Global warming another farce?

[mike_n_herrin]

Ok People you can stop the attacks now. I don't care weather you want to watch the movie or you don't.

But stop the stupid comments please.
I actually got exactly what I expected.
Now I am done.

You don't deserve the mean comments/posts you got. some of the comments went down a road they shouldn't have, but you've gone down it with them to some extent.

Lets bring this back to the actual topic folks. I don't think Finn said he didn't believe in climate change (that's what we're calling it now in the US government instead of global warming because the president wanted us to), i thought he said he doubts that humans are the cause of it. It is true that "we" (i'm lumping myself in with the other scientists on this) don't know what is causing the change in climate. We do know it's happening, because we can measure it. We can estimate what temps were in the past and we know what the atmospheric make up was in the past because of ice cores and what not. We are hypothesizing that the use of fossil fuels and dramatic increases in atmospheric CO2 is what is driving the change (not the sole cause, but the driving force). we're basing our conclusions on the evidence at hand and comparing that to what has happened in the past, but our interpretation of that data could be wrong. there are a lot of theories on what else could be causing it, from an increases in cow farting (i'm serious on that) to changes in solar activity.

while i know wikipedia can be edited by anyone and shouldn't necessarily be taken as the god's honest truth, i've read it's entry on global warming and it does a decent job of explaining what we know. here is a link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming

you can also check the entry on climate change, which is also quite good: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_change

 

[_AJ_]

In the end all global warming could possibly do is delay the inevitable ice age which will likely kill many of us off anyway. I was watching something about it and apparently it's thousands of years away but will indeed come.

it could be the opposite in fact
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/horizon/2003/bigchilltrans.shtml

the cause of the last big ice age was large amounts of fresh water being released into the ocean this is why we should do what we can now to stop change because once something starts and it goes to far who knows the consequences

 

[radioian]

Global warming, my a*&)!!!!!---its an excuse for more taxation is the name of "saving the Planet".........Its been proved that the World goes through these actions periodorically, and is entering one now.........
Yes, the Brazilians are bad cutting down the rainforest, but we can all go out and buy another couple of saplings, and plant them around our properties, cant we? That will offset it.

 

[Kyanimal]

Global warming, my a*&)!!!!!---its an excuse for more taxation is the name of "saving the Planet".........Its been proved that the World goes through these actions periodorically, and is entering one now.........
Yes, the Brazilians are bad cutting down the rainforest, but we can all go out and buy another couple of saplings, and plant them around our properties, cant we? That will offset it.

Um ... personally ... I don't happen to own a few million acres!

Keep smilin'!!
Chaz

 

[dousedfirepants]

If there is such a thing as global warming, it'll probably just be canceled by nuclear winter. So we should be fine...

 

[gerrit]

Jeez! Listen to yourself!

"It IS getting hot in here. The AC repair man tells me the AC is broke but that's just a gol dern lie! I think it's happening for no reason, myself."

Ok, let me put it this way:
Global warming is very real!! But what they want us to believe is what I don't believe in.
With that I mean the cause of Global warming is bull shit.

Better???

 

[valis23]

We spend so much time dickering about this topic. Some folks refuse to believe man is responsible. Some insist that man is responsible. Both miss the point entirely.

I find it interesting that those who blame man also portray warming as an awful thing, while those who deny man's involvement are generally less worried about the effects.

As our Mr. Herrin stated, we can measure, quantify, and confirm that the planet's a bit warmer than it was a century ago. We can also confirm that the planet's been a damn sight hotter than it is today, well before the industrial revolution or even before man himself. Earth's temperature fluctuates all the time. Evidence supports the idea that the last few centuries have constituted one of the more stable periods in the planet's history.

If climate change is a bad thing, we need to be very careful how we undertake to change it. The current state of ethanol is a great example. Panic is causing corn prices to spike dramatically. That's affecting food availability for poor folks in third world countries. Farmer's are dumping other crops to grow the more profitable corn. That causes more environmental limitations -monoculture, again. And of course the farmers can increase yield by using genetially modified stocks. Then we have to be very careful those GMO's stay out of the food chain and don't get loose in the field -more cost.

The reality of ethanol is that it's just not practical -not even close. We can't make serious inroads by processing corn. We need to process biomass. Currently we throw away the corn plants and keep the seed. That's a lot of biomass. Switchgrass can produce much more biomass per acre than corn. But until we can develop a practial method to digest cellulose, we can't use all that material. Growing the plant sequesters CO2. What do they do with all that plant material after they harvest the corn? It's often burned in the field, releasing the CO2 back into the atmosphere. Maybe it's composted. That still returns a lot of the CO2 to the atmosphere. Regardless, it's wasted.

