Global warming (Earth, doom)

[tcprowling]

Do you believe in Global warming?
For me, Yes, there is evidence that the earth is warming up, I also believe that mankind is contributing to it in some way. However, having said that, over the eons, the earth has gone through so pretty extreme climatic changes, ie Ice ages, and to end those,imo, the earth would have had to " heat" up. would that be a case of global warming?
So In summary while I do agree the earth is warming, I am not so sure that it is NOT an natural occurence in the earth's "cycle" of climatic changes and it may not be the " end of the world" thing that the Doomsayers would have us believe

[Sunstone]

It's my understanding that Global Warming is an established fact at this point. It is also my understanding that it is an established fact that humans are contributing to it. The only dispute is over how much humans are contributing to it.

As for whether it would be a disaster or not, that surely does not depend on what's causing it. If you fall off a clift because you were clumsy or because you were pushed, the result is the same. So, too, it doesn't really matter in that sense whether Global Warming is caused by us or by nature. The consequences of it will be the same.

[tcprowling]

Originally Posted by Sunstone

It's my understanding that Global Warming is an established fact at this point. It is also my understanding that it is an established fact that humans are contributing to it. The only dispute is over how much humans are contributing to it.

As for whether it would be a disaster or not, that surely does not depend on what's causing it. If you fall off a clift because you were clumsy or because you were pushed, the result is the same. So, too, it doesn't really matter in that sense whether Global Warming is caused by us or by nature. The consequences of it will be the same.

I am not so sure ifthis would be the case I think mankind would be better equipted to handle a climatic change now the say in the last ice age

[MarinaVanylovna]

just ask Al Gore. He knows it all. let's listen to him! Perhaps he was not the best in the seat of politics, but his work in environmental awareness ain't too shabby.

[standing_on_one_foot]

Originally Posted by tcprowling

Do you believe in Global warming?
For me, Yes, there is evidence that the earth is warming up, I also believe that mankind is contributing to it in some way. However, having said that, over the eons, the earth has gone through so pretty extreme climatic changes, ie Ice ages, and to end those,imo, the earth would have had to " heat" up. would that be a case of global warming?
So In summary while I do agree the earth is warming, I am not so sure that it is NOT an natural occurence in the earth's "cycle" of climatic changes and it may not be the " end of the world" thing that the Doomsayers would have us believe

Hmm. Sure, it might be natural. Stranger coincidences have happened. And windows can break from things besides baseballs. But when you've been playing ball in the street and now there's a broken window, it's not necessarily the wisest thing to just ignore it and keep playing.

And no, it wouldn't be the end of the world. The world doesn't particularly care about individual life forms on it, if it comes to that. But it does have the potential to be very damaging to existing life. If you look at natural climate change in the past, it tends to be pretty hard on life for a while before things stabilize.

So no reasonable person is going to say global warminng is the end of the world. Just the end of the world as we know it.

[Seyorni]

Originally Posted by tcprowling

I am not so sure ifthis would be the case I think mankind would be better equipted to handle a climatic change now the say in the last ice age

I'm not so sure about this. A handful of hunter-gatherers learning to make more effective shelters and warmer clothing in a rich and bountiful environment might have had an easier go than six billion people, half of whom are already on the verge of starvation, suddenly confronted with a planet's massively reduced carrying capacity and polluted oceans.

[St0ne]

Yes and I think the acceptance is growing fast, the stats I've seen show that measurements of cabron levels and temperatures are closely related and both are on the rise accordingly, I think we have probably already tipped the scales but all we can do is wait and see, in the meantime I see no reason not to decrease our carbon output and make the enviroment healthier anyway we have the ability and global warming or not we will one day have to put it into practise.

[Booko]

Originally Posted by Sunstone

It's my understanding that Global Warming is an established fact at this point. It is also my understanding that it is an established fact that humans are contributing to it. The only dispute is over how much humans are contributing to it.

Well, there's still plenty of dispute over the ramifications for climate and local weather. It's not like we've seen this before in recorded history. You have to go waaaay back into human history, as in the source of very old legends, to find any hints on anything remotely this drastic in terms of climate change.

Somehow, I don't see sources like the Kalevala as giving us a lot of good scientific data on, say, the subject of what causes ice ages. At most those sorts of sources provide the odd hint.

As for whether it would be a disaster or not, that surely does not depend on what's causing it. If you fall off a clift because you were clumsy or because you were pushed, the result is the same. So, too, it doesn't really matter in that sense whether Global Warming is caused by us or by nature. The consequences of it will be the same.

In one sense, it matters a great deal whether we are causing it. In order to discover any remedies or ways to cushion the climatic blow, we need to know the causes.

If our use of fossil fuels is a cause, then it's imperative we understand that, because then we would know to take action to drastically alter how we power our technological civilization.

[Booko]

Originally Posted by Seyorni

I'm not so sure about this. A handful of hunter-gatherers learning to make more effective shelters and warmer clothing in a rich and bountiful environment might have had an easier go than six billion people, half of whom are already on the verge of starvation, suddenly confronted with a planet's massively reduced carrying capacity and polluted oceans.

Except the handful of hunter-gatherers had no potential to work together to solve such a massive problem.

Crises can result in disaster or great victory, depending entirely on how they are handled, or sometimes even how they are viewed.

We can continue to be divided as a species, or, facing such a drastic change in our world, we might find the motivation to work together in order to avoid disaster.

We so often teach our children in biology about past drastic climatic shifts as if they were "disasters." Well, I would argue that while it was disastrous for the species that becames extinct, there would be no progress without them. With every drastic climactic shift comes new species. For them, the "crisis" is a "victory." We would not be here now if it were not for those earlier "disasters."

The Earth seems to have its own ideas about how it intends to grow and progress. A thousand years from now we may look back on this time and view it as if we were just an inextricable part of the process all along.

I keep coming back to Hinduism when looking at transitions like this. Human civilization is certainly going through a big transition, and it seems the biosphere is doing it simultaneously. You could say that Shiva the destroyer is at work, but I would say, have hope and faith, because right behind him comes Brahma, creating something new and wonderful.