Do you think global warming is true? Why?

Question

I'm just wondering what people think. Personally, I think global warming is true but there are a lot of people don't agree with me... What do you think? How come?

Answer 1

No.



Almost every "news" report uses glacier retreats to prove that Global Warming is real.

As a result, there are now numerous web sites that explain that this is just bunk.







--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Most Global Warming reports claim that the worlds glaciers are shrinking - but 90% of the total ice mass actually growing.



Glaciers are moving rivers of ice - and many (not all) of these are shrinking.



However, over 90% of the Earth's ice is located in non-moving ice caps - and these are increasing mass.



In fact, the reason that glaciers grow or shrink is not well understood and facts related to this should NOT be used to argue either side of Global Warming.



Also, if all the alpine glaciers that are used in these reports completely disappeared, there would be little or no sea level change - there really is not that much ice involved.







--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Retreating glaciers do not directly indicate global warming ... they actually indicate expanding deserts.

Glaciers shrink because the rate of water addition is less than the rate of water loss. This can be caused



By warming the glacier so that it melts faster

By reducing the amount of snow added at the top

By increasing the rate of sublimation (direct loss of water to the atmosphere without melting it first)

I used the word "directly" above because it is not the fact that glaciers get warmer that makes them retreat. Instead, it is the change in weather patterns - specifically, the change to the amount of snow added to the glacier. Now this could be caused by either Global Warming OR Global Cooling - both will affect where snow (and rain) fall.

Thus, if the amount of snow added to the top of a glacier is reduced, then the glacier will move slower. However, since the leading edge of the glacier continues to melt at the same rate as before, the leading edge will retreat.







--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Dr. R. J. Braithwaite, (School of Geography, University of Manchester, England) published "Glacier mass balance: the first 50 years of international monitoring" - abstract.

There is no sign of any recent global trend towards increased glacier melting

Alpine glaciers are generally shrinking, Scandinavian glaciers are growing, and glaciers in the Caucasus are close to equilibrium for 1980-95.



I have not read this article (because it costs $38), but it is referenced on several other pages - so I will quote those.



Reference



Braithwaite, R.J. 2002. Glacier mass balance: the first 50 years of international monitoring. Progress in Physical Geography 26: 76-95





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



tsaugust.org

tsaugust.org is a well written, anti-global warming, site with lots of good data. Glaciers and Global Warming quotes Dr. R. J. Braithwaite - but it isn't clear if all the facts come from that source.



There are 160,000 glaciers in the world

Of those, only 200 have mass balance data for one year or more

Of those, only 115 have at least five years of data

Of those, only 42 have at least ten years of data



In an analysis of mass balance in Arctic glaciers, it was found that the rate of loss of mass has decreased in the recent past, a period in which increasing amounts of CO2 should have resulted in faster loss of mass if there were a direct correlation between global warming, CO2 and loss of mass in glaciers.



Mt Kilimanjaro has lost 80% of its glacier since 1912. Findings recently published by Nature indicate that the loss of forests on Kilimanjaro’s foothills has been the cause of the glaciers demise. The lack of humidity from the forests to replenish and sustain the glacier has resulted in the glacier melting under the equatorial sun. Furthermore, satellite temperature readings taken since 1979 show no increase in the temperature of the troposphere in the Kilimanjaro region. (additional reference)

Basically, trying to predict 100,000 years of climate change using only 10 years of data collected from 42 glaciers that are conveniently close to where people live seems a little ridiculous. It is kind of like trying to predict the Dow for the next year based on observing 4 random, non-Dow, stocks for about 10 minutes.

Answer 2

@Alley:



National Geographic is not a scientific journal, it is a magazine and media venue. In addition, the media attention given to the cooling theory is completely inflated. Overall there were some 50 publications in the 70s about climate change - 7 suggested a global cooling theory, because that is what the current evidence indicated, but over 40 published about global warming because scientists knew the cause of cooling and warming, and most still believed that the Earth would warm up, not cool. However, even considering this, it is important to point out that because of the data from the 70s, there was no real consensus at all.



Now, to answer the question, yes I am a proponent of the anthropogenic global warming theory. While many say that "the evidence is simply not there," they are contradicted by actual scientific publication. It has been shown that:



- CO2 can warm the Earth - it traps in heat. This doesn't mean much in and of itself; the real question is whether or not it is causing current warming trends (and whether human industrialization has caused the CO2 increase)

- Global temperatures have risen within the past several decades; models of climate change that have predicted warming have all been shown to be correct.



I could go on, but I would rather refer you to a series on Youtube about the issue and what *science* says, not the media or politicians like Gore, etc.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52KLGqDSAjo&feature=related

Answer 3

No.



I saw a global climate chart going back 20,000 years and it was actually warmer than it is today some 16,000 years ago when it got so warm the mile thick sheet of ice over northern Europe and North America began to melt.



