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From what I have been hearing, this whole "Global Warming" thing is really making climates more extreme. From what I have been seeing at home it is true, last year we broke a 50 year old record with snow(28 feet), and it looks like we may be breaking that record this winter.
Climate 'clearly out of balance' Thursday, 24 January 2008
The world's climate is "clearly out of balance and is warming", the world's largest society of Earth and space scientists has said in a statement.
[size=3]The American Geophysical Union (AGU has updated its policy position on climate change since 2003, when it called for a concerted worldwide study to understand how the Earth would change as a result of climate change.
'Tough challenge'
The revised statement has gone further, stating that the changes to the planet's climate system were "best explained by the increased atmospheric abundances of greenhouse gases and aerosols generated by human activities in the 20th Century". The AGU Council, which adopted the updated position, said that a sustained research effort involving many of its members had strengthened the scientific understanding of the impacts of climate change.
It warned that the world faced a tough challenge over the coming 50 years: "Even the lower limit of impending climate change - an additional global mean warming of 1.0C (1.8F) above the last decade - is far beyond the range of climate variability experienced during the past 1,000 years. "Warming greater than 2.0C (3.6F) above 19th Century levels is projected to be disruptive, reducing global agricultural productivity, causing widespread loss of biodiversity, and - if sustained over centuries - melting of much of the Greenland ice sheet." If the 2C rise was to be avoided, , AGU said, net annual emissions of carbon dioxide had to be cut by at least 50% by the end of the century.
It acknowledged that, as with most projections, there was a degree of uncertainty but that it was highly unlikely that the impacts would be "inconsequential". "This is a fast-moving field of science and the AGU felt it was time to update the statement," AGU president, Tim Killeen, told BBC News. "We took seven months to do it; we brought together a panel of experts, who created drafts which underwent extensive critical review, and it was formally approved by the elected Council in December." Although the statement is consistent with previous positions adopted by the AGU, Professor Killeen said it differed in a number of ways. "There are fewer caveats that might have appeared in previous statements," he explained. "It is more of a declarative statement that the climate is changing and those changes are best explained by human effects due to greenhouse gases and aerosols." "Secondly, rather than the AGU saying that this is important and should be looked at, I think this is a call that we need to do something about it."
In 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published its Fourth Assessment Report, which said changes to the climate were "very likely" the result of human activity. The IPCC also warned that the cost of acting now to reduce emissions would be far less than having to adapt to the future consequences of climate change. The AGU, which has 50,000 members in 137 countries, said delivering solutions would require the co-operation of all sectors; from science and technology, to industry and government.
It doesn't matter whether we can "fix" global warming or not. It is never a bad idea to convert that coal powerplant to something cleaner when we have the means to do it.
Don't we all want to breathe easier?
Global warming does suck for me, because I get less chance to enjoy real outdoor winter activities, and summer is already too hot to bear as of now
None of the adults alive today will be greatly affected by global warming. You might want to give some thought too your children and grandchildren.
Low laying countries will be affected starting in 20 years or so as sea levels rise noticeably. Weather changes may turn traditionally dry areas wetter and wet areas dryer.
Changes made today may slow the inevitable but it is not likely to change the eventual outcome. Planing for the events to come can prevent total disaster. Ignoring then will lead to it.
You're showing that you're pretty ignorant about the whole issue. It doesn't just mean "Oh. No more icebergs in 20 years. Oh well." It can affect things like food growth in certain places. In places where that's already an issue it can be disastrous. Look at what happened in Niger a couple years ago. But most people's attitude is that if it doesn't affect them, they don't care.
Or even worse, look what happened in Zimbabwe a few years ago till today.
Food production will always be hit hardest by politics.
You're showing that you're pretty ignorant about the whole issue. It doesn't just mean "Oh. No more icebergs in 20 years. Oh well." It can affect things like food growth in certain places. In places where that's already an issue it can be disastrous. Look at what happened in Niger a couple years ago. But most people's attitude is that if it doesn't affect them, they don't care.
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Originally posted by philip
If you think global 'warming' means that it is just getting warmer everywhere you're on the wrong track mate.
I know it doesn't but a long as I don't feel he physical change I can't care less about icebergs melting etc...
Who knows if global warming is being caused by us or not, or hell, who knows if it's even real. But would it hurt anything to atleast try to pollute less, even if just for the sake of not needlessly sucking down rescources? Be honest, who really needs a Hummer H2 (which gets around 1 MPG realistically) or a giant Escalade when they hardly ever haul anyone around. Unless you're the president or something, there's not really any reason to drive something like that around the city all the time. How many people that buy a huge Ram or Silverado actually haul anything? I'm not saying that some people don't need those trucks, but there's plenty of people that really don't.
And with office buildings. So many office buildings leave their lights on 24/7. Is that really necessary?
What's the worst that could come from exercizing a little conservation here? We end up paying less for oil and aren't so damn dependant on oil from the Middle East, or don't have to go drilling through Alaska to get more of it? High oil prices are hurting airlines and aspiring airline pilots the most, so we should care about this. Sadly I don't think enough people see it that way because too many people feel they're entitled to their bigass 900 HP H2 that can't accelerate past 80 and really isn't as tough as it looks. Speaking of which, I've never seen a Hummer with mud on it. Why do people buy these giant offroad vehicles and never take them off road. It drives me crazy to see a pristine Jeep. At least the dirty ones are being used for what they were made for.
Alright. Rant over.
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), and it looks like we may be breaking that record this winter.
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