Global Warming: Fact or Fiction?

Is global warming really happening? Or is it simply a product of the super-liberal, dirty-hippy mentality?

Reference: http://www.globalwarming.org/

Posted By Robpea on September 9, 2007

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About Robpea

I was born 7 lbs. 11 ounces. Back then they just rounded up, rather than taking it out to a decimal point. So who knows- maybe I actually weighed 7 lbs. 10.6 ounces.

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Person_60

Global warming may be happening right now, but there is little we can do...

Posted By JayBird on September 10, 2007

Art_4

Global warming will destroy us, just not anytime soon.

Posted By JenTheObscure on December 5, 2007

Altar

Greenhouse gases are being released at an astronomical rate. We're heati...

Posted By Robpea on September 9, 2007

Henryclay

There is an obvious link between humans and global warming.

Posted By Swryght on October 23, 2007

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Global warming will destroy us all!

Art_4

Global warming will destroy us, just not anytime soon.

-- Posted By JenTheObscure on December 7, 2007

From_the_east

The North Pole.

-- Posted By eastwind on January 11, 2008

In the last 35 years the North Pole has been reduced by 33%. It i predicted that in 2015 it won't exist at all, there is something more than the ordinary going on here, and we are the cause of it.

Yea, it is intriguing that a species that occupies less than .001% of the planet can have such a dramatic effect in 100 years that we irrevocably doomed the planet. The polar ice melts every year in the summer, it will recover. The amount of CO2 emissions that humans put into the air is minute compared to the amount of air that exists...

As a prominent meteorologist once put it, "It is like spitting into the ocean". Humans have not and will not cause global warming on this scale. Only Mother Nature can cause this type of global warming...
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Person_60

are you kidding me??????

-- Posted By Angi1994 on February 1, 2009

Global warming is another one of man catastrofic effects on planet earth!

I just can't believe some people ignore this fact.Face it people, we are destroying planet earth!!!!!No one made it up! Haven't you ever wondered why it keeps getting hotter every year?? I mean God, WAKE UP!!!!!!!!!!

Henryclay

There is an obvious link between humans and global warming.

-- Posted By Swryght on October 23, 2007

While we have a lot of motivations for wishing it wasn;t true, it is. An overwhelming scientific consensus exists to support this theory, and The consequences are dire. What's the worst that could happen from cleaning up our act?

If I'm right, we'll be glad we acted when we did. If I'm wrong, the worst that could happen is that we live in a more ecological world with cleaner air for our kids and a more sustainble future for our race. This is a no-brainer.

Altar

Greenhouse gases are being released at an astronomical rate. We're heating up like an oven.

-- Posted By Robpea on September 9, 2007

Some skeptics point to the history of temperature fluctuations as proof that the warming of the earth is just a cyclic process that will soon correct itself. But warming has never occured so intensely in such a short period of time. .

And you want us to believe that the huge pollution factories of the industrial age had no effect, but today's gases do?

Person_60

some people

-- Posted By zane57 on July 3, 2008

some people blow this global warming thing out of proportion and making up myths but the truth is global warming is very real and is happening as I type.

05_juneau_076

Real, but is it a threat?

-- Posted By shullrd on October 6, 2008

I think it is incontrovertible that global warming is a real phenomena. It can be seen in worldwide temperature increases, declining ice caps and odd weather. What we should be asking are:

1) Is global warming caused or sped up by human actions?

2) Are the consequences of global warming serious or not?

3) Is this a natural cycle that will break on its own terms?

Confederate_sword

Anthropogenic Climate Change is unwieldy, but more accurate.

-- Posted By cantseetheforest on August 10, 2008

I think that, in certain key respects, the phenomenon of global warming has been "mythologized," taken out of context, etc. For example, if, by global warming, one means a relatively rapid rise in global mean temperatures, then we can point to instances in the natural record in which this has happened in the absence of human civilization. It would also be wise to note that, because these trends did happen in the absence of civilization as we know it, we are poorly equipped to make sound predictions as to how they might affect our kind of civilization going forward.

That is why the term "anthropogenic (people-caused) climate change" is more accurate. It is clear that human industry--from logging and slash-'n'-burn agriculture through massive, continuous factory outputs of greenhouse gases--is altering the environment in ways that are poorly understood. What is commonly referred to as "global warming" is really just a small (albeit tremendously important) part of a broader spectrum of effects engendered by industry and development more generally; from atmospheric, soil, and water pollution, to habitat destruction through urban development, et cetera.

