Global Warming....

[Keith75]

Wonder what most of you guys thought about global warming. I have been pretty much convinced that it was a global cycle. If it isn't than why was it so much warmer in the past before people were here? I thought this graph at the bottom of this page was interesting.

http://www.scotese.com/climate.htm

http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/temperature/

[spikey_richie]

I partly agree, but you have to aknowledge that the volume of crap that has been pumped into the atmosphere over the last 150 years is to blame.

The levels of CO2 in the atmosphere are higher than they have been for millenia, and that can be directly attributed to industry.

I was reading an article yesterday that suggested bio-fuels will only accelerate the decay of our atmosphere - I can't help but think that the report was commissioned by the fuel companies to convince us bio fuels are bad.

[Keith75]

When I learn though that during most of the planets history it was on average 20-30 degrees fahrenheit warmer than today I don't see why we should be blaming humans. This is much colder than usual right now. If the temperature was going up warmer than what was normal then it seems like we should start looking at our own activity. From what I have read our temperature is only going of a few tenths of a degree.

[spikey_richie]

The temperature and intensity of the suns rays has increased on the polar ice caps thus causing them to melt. On average could mean that the polar caps have been colder than today, but around the equator temperatures have been higher historically.

[Ototero]

So called "global warming" is offset by so called "global cooling". I think it is very presumptuous of us to think we are clever/powerful enough to affect the global climate.

I believe it is all a ruse to generate jobs for the scientists.

[Lagu]

Yes, Spekey_Richie are right. Cars release carbon Dioxide, our industry and homes release different substances when they use coal, flight release a lot of crap and where happen this? Overall but USA is the contry as have most of all things and Bush rate the Kyoto aggrement as should work for a increase of these substanses trough cleaning tecniques.

In Sweden we have long ago use this technique whish is a Law on. We use nature gas to our cars and Busses trying avoid too mych scrap but what help it when other contries continue as they are used and shout their eyes locked for the real fact? Bad air comes from Russia, Poland and other contries on Euroipe.

It is obiviosly we humans as is the cause who should we blame else? It is all peoples as is into the governement in different countries as have maked laws as allowed os build industrys as release scrap.

I think we all can agree to this simple fact:

We was ignorant about how danger it could be in the future. Year 1950 peoples and our experts and so we normal peoples were not aware how danger some discharge was. Only during the last 15 year we have woke up and slowly tried do anything.

They have varn us already several times that the petrol can run dry but are we serious on that or not? Are we quick buy a car and run it on nature gas or another than bensin (petrol) to save petrol? If it happen about 25 year for example vi cant say we not knew that.

[vaughan]

I think all the global warming talk is a load of hot air put out by journalists and doomsayers trying to get copy to fill their news bulletins.

My opinion is based on Le Chatelier's Principle - "If a chemical system at equilibrium experiences a change in concentration, temperature, volume, or total pressure; the equilibrium will shift in order to minimize that change."

For example: a cup of hot coffee will try to cool down to the ambient temperature.

As Keith's link in the original post showed, the whole global temperature thing is a cycle played out over millions of years.

My 2c

[Lagu]

Yeah, they as live longest may see how it goes

[daddygeek]

Every couple of years the end of the world is is at hand. Run, Hide, Protect yourselves. It's been that way for 2000+ Years.

[jmblazek]

My 2c…

There is absolutely NO DOUBT that the planet earth has gone through many cycles and changes in its short ~4.8 billion years of existence. AND there's absolutely NO DOUBT that humans are affecting this current cycle.

As Vaughan points out, systems seek equilibrium. Basically everything in the Universe seeks harmony.

Wind is a perfect example on earth of the atmospheric conditions seeking equilibrium. It's the reaction between high and low pressure systems. Their approximity and the higher or lower the systems are the greater the force of the wind.

That's why many predict that the further the earth experiences a change in one direction; the more violent the storms will become to equalize it. This is just the small reaction within the larger reaction.

Empirical evidence shows Global Warming is in fact happening. And I'm confident that at some point in the future it will be followed by Global Cooling as the planet earth seeks equilibrium.

Human impact is more of a facilitator than an instigator. Consider our effect as an accelerator of Global Warming not a creator. It's no different than, let's say, the Super Volcano that we call Yellowstone National Park (http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence...ervolcano.html), erupting for 150 years straight. You can bet it would have an effect on the equilibrium of the planet earth.

Mind you, Homo sapiens did not exist through ANY of the previous cycles. We actually didn't show up until the near end of the Pleistocene period…~200,000 years ago. I feel quite confident that there's a reason for that. I also feel confident that we won’t be around for future cycles unless we become more intelligent.

Yes, our species survived a few ice ages but we were much smaller in numbers and the changes were very slow and small allowing us to evolve. Heck, if you look at the graphs you won’t even see the ice age blips relative to the total changes that have happened in previous periods…that’s how small they were.

Speaking of graphs though, take a look at this comparison of CO2 levels and glacier activity in the late Pleistocene period:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:A...ers_cycles.gif Notice how in the past 650,000 years, the planet earth has not experienced CO2 levels where they are now...much less where they are going.

I don't think that our focus should so much be on Global Warming per say...it's going to happen whether we like it or not…that’s a fact! I think we should be focusing on not accelerating it to a point that it outpaces our survival as a species. We shouldn't help Global Warming along where it surpasses our ability to adapt (evolve)...or at least become intelligent enough to create life support systems so we can survive.

We should also focus on sustainability. We definitely have a lot of room for improvement in this category.

But hey, maybe this is Mother Nature’s way of getting rid of an infestation.

p.s. some fun stuff from the Matrix…
Agent Smith : I'd like to share a...revelation I had, during my time here. It came to me when I tried to...classify your species.

I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but...you humans do not. You move to an area...and you multiply...until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to.. spread to another area.

There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Humans beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet...and we...are the cure.

p.p.s. Speaking of cycles, if we survive all the changes that Mother Nature throws at us, several catastrophic meteor hits, and human’s ignorance, we must still eventually leave planet earth within the next 5 billion years. Otherwise, we will cease to exist along with our sun: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Sun_Life.png