This alarmist mindset of "We've got to do something right away!" is leading us to run around like headless chickens. We've got to be smart. I don't often give Bush credit for being smart, but what was it -three or four years ago? in the State of the Union address he proposed increasing funding for research into using biomass. He specifically mentioned switch grass. No one had heard of switch grass at that time. He was scoffed at. The Gore-babies laughed that Bush didn't know what he was talking about, and we've got to do something Right Freakin' Now! Truth is, progress is being made on biomass conversion, and when it becomes a practical reality, it'll blow the doors off all the chicken-little opportunistic alarmist half-measures we're obsessed with today.

 

[star-warrior]

If there is such a thing as global warming, it'll probably just be canceled by nuclear winter. So we should be fine...

Let's hope there'll be a summer of lovin' after...

 

[Kyanimal]

Earth's temperature fluctuates all the time. Evidence supports the idea that the last few centuries have constituted one of the more stable periods in the planet's history.

So ... it would seem the "natural" cycle has been "broken", and we're staying on the warm side longer (and, continuing to get warmer). Interesting that the period coincides with Mans' industrialization.

But, let's not even worry about that, right now. Let's talk about energy consumption. The good ol' U.S. of A. (what? 8% of total World population?) consumes 25% of total World resouces used per year. So, don't you think it is a good idea that "something" is raising Our consciousness, be it "Global Warming", or "Microwave irradiation", or "whatever"??

And ... you're absolutely right about the whole biomass "thing"!

Sustainable, Renewable, Energy is Our only answer! Once the fossil fuels are gone, we'll need something to keep our air conditioners running in the heat!

And, of course, the Republicans don't think that "Government" should fund the research, to any great extent, nor should it "Govern", through restrictions, taxes, fines, mandated emission levels, etc., the level of Our current consumption of fossil fuels. I guess we'll just have to leave it up to the private interests, I mean private enterprise, to decide which options they are going to $upport. (And, it would seem they're backing the corn, for now!)

In any case, the outcome should be interesting! (Provided we're still around to see it!)

Keep smilin'!!
Chaz

 

[mike_n_herrin]

...As our Mr. Herrin stated, we can measure, quantify, and confirm that the planet's a bit warmer than it was a century ago. We can also confirm that the planet's been a damn sight hotter than it is today, well before the industrial revolution or even before man himself. Earth's temperature fluctuates all the time. Evidence supports the idea that the last few centuries have constituted one of the more stable periods in the planet's history...

 

[Joshua_me]

There are the naysayers who (years from now) will STILL never believe that humans contributed to climate change, even when "SURF'S UP!!!!" is a common beach cry in Washington, DC., Shreveport and other places.

Yes, and keep in mind there's a certain component of human nature in play, here.

That is, "It's really not my problem."

To wit: "Sure, it MAY be happening, but it's a long way off and I have my comfortable life and plenty of a/c and TV and Internet..and so...well, if the grand kids have to deal with it, who really cares ? I'll be dead."

The above may seem like a tangent, but I tend to think it explains the current public mindset concerning what is REALLY happening...

 

[gayboi909]

I think this is all nothing more than something to "shake the boat" with.....besides the earth heals it self.....it has meany times over

 

[Finn]

Do me a favor. Get a dictionary, and look up the meaning of satire and lampoon.
And then if you want to know how or what I think go back and read through the earlier posts.

 

[Spiff]

What's this supposed to show? That the global warming theory is based on .0004 of 1 percent of the earths total age? Anyone got a 40 mile long graph that shows the complete weather cycle in earth's history?

 

[nitish]

Don't be silly. Global warming is not a debate. It's scientific fact. Global warming has been occurring on and off. the last one occurred thousands of years ago. How dare you say it's a farce? You probably erroneously mean that it's not caused by humans.

 

[seven_sins]

I have never understood why this is such a hot button topic to the neocons. Abortion, evolution, gay rights, and global warming are topics that bring them swarming out of the woodwork.

 

[star-warrior]

I have never understood why this is such a hot button topic to the neocons. Abortion, evolution, gay rights, and global warming are topics that bring them swarming out of the woodwork.

Oil and capitalism. If you're gonna use less energy, gas, electricity, petrol and the like, you're gonna upset their incomes.

 

[frankfrank]

Though I disagree with the article (which TOTALLY naysays any possibility of global warming, despite ample proof to the contrary), I *love* the wordplay in this paragraph which appeared recently in the Benson, Arizona newspaper:

Folks in the rural areas of Southeastern Arizona, especially cattlemen, are aware of the danger of being gored by a bull. Now, these same people should be aware of being bulled by a Gore.

http://www.bensonnews-sun.com/articles/2007/10/24/news/letters_to_editor/letter3.txt