Global Warming

[Ma' Calshalmeh]

I think we've screwed this planet pretty bad. If you look at all the facts it seems like we don't realy have any hope of surviving the next fifty years of so without encountering major enviromental disarters.

Whats your view on this topic?

[Rhyolite]

Even if there was no global change the Earth has been experiencing an extremely comfortable period of it's geological history. That won't last forever.

All it takes of for a slight change in the equilibrium of the Earth to cause huge problems for the human population, reducing the population from several million to several thousand and they were not as dependent as modern humans on agriculture and transport.

Climate change, coupled with a random disaster such as an overdue caldera explosion, storm cycle or pandemic would most likely finish humans off completely, regardless of their ingenuity and ability to cope, if you can't grow food and you are dependent on it then that's it.

It may seem unlikely but a thousand years after the last human walks the Earth the flora and fauna will probably have recovered enough to the extent that there will be no clue to man's short period of tenure. At least no clue if you don't look hard enough.

Anyway, just my opinion, I could be wrong.

[Falconer]

Something i hate and always bring up on this topic is that one thing technology has given us is arrogant. Who are we to think we can destroy this planet? We don't have that kind of power. We can't destroy this planet. We can't even save it. We do have the power to destroy ourselves, though, and that is where the real issue is.

[Corva]

A slight change in Earths rotation is all it takes. A slight change in Earths rotation is what happened on the 26th of December 2004. Also if you look at a graph of the temperatures for the last thousands of years we are approaching a warm bit.

[Glenn]

I found a pretty interesting solution to global warming, simply by turning off the sun.

It sounds like it can be pretty effective, if we just had the technology to turn a huge (about 1.41×10^27 m³) exploding fireball on and off as it suited us.

[Corva]

OMRLP. That was my idea! Put a huge sun shield out and light up the moon.

[Rhyolite]

There has been a proposal to pump a few million tons of moon dust into a lunar orbit to absorb some of the sun's radiation. Sounds a bit silly to me though and could possibly go too far and cause an ice age.

http://space.newscientist.com/article/d ... -dust.html

[Corva]

Where would you get the dust? And NewScientist is always coming up with wacky ideas like that.

[Dragon_Nils]

And then the entire planet would look like Antarctica.

[Jake]

Destroy76 Anarchy (A)

We have ruined the earth with all the Co2 emissions and many of them have deprived from Americas BIG car manufacturing companies. The polar ice caps need justice i tell ya'...justice

[manofthewolf]

i move all the human occupants of earth hold their breath for one complete hour Thatd solve our problems

[vampirehunter42]

Well seeing I live in South Georgia and it is freezing outside, you may be thinking a little early on the get the wold colder ideas. And I am would guess the people living in the northeast really think “Global Wormingâ€￾ is bunk. The earth has always changed in weather. It may be a little warm now but, as I am feeling now, things will get colder after a while.

[awsome]

Like everything else on this planet, Earth follows certain cycles...

Yes, the Earth is getting hotter. It has been since the ice age, and will probably continue for for hundreds, perhaps thouseands of years...

Personally, I think that if you look at Earth 1000 years ago, you'll notice that the overall climate was getting warmer and warmer. There weren't cars, pesticides, cfc's, or anything else of that manner back then...

But wait, science tells us that the temperature is accelerating higher, and there is no other cause other than man...

Now picture Earth as a glass of ice water out in the sun. The ice is going to melt slowly at first, but gradually speed up as more of it is melted. This is what's happening to Earth, and is almost entirely independant from man...

[Corva]

Water Vapuer has 60 times the warming affect.

[awsome]

And man isn't responsible for water vapor...The Sun is...

If anything, we should blame it for global warming, instead of blaming people...

[Jishdefish]

Those who say 'ignorance is bliss' obviously doesn't give a shit. You are all forgetting important facts. The Earth WAS extreamly warm way back in the dinosaur times, BUT that was due to increased volcano eruptions, naturally pumping CO2 into the air. SO if these volcano eruptions are indeed going through a cycle as you say they are, they could go off at any time, and that, added with the shit we're already dumping into the atmosphere would alone cook us crispy.

I personally don't think man could ever destroy a planet. Wipe out a species, sure, but not a planet, even Earth. Man is a changer, a mutater if you will, cancerous cells that could kill, or could possibly lead to the next breakthrough in the cycle of evolution. Earth is self-regulatory in terms of life. If the world were to end it would only be in our eyes. The Earth would produce more life, for it is suited to do so. Remember, the world always has the same mass and energy according to the scientific laws. This energy has to continue in life, or else our universe wouldn't be right.

That is my opinion on the subject.

[awsome]

The Earth actually could lose mass, and actually does (hydrogen, and what-not). But it gains it back with solar particles. This is not a signifigant amount however, and the only way to lose a large amount of mass and energy at once is through a catastrophic event, such as a collision with another celestial body...

However, the universe maintains its same mass and energy (sort of, it will in some cases convert mass to energy and vice-versa, but that involves microscopic particles. Nasty business, really)...

Global warming...yeah. Caused by man...not so much. As I said, look at the time following the ice ages. It got warmer, but without the aid of gas engines and greenhouse gases...

And as far as global warming is concerned, besides some adverse effects to the climate for a while, and increasing storm sizes, is that the beach front property will just move up a smidgeon...