NationStates Jolt Archive

On a scale of 1-10, how serious do you believe Global Warming is with 1 being NO Effect, and 10 being catastrophic effects.

Humanity gets it's act together and starts spreading out beyond this little ball of dirt = 4

Humanity decides it wants to stay right here = 8

exactly how catastrophic is 10 supposed to be? 'sun going nova' catastrophic? 'giant hunk of space rock slamming into the planet' catastrophic? 'rain at your wedding reception forcing somebody to dive through the cake' catastrophic?

I take it very seriously. Reason being that I'm from the Maldives which is a small group of islands to the south East of India, at our highest point we are only one metre above sea-level, so obviously the effects of Global warming would be catastrophic for the whole country. So I'll have to go with 10.

Meaningless poll. Just a bunch of numbers, which will mean different things to different people.

Global warming? 5-6.

The resource wars after the dwindling oil supply? 10.

Little or no threat.

Seriously, it's not going to continue forever.

Well, if Mr Gore and his very well put together movie "an inconveinient truth" are to believed, we're already pretty much screwed, unless we can get it together in about 10 years, provided the polar ice caps can make it that long.

i would have to say at least potentialy catistrophic. not entirely in and of itself but if not then from what it is a further possible indication of, and that is our possibly having, or potentialy as human generated global climate alterations by part and parcel of driving dynamic as well as indicative symptom, the breakdown of the entire web of life due to its cycles of renewal having been overloaded by the unfortunate combination of our practices and our shere numbers.

we simply have two choices for our future as humans of planet earth: either we become drasticly more "ecotopian", and that means a complete ceasation of the use of combustion to generate energy and propell transportation, as well as modification of practices in other areas and amelioration of population growth, OR, quite simply, by our own ignorant and short sighted hands, autoanialation.

=^^=
.../\...

Well, if Mr Gore and his very well put together movie "an inconveinient truth" are to believed, we're already pretty much screwed, unless we can get it together in about 10 years, provided the polar ice caps can make it that long.

I sometimes wonder...

Why do we need icecaps?

No but really...

P.S. Cameroi - always look forward to your posts, ramblin' genius

P.P.S. Just kidding about them icecaps, all for them

Are we talking about the effects of global warming now, or the potential for damage that global warming presents?

I give it a 2. This barely rates as a hiccup to the Earth. :p

I sometimes wonder...

Why do we need icecaps?

No but really...

Otherwise you can't get to Launch Base Zone!

I'd say one large fact that the "omgz we r all gun die!" crowd fails to realise, is that we are still coming out of an ice age. The earth is SUPPOSED to be warming, and although we are adding to it, the actual effect that civilization is having is rather small.

And as for the "omgz teh ice r gun melt and fludd us all!!"... When water freezes, it expands, if you put an ice cube in a glass of water the level will drop as that cube melts. If you think about an iceburg, something like 90% of it is underwater. With those facts in mind, it seems plausible that the ocean level could actually DROP as the ice melts. And if all the ice on earth melted (including anything on land, such as glaciers), the net effect wouldn't be even close to "catastrophic", unless like BongDong you live right at sea level.

Of course we should all pitch in to curb pollution, but I'll be doing it with health in mind, rather than to stop global warming. The sad thing is, the mass populace usually doesn't listen to "you should do this because it's good for you"... they only pay attention when someone screams "if you don't do this you will be raped with your own feet and left to slowly suffocate while monkey feces fills your lungs!!!"

As for the oil, we aren't going to be running out any time soon. Alberta, for example, contains more oil than the entire middle east, which as of yet is largely untapped. By the time we're even close to running out, i'm sure we will have far more potent and efficient means of producing energy.

At the worst it's a 3 but what's more likely is a 2. Anyone who says 8-10 is fucked in the ear.

[insert mockery of Al Gore here]

[insert conclusion that there should be 0 on the poll here]

[insert parting shot about liberals/terrorists here]

3 or 4. The funny thing about humanity is that it always manages to survive and pull itself not only out of the problem but to a place better than the one it started out in. So, I'm not inclined to see this as a major risk. It will force a change in our lifestyles, and some people might be disrupted or even harmed by it, but overall it will not have a serious effect on our civilization and no effect on our survival as a species.

Door Number 1[insert mockery of Al Gore here]

Door Number 2[insert conclusion that there should be 0 on the poll here]

Door Number 3[insert parting shot about liberals/terrorists here]

I'll take what's behind Door Number 1.

Depends, not to be pedantic but the poll is all kinds of vague.

Are we talking threat to the planet?
Threat to our lifestyle?
Threat to human survival?
Threat to our civilization?

Different numbers depending on which you mean.

1) 0
2) 7
3) 1
4) 0

umm if someone could be so kind as to send some global warming to Canada, that would be appreciated. It snowed yesterday...whooo....not.

