Global warming has for many years been a favorite topic to argue about among both scientists and politicians. Even the average Jane or Joe has most likely been confronted with the idea of the disastrous consequences of a warmer climate. What is global warming though and is it caused by a normal earthly cycle or are we actually to blame for the changes that our planet is going through? If we are to blame what can we do to prevent disaster?
Like many heavily debated subjects there are many versions of the same story. Some say that the earth is heating up at an alarming rate melting the polar ice and cover the planet in water. This is supposed to be caused by increasing amounts of CO2 in the upper atmosphere
Others still say that the polar ice is melting but have a more practical view of the end result saying that weather will get worse and climate will change however it will only serve to make the world a les comfortable place to live. On the opposite end of the coin you have the people who say that the earth is warming but it is because of the natural cycles that the earth goes through not because some people like to drive SUVs over econ cars.
The last group of people denies that the earth is changing at all and will always be the same no matter what. This is an almost incalculably small minority so we wont be talking about their views much.
Here are some facts about global warming. First off yes the earths northern poles are melting away. They have been since the end of the last ice age. Most scientists can agree on this but what is important to know is the rate at witch the ice around the world has melted within the last 30 years. According to NASA the amount of ice melted off in tons is 0. Yes the North Pole is melting but the South Pole is actually growing. As temperatures in the north rise the opposite is happening in the south. Also if the caps on both sides melt sea levels would not rise as dramatically as people think. What happens when you have a cup of ice water filled to the top and the ice melts the water will not overflow. It’s the whole mass thing.
We are supposed to attribute the warming around the world with the amount of CO2 in the upper atmosphere. Again most scientists can agree that CO2 levels are directly related to global temperature changes however are we the ones responsible? Studies of global emissions around the world pointed to the amount of green house gases escaping by the burning of fossil fuels but an in-depth study of CO2 emissions shows that Volcanoes actually make up 97% or more of the active CO2 in our atmosphere the other 3% must be all the crap that we make right? Well that’s partly true we are contributing a great deal of CO2 but not by driving by breathing. 3.2 billion tons of CO2 every year is caused by just human breathing in and out. That’s not including livestock pets or the rest of the respirating animal kingdom yes we are polluting the atmosphere so stop breathing and you will reduce the greenhouse gasses significantly. Its funny too because China just recently became the highest contributor to CO2 pollution. It was us last year. Did they get more cars? No, people just changed what we consider a greenhouse gas contributor.
So if there are so many billions of tons of this killer CO2 floating around in our atmosphere why is our earth not a smoldering heated toxic world. Well what would be every plant on the surface of the earth witch takes in the destructive carbon dioxide and uses it to make sugar and oxygen. That oxygen is released into the atmosphere and we breathe it in and use it to well live.
Why then would someone hype up this global warming thing if we are not as influential as people say we are? Well why would you tell someone that they needed you? Money and power, if the people who are professing a global catastrophe are right they get to say I told you so and brag about it . If they are wrong they just say its because they helped save the world. New “greener” cars are sold that get you out of your older perfectly new easy to fix and reliable vehicle and put you into a brand new experimental over priced so called eco-friendly vehicle that is impossible for you to fix on your own and will last 5 years because the battery is like $3000 a pop. Recycling is the best way to get back the stuff you sell for cheaper than producing more paper or plastic or metals, and it actually produces some very harmful chemicals. I’m not saying it’s a conspiracy just very convenient for a lot of very powerful people.
Does this mean that we are not affecting our environment at all? No it does not we should care about how we fit into the grand scheme of life on earth. What can we do to be good members of the dominant species? We should research better recycling technologies and alternative fuels to better our life and our personal pocket.
Weather its true or not our world is our home and we are responsible for it as long as we live here.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/09/23/MNMM19R00D.DTL
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/21/AR2007102100761.html
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2008/12/14/global-sea-ice-trend-since-1979-surprising
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