot bare foot on a August day about noon time

It the black top is hot enough to cook an egg

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Yes I did it to prove a point and that black top is heating up the ground GROUND that will hold the heat of the day longer than in the woods would

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So what is causing all the heating up

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The sun

And the black top

for starters there are more

. . .. ..

Answer 6

Mankind!!! People who drive SUV's, People who litter, People who forget to switch of the lights, People using the wrong bulbs, People who smoke, The government who does not give a S**t about the earth's environment because he is too busy wasting billions of $$ on stupid useless things, Factories that cause air pollution, People who waste electricity... there is soo much that we are doing in harming the earth's environment... Ignorant people who don't want to take action such as the government are full of greed!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 7

Us, all that hairspray from the 80's is taking their toll

Answer 8

What a coincidence that the solutions for "global warming" are the exact same things the left has been demanding for years - way before climate change was even an issue. Punitive taxation. The redistribution of wealth. The abolition of private property. The destruction of capitalism. Thank goodness global warming finally came along to give the left a "scientific" reason to call for worldwide socialism/communism.

Answer 9

First, you have to believe that the globe is getting warmer.  Well it is, but is this just a natural cycle of the earth?  In the 1970's people thought we were going to have another ice age.  So the real question is: Is the earth getting unnaturally warm?  Or is this the warm end of the natural cycle?  If it is getting unnaturally warm, are humans to blame?

Most people talk about CO2 emissions warming up the earth.  So lets focus on what the TRUTH is.  The truth is that nobody can say factually whether the human race is increasing the CO2 amounts in the atmosphere faster than mother nature.  People read these statistics and take it for fact without being intelligent enough to investigate the problem themselves.  Granted, most people are not climatologists and thus trust what experts write.  But a lot of so called "experts" wouldn't know the scientific method if it bit them in the @#$%@##. People read these alarming statistics that say that the CO2 levels are raised from 200 ppm to 350 ppm since the industrial revolution.  Most people don't even know what this statistic even means, but know it is a bad thing. Well the problem is that this data is NOT  SCIENTIFIC.  

First, the methods of measuring have changed dramatically.  Any good science student would say that you need a control and repeat the same experiment in order to measure and compare the results.  Well, completely different measuring techniques for CO2 are used today than 150 years ago.  So the data not only shouldn't be compared, but it can't be compared scientifically.  If we use the same instruments they used back then, then the data could be compared.  

Second, geological changes have occurred.  A CO2 reading on Mt. St. Helens today would be drastically different than 150 years ago.

Third, CO2 measurements are being taken at different locations than 150 years ago.  You can't tell me there was some scientist 150 years ago standing on some remote island in the south pacific measuring CO2 levels.  Today, measurements are taken around places like Hawaii, where volcanoes, the pacific ocean, and other CO2 emmitting bodies are located.  Of course CO2 levels are going to be high.  Other emissions tests are done around the polar ice caps, which act as CO2 sinks that reduce CO2. Thus arguments for both sides can be supported by "scientific statistics".

In conclusion "nobody knows", but you can't say that the gases coming out of smoke stacks and tail pipes are  good for the planet.  Of course the more pollution we can eliminate the better.  So in the end, reducing pollutants is a positive thing, even if it won't have an impact on the environment.

Answer 10

OMG!!!! How many times do I have to say this!!! Global warming is a RELIGION!!!!!!!!!! You can't prove religion, you have to believe it by faith. So if you've actually been brainwashed enough to believe in it, you can come to any answer you'd like. Cause none of them are real anyways!!

Answer 11

We dont have an global warming problem, we have a population problem.

Controlling popluation growth is the key to maintaining evironmental stability and energy feasability.

As long as the poor, the uneducated and the unproductive continue to reproduce at the current alarming rate we will NEVER be able to solve our pollution and energy problems.

This planet was never meant to support 4 Billion+++ human beings.

Answer 12

it's nothing but an act of nature.

Answer 13

you've asked this at least 3 times.

one would hope you aren't expecting the answers to change.

you might note that the deniers fall back on several reasons:

- climate always changes.

- climate is changing on mars.

- it's been warming since the end of the last ice age.

- and my personal favorite, "It's cold here, obviously it ain't warming."

yes it is, and it's us.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?...