And as for the "omgz teh ice r gun melt and fludd us all!!"... When water freezes, it expands, if you put an ice cube in a glass of water the level will drop as that cube melts. If you think about an iceburg, something like 90% of it is underwater. With those facts in mind, it seems plausible that the ocean level could actually DROP as the ice melts. And if all the ice on earth melted (including anything on land, such as glaciers), the net effect wouldn't be even close to "catastrophic", unless like BongDong you live right at sea level.
Actually if floating ice melts that doesn't change the sea level at all. Any floating object displaces water corresponding to it's weight, not it's volume, and when water freezes it doesn't change it's weight (only volume). So melting an iceberg adds exactly as much water to the ocean as it removes ice. It is the ice that lies on land in Antarctica and Greenland that they are worrying about. It is not currently in the sea, but if it would melt the melting water would run into the sea and increase the sea level.

Depends, not to be pedantic but the poll is all kinds of vague.

Are we talking threat to the planet?
Threat to our lifestyle?
Threat to human survival?
Threat to our civilization?

Different numbers depending on which you mean.

1) 0
2) 7
3) 1
4) 0

I'm waiting for the day that some physicists tweaking with strangelets in a heavy ion collider end up making something that slowly eats the planet.

Yes, then it will ALL be mankind's fault, and yet there will be nothing we can do except be transformed into spoo.

*looks at heavy ion collider*

...

*looks at thread*

...

*looks at heavy ion collider*

...

*shrugs and keeps experimenting*


:D

Meaningless poll. Just a bunch of numbers, which will mean different things to different people.

It's not like we have meaningful polls here anyway. This one doesn't even have a Myrth option!

I take it very seriously. Reason being that I'm from the Maldives which is a small group of islands to the south East of India, at our highest point we are only one metre above sea-level, so obviously the effects of Global warming would be catastrophic for the whole country. So I'll have to go with 10.

Thank you. We don't hear enough from small island countries here. Sadly, I'm sure most people in this forum wouldn't even be able to place the Maldives on a map (without your description).

3 or 4. The funny thing about humanity is that it always manages to survive and pull itself not only out of the problem but to a place better than the one it started out in.That's like saying that you always find something in the last place you look... duh... why would you keep looking once you'd found what you were after? You being a human, will never be able to say (with sincerity) that 'The funny thing about humanity was that it always managed to survive and pull itself not only out of the problem but to a place better than the one it started out in... except for that one time when they faced mass extinction. Ah well, ho hum.'.

And as for the "omgz teh ice r gun melt and fludd us all!!"... When water freezes, it expands, if you put an ice cube in a glass of water the level will drop as that cube melts. If you think about an iceburg, something like 90% of it is underwater. With those facts in mind, it seems plausible that the ocean level could actually DROP as the ice melts. And if all the ice on earth melted (including anything on land, such as glaciers), the net effect wouldn't be even close to "catastrophic", unless like BongDong you live right at sea level.Good sir, do you understand what is meant by the terms 'glacier', 'ice sheet' and 'ice shelf' as opposed to 'iceberg'? There is one very important difference between these two groups. If you do not know the difference I suggest you find out. And then find out in which of these two groups the majority of the world's ice is stored.

When I was a child, Portland was smog free. Now, especially on hot days, there's this nasty haze over it. This is disconcerting, especially since the city is on the Columbia Gorge. There's not much air stagnation.

Also, Mt. Hood was covered with snow year round up until 7 years ago. Now it's a big dirt rock in the summer and it's glacier is dissappearing. It's sad.

I wish we'd (as in America) would start enacting environmental protection measures, at least to save some of the beautiful things on this continent.

*looks at heavy ion collider*

...

*looks at thread*

...

*looks at heavy ion collider*

...

*shrugs and keeps experimenting*


:D

Hey! Don't touch that! You don't know what those particles may be entangled with...

*vanishes from current timeline*

Hey! Don't touch that! You don't know what those particles may be entangled with...

*vanishes from current timeline*

*In an amazing twist of irony, the vast majorty of the excess CO2 in the atmosphere also vanishes, thus stabilizing global climate*

Shit! :mad: *keeps experimenting*

Thank you. We don't hear enough from small island countries here. Sadly, I'm sure most people in this forum wouldn't even be able to place the Maldives on a map (without your description).

I'm fairly sure they're a tourist spot, plus the whole tsunami thing a couple years back got them in the news.

I'd say one large fact that the "omgz we r all gun die!" crowd fails to realise, is that we are still coming out of an ice age. The earth is SUPPOSED to be warming, and although we are adding to it, the actual effect that civilization is having is rather small.

And as for the "omgz teh ice r gun melt and fludd us all!!"... When water freezes, it expands, if you put an ice cube in a glass of water the level will drop as that cube melts. If you think about an iceburg, something like 90% of it is underwater. With those facts in mind, it seems plausible that the ocean level could actually DROP as the ice melts. And if all the ice on earth melted (including anything on land, such as glaciers), the net effect wouldn't be even close to "catastrophic", unless like BongDong you live right at sea level.