Personally, I feel that the key to reducing human impact on the environment is personal responsibility. People need to come together and make choices at the level of the home and community to consume less and contribute more to their local ecosystems. The industrial apparatuses which govern so much of modern life were developed and continue to operate with a focus on near-term profit, not long-term consequences. The master's house will never be dismantled with the master's tools. That is why it is more prudent and responsible for consumers to shoulder the responsibility for lowering ecological impact rather than expecting industry and government to do the work--this is, in my opinion, largely delusional. Government will "act" to protect the environment only insofar as there are votes to be gained, and votes can be gained by token measures without any real effectiveness. The pocketbooks of consumers collectively speak much more loudly.

So, to summarize, it is more beneficial for people to think of climate change as something which they can personally combat through their actions and deeds rather than some unavoidable coming cataclysm--even though, for all we know, the damage already done may in fact be near-cataclysmic. The solution to environmental degradation is mostly, at its core, a matter of personal choice: consuming responsibly and consuming less, particularly in the realm of energy (fossil fuels and the like), so it really boils down to lifestyle choices.

And it is truly amazing how many people, particularly in the United States, prefer to laconically deny the negative impact of industrial civilization on the environment so that they can continue to feel justified in filling their gas tanks and running their air conditioners all night long.

L_7df197f40a991a94325fbfb4d2a931d7

Global Warming Shmarming

-- Posted By Elaina on February 5, 2009

If you're staying up nights worrying about your carbon footprint or how climate change is leaving polar bears adrift at sea, I've got the best advice you've heard in a while - get some sleep.

Global warming flunkies have half the world brainwashed into thinking our ice caps are melting, our seas are on the verge of boiling, and that everywhere from Miami to Juneau, Alaska is about to be ravaged by tropical diseases from malaria to Dengue Fever. The only hot air that's threatening the planet is coming out of peoples butts!

Global warming has benefited from one of the greatest public relations and marketing efforts in recent history. You'll hear plenty from environmentalists about carbon emissions, clean energy, and the disappearing arctic, but here's what you will NEVER hear them admit:

Scientists have reaped MILLIONS from their global warming "research." They've turned supporting global warming - despite what the science really says - into a cash cow!

In fact, these same scientists were trying to convince us the world was cooling just a few decades ago, when that's where the grant money was. There's plenty of bad science and good marketing surrounding the global warming debate.

Update:
This obviously is supposed to be on the OTHER side
Person_60

Getting hotter and hotter!

-- Posted By azrael6190 on March 11, 2009

I think its definitely true that global warming is happening, and that human activities are the main cause of it. It is undeniable that the temperature has increased more rapidly since the industrial age began compared to all of history. If you look at Al Gores theory about temperature rising, you could immediately recognize that what he has said is what is hapening. People lets just stop destroying planet earth, for the sake or our later generations.

Global warming is a myth.

Deb_small

Global Warming - ready or not

-- Posted By DebAnne on April 8, 2008

I think Global warming is going to happen even if we stop cars world wide, stop all spray cans,put a hault to all factories that emit any kind of smoke, etc etc. It is still going to happen and there isn't a thing we can do about it. Global warming happens, it is a natural part of earth's life cycle.

It's happened before, it'll happen again. The earth is very capable of re-attaining equilibrium. We may suffer, but the earth will recover. A sufficient rise in the ocean levels will lead to another ice age, as the gulf stream breaks down due to a change in the salinity of the oceans. Then people will wish for global warming...but lots of them will die, and pollution levels will drop significantly (regardless of whether or not they helped to cause global warming...)
That is incredibly untrue. Why don't you do some research on global warming before deciding that "it's all natural"?
Global Warming is a natural occurrence, just not at the rate we are seeing. Industry has definitely put a strain on the earth's natural cycle. It's supposed to incline over millions of years. Our polluted contributions are speeding up the process by increasing that incline to only hundreds of years.
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Person_60

There is no scientific proof that man has any effect on Global warming.

-- Posted By visionary1 on September 10, 2007

The problems that we should be looking at are the problems caused by landfill and toxic waste. We are killing the Planet but not by causing it to fry! That is just political propaganda as another excuse to raise taxes.

Wrong, landfill and toxic waste is a huge contributor to the warming process. The issue of tax increases are directed at companies who pollute and to encourage corporations to better prepare for the later years by producing products and services without impacting the environment so heavily. They don't want to tax you, they want to tax them. That's why republicans and Neo Cons are so against it. It effects their cash-flow.
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Person_60

Global warming may be happening right now, but there is little we can do to stop it.

-- Posted By JayBird on September 10, 2007

It's a natural, cyclical process, not a man-made catastrophe.

Volcanic eruptions, increased sun radiation, and other such natural events make man's contributions miniscule by comparison.

Follow the money! GW alarmists would spend billions in futile efforts. Why not spend our resources in far more productive ways, such as reducing malaria, extreme poverty, etc.?

