If you can't believe Al Gore on climate change because of his energy use, will you believe me?

Question

Unlike Mr. Gore, I don't own any automobiles. I have a 540-square-foot apartment to heat and cool, not a 10,000-sf mansion, and I don't have a functioning A/C system. I rarely if ever take airline flights, and I'm trying to reduce my meat-eating to save on energy use and methane emissions.

But I believe in the reality of global climate change just as much as Gore does. As an environmental journalist, I've been following the subject since learning about it from my profs in college in the 1970s.

So - do you want to believe me when I put my trust in what the IPCC is saying about climate? And what the US National Academy of Sciences, the British Royal Academy, the Chinese and Russian national science academies, and even the Bush Administration are now saying about this issue?

I'm trying to set a good example regarding personal energy use. So do you believe me on climate change, since I'm not like Al Gore in this regard?

Answer 1

Yes, and thank you for adding your voice to the call for getting something done.  I must admit I was already convinced of the reality of global change, but it sometimes does one good to see some support.

Answer 2

I am an ecologist working in nature conservation. 5 years ago i was in Antarctica and was told by the scientists working there that the continent was getting colder and the ice increasing, only the peninsular was loosing ice and that was due to erosion from sea currents.

At the same time the media was full of hype about the ice caps are melting and we are all going to drown.  Since then i have taken the announcements of the politicians and journalists with a very large pinch of salt.

I have also worked with the Arctic Research Institute in Russia where the anthropogenic global warming hypothesis is not considered to be correct.

You are wrong, the Russian academy dos not support the AGW hypothesis

The careers of environmental journalists are heavily dependant on global warming, so they have a financial interest in supporting it. Much of what they print can be viewed with a sceptical eye

Answer 3

YOU have been studying this since the 1970's but WE never heard nothing til Gore started whining about it SO how do we take this seriously if they knew about it and NEVER said anything? We NOW recycle in our city, and there's TIRELESS ENDLESS commercials with teenagers on it about the importance of garbage not running over in the streets and the sky being filled with pollution and the weather slowly changing into something strange, etc. Would you help a child from being hit crossing the street BEFORE harm was done or would you use this child as a statistic in a speech 5 years after it was killed crossing it? Take another year off to print pamphlets with your name and claims on this issue and maybe we can figure out the propaganda from the proper game plan!!!

Answer 4

Well said.  I'm really tired of the deniers characterizing all environmentalists as hypocritical double-standard bearing rich wasteful pigs.  There are a whole lot of us who not only talk the talk, but also walk the walk.

Nevertheless, I don't necessarily care what either you or Al Gore think about global warming.  I care what the climate scientists think, and they're the ones ringing the alarm bells.  People use the term 'alarmist' as an insult and dismissive label.  Well when there's something to be alarmed about, it's important to have somebody sounding the alarm.

Gotta love Mannus' answer - she said Gore's name 5 times and provided zero scientific evidence to support her claims.  A perfect example of the problem with deniers and their Gore obsession.

Answer 5

No.  Through reading and studying of available data I believe that the opinion that humans cause global warming to be at the very least overblown, if not completely false.  Also I hardly consider a sub-agency of one of the most corrupt international organizations to be a good reference.  Furthermore, there have been so many cases throughout history of large scientific institutions being utterly wrong that their declarations should be questioned and scrutinized with logic.  Furthermore many of the doomsday predictions are constructed by computer models and simulations, which are notoriously inaccurate.

Answer 6

No.

The way you choose to live your lifestyle is completely up to you.

If you wish to be a successful environmental journalist, you should learn some basic science to help you be able to distinguish the difference between since fact and science fiction.

Maybe then you could afford to get that A/C fixed, you might actually want to use it someday.

Ignorance on a subject causes vulnerability of deception, and greater willingness to be allowed to be 'Ripped Off'.

That is what this AGW scam is really all about.

Answer 7

It is not about anything but ignorance. Nobody wants to be wrong, but somebody has to be.

You can find hundreds of people who will tell you how they don't believe in global warming due to researching unbiased sources, etc. but the fact of the matter is it is all talk and it is all unsupported.

Big sweeping generalizations may work on some but when you don't give specific examples it means absolutely nothing to those of us who realize their importance.

For me it is like this: the majority of the scientific community embraces the idea of human-created climate change. Furthermore, the suggestion that the world has endless resources is flat-out ridiculous.

