Why is is difficult to prove that Global Warming is acutally occuring?

Question

Why is is difficult to prove that Global Warming is acutally occuring?

Answer 1

It's not difficult to prove. The earth is warming up on average. Some parts are getting cooler and some warmer but on average yes the Earth is warming. Ice cores prove this. The issue is what is causing it and should/can we do anything about it. Current data suggests that indeed greenhouse gases are contributing to global warming. How much is the issue now.

Answer 2

We live in an era of conspiracy theories. We hear so many lies and wrong information it has gotten to the point that we no longer can decipher what to believe. I certainly hope that global warming isn't as much of a threat as the climate scientists say it may be. Perhaps the only proof that will satisfy some people may come in time.

Answer 3

It's difficult because there are alot of political bodies who are absolutely bound and determined to confuse the issue in order to deter new carbon emission policies that would hurt businesses.

Answer 4

It has been proven that Global warming exists, the only thing that has not been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt is that humans are the cause. People have been convicted of murder on far less evidence and later proven innocent. That is because law only requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

I do not think that level of proof matters in this case. If there is a 30% chance that your picnic is going to be rained out on Sunday you create an indoor contingency plan. If there is a 30% chance that you are destroying all life in the solar system there is no contingency plan for that. You have to try to stop that.

Let Dr Jello prove it wrong while we convert our economy to nuclear, wind, and solar energy. What is the downside to that? The Arabs can go back to the 13th century where thier religion wants them to be with thier worthless black gunk.

Only somebody that is afraid they will lose thier meal ticket would care that Global Warming might not exist. The rest of us just have to let the doubters do what they want while we demand that our government hastens the change to what is  after all a better energy source that nobody doubts is healthier for us and our environment.

Answer 5

the changes (like signals) in climate are very small and in a background that is very noisy and that masks the signal or indicators.  This is a very difficult signal processing problem.

That and there are huge economics interests that benefit from putting off controls for as long as possible.

;-)

Answer 6

I like all the answers specially "bcuz ppl dont want to belive it.

they just wanna ignore it an pretend its not happinin"

If you believed that your grandchildren will bake in an oven at temperatures hotter than those in Auschwitz, you would probably be incarcerated for disturbing the public peace.

If you believed that we do not noticed Global Warming because the ocean absorbed all the CO2, up to now but the oceans are all saturated and cannot absorb more, you might be personally disturbed.

If you believed that the soil is getting hot from drought that burn forests and wildfires, which ARE increasing in size and frequency, you might be alarmed. May even consider putting a swiming pool to have emergency water.

If you believed the ice in Greenland doubled its melting rate from 2003 to 2006, to 56 Cubic Miles per year and, this summer, the North Pole lost a Million Square Miles of ice cover, thus allowing the sun to heat up the water, you might become agitated.

But, if, on top of all that, someone told you that the Antarctic lost 196 Gigatons of water, this summer, however much 196 gigatons might be (about 56 Cubic Miles of water), you will begin to believe Global Warming is real.

But, if someone told you that on 15 July, 2007, British Lewis Pugh swam in the very North Pole while wearing Speedo trunks, goggles and head cap, for 19 minutes, you would conclude that they are madly fabricating data and it is all obviously false and faked.

In sum, the implications are so terrible, no one can believe they are truth, and will come about.

If and when we get serious it will be too late.

A worse fact: There is no known way to remove CO2 from the air, without using energy that produces even more CO2 than it removes.

Even worst, the ocean has solid Methane, the worst Global Warming gas, at the ocean bottom that, when that part of the ocean becomes warm, will come out of solution.

At that point, pray you die before you feel how hot it is.

Answer 7

It's not difficult. It has been proven.  People who think they're 'cooler' then everyone else disagree, but they won't be 'cooler' for long because the earth really is warming. Ask any educated scientist, and they'll tell you the truth.

hehe, yeah, i'm ready for the thumbs' down :)

Answer 8

Cause the globe is huge and we only have accurate records of temperatures for a very short period of time for a very small percentage of the globe.  

Another side of the Global Warming debate is exactly what if any of it is cause by man.  You do realize that temperatures have gone up and down on this planet for millions of years and long before your mom and dad were running around in their SUV don't you?  You understand that temperatures have been observed rising on other planets in our Solar System suggesting that things could be more driven by our own sun than the hairspray you use or the gas furnace we used to heat our house.

Don't let someone tell you something is FACT when their are way more questions out there than answers!

Answer 9

Its difficult because of you look back on the records, carbon dioxide has increased and then decreased in a pattern. So its hard to say if this recent increase in Co2 is because of global warming or if it's just the natural cycle.

Answer 10

Because it's a fairly subtle change, albeit a very dangerous one.  You can't point to any spectacular event, the truth is in the compilation of data from thousands of measuring stations, and in the scientific analysis of that data.

To a scientist this proof is very clear and convincing.  To someone ignorant about the scientific method, it looks like voodoo.

EVERY major scientific organization says it's real and mostly caused by us.  Typical scientist:

"Global warming is almost a no-brainer at this point,You really can't find intelligent, quantitative arguments to make it go away."

Dr. Jerry Mahlman, NOAA

Answer 11

bcuz ppl dont want to belive it.

they just wanna ignore it an pretend its not happinin

Answer 12

it should not be.  almost all reputable scientist agree it is happening, why should the poeple not (i do belive it is hapening)

Answer 13

bc the survey made were conducted to people living in the highlands, not those along shorelines

Answer 14

No one doubts we have warmed out of a "little ice age" from several hundred years ago, and no one doubts we have warmed out of the last extensive glaciation 20,000 years ago.

The geological record and other anecdotal human records are very strong evidence.

If you are talking about anthropogenic CO2 emissions being responsible for a run away positive feedback warming and end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it, then the science and models and data are not precise enough to determine one way or another.

But I think you knew that already.

Answer 15

some people can prove a lie too be true

Answer 16

Because it is not.

And all the scientific data coming in disproves it.

Answer 17

Ice cores taken from Antarctica have show that over the past 350 years, the industrial revolution, that temperatures have risen steadily in proportion to the pollutants in the air. The problem of convincing people that this exists is that human lifetimes are very short. The earth being such a large body hides the changes that occur during the normal life span of a human. The people who are on earth once the pendulum has swung to the point of no return, will either find a way to adapt or perish.

Answer 18

global warming is definitely occurring - the earth has giant natural "thermometers" that tell us this- for example:

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroo...