I have a long question about global warming and I want long answers. Can you stand up to it?

Question

OK, here goes. HOW!?!?!?!?! How can all of you people who get mad about other people polluting the world live with yourselves? Name one thing you have ever done to reduce global warming, and I'm not talking about getting a hybrid car or anything because just having a car of any kind pollutes, you just like to feel superior. I drive a SUV that gets 15 mpg, and I don't regret it. Yes, the world is getting hotter, yes, the polar ice caps are melting, but, I know everyone will scream at me for this, how do we know it isn't a natural thing? I'm not pretending to be an expert or anything, I don't know the first thing about carbon emmisions, but those scientists who say cows release more methane than cars are probably right. So I think this is all a natural process. I'm not saying it's good, hundreds of millions of people could die, but don't get all angry about it if you are hurting just as much as everyone else. So my question is: What are your thoughts and opinions on the subject?

Answer 1

You're asking good questions, important questions.  I'll try to answer the "how do we know it isn't a natural thing?" part.

First, the warming is a natural response.  Because the planet has warmed naturally in the past, scientists have been able to study ice cores, ocean sediments and fossil records to determine that CO2 increases were involved in about 80% of the warming years in the past.  Although in many cases of past warming carbon dioxide did not appear to lead or start the warming, it does seem to account for much of the total warming once it does show up.  

Fast forward to current times, and we can determine from chemical anaysis of CO2 in the atmosphere exactly what its sources were.  Man has raised CO2 by 1/3 over the past century, and temperatures went up, just like they often did in the past.  The cause and effect relationship appears obvious.  As additional confirming evidence, other factors that may have been involved in the past have been measured and monitored, and ruled out as a primary contributor this time.  The absence of any significant warming contribution from other sources such as the sun influence reinforces the theory that greenhouse gases are the primary culprit.

While we all may suffer some issues such as problems with droughts, crop failures, water shortages, death of our forests, serious economic recessions and skyrocketing food prices, many scientists are convinced that it's not too late to prevent the worst consequences.  

Frankly I'm not here to save millions of people on the planet.  It would be a nice side benefit, but first I'd like to spare my kids some future pain, and if I can reduce my chances of having to pay $50/gallon for gas in 10 or 20 years, that's great too.

Our damage is caused by lifestyle choices, all of the "stuff" we consume.  Materials are mined and shipped, products are manufactured and shipped, and we use them then truck the leftovers to dumps.  It all takes electrical power and burns gas.  

I have an SUV too.  Sure, a hybrid would be nice, but I drove in 4WD for about 80% of my driving last month, and my SUV has cost me virtually nothing in maintenance or depreciation for the past 3-4 years.  That would not be true for a hybrid, and for me to drive one it would have to be mined, manufactured, shipped, and eventually disposed of.  Personal automobiles are maybe 10-15% of the problem (according the the State of the Carbon Cycle report released in December).  It's a fantastic place to start for many people, but I currently work at a ski area.  I have lower impact by being content with what I have, wanting less stuff, buying less stuff, wasting less stuff, conserving my electrical power, eating "real" food towards the outside of the grocery store (meat dairy, veggies and fruit) instead of the manufactured, boxed and shipped food in the aisles.  My tiny utilities bills and my small kitchen bag of trash every other week means that I have less impact per month than any smug, trendy rich guy driving a Prius to show his neighbors how green he is, but sending a couple of large barrels of high impact gluttonous lifestyle to the curb each week.  My approach provides me with the added benefit of saving me more for retirement as well.  Besides, I may need that money for guns and ammo if things really start to turn bad.

When I can get a used hybrid 35MPG SUV in a few years for $5-10k I'll take care of that last 10-15%.  In the meantime, I can have a huge impact by exercising my right to vote and ensuring that we don't have morons in office who would guarantee that my kids will have crappy lives by delaying action on this problem.

Answer 2

The snowpack this winter is 348% of normal.  I don't of warming I think of the next Little Ice Age.