Of course we should all pitch in to curb pollution, but I'll be doing it with health in mind, rather than to stop global warming. The sad thing is, the mass populace usually doesn't listen to "you should do this because it's good for you"... they only pay attention when someone screams "if you don't do this you will be raped with your own feet and left to slowly suffocate while monkey feces fills your lungs!!!"

As for the oil, we aren't going to be running out any time soon. Alberta, for example, contains more oil than the entire middle east, which as of yet is largely untapped. By the time we're even close to running out, i'm sure we will have far more potent and efficient means of producing energy.



You're making the really stupid and unrealistic assumption that ice on water makes up a majority of the ice in the world (it doesn't), or that only ice on water will melt.

You're making the really stupid and unrealistic assumption that ice on water makes up a majority of the ice in the world (it doesn't), or that only ice on water will melt.

Won't he be surprised when Antarctica becomes open, dry land.

You're making the really stupid and unrealistic assumption that ice on water makes up a majority of the ice in the world (it doesn't), or that only ice on water will melt.That wouldn't be bad assumption... the bad assumption is that the majority of... for lack of a better term 'oceanic ice' is beneath sea level (like an iceberg). The majority of 'oceanic ice' is still connected to a glacier or ice sheet and is refered to as an ice shelf. In stark constrast to an iceberg, where about a 1/9 of the ice is above sea level, the ice sheet has 8/9ths of its ice above sea level. Thus the argument of water being denser than ice is redundant.

That's like saying that you always find something in the last place you look... duh... why would you keep looking once you'd found what you were after? You being a human, will never be able to say (with sincerity) that 'The funny thing about humanity was that it always managed to survive and pull itself not only out of the problem but to a place better than the one it started out in... except for that one time when they faced mass extinction. Ah well, ho hum.'.

What? The time 100,000 years ago or so when a meteor impact caused a massive population plunge? That's a little different that global warming, which is barely a blip compared to that disaster.

We should control global warming, but it's not going to be an existential disaster even if we do nothing.

I'd say one large fact that the "omgz we r all gun die!" crowd fails to realise, isThat they don't actually exist, but are the product of some fevered rightwing fantasy? that we are still coming out of an ice age. The earth is SUPPOSED to be warming, and although we are adding to it, the actual effect that civilization is having is rather small.-- Fuck. How will I deal with the dissapointment.And as for the "omgz teh ice r gun melt and fludd us all!!"... At least you're gonna say that particular crowd is a strawman fabricated by the rightwing, right?When water freezes, it expands, if you put an ice cube in a glass of water the level will drop as that cube melts.Double-damn!
By the way, if you drop an icecube into a glass of water, the waterlevel will rise, as you've added more water. It will, shockingly, rise just as much as if you'd added an icecube's worth of water. Astonishing, init?If you think about an iceburg, something like 90% of it is underwater. With those facts in mind, it seems plausible that the ocean level could actually DROP as the ice melts.Don't make up shit and call it 'fact'. It's poor style. But to comment on what you said, the bit above waterlevel corrosponds with the extra air trapped in the ice. So yes, with regards to waterlevels, it doesn't matter if there's ice or not.And if all the ice on earth melted (including anything on land, such as glaciers), the net effect wouldn't be even close to "catastrophic", unless like BongDong you live right at sea level.Or you could actually measure up how much water would be added to the oceans if every last icecrystal on Earth melted. The correct answer is "just below 70 meters".

That's pretty fucking catastrophic, but then again, it's not even a remote possibility. At least, not unless we all go snoflake hunting with our industrial sized BiC lighters for the next few thousand years.

The rest of your post.. Well.. Let's just leave that POS alone, shall we?

I give it a 2. This barely rates as a hiccup to the Earth. :p
Two isn't quite accurate, but it is your opinion.

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleid=90A5DC7C-E7F2-99DF-320EEF89EB22219C&chanId=sa022
March 26, 2007
100-Year Forecast: New Climate Zones Humans Have Never Seen
Worst-case warming scenario may bring totally new kinds of tropical climate and cause others to disappear
By JR Minkel
If global warming continues unabated, many of the world's climate zones may disappear by 2100, leaving new ones in their place unlike any that exist today, according to a new study. Researchers compared existing patterns of temperature and precipitation with those that may exist at the turn of the century, based on scenarios put forth in the recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). They found that if greenhouse gas emissions continue rising at the same rate, up to 39 percent of Earth's continental surface may experience totally new climates, primarily in the tropics and adjacent latitudes as warmer temperatures spread toward the poles.

