Now Do You Believe in Global Warming?

Source: time.com

First let me say I don't like the title of this article. I dislike the term 'Global Warming' and use 'Climate Change' myself since they imply two different things.

Inhofe is an Oklahoma Republican and the most skeptical of Congressional climate deniers; he's the one who called global warming "the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people." The 2010 winter was one of the snowiest in recent memory — including a massive blizzard that February that became known as "Snowmageddon" — which skeptics like Inhofe happily used as evidence that man-made climate change didn't really exist.

Fast-forward a year and a half. The weather in Washington is extreme again, but this time it's brutally hot, with the city in early July setting a record for the most consecutive 95 F plus days in a row...

The same way Inhofe used 'Snowmageddon' as proof that climate change does not exist is no different than saying this year's heat wave is proof for the argument. I refuse the take part in that senseless 'tit for tat' debate.

More than 2 million acres have been burned in massive wildfires in much of the West, more than 110 million people were living under extreme heat advisories at the end of June and more than two-thirds of the country is experiencing drought. Last month, 3,215 daily high temperature records were set nationwide — and that's nothing compared to the 15,000 set in March. The 12 months ending in May were the warmest 12 continuous months on record in the U.S.

Even though these stats are obviously outside the norm I still do not consider it proof... more like a supporting argument. I do agree with the article's conclusion though.

Here's what we should take away from the heat: climate change is real and it's happening now. We can disagree about how to handle it, and how much those policies might cost, but it's long past time to surrender to the science.

I believe that we are in a period of warming due to the natural cycles of our planet. Ever since the last ice age, the Earth has become warmer and sea levels are still rising. I do not think this is the sole cause of climate change though. I believe we have sped up Earth's timetable. If you step back and consider every way we have altered the various environments and ecosystems on this planet, is it so hard to imagine that nature is trying to balance itself out? And in the process causing more extremes in weather patterns?

I personally believe that we will continue to see floods, droughts, heat waves, blizzards, tornado outbreaks, larger hurricanes, stronger windstorms etc. with greater intensity and frequency. Although I think there will be an increase in injuries and deaths because of this, it is in no way an 'End of Times' scenario. The human race will adjust but exactly how many adjustments will be necessary is still unknown.

If you are a skeptic and believe it is all a 'hoax' setup for a 'money grab' then at least stop blaming the scientists and put the blame where it belongs... the capitalists. I think most scientists are trying hard to prove the changes happening on our planet but there will always be greedy people trying to capitalize any way they can.

Anthropomorphic global warming, well, different parts of the world will have record breaking hot/cold at different times.
The weather in the uk has been cold, and miserable and wet.
Just because one area of the world is having a freak heatwave does not imply the rest of the world is heating up.
AGW is a scam designed to provide the money through carbon credits to implement world government.

I agree with you. And yes, the title is unfortunate. You have some time to edit it to suit your point, though...and I would if I were you (but that's just me)...

Thanks for posting it. The Earth goes through cycles, just like seasons, only fewer and farther between. I think we will see more catastrophic (to us) natural events, too, and that adjustments will have to be made.

Heck, if early hunter-gatherers managed, so can we. I literally sit outside in my little corner of this deciduous forest, in the shade, when it's 105 degrees outside, and wonder why on earth anyone would have chosen to live here.

So hot in the summer that people die. So cold in the winter that people die. How did the Native American's manage it? Probably in caves or shady grottos, or in bodies of water, and didn't move around much during the hottest hours...

It's interesting to watch. Realizing we are just specks in the universe and the Earth is a formidable living thing that has it's own moods and agenda -- which have NOTHING to do with us, or any Divine Punishment...
it's just the Earth, being the Earth.

"One day she'll shake us off like a bad case of fleas" (George Carlin) We don't really have that much influence or control over her, in the big picture. But I do think we need to stop poisoning her, stop drilling into her, blowing chunks out of her, leveling the plant life and paving everything over...and realize that without her being HEALTHY, we are ALL DOOMED.

star and flag. Good post!

its just a cycle every 258 years or so i believe .caused by the sun & planetary alignment but scare the sheeple & tax them . one volcano in iceland kicked out more co2 than mankind has or will ever produce

Viewing the records means it is kind of redundant saying humans cause climate change. If that was the case, why did the climate change when humans didn't exist? Therefore it is a natural phenomenon, for various reasons. For me, the primary cause has to be space related.

That said, i firmly believe that human activity is accelerating the speed of the current climate change we are undergoing.

I believe it's somewhat cyclical / natural but also influenced by man.. I don't like the term Global Warming either because it insinuates directly that the entire planet surface is getting warmer and that isn't true.. not even for the USA ... We've seen both record winters for parts of the country as well as record heat... it was 104 here in Ohio the other day and I've not seen it that hot since I was a little kid ( but it has been that hot before ) ..

And wasn't there a few periods of snow last year or the year before last that stuck in California where there normally isn't snow?

I don't think anyone could deny the weather patterns aren't typical .. but they might be more typical if you look at a much larger span of time..

Originally posted by The X
Anthropomorphic global warming, well, different parts of the world will have record breaking hot/cold at different times.
The weather in the uk has been cold, and miserable and wet.
Just because one area of the world is having a freak heatwave does not imply the rest of the world is heating up.
AGW is a scam designed to provide the money through carbon credits to implement world government.