Think about that. We were not around then, burning coal or driving cars.



Books in the Ogden Utah library in the 1980s documented that glaciers were growing However I will concede that starting in the 1990s. the first snows of winter began hitting Denver a few weeks later.



On New Year's Day southeastern Colorado was struck by a three foot blizzard that buried this part of the state and Denver too for two months. How is that global warming? Denver did not pick up garbge in some parts of Denver for up to two months. Though in the small town where I lived in southeast Colorado trash pickup resumed the first week because the farmers pulled together and brought their heavy machinery into town. Our town was not too big to manage as was Aurora, Colorado where I previously lived.



I think we are undergoing a fluctuation. Just before there is a reversal in a long term climate trend, there is some excessive weather in both directions until the new trend assumes command. We had a mini ice age that wiped out the Vikings in Greenland. We had another mini ice age that did not end until the mid 1800s.



Over the past 200,000 years we have been under ice much more often than not. We are now in an interglacial period and it is about time for it to start cooling and plunging us back into the cold.



Over the last two million years the earth has mostly been in an ice age with only a few brief periods of warming, according to Rolf Witzche

Answer 4

if you look back at the global temperatures in the last 100,000's of years, you'll see fluctuation of global temperature. the dips are ice ages and the temperture rising up would be just the natural cycle. the temperture between the highest temperatures and the ice age temperatures goes from about 7 - 10 degrees (farenheit). but the temperature goes up and down within a period of usually about 300 thousand years and the fact that we've raised the global temperature about 2 degrees within the last ten years isnt a very good sign.

Answer 5

Global warming is not true. Global warming is real. Only statements or lovers can be true or false.

Answer 6

Yes, because the evidence for warming is extensive:



1) Thermometers show warming.

2) Weather balloons show warming.

3) Satellites show warming.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Satellite_Temperatures.png

4) The tropopause has risen, showing the troposphere has warmed/stratosphere cooled (which is consistent with greenhouse gases, but not solar warming)

5) The troposphere appears to have moistened; there is more water vapour

http://www.waterandclimateinformationcentre.org/resources/8022007_Huntington2006_JHy.pdf

6) Plants and animals are migrating in patterns consistent with warming

7) Seasonal arrival times are changing

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v416/n6879/abs/416389a.html

8) Polewards shift of the tropical Hadley Cell and therefore the jet streams

9) Heat content in the oceans has been measured to be going up

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v453/n7198/abs/nature07080.html

10) Satellites measure more heat going into Earth than coming out (Harries et al, 2001)

11) Boreholes show a recent increase in temperature in the rocks under our feet

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/pubs/huang2004/huang2004.html

12) Glaciers and ice caps are melting more quickly (Both Greenland and Antarctica are shrinking overall according to GRACE satellite measurements)

13) Sea levels are rising, a mix of melted ice and thermal expansion (T/P and JASON satellites)







As is the evidence for human cause:



Observed warming patterns are consistent with human caused, but not solar caused warming:

http://www.skepticalscience.com/human-fingerprint-in-global-warming.html



Climate models can reproduce observed changes, with human activity the dominant factor:

http://marcopifferetti.altervista.org/GW/Climate_Change_Attribution.png



The increased greenhouse effect has been directly detected by satellites and ground stations and is in line with the calculations of physics:

http://www.skepticalscience.com/saturated-co2-effect.htm



The heat flow change associated with a doubling CO2 has, in the past, caused 2-4.5C of warming (extra heat) or cooling (loss of heat). Recent observations suggest Earth will change by 2-4.5C if you double CO2, and climate models also estimate that:

http://www.skepticalscience.com/climate-change-little-ice-age-medieval-warm-period.htm

Answer 7

QTgogreen has nailed it. The climate is changing in alarming ways largely due to anthropogenic activity and this is supported by a wide variety of data that fits a coherent theory without serious alternatives which is accepted by the vast majority of scientists working in the field.

Answer 8

Well, I see newspapers, televisions telling people to save the environment, dangers of global warming and the depletion of it at the Artic.

Answer 9

Global warming is true. It started at the end of the last ice age. It's a good thing too.

Man made global warming is a scam and was started as a way to sell nuclear energy.

Answer 10

I doubt that man is causing global warming. The evidence is simply not there. Most of the proof provided is from contested data or is to small of a sample to be significant.

There are many scientists that do not believe that man is causing global warming.



http://nationscrier.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1%3Aclimate-change-natural-or-human-causes&Itemid=2

Answer 11

it most likely is but in some areas its getting colder. In some areas near the equator the temperature is even hotter than it was about 20 years ago.

