Thread: GLOBAL WARMING/CLIMATE CHANGE TRUE/FALSE

I won't give my opinion, but what I do know is that the Denver area set a record low last Saturday at 17F, down from 25F. Perhaps I misunderstand this whole global warming thing and typical temps in this winter wonderland, but 17 degree temps over a month early don't seem to point to global warming.

It all depends on the time scale you want to consider.

On the largest scale (billions of years) the Earth is much cooler now then it was when it finally cooled down enough for water vapor to condense and fill the oceans.

On a nearer scale (millions of years) there were several major Ice Ages between then and now where the Earth obviously cooled then warmed as the Ice Ages came and went. During the age of dinosaurs the Earth was much warmer than it is now.

At a more moderate scale (~ 10,000 years) we are coming out of a big ice age that did things like carve out the Great Lakes and create Long Island. (These are very young features.) People get concerned about the melting glaciers but as they melt we see signs of iced over habitation. I.e. we are returning to an earlier temperature profile. We are still coming out of the last Ice Age. If the glaciers weren't melting there would be no New York City, for example. Note that 10,000 years covers only part of human habitation on this planet.

At a short scale (hundreds of years) we are pretty much out of the Little Ice Age (16th through 19th centuries) that followed the Medieval Warm Period (800-1300).

On a very short scale (tens of years) we are 10 years into a cooling trend that began near the turn of the century. This correlates very well with sunspot activity. Note that the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere trails temperature change so can hardly be the cause of it. It probably has more to do with how the oceans absorb or emit gases depending on temperature.

I doubt humankind had much to do with any of that.

* takes deep breath through nostrils* I love the smell of napalm in the morning

It should be very clear to even the most casual observer that we are approaching a series of environmental crisis. The oceans are overfished. The easy to obtain oil and coal has been depleted. The food supply for the steadily increasing human population is increasingly difficult to maintain. The lifegiving rainforests are being destroyed at alarming rates. The polar ice caps are receding. The oceans are rising and the list goes on extensively. I question the utility of splitting hairs about the validity of the global warming theories. Clearly we should be treating the Earth and her resources as valuable, delicate and (most importantly) limited. Clearly we should be teaching our children that our planet's resources are the very source and preservation of all life and those resources can be exhausted if not properly and carefully managed.

It is foolish and selfish when one knows right from wrong to make smug statements refusing to do right because others are doing wrong. There is no argument here. Only the obvious choice to conserve our limited resources and live life while doing the right things for our planet and her bounty. Wells have run dry. Lakes have been killed. Habitats have been destroyed. Species have been hunted to extinction. If you don't believe you are either part of the problem or part of the solution, you are already part of the problem.