Researchers say the analysis was intended to more precisely gauge the ecological consequences of climate change. Studies have already estimated that species such as butterflies are creeping toward the poles at a rate of six kilometers per decade as temperatures rise. Some species, however, may not be able to keep pace with future changes potentially leading to new regional ecosystems as novel climate patterns emerge, possibly leading to extinctions if some climates disappear entirely. To evaluate the range of possible outcomes, ecologists John Williams of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and Stephen Jackson of the University of Wyoming, along with U.W. Madison climatologist John Kutzbach compared global climate projections published last month by the fourth IPCC with current regional climates, looking specifically at average summer and winter temperatures and precipitation. They considered scenarios of either unchecked greenhouse gas emissions or a global reduction in the rate of emissions growth.

They found that the business-as-usual scenario comes with large climate changes the world over and would create entirely new patterns of temperature and precipitation for 12 to 39 percent of Earth's land area. An additional 10 to 48 percent of land would see its climate zones disappear, replaced by patterns of temperature and precipitation now occurring elsewhere, such as rain forest becoming savanna or evergreen forest becoming deciduous. In the reduced-emissions scenario, the group reports that the two kinds of change would each take hold over 4 to 20 percent of land.

In the case of unchecked emissions, "we are going to be seeing climates that certainly are completely outside the range of modern human experience," Jackson says. According to the analysis, new climates would be most dramatic in the rain forests of the Amazon and Indonesia, but would extend as far toward the poles as the American southeast.

Climate disappearance would occur in tropical mountains and near the poles, including regions such as the Andes, the African highlands, Indonesia and the Philippines, parts of the Himalayas and near the Arctic. With nowhere to go, species in these regions might become extinct, the group notes in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA.

Jackson says that prior studies have concentrated on ecological changes closer to the poles, but the tropical changes might be more dramatic. "If [the climate of] Memphis moves to Chicago, we have a Memphis there to say what Chicago will look like," he says. "For an area where we don't have a modern analogue, there's really nothing to look at to say, this is what the environment will look like."

Two, eh?

I give it a 2. This barely rates as a hiccup to the Earth. :p
Well, the planet will remain...

Well, the planet will remain...

As in a catastrophe to the inhabitants, but a light slap to the hunk of dirt.
Ah, perspective ....

What? The time 100,000 years ago or so when a meteor impact caused a massive population plunge? That's a little different that global warming, which is barely a blip compared to that disaster.

We should control global warming, but it's not going to be an existential disaster even if we do nothing.

Eh, Global Warming is still a problem though. World ending? Nah, that's not going to happen. The world will go on. Will it be economically devastating? Yes, more than likely. Will it be civilization ending, world wide? No, probably not(but there will likely be a large-scale collapse of many areas). So...

It'll have an immediate threat, that can be dealt with, but will still be devastating.

However, that's nothing compared to when the Earth's poles flip(It's going to happen eventually). That event alone will pretty much decimate civilization as we know, as the EMP released will wipe out every single electrical device on earth(And in orbit). Back to the Dark Ages with us, I say!

Woo! Yay for ways the world is going to end.

Most countries are trying to do something about it but there are a few who don't give a sh*t. We can always be better and thats something that needs to hapen soon. On the complete opposite side the climate is always changin and there are records to prove that our planet does go in cyclesof warm and cold. our polution us making it more extreme than ever though.

Two isn't quite accurate, but it is your opinion.

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleid=90A5DC7C-E7F2-99DF-320EEF89EB22219C&chanId=sa022

Two, eh?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowball_earth

Since the 1960s, it has been hypothesized that the Earth's continents were subjected to severe glacial action between about 750 million and 580 million years ago, so much so that the period is named the Cryogenian Period. Paleontologist W. Brian Harland pointed out that glacial till deposits of this period can be found on all continents, and first proposed that the Earth must have been in an ice age at this time; his views were widely publicized by an article in Scientific American in 1964.[6] The problem was that the evidence-bearing deposits are found on all continents; but even during the worst of the ice age just past, no evidence of ice has been found in equatorial continents except on the higher parts of the highest mountain ranges. The then-new theory of plate tectonics made the oddly placed glacial discontinuities and deposits of glacial till even more enigmatic: studies of the magnetic orientations of the rocks of the late Proterozoic period showed that the continents were clustered around the (magnetic) equator during at least the start of the corresponding time around 750 Ma— in one of the earliest of the configurations known as supercontinents. This equatorial clustering and collision of continents about 750 Ma ago has been named Rodinia; it being near the equator, rather than near the poles as might have been expected, taken together with thermal evidence of a severe ice age 750 to 635 Ma ago (the dating suggested by the widespread geologic deposits) is what has led to the Snowball Earth hypothesis.

The Snowball Earth hypothesis argues from the documented locations of glacial till dropped by glaciers to suggest that the Earth must have completely frozen over. The mechanism by which it did so is still mysterious.

One suggestion is that, normally, as the ice spread, it covered some of the land and thus slowed the carbon dioxide absorption, increasing the greenhouse effect, and the ice spread would eventually stop; but this time the continents were clustered along the equator and thus this control mechanism would not work until the freezing process had run away and the whole Earth iced over.

Once frozen, the condition would tend to stabilize: a frozen Earth has a high albedo (reflecting more of the Sun's radiation).

The mechanism by which the Earth would thaw after such a frozen period would leave distinctive traces, which are the subject of ongoing research.

White Earth is a name given to a theoretical equilibrium found in computer climate simulations whereby the model Earth undergoes complete glaciation. While this seems to have originally been considered a degenerate case, by the time James Gleick wrote his history of chaos theory Chaos: Making a New Science, it was not dismissed in his book but simply restated as something that probably just had not happened yet. The current evidence for the Snowball Earth would seem to back that theory and its computer models.

Yep. About a 2.

Global Warming will have an impact on the earth, at least 8 i say. Especially the far north.

Still can' believe someone or actually five people voted one.

Global warming isn't a big deal. Some countries will benefit from it greatly, and other countries can just have people live in domed settlements or underground. I live in southern Canada and by the time global warming becomes really noticable it'll be like South Carolina here. That'll be whup. You could have a longer growing season and outdoor bud would be so much better. Global warming will also increase rainfall, which will keep the temperatures more moderate. Overall, only thirdworlders already living in hellhole countries need worry, but we'll just keep giving them more free food anyway.

Some people criticized the poll, well many polls and such are done on a scale of 1-10. Catastrophic is obviously worse case scenerio...such as major loss of life possibly extinction, major ecological disaster, planetary changes, etc.

Global Warming will have an impact on the earth, at least 8 i say. Especially the far north.

yup, what a sweet day that will be, I cannot wait until it warms up so that all the snow melts by august. Then I can hike up mountains I currently cannot.

2, maybe 3. Life will go on, and people will adapt, one way or another.

If Al Gore and the liberals have their way, we'll all be riding bicycles, eating tofu, and topping out at 45 miles per hour on the expressway because we're forced to drive matchboxes. If so, the world doesn't get warmer, but our suffering comes because few people fit comfortably in their cars, don't enjoy their food, and sit in the dark at night.

If the skeptics have their way, we'll keep guzzling gas, and the sea levels will rise. The poor ass areas (Bangladesh) will get flooded out, but humanity as a whole, and the world, will adapt. It'll be a pain in the ass, but life will go on.

So, I'm not making a big deal about it. Especially since although I fucking hate summer heat, I'm just not able to do the changes necessary to....well, keep the planet from cooking. I drive an old car that's almost out of gas, I can't afford a hybrid. Recycling services in this town are a seperate service--and I'm not paying so I can spend time sorting out my garbage twice a week (that's like a double whammy). I leave the lights on, because I've had too many broken toes. And, I sure as hell fire up that AC.

So, could I change? No, even if I wanted to.

Depends, not to be pedantic but the poll is all kinds of vague.

Are we talking threat to the planet?
Threat to our lifestyle?
Threat to human survival?
Threat to our civilization?

Different numbers depending on which you mean.

1) 0
2) 7
3) 1
4) 0

I dont know I agree that lifestyle has the biggest effect but I would give civ a 3-4 just because it can cause changes if not the failure of

Some people criticized the poll, well many polls and such are done on a scale of 1-10. Catastrophic is obviously worse case scenerio...such as major loss of life possibly extinction, major ecological disaster, planetary changes, etc.

oh, then i change my vote to 10. we're already in a mass extinction event. rapid climate change will just make it even worse.

Global warming!!!???!!Are you fucking kiding me this has been the coldest fucking winter ever.More like global freezing and if that the case turn on some fucking heat.:headbang:

Two isn't quite accurate, but it is your opinion.

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleid=90A5DC7C-E7F2-99DF-320EEF89EB22219C&chanId=sa022

Two, eh?

I think he was comparing it to damage to the earth itself ... you know like comparing it to the impactor that theoretically split off the moon ... compared to that this is kiddy stuff :)

probably a 7-8. Especially if we continue on the path we are.

AL GORE isnt even a scientist he has no field in science he is a politian "A POLITIAN!!!":headbang:
The only thing thats an inconveinient truth is that gores a "dumass"

AL GORE isnt even a scientist he has no field in science he is a politian "A POLITIAN!!!":headbang:
The only thing thats an inconveinient truth is that gores a "dumass"

We, the citizens of Politia, resent that

Meh, it'll get warm, and in the next 50 years, it'll get cool again and we'll all have a big laugh about this.

Meh, it'll get warm, and in the next 50 years, it'll get cool again and we'll all have a big laugh about this.

and you base this on...?

and you base this on...?

Well the fact that this isn't the first time that this has happen? I mean are we forgetting about the Medieval warming period?