Answer 12

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/asia_pacific/10222679.stm

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1024243/First-polar-bear-swim-Iceland-15-years-shot-dead-police-sightseers.html



The ocean levels are not rising. Polar bears have doubled their population in the last thirty years. The anthropogenic global warming scare is an excuse for socialists to raise taxes.

In a few years they will have a new hysterical crisis, like the belief that cell 'phones are weakening the earth's magnetic fields and we have to STOP(!!)) or all will be destroyed. This is nothing new.



Here's a quote from The Great Gatsby, 1925

“I read somewhere that the sun’s getting hotter every year,” said Tom genially. “It seems that pretty soon the earth’s going to fall into the sun—or wait a minute—it’s just the opposite—the sun’s getting colder every year." (Fitzgerald)

Answer 13

Yes.

1) There is a ton of legitimate scientific evidence supporting it.

2) There is no legitimate scientific evidence refuting it.

3) There is a ton of bogus, agenda-driven nonsense and pseudoscience bashing it.

Answer 14

Well, I don't know to be honest, but

I think it might be because it's getting so warm! Like were I live, it's usually NEVER warm, but now it's so hot. :|

I think it possibly is true, but, to each their own.

Answer 15

No.

Go ahead and name just ONE single shred of credible, verifiable evidence that supports the existence of "global warming".

I need the chuckle...

Answer 16

My opinion is that it's happening and we're causing it. However, this has little to do with my own stance or personal belief. The theory of AGW is based on science. Perhaps this is why 97% of all climate scientists believe human activity is a significant contributing factor in changing mean global temperatures.



Here's the science.

A. CO2 emissions are increasing. There are 2.1 trillion tons of CO2 in the atmosphere, we’re increasing this amount by about 1.381% each year, that means that in 72 years our emissions will equal the total amount of CO2 already in the atmosphere.Very carefully calibrated measurements have confirmed that CO2 is increasing in the atmosphere and that human activities are the primary cause.

http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/co2_data_mlo.html#global

http://www.grida.no/publications/vg/climate/page/3062.aspx

http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2004/12/how-do-we-know-that-recent-cosub2sub-increases-are-due-to-human-activities-updated/



B. CO2 is greenhouse gas. Increased CO2 will, in theory, lead to an increase in the greenhouse effect. Studies have proven there has been an increase in back radiation, proving there has been an increase in the greenhouse effect.

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/EnergyBalance/page7.php

http://landshape.org/enm/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/philipona2004-radiation.pdf

http://ams.confex.com/ams/Annual2006/techprogram/paper_100737.htm

http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/pdf/10.1175/2008BAMS2634.1



C. In theory, an increase in the greenhouse effect would lead to an increase in global temperatures. Many studies show this.

http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/graphs/

http://hadobs.metoffice.com/hadcrut3/diagnostics/comparison.html



D. In theory, an increase in the greenhouse effect would lead to stratospheric cooling. As the lower atmosphere warms due to an enhanced greenhouse effect, the upper atmosphere is expected to cool as a consequence. The simple way to think about this is that greenhouse gases are trapping heat in the lower atmosphere. Since less heat is released into the upper atmosphere (starting with the stratosphere), it cools. Many studies show the stratosphere is cooling.

http://www.geog.ox.ac.uk/~mnew/teaching/Online_Articles/jones_et_al_attribution_3d_GRL_2003.pdf



E. The tropopause height has increased several hundred meters over the past 3 decades. The tropopause is the atmospheric boundary between the troposphere and the stratosphere. Because the troposphere has warmed and the stratosphere has cooled, the tropopause has risen.

http://www.math.nyu.edu/~gerber/pages/documents/santer_etal-science-2003.pdf



F. Arctic sea ice is declining. In the last 50 years Arctic sea ice EXTENT has been declining at a average rate of about 38,000 square kilometers per year.At the moment arctic sea ice it’s melting about 1½ times as fast as normal, in the last 10 years it’s been melting at a rate of 170,000km² a year.nArctic sea ice VOLUME is declining at a rate of about 340 cubic kilometers per year.

http://nsidc.org/data/seaice_index/images/n_plot_hires.png

http://psc.apl.washington.edu/ArcticSeaiceVolume/images/BPIOMASIceVolumeAnomalyCurrent.png



(continued under sources)

Answer 17

Its bogus.

National Geographic published a issue about global cooling some time in the 70s I believe.

Its just an Idea to stir up the masses.

The bible says there will be 4 season until the end of time.

Answer 18

of course climate change is real it is all around us the CO2 we emit is ruining our planet i believe this because of the weather it much different than it was 50 years ago it's just something our species can not denie any longer

Answer 19

Def true. What else is melting the glaciers?

Answer 20

No.

The data presented falls far short of "documentary proof".

Scientific method is sorely lacking.



If a pharmaceutical company sent out this type (quality) of data about a prospective drug, they'd be laughed at.