Answer 3

it will be very simple to decrease the global warming as see the production of the carbon on the earth is very high so if the carbon production is high then the chlorophyll production also should be high so try to plant the plants insted of deforestration as the chlorophyll present in the plants absorbs te carbon from the environment and it will convent that carbon into its food and make their own food particles.  so do one thing try to implant the  small plant today and u tell the other three persons to implant the plant in their residing areas and tell them to tell another three persons

Answer 4

I PAY Taxes

So will You

The Debate is over the only thing to save you is  a Global Warming Tax,on top of your 35% tax you now pay, see Obama Global Poverty Tax 210 Billion a year + 8% of GNP each year paid to UN.you must work Harder pay more Tax or we will Die.UK now pays 8% Green Tax .Can we have a Moon Tax Soon Please? WORK + TAX WILL SET YOU FREE

Answer 5

Global warming is a terse hypothesis looking at the geological time scale, but the caps are melting.  They also were expanding in the 1970s when everyone was scared of a new ice age.  The ice caps on Mars are melting too, it must be the carbon emissions of polluters.

People shouldn't pollute, that goes without saying.  But most of the ones whining about this aren't going to like paying $25 for a bottle of water because of the transport costs.  Not forcing EVERY country in the world to adopt the same standards will do nothing about global warming.

The earth is never in a state of equilibrium, for people who are so concerned that evolution is not widely believed you would think they would understand that as far as biology goes the only explanation for equilibrium is death.  That is where evolution comes in, species adapt.  They die off when they can't, thats part of maintaining the balance.  Life is found in all sorts of environments, from the arctic glaciers to the ph .02 gastric acid in a human stomach.  Its from this convoluted thinking that the alarmists believe they should defy nature, which they come across as worshipping paradoxically, and try to maintain equilibrium.

If everyone went Amish there would be no problem.  I want to see the environmentalists resort to human and animal power for everything, give up electricity, and resort to a barter system.  Then they can point their fingers at everyone else for being a part of the problem, because so far it seems they are just participating in the same globalist corporatism they claim is causing this problem other than some ineffective lifestyle trends that do negligable amounts to fix any problem other than portray some activist fad.

Answer 6

You're right!  You know NOTHING about science! You claim that the melting ice caps are just a 'natural' event. In a way you're right. Humans are a part of Nature.  But what we're facing is the unnatural actions we've done to the eco-system. 55 years ago,there was NO brown layer in the sky! Now ,people take it for granted that the brown layer is there. Where did it come from? Fossil fuels! The scientists can easily identify the fossilized carbon increase in the atmosphere. The increase in fossilized carbon is pushing the 'normal' CO2 levels to unheard of levels very rapidly. It's that 'push' that has the scientists so concerned. We know that there are 'natural' cycles in the climate. But what we're doing is way beyond the 'normal' cycles. Imagine you're in a canoe on rough water. You're aware of the 'normal' waves,and you can deal with the rocking of the canoe. What would happen if you stood up and started rocking it further? You would reach a 'TIPPING POINT'! We may have already hit the tipping point! Even if ALL fossil fuels were banned today,the effects of what we've already done will be with us for 100 years! It takes that long for the excess CO2 to be reabsorbed into the environment.  We need to act now! The scientists warned us 20 years ago. At that time,the 'deniers',wanted more proof. They demanded more research before the oil industry would act on it. Now we have it,and there is still a very vocal minority of paid deniers.  There are several ecological disasters looming in our immediate future. Do we need to have catastrophic loss of life and property  to get us to do something?   I have done things to change my 'carbon footprint'. I got rid of my 4 runner,and got a rebuilt 85 Honda Prelude. I tripled my gas mileage! I recycle everything I can. I try not to buy things that are made out of plastic,or have a lot of polluting wrappings. OK,there's a long answer. I got to go now. btw,how much do you spend on gas for the beast you drive?