God this country is gonna be screwed if we get obama or clinton I for one aint gonna eat tofu or leaves I want trans fat and a gas gusiling car i like to run the ac if it's hot out i think we should drill alaska "I AM AN AMERICAN":upyours:

God this country is gonna be screwed if we get obama or clinton I for one aint gonna eat tofu or leaves I want trans fat and a gas gusiling car i like to run the ac if it's hot out i think we should drill alaska "I AM AN AMERICAN":upyours:

I love parodies.

Someone should register "Liberal States" and have it be like a tofu, hippie, feminine guy who is all fruity, but he's not gay, and who just love every living thing!

Also, his favorite color should be pink.

omg a liberal state wow!!!! like that would make things better i swear if i find a liberal state ill nuke it i swear ill "NUKE IT".

omg a liberal state wow!!!! like that would make things better i swear if i find a liberal state ill nuke it i swear ill "NUKE IT".

You're funny, you're like a NSG version of Stephen Colbert.

Well the fact that this isn't the first time that this has happen? I mean are we forgetting about the Medieval warming period?

yes it is. this is the first time in the history of the universe that we have climate change being driven by anthropogenic emission of fossil carbon into the atmosphere.

oh, and the slight regional warming of the mwp
1) did not come and go over the course of 50 years
2) was not caused by atmospheric changes

:upyours: :upyours: :upyours: :upyours: that's is all i have to say to the liberal states

yes it is. this is the first time in the history of the universe that we have climate change being driven by anthropogenic emission of fossil carbon into the atmosphere.

oh, and the slight regional warming of the mwp
1) did not come and go over the course of 50 years
2) was not caused by atmospheric changes

You know it's really funny to see the Global Warming crowd running around like chickens with their head cut off, claiming that "We're polluting more than we ever have!" and blah blah blah. If we are polluting more than we ever have, then what the hell have we been doing in the past 25 years? Whats the hell with the emission controls, with the creations of carbon credits (not that I agree with it) and with finding cleaner more efficient forms of energy, recycling. I mean hell, if we've been doing all of that and we're still polluting more than we've ever had, then the last 25 years have been a complete waste.

:upyours: :upyours: :upyours: :upyours: that's is all i have to say to the liberal states

Now you're just being annoying.

:upyours: :upyours: :upyours: :upyours: that's is all i have to say to the liberal states global warming is nothing to be hiped about shit if the world warms and cools then it's normal sides all the time your scientist controdict each other cancling out each others idea MAKE UP YOUR NAME MINDS ALREADY!!!!

Dear members let the people in africa etc die and me (sweden) get warmer winters and warmer summers and live happely ever after knowing that when i want to take a bath in the sea ill be bathing in oil and crap.

(gave it a 6 since whatever happens i'll always think the people are dumb so the only way somethings gonna change are if we get ourselves some kind of dictators....),

democracy will never work it allway gets screwy when people start voting to ban things and it starts to make things shitty i mean how is trans fat hurting eny one except me

democracy will never work it allway gets screwy when people start voting to ban things and it starts to make things shitty i mean how is trans fat hurting eny one except me

So what form of government do you like?

goverment really can't work i mean yes it's good for a time but it always ends up bad int he long run

democracy will never work it allway gets screwy when people start voting to ban things and it starts to make things shitty i mean how is trans fat hurting eny one except me

Conservative states, what you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this forum is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.

Otherwise you can't get to Launch Base Zone!

Sonic lives on! I was starting to believe that I was the only one out there sad enough to remember.

Global warming has changed dramatically in the last few years, first scientists said it didnt exist, now it's the biggest problem we've ever faced, and then all of a sudden companies are cashing in on it! Where will this selfishness end?

Conservative states, what you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this forum is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.

I deduct you a million points for stealing lines from Billy Madison

god have mercy on my soul!!!!my god have mercy on your soul you dirty liberal:upyours:

I deduct you a million points for stealing lines from Billy Madison

"Stealing" is such a subjective term. If I go to your house, for example, and remove your belongings without your previous knowledge, sell them at a pawn shop, is that "stealing"? In a sense, no. I am merely be an entrepreneur, following the American Dream! Thus, you are clearly against the American Dream, and thus a plinko-communist-islamofascist whom wishes to destroy the very fabric of the United States.

1 million and 1 points deducted.

I win! :D

"Stealing" is such a subjective term. If I go to your house, for example, and remove your belongings without your previous knowledge, sell them at a pawn shop, is that "stealing"? In a sense, no. I am merely be an entrepreneur, following the American Dream! Thus, you are clearly against the American Dream, and thus a plinko-communist-islamofascist whom wishes to destroy the very fabric of the United States.

1 million and 1 points deducted.

I win! :D

and yet, if I hit you over the head with a baseball bat, and beat you to a blood pulp, did I kill you? Nah, I just defended my home and my property. :D

1 billion points deducted.

I win!

god have mercy on my soul!!!!my god have mercy on your soul you dirty liberal:upyours:

Ooo... someone ate their "Conservit-o's" this morning!

I truly love the excessive upyours gremlins, though. So very innovative.

