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massive Tsunamis
Point of pedantry: tsunamis are caused by earthquakes, whose occurence and frequency isn't affected by anything going on in the atmosphere.
IMHO I think that our activities have played some part in climate issues, but we would be arrogant to think it's totally under our control.
How do you explain the ice age? There were no human pollutants then.
I do recycle etc and don't drive a car, and I think we should be concerned about the environment, but not necessarily because of climate change which I don't think is wholly in our control anyway.
Come friendly floes...
<running for cover>
- dump nuclear waste into the oceans encased in concrete thinking it'll stay like that forever
- dump industrial waste into the seas - because it should be able to handle it
- landfills dumped with stuff we should have recycled or taken proper measures. Instead they sit there releasing toxic substances into the land and release greenhouse gases into the air.
- the super powers like war because it brings in revenue
- we are constantly mis-guided by large corporations and govts in the pursuit of their "world domination" e.g.
a) certain car manufacturers in the US buying the public transport services and then closing them down so that more cars were bought.
b) certain petroleum companies polluting the seas and even now still in South America - it is disgraceful
c) "Who killed the electric car" will become a classic
d) With oil in Alaska - screw the environment - let's go drill!
....there are so many more things we have done. At the end of the day apathy will kill the world because we're so stupid we don't learn from our mistakes or we are too slow to rectify them.
GW may or may not be happening but I support it because it is bringing a change in technology....slow but it is a start.
I support it because it is bringing a change in technology....slow but it is a start.
I agree with this point. The technology which is being developed now - like the Solar Energy Plant outside Seville - will benefit us whether or not humans are currently responsible for the global warming which is taking place. (There's no doubt about the last bit... look at the snow on Kilamanjaro, look at the polar ice caps, look at the fact that skiing was cancelled in the Ukrainian Carpathian region this winter just gone, look at what is happening to arable land in Australia etc.)
At the end of the day, I suspect it's more dangerous to assume that humans are incidental to global warming and be wrong than to assume they are directly responsible and be wrong.
Jane_Doe, please do bring an umbrella. In the UK that's always a good idea whatever the season.
All she asked was whether she should bring an umbrella
lol! Love the banter at foo! ;)
I like sitting on the fence by saying that GW is both human caused and just a natural cycle. The proof of previous ice ages and warm periods proves that climate is cyclical when looking at the "big" picture. How much is natural and how much is human induced? Noone knows. And anyone that says without a doubt it's all human caused is just a fool.
Let's say there will be 5C of warming over the next 50 years. Is 4.5C of that natural warming?...is only 1C of that natural warming and the other 4C due to human behaviour (or misbehaviour)?
The reason why I don't side with any particular side on this is that there is scientific evidence that greenhouse gases that we humans put into our atmostphere is causing the globe to warm. The pollutants allow solar radiation to enter the earth's boundary layer, but they do not allow the "heat" to be re-radiated back from the earth and out to space during the night...over time this imbalance adds up, but how much of a change is this making?
You're right, we humans can adapt...However, how many Billions more people are living in areas that are only 1 metre above sea level now, than 10,000 years ago during the last "warming" period? Do you see the significance? I'm not sure how many of earth's population live in coastal areas that are just above sea level...but it's got to be around 1-2 billion. Imagine the mass migration that would have to occur as sea levels rise...or the mass building up of dikes.
Just because we can adapt, doesn't mean what we're doing isn't causing harm. Having said that, because there is a "lag" effect, it may be too late for us to reverse any of the adverse affects we've created. What I mean by this, is that there may be such a build up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that we could experience warming for another 25 to 50 years even if we stopped dead now with regards to polluting.
Ah, I've rambled on long enough...some food for thought though. Don't get sucked in by what your politicians say...or those "scientists" who are funded by said politicians.. :) I speak from an unbiased standpoint...
Scientists have found that "global warming" seems to be happening on other planets in our solar system. Since there are no humans currently residing on Mars or Pluto (that we know about) then there is something else going on, besides human intervention.
Our efforts to reduce global warming may not help, but it seems sensible to try. If the climate changes catastrophically we are going to enter a period of massive human migration and probably global warfare.
Back on topic: hundreds of thousands of people are still without running water in Gloucestershire, and the clean-up bill is going to be massive.
I still think it's risky to bet that humans aren't responsible for the melting ice-caps.
....and yes Jane_Doe - bring an umbrella - although the weather forecasters say the weather will improve in August
(were the cows standing up in the back yard wagging their tails?)
Financial Times reported that by the end of 2008 China will be the biggest CO2 producer. However this will account for 3.4 tonnes per head.
In comparison, UK produces 4.2 tonnes per head and the US produces 20 tonnes per head.
Scientists have found that "global warming" seems to be happening on other planets in our solar system.
Hmm, perhaps proof positive that the sun is starting to expand as a precursor to it's subsequent shrinking to brown dwarf state - which will then be followed by the inevitable massive expansion to such a degree (pun intended) that any discussion about global warming will have to be done by the human race from the comfort of another solar system...
Syzygy
[edited by: Monkey at 12:26 am (utc) on Aug. 17, 2007]
Hey JD - are you in the UK? It has started raining again! - okay in parts of England it has been drizzling for the last 3 days
Just got back recently. The weather was okay. We got rained on a few days and had a couple of really sunny days and the rest were a mixed bag. On a couple of the sunny days I actually got sun burned. My face is peeling right now from the burn.
The downside was that we had a back pack stolen with a passport, an expensive camera and some other items by what we now realize were professional pickpocket type thieves. We reported it to the police and told them it was all recorded on a security camera, but all they did was call back a few days later after we were already out of town (so they didn't know what we looked like to find us on the video). Not exactly the makings of CSI: London!
Other than that it was a nice visit - mostly spent visiting relatives and sightseeing.