Answer 7

I think your question is a little confused. You say:

"Yes, the world is getting hotter, yes, the polar ice caps are melting, but, I know everyone will scream at me for this, how do we know it isn't a natural thing? I'm not pretending to be an expert or anything, I don't know the first thing about carbon emmisions, but those scientists who say cows release more methane than cars are probably right."

Anything you or I know about climate change, the experts also know. When you go "how do we know it isn't natural" or people say "what about the earth's natural cycles?" The scientists are aware of these and they are considered in their assessments. Thus, when the IPCC say it is very likely that global warming is anthropogenic, they HAVE ALREADY CONSIDERED all they ways it could be natural.

Cars are not criticized for emitting methane - there are lots of different greenhouse gases. And also, the number of cows on the planet is largely a human construct - we breed and farm them for delicious beef.

When people stress out about climate change what they are trying to do is show they are concerned in order to influence the government to make structural changes.

Lots of people do consider global warming in their actions - many vegetarians, people who switch to green energy tariffs, people who don't go on long haul flights...

the tone of your answer makes me think perhaps you are a little bit defensive :)

Answer 8

Well that was a lot of questions, so I'll answer them one by one.

What I do to reduce my impact on global warming:

I bought a Prius which more than doubled my car's fuel efficiency.  Yes it still pollutes, but a lot less.  I also drive it as little as possible.

In order to do so, I also bought an electric scooter to commute to work on the winter, and I alternate between scooter and biking the rest of the year.

I own a small house and have upgraded it to make it as energy efficient as possible.  For example, replacing all bulbs with CFLs, got an EnergyStar fridge, smart power strips (smart strips), turn the thermostat way down in winter and way up in summer (right now it's at 60 deg F), etc. etc.  My home now uses less than one-third the US national household energy use.

I also try to teach people about the science behind global warming here on Yahoo Answers (I'll get to that later), support politicians who make the environment a top priority, etc. etc.

Basically I do whatever is within my means to reduce my global warming impact.

Cows:

Yes, livestock are responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than cars worldwide, but not for the reason you think.  Methane emissions from livestock account for 5% of anthropogenic (man-made) greenhouse gas emissions, whereas cars account for 9%.  When you factor in things like land use change (using what used to be forest or grassland for cattle pasture), livestock account for 18% of anthropogenic GHG emissions.

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

This doesn't mean it's a natural process.  The reason they're considered man-made emissions is that there wouldn't be huge herds of cattle roaming around if we weren't raising them for beef.  So another thing I've done to reduce my global warming impact is to reduce my beef consumption.

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

How we know it's not natural:

There are many basic scientific facts which can only be explained if the current global warming is being caused by an increased greenhouse effect due to carbon dioxide accumulating in the atmosphere from humans burning fossil fuels.

For example, the planet is warming as much or more during the night than day.  If the warming were due to the Sun, the planet should warm a lot more during the day when the Sun has influence.  Greenhouse gases trap heat all the time, so they warm the planet regardless of time of day.  Another example is that the upper atmosphere is cooling because the greenhouse gases trap the heat in the lower atmosphere.  If warming were due to the Sun, it would be warming all layers of the atmosphere.

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

We know it's warming, and we've measured how much:

http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/science...

Scientists have a good idea how the Sun and the Earth's natural cycles and volcanoes and all those natural effects change the global climate, so they've gone back and checked to see if they could be responsible for the current global warming.  What they found is:

Over the past 30 years, all solar effects on the global climate have been in the direction of (slight) cooling, not warming.  This is during a very rapid period of global warming.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/62902...

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

So the Sun certainly isn't a large factor in the current warming.  They've also looked at natural cycles, and found that we should be in the middle of a cooling period right now.

"An often-cited 1980 study by Imbrie and Imbrie determined that 'Ignoring anthropogenic and other possible sources of variation acting at frequencies higher than one cycle per 19,000 years, this model predicts that the long-term cooling trend which began some 6,000 years ago will continue for the next 23,000 years.'"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milankovitc...

