Slimebeast said:
You and others who support actions against global warming, have to understand that when people say "Global warming is a myth!" , they shouldn't be taken literally, because what they're trying to express is that there is an agenda exaggerating the size and the risks with man-made global warming. |
Well, that's the thing. No one has ever posted a thread (that I've seen) that says "hey, I think politicians are exaggerating global warming, let's have a discussion about it." Instead people insist on giving us "the truth" by shoving it down our throats with loaded questions and BS. I've said already in this thread that I'm a skeptic, but you don't fight BS with BS.
So, let's agree that there is a strong concensus that man-made global warming is a fact.
But then what? How big of a factor is the man-made part of the green house gas effect compared to natural reasons? Is there concensus on that? No.
And if and when there is concensus on how much man is contributing to the global warming trend we have, then what?
What are the consequences of the warming on the planet and on us? How many degrees will the global average temperature rise in 10, 30 and 50 years? How many meters will the ocean level rise, and in what time, and what will the consequences of that be on the US, the EU, the rest of the rich world, and the developing countries?
You don't have an idea, do you? No one has, and there are no facts about that, and certainly no concensus. But you have tons of all sorts of people almost hysterically crying "Global warming is a threat to mankind! We must act now! We aren't doing enough!" as if they had facts.
Stop this madness.
You're right, we don't know specific details as to what will happen, how quickly it will happen, exactly how much of it is our fault, etc. We have a very wide range of predictions which range from "who cares" (sea levels will be a few cm higher) to preposterous (most of Florida will be underwater). But there are things that we do know, and there are things that we should do.
One of the things we know is that CO2 levels in our atmosphere are higher than they have been in 400,000 years. For the last several ice age cycles, CO2 levels have been between ~180 ppm (during an ice age) and ~280 ppm (not during an ice age). And from 1000 AD to 1750 AD, CO2 levels were completely flat, at around 275 ppm. Since 1750, CO2 levels in the atmosphere have steadily increased, and the rate at which they have increased has steadily increased. We are now at over 380 ppm, and increasing at the rate of about 20 ppm per decade.
For all the talk about volcanoes, oceans releasing CO2, etc., no one has ever been able to explain that this increase in atmospheric CO2 levels is due to any naturally occurring process or processes. It is pretty indisputable that human actions have drastically increased the amount of CO2 in the Earth's atmosphere.
Now, does that automatically mean it's time to panic? No, because we don't know for certain what that means. But when hear people start talking about how humans have not significantly affected the planet, and that any changes that are occurring are natural ones, that's a pretty clear indication to me that they haven't really done their homework on this, and they're just buying into the anti-BS BS.
Anyway, it looks like a lot of the crazy in this thread has died down, so if you guys who are still reading are prepared for a real discussion, I'd be pleased to have it.