"Stealing" is such a subjective term. If I go to your house, for example, and remove your belongings without your previous knowledge, sell them at a pawn shop, is that "stealing"? In a sense, no. I am merely be an entrepreneur, following the American Dream! Thus, you are clearly against the American Dream, and thus a plinko-communist-islamofascist whom wishes to destroy the very fabric of the United States.

1 million and 1 points deducted.

I win! :D

WTF!!! is this??

your joke are just a way for you to pussy foot around the bush:upyours:

WTF!!! is this??

*beats you over the head with a bat, puts you in the trunk of a Volvo, and push it into a Lake*

and that takes care of that. He was funny for awhile, but then he just got annoying.

and yet, if I hit you over the head with a baseball bat, and beat you to a blood pulp, did I kill you? Nah, I just defended my home and my property. :D

1 billion points deducted.

I win!

That would be more of a "hostile take-over" I do believe. To which, I will just get a lawyer to sue you for distress! That is the true American Dream, right there. :D

12 billion points deducted.

your joke are just a way for you to pussy foot around the bush:upyours:

So... many... innuendos... must... resist... urge...

So... many... innuendos... must... resist... urge...

Oh comon, do it, you know you want to.

*beats you over the head with a bat, puts you in the trunk of a Volvo, and push it into a Lake*

and that takes care of that. He was funny for awhile, but then he just got annoying.

Yeah... like a little MTAE all over again... only not as lasting.

found a blow torch in trunk of volvo and got out before he drove in to lake
then this happend:eek: :sniper:
:p 5 trillion points awarded to me

Oh comon, do it, you know you want to.

You want me to go "on vacation", don't you(Although I have the strange sense that's going to happen after tonight)?

found a blow torch in trunk of volvo and got out before he drove in to lake
then this happend:eek: :sniper:
:p 5 trillion points awarded to me

Eh fuck this *shoots him in the head with a 9 mm handgun.*

I win all! :D

You want me to go "on vacation", don't you(Although I have the strange sense that's going to happen after tonight)?

Yea, but just think how long you'll be laughing! We'll all be laughing! Hell we'll make threads dedicated to your sexual innuendo! :D

What? The time 100,000 years ago or so when a meteor impact caused a massive population plunge? That's a little different that global warming, which is barely a blip compared to that disaster.

We should control global warming, but it's not going to be an existential disaster even if we do nothing.Global warming does present a very clear threat. Ecosystems are very fragile and slight variations can do large amounts of damage. If the human body is 2C below normal it is considered to have hypothermia. Just two degress. And if it is 7C above normal then it's near certain that you're dead already. Venus is a prime example of just how inhospitable climates can get. Maybe Global Warming hasn't done much damage yet, but if left unchecked it has the potential to destroy all life on earth.

Global warming!!!???!!Are you fucking kiding me this has been the coldest fucking winter ever.More like global freezing and if that the case turn on some fucking heat.:headbang:

Where?!?!?!?!
I live in the mountains of Czech Republic and this has been the warmest winter recorded in the last 150 years!
We had like 30 cm of snow this year and flowers blossoming in January!
Oh, and a thing metereologists called hurricane for lack of terminology.

wisconsin

I'd say one large fact that the "omgz we r all gun die!" crowd fails to realise, is that we are still coming out of an ice age. The earth is SUPPOSED to be warming, and although we are adding to it, the actual effect that civilization is having is rather small.


Actually, we stopped coming out of an ice age centuries ago. Now we're supposed to be entering one. But the temperature is going up. Funny that.

Even if global warming exists (which is dubious in itself), I'm sure that within 100 years, some new technology will be developed to mitigate, if not completely reverse, the effects of the phenomenon. A century ago, many people thought that man could never fly and nobody even dreamed of computers; imagine what we can do in another century. We can certainly find a solution to such a trivial problem as greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Hell, there are already devices that convert air into water or something.

11.

I believe that there is global warming, whether natural or caused by humans. It will most likely have an effect on us, mainly with low elevation coastal regions and agriculture, but due to all the conflicting information that I find about it, the severity is questionable. However, the gasses that cause the greenhouse effect and all that other smog stuff isn't good for us anyway. So, regardless of whether or not global warming will kill us all, it really would be good if we lessened these emissions and switched mainly to solar, wind, and hydroelectric power; all of which are currently available techonologies.

I must say I am not to fond of nuclear power though...

9. We need to do something...yesterday.

A century ago, many people thought that man could never fly and nobody even dreamed of computers; imagine what we can do in another century.

A century ago, powered flight had been achieved 4 years prior, and flight hundreds. A century ago, computers had been around for 106 years.

A century ago, powered flight had been achieved 4 years prior, and flight hundreds of millions. A century ago, computers had been around for 106 years.
Aye.

I suppose airborne prokaryotic organisms would count as "flying".

Aye.

I suppose airborne prokaryotic organisms would count as "flying".