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

So it's definitely not the Earth's natural cycles.  They looked at volcanoes, and found that

a) volcanoes cause more global cooling than warming, because the particles they emit block sunlight

b) humans emit over 150 times more CO2 than volcanoes annually

http://volcano.und.edu/vwdocs/Gases/man....

So it's certainly not due to volcanoes.  Then they looked at human greenhouse gas emissions.  We know how much atmospheric CO2 concentrations have increased over the past 50 years:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Mauna...

And we know from isotope ratios that this increase is due entirely to human emissions from burning fossil fuels.  We know how much of a greenhouse effect these gases like carbon dioxide have, and the increase we've seen is enough to have caused almost all of the warming we've seen over the past 30 years (about 80-90%).  You can see a model of the various factors over the past century here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Clima...

This is enough evidence to convince almost all climate scientists that humans are the primary cause of the current global warming.

Answer 9

Open up your dictionary, the word mad is a sick animal foaming at the mouth, I Think you want the word angry. You say millions will die, how do you not know it will not be billions and you are one of them.Sorry, this the longest answer I can come up with.

Answer 10

Global warming is a rise in the average temperature worldwide, causing climate changes. Some areas will get warmer some get colder. Ocean current are likely to change causing regional climate changes, which in turn will cause crop failures which will result in massive starvation. A rise in oceans due to thermal expansion and melting of ice on land masses will result in a rise in the oceans. Within our lifetimes the ocean may rise two or three feet cause massive flooding. For example, the Everglades in Florida, as well as much of Florida will be flooded with saltwater causing destruction of many rich ecosystems.

We are experiencing a warming period that the vast majority of qualified experts attribute to human activities. It is a real phenomenon.

You are correct. global warming is a natural phenomenon. However, global warming has caused massive species extinctions (90% of species expire) at least 3 times in the past 650  million years. The atmosphere has turned into a sulfous poisonous gas. (This is not the meteor impact events.) However, nearly every expert agrees that the current crisis is due to human activities over the past 100 years.

Release of greenhouse gases such as CO2 and refridgerants into the atmosphere that traps heat like glass in a greenhouse. When snow and ice melts, it reduces the white reflective surface that bounces light energy away from the planet. This means that more energy (heat) is absorbed by the planet, again adding to the increased temperature. As the permafrost (permanent ice) begins to thaw, methane (another greenhouse gas) releases into the atmosphere adding to the problem.

The Kyoto Protocol is was developed by a Convention on Climate Change which attempts to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases that cause climate change. Many governments agreed to it and it went into effect in February 2005. Carbon credits can be bought a sold so that the cost of pollution can be factored into to different economic choices.  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyoto_Proto...

Germany has guaranteed the price of energy generated using solar panels, which as allowed the solar energy industry to become very strong.

Some individual States, like California, have provided tax breaks and subsidies to green industries and they have also specified emission standards for cars as well as fuel efficiency standards.

The experts I've met at universities agree that the press has seriously understated the problem and that we are in for some very serious problems.

Personally, I do not drive a car very often. I use mass transport and avoid travel on airlines. I avoid wasting energy. I recycle and reuse rather than buy new items when possible. I avoid purchasing products that have a negative impact on our environment. I eat very little beef. I left my position working for an airline.

I'll be working in a green industry to help develop this big, growing, segment of the economy. Be aware of the fact that oil production world-wide is flattening out. The cost of oil will continue to increase rapidly. (query "peak oil")

Answer 11

I know a lot of things that people do that are counterproductive, but they still boast about how green they are.

Composting releases CO2.  It produces less carbondioxide to dump waste in a landfill.  

Living remote from a city centre means you tend to travel more.  People who live in a city centre use very little fuel on transport.  Most green types would rather live in a rural area and have a long commute than live isolated from nature.  

People who live in a house use much more energy than people who live in an apartment.  Most green types would much rather pay the higher utility bills than live away from nature.

