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Is there enough evidence for Global Warming?

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openmind
Posts: 2
Joined: July 4th, 2017, 3:58 pm

Is there enough evidence for Global Warming?

#1 Post by openmind » July 4th, 2017, 8:23 pm

I was just reading an article https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/ and they give many examples of evidence that there is Global warming occurring. I am now almost convinced that it is truly happening. If it is true, how fast is our planet going to heat up, and what could be the effects on the earth's environment and human survival in the future?

Maria Mac
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Posts: 9306
Joined: July 3rd, 2007, 10:34 pm

Re: Is there enough evidence for Global Warming?

#2 Post by Maria Mac » July 5th, 2017, 12:32 am

I'm glad you're convinced, OM, because the scientific consensus is that it is indeed happening. Personally I find the subject so depressing that I don't study it too closely any more. The last article I recall reading was this one, published the day after the presidential election and I remember thinking Trump wouldn't possibly do anything so stupid as to pull out of the Paris climate treaty. :sad2: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/scien ... 07881.html

I'm moving this to the science forum.

stevenw888
Posts: 694
Joined: July 16th, 2010, 12:48 pm

Re: Is there enough evidence for Global Warming?

#3 Post by stevenw888 » July 5th, 2017, 5:18 pm

I'm somewhat shocked to learn that some people still question whether Global Warming is occurring - with no offence intended to Openmind. When my daughters were at school in the 90's they were taught that global warming, or climate change, was a fact rather than an opinion. I have been a subscriber to the Ecologist magazine since 2000 and having read the (hopefully unbiased) articles in there, have never doubted the existence of Global Warming or Climate Change. The point about global warming is not that it is occurring - the evidence for this is unshakeable, but that the cause is human interference on a global scale. Here, the evidence is not quite so strong as it is for the simple fact that it is happening, but there is certainly enough evidence to suggest that the probability is extremely likely. Therefore it seems appropriate to put on the brakes.
I find Trump's attitude baffling. He appears to put the requirements of the American people above the needs and requirements of the global population. Doesn't he realise that unregulated human activity will bring about the extinction of the human species on this planet? It is not the planet that is in danger - I've read many articles that highlight the fact that 10,000 years after the last human has died, the planet will still be here (as will the cockroaches) and will be starting to recover from the pollution that we inflicted upon it. No, it's not the planet that is in any or immediate danger, it is the the human species, together with most of the other mammals and birds living on the planet.
"There are old pilots and there are bold pilots, but there are no old, bold pilots." - From the film "Top Gun"

Cairsley
Posts: 28
Joined: July 4th, 2014, 2:25 am

Re: Is there enough evidence for Global Warming?

#4 Post by Cairsley » July 20th, 2017, 11:08 am

You make the right point, StevenW, that the question that needs our attention is the contribution that human activity has made to the climate-warming that has been measured over the last two centuries. The evidence for this is now undeniable, for we know where the millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide come from that are not accounted for by natural sources. The quantity of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere each year can with considerable accuracy be attributed to the exhaust fumes of the millions of vehicles of various kinds operated all over the world. Coal-burning industries, especially in developing countries, has been another huge contributor to the rapid increase of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. There can be no doubt that human technological and agricultural activities are causing the present rapid warming trend in the global climate. That also means that it is the responsibility of humans to do what they can to stop this warming when it becomes apparent, as it already has, that the consequences of this rapid global warming will be catastrophic for all higher lifeforms, including humanity, if it, or rather the human activity that is causing it, is allowed to continue.

Even oil companies now openly admit that fossil fuels are causing this dangerous phenomenon and are taking steps to reposition themselves for the emergence of an economy no longer based on fossil fuels. See http://corporate.exxonmobil.com/en/curr ... r-position and http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 55391.html for just a taste of written material out there on this issue. Automobile companies are also recognizing that fossil fuels are not the way of the future and are now racing one another to produce viable vehicles driven by renewable energy-sources to replace fossil-fuel-driven vehicles. Likewise environment-conserving alternatives to coal-burning electricity-generators have been developed and have already proved very successful. Donald Trump, surely the unworthiest man on a number of scores ever to have been elected president of the United States, may have withdrawn his country from the Paris accord on climate change, but US state governments and institutions and organizations are still committed to doing their part to work towards the objectives of the Paris accord. On this issue, as on many others, Mr Trump is out of step with his own fellow citizens.

A book worth reading on this subject is Climate Change: What Everyone Needs to Know by Joseph Romm.

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Tetenterre
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Joined: March 13th, 2011, 11:36 am

Re: Is there enough evidence for Global Warming?

#5 Post by Tetenterre » July 20th, 2017, 11:41 am

Steve

Quantum Theory: The branch of science with which people who know absolutely sod all about quantum theory can explain anything.

Cairsley
Posts: 28
Joined: July 4th, 2014, 2:25 am

Re: Is there enough evidence for Global Warming?

#6 Post by Cairsley » July 22nd, 2017, 8:18 am

Excellent links, thank you, Tetenterre.

jj50
Posts: 7
Joined: July 23rd, 2017, 6:17 pm

Re: Is there enough evidence for Global Warming?

#7 Post by jj50 » July 24th, 2017, 9:03 am

I think there is enough evidence to indicate global warming in a reality, which we ignore at our peril, imo.

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