How can we stop global warming if it means changing our whole lifestyle?

Question

How can we stop global warming if it means changing our whole lifestyle?

Answer 1

It's a false dilemma to say we can either stop global warming or continue our comfortable lifestyles.  There's a 3rd option, and that is responding to global warming AND continuing a comfortable lifestyle.

People spread a lot of unsupported fear-mongering about how we can't possibly afford to give up fossil fuels or it will destroy the economy. That's simply not true. There are several power generation technologies that produce no greenhouse gases and can produce power for rates comparable too coal.  But the people who own the coal clearly don't want to see that happen.

And we already have pluggable hybrid cars (retrofitted, but soon from the factory) capable of getting over 100 mpg, so there's no reason for people to continue buying 12 mpg cars or trucks for more than another few years (giving auto manufacturers time to redesign their fleets).

Answer 2

We don't have to stop doing things that we like

We just have to do things, to do things right.

The planet's getting warmer 'cause of CO2

Adding so much ain't the right thing to do.

So we have to live smart, and do things right

This planet is so great it will be worth the fight.

Answer 3

Global warming -- a gradual increase in planet-wide temperatures -- is now well documented and accepted by scientists as fact. A panel convened by the U.S National Research Council, the nation's premier science policy body, in June 2006 voiced a "high level of confidence" that Earth is the hottest it has been in at least 400 years, and possibly even the last 2,000 years. Studies indicate that the average global surface temperature has increased by approximately 0.5-1.0°F (0.3-0.6°C) over the last century. This is the largest increase in surface temperature in the last 1,000 years and scientists are predicting an even greater increase over this century. This warming is largely attributed to the increase of greenhouse gases (primarily carbon dioxide and methane) in the Earth's upper atmosphere caused by human burning of fossil fuels, industrial, farming, and deforestation activities.

Average global temperatures may increase by 1.4-5.8ºC (that's 2.5 - 10.4º F) by the end of the 21st century. Although the numbers sound small, they can trigger significant changes in climate. (The difference between global temperatures during an Ice Age and an ice-free period is only about 5ºC.) Besides resulting in more hot days, many scientists believe an increase in temperatures may lead to changes in precipitation and weather patterns. Warmer ocean water may result in more intense and frequent tropical storms and hurricanes. Sea levels are also expected to increase by 0.09 - 0.88 m. in the next century, mainly from melting glaciers and expanding seawater . Global warming may also affect wildlife and species that cannot survive in warmer environments may become extinct. Finally, human health is also at stake, as global warming may result in the spreading of certain diseases such as malaria, the flooding of major cities, a greater risk of heat stroke for individuals, and poor air quality.

Climate change is very likely having an impact now on our planet and its life, according to the latest installment of a report published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). And the future problems caused by rising seas, growing deserts, and more frequent droughts all look set to affect the developing world more than rich countries, they add. The report is the second chapter of the IPCC's Fourth Assessment -- the most comprehensive summary yet of research into the causes and effects of climate change. To read more, visit Effects of climate change tallied up.

Factors

Greenhouse Gases

The increase in greenhouse gases caused by human activity is often cited as one of the major causes of global warming. These greenhouse gases reabsorb heat reflected from the Earth's surface, thus trapping the heat in our atmosphere. This natural process is essential for life on Earth because it plays an important role in regulating the Earth's temperature. However, over the last several hundred years, humans have been artificially increasing the concentration of these gases, mainly carbon dioxide and methane in the Earth's atmosphere. These gases build up and prevent additional thermal radiation from leaving the Earth, thereby trapping excess heat.

Solar Variability & Global Warming

Some uncertainty remains about the role of natural variations in causing climate change. Solar variability certainly plays a minor role, but it looks like only a quarter of the recent variations can be attributed to the Sun. At most. During the initial discovery period of global warming, the magnitude of the influence of increased activity on the Sun was not well determined.

Solar irradiance changes have been measured reliably by satellites for only 30 years. These precise observations show changes of a few tenths of a percent that depend on the level of activity in the 11-year solar cycle. Changes over longer periods must be inferred from other sources. Estimates of earlier variations are important for calibrating the climate models. While a component of recent global warming may have been caused by the increased solar activity of the last solar cycle, that component was very small compared to the effects of additional greenhouse gases. According to a NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) press release, "...the solar increases do not have the ability to cause large global temperature increases...greenhouse gases are indeed playing the dominant role..." The Sun is once again less bright as we approach solar minimum, yet global warming continues.

HUMANS MADE THIS MESS AND WE ARE THE ONLY ONES WHO CAN CLEAN IT UP! SAVE THE WORLD! SEA LEVELS WILL RISE, MORE INTENSE HURRICANES, AND DIRTY AIR! RECYCLE: PAPER, PLASTIC, AND BOTTLES!

Answer 4

Well I recycle as much as I can, save energy and therefore money, and walk instead of driving sometimes for exercise.  And I feel great.  But that's where it stops, because anything more to combat global warming would go against my beliefs.  See...as much as I've changed, I still can't accept g/w as real.  I guess I gotta have some proof.  So far there is none.  When the world actually begins to heat up someplace...anyplace at all (and it hasn't) - because of global warming then I'll start believing.

Answer 5

plant a sapling on your birthday  & celebrate this day as its birthday

take full care of it

and plant some seeds or a sapling again for this plant as a birthday gift

adopting the three R's

recycle

reuse

reduce

use CFL's

Answer 6

1. Plant a tree

2.Change light bulb to cfl

3. recycle

4.Dont litter

5.pick up your neighborhood

6.Take short showers

7.reuse

Answer 7

It is a scam so the Left can charge U more Tax.

Answer 8

The government wants you to start drinking PROZAC to control the panic attacks created by this scam.

It is a big lie to control societies around the globe.

My 2 cents.