Answer 12

So I guess you woud rather take the word of internet junkies who have nothing better to do then sit on yahoo answers, instead of scientists. Brilliant...

Answer 13

i have a solar hot water system, i don't use heating or A/C.

i don't own a car and use public transport.

i invest in energy efficient appliances. eg fluro lights.

yes cows emit more methane then cars. cars emit CO2 and while cows and the whole biosphere emit many times the CO2 that humans do it is in one big cycle with plants absorbing CO2 to make shugers which are used and then the CO2 is re released.

how do we know its not natural? because we can anything that can have an effect on climate.solar output is remaining relatively stable and the cycles in the earths orbit have not changed enough to have any effect on climate.

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

Answer 14

kung_foo

Let me start off by saying we (my family and I) live completely, 100% “off of the grid and are completely self sufficient”

The house is built utilizing natures natural elements, in the shape of an octagon with 8ft wide arch doors on every wall to catch every angle of wind (typical 4 sided homes have half the chance as one with 8 sides. A circle being the most efficient design). Woodburning stoves, solar chimney, solar AC, solar heating, solar water heating (pool and home), solar stove, solar power, wind power, hydrogen powered back up generator, hydrogen back up water heater, hydrogen stove, 2 hydrogen powered trucks, 1 EV (electric vehicle) and satellite internet.

We also built many green small cabins on the ranch that we offer to family, friends and our on-site off-grid workshop guests, including one straw bale, one papercrete, earth bag and adobe, one cob and cordwood, one underground and rammed earth, one log and post and beam and one rock. Each one actually started as a test for what the main house would be and were later finished and turned into guest cabins. I later wrote a guide on how to build with alternative materials using alternative methods for next to nothing.

We raise meat and milk goats, chickens for meat and eggs, ducks for meat and eggs, trap havilina (wild boar pig), rabbit, quail. brew our own beer from home grown products, preserve our fruits, vegetables, etc. smoke and jerky the meat, make our own soap, cheese.

There are no utility lines, no water lines, no roads, tv, cell service, etc. on our ranch. EVERYTHING needed is produced here. All electricity comes from 27 solar panels, 2 main wind gens and a back hydrogen generator if needed (typically we can last 9 days with all luxuries of sunless windless weather, hasn't happened yet). Water is caught and storaged from the rain. Hot water is made with solar batch water heaters with an on-demand hydrogen hot water heater as backup. Even our vehicles use alternative energy (2 hydrogen trucks, 1 EV electric vehicle converted). Because of this we have no bills, no debt and no mortgage.

Anyone interested can check it out at..

www agua-luna com

I believe this is the first step anyone can make “help the environment”. Once you convert your own life style to a greener more eco friendly route, you can start helping others.

my home has all the comforts listed above plus some. we live very comfortable without effecting the environment. just saying that tol et you know it's possible. you may not want to go as extreme as me and my family but anywhere in between is something.

Without getting to in depth here, Using alternative fuels in your vehicles and harnessing your own electricity from the sun, water, earth and wind are the 2 are key elements in making a green transition and erasing your carbon footprint.

here's a calculator to find out how much of a green impact your making (carbon footprint)

http://www.conservation.org/act/live_gre...

if you'd like to make your next step feel free to contact me personally at www agua-luna com

I've been installing home made Solar panels. Solar stoves, Solar batch and inline hot water heaters. Solar radiant heating. Solar home heating and AC, along with home made wind gens and other alternative energy items for the last 3 years.

You can even make the above projects on site with simple parts from the local hardware stores or auto stores or junk yards. For more info check out some guides I wrote / compiled on how to DIY www agua-luna com

Again these projects can be accomplished anywhere by anyone.

if you absolutely can't do anything in your home at least you can put alternative fuels in your car. most major automotive manufacturers (Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors, etc) recommend the use of bio fuels, and nearly every car manufacturer in the world approves ethanol blends in their warranty coverage.

