Wait what? WHOA!

[zanzibar]

Weirdos. Weather on Earth isn't the same for millions of years. It does change! And, it doesn't really change dramatically because of pollution. Yes, that affects it, but doesn't radically change it. Look at the ozone layer, it's regenerating itself, more and more, every day...

A couple things...

Pollution does change the weather on a global scale.  Dust thrown into the atmosphere by a large explosion such as a meteor hitting the earth or a large volcanic eruption can cause an ice age not unlike a theorized nuclear ice age.  In fact, the poor agricultural conditions of the Dark Ages are largely attributed to just such an event.

The ozone layer is regenerating itself, but not at the rate that it's being destroyed.  The chemicals we released in the the upper atmosphere will continue to eat away at the ozone layer for another 50 years before finally losing all their juice.  Only then will the ozone layer be able to recover in earnest.

Global warming is another example of how pollution can create climate change.  Melting glaciers are an example of that.  Chances are it will throw Europe into another ice age, and we might see forests start to grow in the middle east.

So yes, weather does in fact change dramatically because of pollution.

[WiseKran]

Lol..

right now outside, there ias no less than 4 feet of snow.

and in the roads, there are 8 foot drifts.     the plows were out though, so school wasnt even cancelled.

I live in NY.



you london peeps mustnt be hardcore.

[emeraldfool]

Global warming is another example of how pollution can create climate change.  Melting glaciers are an example of that.  Chances are it will throw Europe into another ice age, and we might see forests start to grow in the middle east.

So yes, weather does in fact change dramatically because of pollution.

Um, global warming has increased the World's ambient temperature by about 0.5 degrees in the last 150 years...

[zanzibar]

Um, global warming has increased the World's ambient temperature by about 0.5 degrees in the last 150 years...

Yeah, and that's huge.  Once the glaciers stop soaking up the heat we'll be in it deep, especially since ocean currents will be disrupted to the point of disapearing all together.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Instrumental_Temperature_Record.png


http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/hadleycentre/obsdata/globaltemperature.html

[lordraleigh]

Hurricane in South America East Coast (Never Happened before)

Things are getting bad...

[Annah]

Zanzibar, look at everything at a larger scale. Not from 1850 okay? Yes, I did say pollution affects weather, but not in a very radical way. Because now we're on the verge to "live" things that happened a loooong time ago, that doesn't mean the world is falling apart for god's sake. They're called cycles. Yeah, maybe we did speed things up a little, but that's about it.

And things are NOT getting bad lordraleigh. Mrr!

[Parallo]

Carry on, motor companies! Fossil fuels are great! Statistics don't matter!

[zanzibar]

Zanzibar, look at everything at a larger scale. Not from 1850 okay? Yes, I did say pollution affects weather, but not in a very radical way. Because now we're on the verge to "live" things that happened a loooong time ago, that doesn't mean the world is falling apart for god's sake. They're called cycles. Yeah, maybe we did speed things up a little, but that's about it.

And things are NOT getting bad lordraleigh. Mrr!

Annah, this is not a natural cycle.  Never before in the history of the Earth has a change like this happen in such a short period of time.


"The world falling apart" is an interesting way to put it.  As glaciers melt, the salinity of the oceans change.  If it changes by too much - and too much isn't very much at all - then the ocean currents will be disrupted.  As a result, warm waters will no longer move to the shores of Europe and the continent will freeze over.

Now, the human race will survive, but a few things will be different 'round these parts.

Carry on, motor companies! Fossil fuels are great! Statistics don't matter!

Silly me and my fuzzy math.  When will I learn?

[Annah]

What have you just said, it's a theory. Just a theory.

[zanzibar]

What have you just said, it's a theory. Just a theory.

Every idea, every fact, every notion, every instinct, everything you think is merely a theory.  A good theory is something that agrees with what we know and that leads to new information.  Nothing more.  Theories are always tested and never proven to be true.  They are only ever proven to be false.  This is what a theory is.




The people who have gotten the environment into this mess will be dead, dieing, or senile when the stuff hits the fan.  What kills me though is that the ones left to defend their attitudes of today will probably say something like “How could we have known?  If we knew then what we know now, then of course we would have acted differently.”

Hmm.  Chloro-fluoro-carbons… we were given the warnings and we ignored them.  Nazi Germany… we were given the warnings and we ignored them.  The dangers of smoking… we were given the warnings and we ignored them.  WMDs in Iraq… we were given the warnings and we ignored them.  Terrorists using planes as weapons… we were given the warnings and we ignored them.  DDT and the Silent Spring… we were given the warnings and we ignored them.

The list goes on.  Global warming is no different.

[emeraldfool]

Global Warming is uber-hyped. Primarily by the American media looking for Republican votes.
And there's 100 other things that will apparently end the world before Global Warming ever has a chance.


I'm surprised at you Zanzibar, usually you claim to be above the mass-hysteria of 'public opinions'.

[Idoru]

yup, everything is theory.

But when the vast majority of scientists agree that Global warming due to human actions is real and will have a devestating effect on the world within the next hundred years we should really try and listen to them.

My Gawd, even George Bush recently said, in an abbrieved version, It is happening, I was wrong.

Maybe we should probably listen to the worlds intellectuals saying that we are up the creek without a paddle..... Hopefully we still have the boat and can change our actions to avoid the total cataclism that is seemingly inevitable.

If you want to argue against global warming and climate change, just think about the life your children and grand children will have (if any) if global warming is real and ask yourself if it is really worth less than 2% global GDP to avoid it in the long term.


@Emerald - Republican votes? I hope you mean votes by people voting for the republicans and not those who are republicans

[Narure]

Global Warming is uber-hyped. Primarily by the American media looking for Republican votes.
And there's 100 other things that will apparently end the world before Global Warming ever has a chance.


I'm surprised at you Zanzibar, usually you claim to be above the mass-hysteria of 'public opinions'.

Most of those things we cant do anything about i assume. Global warming we can.

[zanzibar]

Global Warming is uber-hyped. Primarily by the American media looking for Republican votes.
And there's 100 other things that will apparently end the world before Global Warming ever has a chance.


I'm surprised at you Zanzibar, usually you claim to be above the mass-hysteria of 'public opinions'.

Dude, labelling it as "hype", "mass-hysteria", an invention of the "media", political pandering, etc etc does nothing to disrepute the scientific evidence at hand.

Anyway, Global Warming won't "end" the world.  It will just change it significantly.

[Annah]

A theory isn't a fact. Period.