I think that mad cause global warming may be true to some extent, but not to the extent that it will severely alter the planet.
Global warming is not only a myth, it's unprovable and thus it is a liberal's dream issue. Look what you can do once you subscribe the masses to this nonsense: You can close down the oil and coal industries, regulate businesses, and all the while generate a huge pile of money that the government gets to control. As far as the science goes, there is absolutely no proof that man has caused anything that has changed the atmosphere. There are forces such as sunspots, volcanoes etc that create hundreds if not thousands if not millions of times the impact man has had on the environment. And, in case you haven't checking the weather at the south pole, there is more ice there than in 1,000 years. Lastly, the earth is a self-correcting ecosystem. It has survived meteor impacts, plate tectonics, hurricanes, droughts, floods, earthquakes, ice ages etc. If you think that driving an SUV can do more damage than that, it's time to see a shrink.
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Toxic-pollution-war-weapons

Here's the thing

-- Posted By bathory313 on August 29, 2008

Global warming occurred hundreds and thousands of years ago, before there were any vehicles or factories. It is a natural occurrence.

I'll believe it when I see it.
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Altar

1 degree here or there- what's the big deal?

-- Posted By Robpea on September 9, 2007

And so what if the earth heats up a little bit. The slight melting of the polar icecaps would allow dry farmland across the world to be watered as much as needed. Drought would never be an issue. This is all an elaborate ploy to push hybrid cars.

It's all just the crazy liberals conjuring stuff up.

and what about floods? that's the issue of polar melting, too much water - we couldn't handle it. oh and environmentalists push that hybrid cars aren't worth any real mention. they're made of parts which have flown across the world too many times.

The fate of the polar bears is well documented as a direct result of global warming. They are not the only species that is being dramatically affected by global warming,and following the logical path, what affects one species eventually affects most if not all species.

Right now in the Netherlands is has become popular to build houseboat houses instead of structures that would not float since their whole country will be affected by the rise in ocean levels. You seem to have read just enough to truly be dangerous since you do not grasp the concept of the carbon footprints we each make upon the earth. My suggestion is that you not breed since the legacy you would leave to the world, you in good conscious would not leave to your family line.
I don't think any logical person would disagree that global warming is happening and feel bad for the polar bears. The fact still remains that the human responsibility for global warming is minuscule compared to the methane emissions of cows across the globe. Scientists have said the sun is getting larger, hotter, and a lot more active (solar flares and bursts). It seems to make since that if the sun is getting hotter then the earth will also get hotter. Also, why do feel the need to insult other people? Chill..pun intended.
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Person_60

bullshit

-- Posted By ktmrr on November 20, 2008

made up by the government to make money

Smiley_emo_boy

BS

-- Posted By Mr_GirlPants on February 23, 2009

There is no proof that the current warming is caused by the rise of greenhouse gases from human activity. Ice core records from the past 650,000 years show that temperature increases have preceded—not resulted from—increases in CO2 by hundreds of years, suggesting that the warming of the oceans is an important source of the rise in atmospheric CO2. As the dominant greenhouse gas, water vapour is far, far more important than CO2. Dire predictions of future warming are based almost entirely on computer climate models, yet these models do not accurately understand the role or water vapor—and, in any case, water vapor is not within our control. Plus, computer models cannot account for the observed cooling of much of the past century (1940–75), nor for the observed patterns of warming—what we call the “fingerprints.” For example, the Antarctic is cooling while models predict warming. And where the models call for the middle atmosphere to warm faster than the surface, the observations show the exact opposite.

Hipster-girl--large-msg-11968267565

Yes

-- Posted By HairSprayAddict on February 24, 2009

Yes, carbon dioxide in the air has increased in the last century due to the use of fossil fuels. Yes, global average temperature has increased 0.8 degrees F in the same century. Unfortunately, the temperature increase came first: most of the temperature increase was before 1940, and most of the new carbon dioxide was added after 1960. Would you trust a "scientist" who said the result came before the cause?

There are other problems, as well. Solar activity may be the cause of the world temperature changes. The global warmers can't explain why satellites show no temperature change in the past 20 years. The computer models that predict disaster in a century have been completely wrong for the past 20 years. And no one can agree on the side effects.

Scientific facts actually helped unravel the treaty last year. Carbon dioxide is removed from the air by various natural and manmade processes, and world leaders couldn't agree on how to credit for this. No one wanted the U.S. to get credit for removals of carbon dioxide, so negotiations faltered.

So why does data from the UK Met Office show that the hottest ten years ever recorded were within the last two decades? These temperature readings are pretty accurate as the met office only use mercury thermometers within Stevenson Screens - a ventilated white box.

The year 2008 was tenth warmest on record, exceeded by 1998, 2005, 2003, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2001, 2007 and 1997.

Finally, there is no evidence to suggest that solar activity is causing the increasing temperatures we are experiencing.
Mars seems to be warming too:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/02/070228-mars-warming.html
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