global warming

[reed]

Global warming. Are we in big, big trouble? Give us a quick thought.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6532323.stm

[simbalala]

I think it's for real. It makes sense to me that since we've been pouring carbon at an ever increasing rate into the atmosphere for the last hundred years or so that we could be seeing some effects. Better do something about it now (if we can) than take the risk.

[Giaguara]

There are warmer and colder period of time, so the earth is never the same. However humans have changed the earth a lot in the past 150 years, so while industrialization made having a lot of good and cars etc possible, and while medicine advanced so that people would live longer, and there would be more people...

There are currently close to 7 billion people on earth. If everyone had the western standards of housing, cars, flying, other transport, having things and goods freely available and around, and could have the amount of kids they prefer, we are going to run out of resources very fast (before that is even possible for half of the population). (And it's interesting on how in all these "how to minimize the effects of global warming" it never says to have one kid less.)

It's important to treat the earth well to make that it lasts longer and in good condition. But the 'inconvenient truth' type stories usually have an agenda of their own.

[chevy]

Would we run out of ressources, these will come more expensive... generate a few wars and then we'll adapt.

If we want peace, we better remain cool and behave with respect for others and for Gaia.

But anyhow the earth and wild life will survive humanity.

[simbalala]

Originally Posted by chevy

But anyhow the earth and wild life will survive humanity.

Yep, humans are the worst kind of parasites on the earth and they breed so quickly. So mother earth has a fever and wipes us out except for those who evolve quickly enough to survive.

[chevy]

Humans are not worse than others, they not more parasitic than any other apes or animal. They are part of Gaia. They are worth as much respect as any other specie.

We, as humans, should respect humans first.

[symphonix]

I think global warming is a very real and tangible threat to our way of life and the stability of the Earth's ecosystem.

People often think of the Earth as being a pretty much safe and static place that stays more or less the same year-in, year-out. On the human timescale this is fairly true, but over the history of the earth we know that we have had many dramatic changes in our world. Dozens of ice ages, countless extinctions, even the appearance of oxygen or nitrogen in our atmosphere were all brought about very quickly by a relatively small change in circumstances.

Their is a human tendency to imagine that we can't really change the nature of our world in any significant way. Its a point of view that has been proven wrong time and again, yet people still cling to that belief.

Most atmospheric scientists now believe that the most common cause of an ice age is either a rise or a fall in CO2 in the atmosphere - there is some disagreement on whether CO2 can trigger an ice age or a flood age, but scientists are pretty much in agreement that a rapid tripling of the CO2 in the Earth's atmosphere can't be a good thing. And that is exactly what is happening at the moment: our CO2 is several times its normal level.

So yes, I believe global warming is a potentially devastating problem that we'll have to face. And I also believe that, with the right attitude, we can reverse the problem.

[Ferdinand]

Originally Posted by Giaguara

If everyone had the western standards of housing, cars, flying, other transport, having things and goods freely available and around, and could have the amount of kids they prefer, we are going to run out of resources very fast.

They say if really all have western standards of living, we would need 3 times the earths resources.