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Paulos23
Skeptic Friend

USA
446 Posts

Posted - 03/27/2006 :  16:45:49  Show Profile  Visit Paulos23's Homepage Send Paulos23 a Private Message
If this artical is correct, it is no longer a question of if it is happening, it is happening. The next question should be, what now?

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/03/26/coverstory/index.html

You can go wrong by being too skeptical as readily as by being too trusting. -- Robert A. Heinlein

Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored. -- Aldous Huxley

trogdor
Skeptic Friend

198 Posts

Posted - 03/27/2006 :  17:19:52   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send trogdor a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Paulos23

If this artical is correct, it is no longer a question of if it is happening, it is happening. The next question should be, what now?

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/03/26/coverstory/index.html



It is happening.

It has been happening for quite some time.

we should have answered these questions a while ago.

all eyes were on Ford Prefect. some of them were on stalks.
-Douglas Adams
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BigPapaSmurf
SFN Die Hard

3192 Posts

Posted - 03/28/2006 :  11:48:51   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send BigPapaSmurf a Private Message
So what? Thats my next question.

Since GW has become an issue roughly 12 years now we(US)and the world have increased CO2 emmisions every year and show no signs of slowing. Of course there is also the release of millions of tons of Co2 from thawing tundra. Better get used to the idea of GW because greed rules round here.

"...things I have neither seen nor experienced nor heard tell of from anybody else; things, what is more, that do not in fact exist and could not ever exist at all. So my readers must not believe a word I say." -Lucian on his book True History

"...They accept such things on faith alone, without any evidence. So if a fraudulent and cunning person who knows how to take advantage of a situation comes among them, he can make himself rich in a short time." -Lucian critical of early Christians c.166 AD From his book, De Morte Peregrini
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snake river rufus
New Member

USA
2 Posts

Posted - 04/07/2006 :  20:49:37   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send snake river rufus a Private Message
But how do we know that greenhouse gases are the cause of global warming. global warming has been going on since 1850 at a fairly stable rate.
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Dave W.
Info Junkie

USA
26020 Posts

Posted - 04/07/2006 :  22:41:53   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Dave W.'s Homepage Send Dave W. a Private Message
1850 was close to the end of the first industrial revolution, which marked the start of major spewing of carbon into the atmosphere (the linked article even has a nice chart).

- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too.
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Dude
SFN Die Hard

USA
6891 Posts

Posted - 04/08/2006 :  00:51:41   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send Dude a Private Message
quote:
But how do we know that greenhouse gases are the cause of global warming. global warming has been going on since 1850 at a fairly stable rate.


What Dave_W said. CO2 was stable in our atmosphere for the last 10,000 years. It has been increasing at a steady rate since the middle of the 19th century.

Carbon soot and CO2 are major players in the current warming trend, along with the naturally occuring warming from the normal solar cycle.

The last several years have seen an increase in the rate of increase for CO2, a combination of ever increasing burning of hydrocarbons and the thawing permafrost. CO2 levels have gone from 280ppm (pre-1800's) to over 380ppm in 2004. The last couple of years have seen increases of 2-4ppm, as compared to the 1-2ppm increase measured in previous years, indicating a possibly accelerating process.

Increased CO2 levels will not only contribute to warming, but will alter the pH of our oceans. I'm sure we all know that our oceans provide the human race with a significant portion of the O2 we need to breathe, say nothing of the food we harvest from them. Screw with the pH to much and it won't be good for the future prospects of the entire race.

There are dozens of valid reasons to cut CO2 emissions, even if you don't think global warming is real.

To answer your question:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7665636/

quote:
Using ocean data collected by diving floats, U.S. climate scientists released a study Thursday that they said provides the "smoking gun" that ties manmade greenhouse gas emissions to global warming.



The study the article refers to was published in one of the April '05 issues of the journal Science.


Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.
-- Thomas Jefferson

"god :: the last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument." - G. Carlin

Hope, n.
The handmaiden of desperation; the opiate of despair; the illegible signpost on the road to perdition. ~~ da filth
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marfknox
SFN Die Hard

USA
3739 Posts

Posted - 04/08/2006 :  07:25:20   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit marfknox's Homepage  Send marfknox an AOL message Send marfknox a Private Message
Here's an interesting article on some public service ads on Global Warming from factcheck.org: Can You Prevent Global Warming? http://www.factcheck.org/article382.html

It is interesting to me because the criticism of the ads is subtle, and you have to read the full analysis to get the whole message. At first it seems to be criticizing the ads for being too alarmist about global warming. But in the conclusion, the emphasis is more on criticizing the ads for not providing a solution through action that viewers could actually implement themselves. Environmental Defense, the organization that ran the ads, promotes small changes in how individual Americans live their lives, such as: http://fightglobalwarming.com/page.cfm?tagID=135

But, says factcheck:
quote:
It's not clear what this would accomplish, however, even if a majority of Americans began following such advice. Many scientists say far more drastic reductions in emissions are needed. A Dutch report cited by sponsors says, for example, "Industrialized countries will need to reduce their emissions by 15-30% below 1990 levels in 2020."
Then factcheck reports that the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) "summary for policymakers" would be far more effective. But, of course, those sort of changes are politically controversial.

Then again, maybe Environmental Defenses's strategy for drumming of fear of global warming will also drum up support for such political policies in the near future.

"Too much certainty and clarity could lead to cruel intolerance" -Karen Armstrong

Check out my art store: http://www.marfknox.etsy.com

Edited by - marfknox on 04/08/2006 07:26:02
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Snake
SFN Addict

USA
2511 Posts

Posted - 04/08/2006 :  15:11:13   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Snake's Homepage  Send Snake an ICQ Message  Send Snake a Yahoo! Message Send Snake a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by marfknox
Then again, maybe Environmental Defenses's strategy for drumming of fear of global warming will also drum up support for such political policies in the near future.


I don't understand why anyone cares about the future of the Earth.
Many of the people who post on this website seem to lean toward non religion, and no afterlife, etc., so if as the saying goes, 'you only have one life to live', why does anyone care what happenes after they are gone?

Don't you know by the time this planet Earth is ready to fade away (by whatever means), people will have build space ships to take them elsewhere to mess that place up.
'What Me Worry!' A. Newman
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JohnOAS
SFN Regular

Australia
800 Posts

Posted - 04/08/2006 :  17:16:58   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit JohnOAS's Homepage Send JohnOAS a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Snake
I don't understand why anyone cares about the future of the Earth.
Many of the people who post on this website seem to lean toward non religion, and no afterlife, etc., so if as the saying goes, 'you only have one life to live', why does anyone care what happenes after they are gone?

Some of us have family, friends, or even family of friends that will presumably be around for some time after our personal demise. Some of the things we do now will have quite measurable effects in humanly-significant timescales. While it may not matter "cosmically", and I'm pretty confident the universe itself doesn't "care" much one way or the other, I think it would be both selfish and irresponsible to not spare at least some consideration for future generations.

People who don't believe in some supernatural afterlife don't find their own existences and actions meaningless or pointless. Those of us who don't believe this life is just a trial run are in fact more likely to want to make the most of it, for both ourselves and those in our spheres of influence.

John's just this guy, you know.
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Siberia
SFN Addict

Brazil
2322 Posts

Posted - 04/08/2006 :  17:30:44   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Siberia's Homepage  Send Siberia an AOL message  Send Siberia a Yahoo! Message Send Siberia a Private Message
Yeah, well, some of us aren't totally stuck up in ourselves, y'know. Some of us also care about, y'know, the wildlife and such that share this dump with us.

"Why are you afraid of something you're not even sure exists?"
- The Kovenant, Via Negativa

"People who don't like their beliefs being laughed at shouldn't have such funny beliefs."
-- unknown
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Dave W.
Info Junkie

USA
26020 Posts

Posted - 04/08/2006 :  17:33:31   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Dave W.'s Homepage Send Dave W. a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Snake

Don't you know by the time this planet Earth is ready to fade away (by whatever means), people will have build space ships to take them elsewhere to mess that place up.
Not if this planet becomes uninhabitable for humans in the near future, they won't.

- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too.
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pleco
SFN Addict

USA
2998 Posts

Posted - 04/08/2006 :  18:13:33   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit pleco's Homepage Send pleco a Private Message
quote:
Many of the people who post on this website seem to lean toward non religion, and no afterlife, etc., so if as the saying goes, 'you only have one life to live', why does anyone care what happenes after they are gone?


Bill?

by Filthy
The neo-con methane machine will soon be running at full fart.
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marfknox
SFN Die Hard

USA
3739 Posts

Posted - 04/08/2006 :  19:28:16   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit marfknox's Homepage  Send marfknox an AOL message Send marfknox a Private Message
Snake, what the hell? I mean, seriously, what the hell? Some consequences of global warming are already happening now and some of the more serious consequences are set for happening in just a few decades. The idea that all of humanity is going to be able to jump into spaceships and dance off to some other place by the time people start dying and being displaced by environmental change that could be slowed with some damn effort on our part now is simply ludicrous. You can be apathetic all you want, but I'm 27 years old and I plan to adopt kids, leaving the potential for grandkids, so I damn well do care about what happens to the environment in the near future. Oh yeah, and the idea of any preventable human suffering, now or in the future, sort of turns my stomach. We atheists aren't immune to compassion.

And why would all humans leave in spaceships? What, are the majority of people who can afford the ride going to just invite everybody else to come along with them? Or is this imaginary future of yours like Star Trek where money doesn't exist and everyone is happy and healthy?

"Too much certainty and clarity could lead to cruel intolerance" -Karen Armstrong

Check out my art store: http://www.marfknox.etsy.com

Edited by - marfknox on 04/08/2006 19:29:19
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Snake
SFN Addict

USA
2511 Posts

Posted - 04/08/2006 :  21:13:42   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Snake's Homepage  Send Snake an ICQ Message  Send Snake a Yahoo! Message Send Snake a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by JohnOAS
Some of us have family, friends, or even family of friends that will presumably be around for some time after our personal demise. Some of the things we do now will have quite measurable effects in humanly-significant timescales. While it may not matter "cosmically", and I'm pretty confident the universe itself doesn't "care" much one way or the other, I think it would be both selfish and irresponsible to not spare at least some consideration for future generations.

People who don't believe in some supernatural afterlife don't find their own existences and actions meaningless or pointless. Those of us who don't believe this life is just a trial run are in fact more likely to want to make the most of it, for both ourselves and those in our spheres of influence.


Thank you John, for your thoughtful, considerate and respectful answer. I pretty much agree with you.
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend

Sweden
9687 Posts

Posted - 04/09/2006 :  14:41:01   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Send Dr. Mabuse an ICQ Message Send Dr. Mabuse a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Snake
I don't understand why anyone cares about the future of the Earth.
Many of the people who post on this website seem to lean toward non religion, and no afterlife, etc., so if as the saying goes, 'you only have one life to live', why does anyone care what happenes after they are gone?

What is your dysfunction anyway?
Just because someone isn't religious doesn't mean that person is a nihilist. That is something I expected from a Christian Fundie, not you.

I want a good life, and I want my kids to have a good life. And I expect that my kids would like their kids to have a good life. I'm pretty sure that my grandchildren's children wouldn't forgive me for fucking up this planet. It's the Golden Rule, you know.
Sure, I expect some future generation to travel into space to start a new civilization, but that won't happen if they are using all recources fighting for their lives against a fucked-up environment.

quote:

'What Me Worry!' A. Newman

Coming from you, that should be
"What, Me worry?" Alfred E. Neumann

Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3

"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse

Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder.
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend

Sweden
9687 Posts

Posted - 04/09/2006 :  14:53:18   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Send Dr. Mabuse an ICQ Message Send Dr. Mabuse a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Snake
Thank you John, for your thoughtful, considerate and respectful answer. I pretty much agree with you.

Oh... Your question was rethoric. Sorry, I didn't get that. Please excuse me for going off like that.

Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3

"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse

Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder.
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