I agree that one area having a freak heatwave does not imply the world is heating up. I am looking at various extremes in conditions around the world. Is a cold, wet summer in the UK normal? Maybe that is an argument for the cause, not against it. I did say climate change right?

Climate change as a scam to implement world government sounds like to dumbest way to do it in my opinion, no offense.

Originally posted by Flavian
Viewing the records means it is kind of redundant saying humans cause climate change. If that was the case, why did the climate change when humans didn't exist? Therefore it is a natural phenomenon, for various reasons. For me, the primary cause has to be space related.

That said, i firmly believe that human activity is accelerating the speed of the current climate change we are undergoing.

I agree.. I can't be sure that humans are making a significant impact but it would be entirely careless to simply assume we're not and continue on polluting our habitat .. it is our home after all.

reply to post by fenceSitter


I have always believed that Climate Change was inevitable, but the dramatic lurches in extreme weather is caused by humans.

Originally posted by skepticconwatcher
reply to post by fenceSitter

 

I have always believed that Climate Change was inevitable, but the dramatic lurches in extreme weather is caused by humans.

Even that may not be true.. the other theories I've heard speak of climate shift where the hot arid parts of the world become cold.. the cold become hot... the wet become dry, the dry comes wet... it's like the world's weather flip flopping and as it continues, it accelerates .. which is how pole shifts happen as well, as it progresses naturally it accelerates over time.. So the dramatic weather we are seeing now might be a natural, progressive acceleration to shift.

Point is we don't know ...

reply to post by wildtimes

I only left the title because it came from the source. You are right, humans have endured climate adjustments for many centuries now and we will adjust yet again. I think there will be differences this time around though. Most people are too dependent on the system these days. When floods and droughts start affecting food supplies, and oil/gas prices cause electricity bills to go through the roof, etc. etc. etc. things are going to have to change and not everyone will be able to adapt.

Edit: Just found this story (CNN - Northwest heat endangers crops) which I think is just another sneak peak of things to come.

Originally posted by skepticconwatcher
reply to post by fenceSitter

 

I have always believed that Climate Change was inevitable, but the dramatic lurches in extreme weather is caused by humans.

Indisputable proof please. Hard data only ,and it has to have been peer reviewed by at least 50 scientist. Thanks you're a peach.

reply to post by fenceSitter

When floods and droughts start affecting food supplies, and oil/gas prices cause electricity bills to go through the roof, etc. etc. etc. things are going to have to change and not everyone will be able to adapt

You speak truth! Culling by natural forces...bound to happen. We can't be the ONLY ones who get to oust entire species for our own comfort and bellies....

I just wish we could all cooperate toward making the adjustment as necessary, respecting the planet and ALL of its inhabitants (excepting mosquitoes, ticks and poison ivy -- Really? Whose brilliant idea were those little game pieces?)

Originally posted by miniatus
Point is we don't know ...

Absolutely! I think it is ignorant to assume we know for sure one way or the other. The are two possibilities, either we are affecting it or we are not. And we have two options, do something about it or don't. I think we should be respecting our planet in any case. If it turns out that we are contributing to the cause, simply stopping our bad habits will not reverse the damages overnight. In fact I think if we are not already at the 'tipping point' we are getting close. Nature will eventually do whatever it needs to do to balance and we will be in the crossfire. At that point, it will be completely out of our hands!

My personal opinion is it's hard to discredit the fact, we humans have a drastic influence on our planet. But I just feel our overall impact is far less than the natural occurences that take place daily.

Our sun we know goes through cycles, the earth plates, magma, crust, magnetosphere, all undertake changes due to stresses from internal or external forces. As a previous poster mentioned one Volcano not even a large eruption emits massive amounts of CO2 in a short period of time. Making what we emit to pale in comparison.

So as I said I feel that we have an impact but at the same time I feel there is so much about the universe that we just don't know yet that has an even greater impact.

SaneThinking

I dislike the title because it has the word believe in it. AGW is not some religious belief based cult. It's a scientific theory backed up with decades of irrefutable scientific evidence and data collected by thousands of scientists from all parts of the world.

Anyone who denies it is either ignorant of the science involved or has some ulterior motive/agenda in trying to question it's validity.

Originally posted by geobro
its just a cycle every 258 years or so i believe .caused by the sun & planetary alignment but scare the sheeple & tax them . one volcano in iceland kicked out more co2 than mankind has or will ever produce

Shouldn't be hard to produce some evidence to support your theory. An estimate from how much CO2 from that one volcano would be easy to find so I won't ask for that. But I'd love to see an estimate of how much CO2 mankind has pumped into the atmosphere!

reply to post by SaneThinking

As a previous poster mentioned one Volcano not even a large eruption emits massive amounts of CO2 in a short period of time. Making what we emit to pale in comparison.

This is a myth, we emit far more CO2 into the atmosphere than volcanic activity. About 100 times as much on average per year.

reply to post by fenceSitter


read that story on the jeff rense site a while back maybe a year or more ago . i think it was that volcano that disrupted air travel for a while . i remember reading somewhere that in the 1700s a volcano blotted out the sun for 2 years causing crop failures & starvation for all of europe it said that after they had eaten all livestock & pets that cannoboillism and digging up graves were the norm

found it one volcano exposes the massive carbon tax fraud 6-19-11 sorry dont know how to link this but go to search bar on rense and enter volcano c02