Keep talking crazy and people will start thinking you are......like me.

Answer 8

Well said???   If you want to live in the 1800's , fine with me . However , you should not expect me to do the same. We are free to use the energy we want or need , there is no shortage of it . Gore included .

Answer 9

This answer box isn't big enough for me to explain all the ways Al Gore (and yes, you too. Just because you don't use a lot of energy doesn't automatically make you right!) are wrong.

"Global Warming" and "The Energy Crisis" are fallacies and myths no more real than the monsters that children are convinced live under their beds.  These "problems" have grown to such epic proportions because Al Gore needed a platform to promote himself to a younger audience in order to win the next election that Hilary doesn't run in.  Al Gore, and everybody that promotes the same beliefs are liars and frauds.  They should be dragged out into the street and shot; that would be better for the environment than not driving a car.

Don't even get me started on the fact that Mr. Gore preaches that humans are guilty for the climate change.  That is the same exact bulls**t that religion is based off of.  That is saying that YOU should fix it because it is all YOUR fault that the entire world is suffering.

Where Al Gore and his contemporaries go wrong is they seem to think that a graph showing the temperature changes for 600,000 years is a long time.  **NEWS FLASH** The Earth is BILLIONS of years old!  600,000 is barely a blip in Earth's history.

My rant is now over.  I know I won't change your opinion, all of you environmental, tree-hugging, liberals never listen to reason anyways.

--Mannus

Answer 10

Yes I believe.  Now lets switch to nuclear power plants that put zero polution in the air.  Yes there is a small amount of radioactive waste thate lasts for centuries but we will not be spewing pollutants into the air.  There is one thing stopping this plan. i.e. Democrats.

Answer 11

I do not point this(Global Warming) to anyone if I point my finger at someone  I see other 3 fingers showing towards me .

So Lets all take this blame on Global warming and lets all work together to reduce Global warming .

Learn different ways to live with Mother Nature by causing little or no Effect on Nature . One of  them is .

Geothermal Power on an upward growth path

Geothermal power generation capacity worldwide rose from 7,972.7 MW in 2000 to 8,933 MW in 2005, with 8,035 MW running. This is about 0.2% of the total world installed power generating

capacity.

The geothermal heat pump (GHP), also known as the Ground-Source Heat Pump (GSHP) or generically as geoexchange, is the fastest growing geothermal application today. GSHP is a highly efficient renewable energy technology that is gaining wide acceptance for both residential and commercial buildings, with 1.4 million installations worldwide by 2005, and growth from 1,854 MWt of capacity in 1995 to 15,284 MWt in 2005.

Answer 12

Thank you - this is one of my favourite bug bears; people who use the example of one multi-millionaire to justify their lack of action. Basically looking for any excuse not to do anything.

If Gore didn't exist, they would find something else as an excuse for their selfishness and/or laziness hence those who habve already made up their minds are not going to listen to you (or me!) or the IPCC or the other myriad prestigious and credible sources (some of which you list).

Hence:

"a sub-agency of one of the most corrupt international organizations" - not sure what he is referring to: The British Royal Academy perhaps? (Odd that when the USA wants to unilalterally attack someone the Brits are their best friends but when the Brits challenge an American sacred cow they become 'most corrupt'...)

"are fallacies and myths" - no attempt to scientifically or logically refute any of the studies, research or facts, just a straight denial.

And why?

"because Al Gore needed a platform": As if the British Royal Academy, the Chinese and Russian national science academies et al would be swayed by an American politician needing a platform!

None of the 'Gore-gorers' or 'green conspiracy theorists' seem to be able to grasp the concept that 'global' extends beyond the borders of the US. I have yet to see even an attempt, let alone a credible one,. to explain how all the disparate countries, factions and ideologies all managed, in the space of a couple of years to agree on a global conspiracy cartel to help Al Gore get elected.

Seriously, why would an oil-rich, USA-hating country like Yemen want to help Al Gore (Yemen is building wind turbines...)?

Answer 13

I don't care what you, al gore or the scientists think.   I've noticed huge differences in the climate in my lifetime and seen some of their effects with dieing out plant life and new insects.    Something is definitely happening no matter how much some deny it.    Weather its caused by people or not, I don't see any reason not to reduce our energy use by moving out of the 18th century into the 21st.