In fact your probably even driving an ethanol car and didn't even know it.

The trick is finding fuel.

I've been producing biofuel for about 3 years now, it's not extremely difficult. Basically you need general household ingredients, a processor (or still for ethanol) and some used oil. Blend it, let separate, screen and use. I complied a guide a while back to help walk you threw the process step by step, just email me or check out..

www agua-luna com

as for recyling the best way i've found without taking money from your won pocket is to join a free freecycle group in your area or visit the habitat for humanity.

If you’d like help in making your self sufficient steps, feel free to contact me directly. I’ve written several how-to DIY guides available at www agua-luna com

on the subject. I also offer online and on-site workshops, seminars and internships to help others “help the environment”.

as for the second part of your question...

We definitely didn't start global warming, but we definitely do contribute to it now.

Natural gas (or Methane along with other thanes) for example, is completely a natural contributer to global warming and is derived pretty much the same way as oil. ie. Matter (animal, plant etc) decomposes over time resulting in a anaerobic (hope I spelled that right) decay of non-fossil organic material / gas (natural gas or methane).

One problem with global warming is that the concept is so vague in the minds of the people. The critical interpretation is basically how it’s explained in school and the news. However most of the public see global warming connected with the ozone and pollutants which cause harmful greenhouse gasses, etc. therefore investigating and fighting for things like alternative energy (ie. Solar, wind, hydrogen, ethanol, biodiesel, etc)

Greenhouse gases are real and do contribute to global warming. Think of the different gas layers like ozone (o3) that circumference the globe as the clear plastic on a greenhouse. Longer rays of light from the Sun go in and reflect off different thermal masses bouncing back and creating shorter lengths of energy that cannot exist the plastic barrier. These beams then just continue to bounce around inside the green house until they’re finally absorbed completely (some do escape but very few), thereby warming the greenhouse greatly even in cold temperatures.

Basically there are 2 ways that this reaction (or lack of) affects the planet. Global warming and global cooling.

1. as we add to the gases in the stratosphere, where the ozone layer is (Carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, etc), we add to the plastic of the greenhouse, trapping more short wave length energy and heating the earth more.

2. as we deplete the ozone (with chlorofluorocarbons or CFCs), we allow more long wave length energy, which bounces back out to space without heating any thermal masses on earth, thereby cooling the planet.

It’s pretty easy to see the results..

Melting ice sheets & glaciers

Floods & droughts

Great hurricanes & cyclones

Seasonal extremes

Seasonal phenomena’s

Species extinction

New & resurgent diseases

There are many ways to stop both global warming and cooling from accruing or at least slow them down until we can discover a way to reverse it, but Stop burning fossil fuels is the biggest.

I currently own 2 converted h2 vehicles which run on 100% hydrogen and 1 EV (electric vehicle), not to mention our home is completely off the grid, using alternative energy (solar, wind, etc)

If you interested I offer several DIY alternative guides to walk you step by step threw Greener living, how to run your car on alternative fuels and being self-sufficient, at agua-luna com or

www agua-luna com

Hope this helped, feel free to contact me personally if you have any questions if you’d like assistance in making your first self sufficient steps, I’m willing to walk you step by step threw the process. I’ve written several how-to DIY guides available at  www agua-luna com on the subject. I also offer online and on-site workshops, seminars and internships to help others help the environment.

Dan Martin

Alterative Energy / Sustainable Consultant, Living 100% on Alternative & Author of How One Simple Yet Incredibly Powerful Resource Is Transforming The Lives of Regular People From All Over The World... Instantly Elevating Their Income & Lowering Their Debt, While Saving The Environment by Using FREE ENERGY... All With Just One Click of A Mouse...For more info Visit:  

www AGUA-LUNA com

Stop Global Warming, Receive a FREE Solar Panels Now!!!

Answer 15

Hi friend

you can find all about global warming in this link

http://theglobalwarmingnews.blogspot.com...

plz check it..

i came to know about it when i am searching on the net