I'm talking about humans flying.

I'm talking about humans flying.

I fail at humour then.

A century ago, powered flight had been achieved 4 years prior, and flight hundreds. A century ago, computers had been around for 106 years.

Wow, I'm ever so sorry for saying a century rather than 104 years. Will you please forgive me? Also, the first computer was invented in the 1940s, no matter which way you slice it. You must have an extremely unreasonable definition of "computer" in order to believe that one was invented in the early 1800s.

Wow, I'm ever so sorry for saying a century rather than 104 years. Will you please forgive me? Also, the first computer was invented in the 1940s, no matter which way you slice it. You must have an extremely unreasonable definition of "computer" in order to believe that one was invented in the early 1800s.

No, I have the standard definition of a computer. A machine that computes.

No, I have the standard definition of a computer. A machine that computes.

Would you consider an abacus a computer? How about a pencil? A computer needs to be able to interpret data without user help and have the capacity to perform simple operations, at least (ie, addition, subtraction, division, and multiplication).

No, I have the standard definition of a computer. A machine that computes.

I think the first computers were Charles Babbage's punch-card devices in the 1830's, and the first modern electronic digital computer was ENIAC in the 1940's, right? The progress in computer science has been phenomenal, especially in the past few decades when it really started to take off. Now mid-range desktop computers can calculate things that would have been impossible for the finest supercomputers of the past.

And now we're entering the quantum era, which means solving the problems that conventional computers can't tackle; of course, at the same time it also means higher risks as conventional encryption is rendered obsolete.

Would you consider an abacus a computer? How about a pencil? A computer needs to be able to interpret data without user help and have the capacity to perform simple operations, at least (ie, addition, subtraction, division, and multiplication).

Guess what? This one could.

Well, seeing as the scientists are predicting that parts of my god damn state will be underwater soon, I'm gonna go with a 7...

No, I have the standard definition of a computer. A machine that computes.

If you're going to be a dick about it, you might as well use the pre-1950s definition: a person who computes.

1

You're funny, you're like a NSG version of Stephen Colbert.

Without the ice cream or Formula 401.
or 402.
Or baby bird.
Or Word.
But there's still time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowball_earth



Yep. About a 2.

Nope, not particularly up to date, and a wiki at that.
Your research garners a two.
Perhaps there's a little more to that, or are you really not trying too hard?

I think he was comparing it to damage to the earth itself ... you know like comparing it to the impactor that theoretically split off the moon ... compared to that this is kiddy stuff :)

We might as well talk about nova as well, then, and skip that pesky terrestrial middleman.

EDIT: Anyone feel like an atmospheric comparison 'twixt Venus and Earth? Perhaps?

Nope, not particularly up to date, and a wiki at that.
Your research garners a two.
Perhaps there's a little more to that, or are you really not trying too hard?

Don't be so stuffy. I swear, you're so uptight, I can't pull a needle out of your ass with a tractor. :p

I didn't 'research' a damn thing. I really shouldn't have a need to, because it is more or less a given to anyone and everyone except possibly creationists that life on Earth has survived extremes of climate and catastrophic events that make modern global warming look like a muggy day. Snowball Earth is just one example of the extremes of climate Earth is capable of enduring.

Don't be so stuffy. I swear, you're so uptight, I can't pull a needle out of your ass with a tractor. :pHey, i never said to stop trying!

I didn't 'research' a damn thing. I really shouldn't have a need to, because it is more or less a given to anyone and everyone except possibly creationists that life on Earth has survived extremes of climate and catastrophic events that make modern global warming look like a muggy day. Snowball Earth is just one example of the extremes of climate Earth is capable of enduring.Life, yes .... but what of the NS'rs to comment on it and bitch about it! That's the quality angle that could turn to loss and such, such sorrow!

BTW - might look up extremophiles / thermophiles. Good argument fodder.

:)

Well, seeing as the scientists are predicting that parts of my god damn state will be underwater soon, I'm gonna go with a 7...

Well, in that case, I'm down grading from my original statement of overal 7 to a 4. The destruction of New Jersey will be a blessing to us all, and increase the average quality of life of Earth 200%.

:D

Well, in that case, I'm down grading from my original statement of overal 7 to a 4. The destruction of New Jersey will be a blessing to us all, and increase the average quality of life of Earth 200%.

:DBut then we'd lose Gregory House, M.D., and as Wilson had said, he's a positive force in the universe! :(
And, we'd also lose the anus of John Malkovich's mind. For shame.

Problem with this poll is different numbers mean different things topeople, obviously 1 and 10 are defined but for someone something in the range of 3-4 is serious but for someone else something in the range of 7-8 is serious. This poll is too subjective and not objective enough.

Don't be so stuffy. I swear, you're so uptight, I can't pull a needle out of your ass with a tractor. :p

I didn't 'research' a damn thing. I really shouldn't have a need to, because it is more or less a given to anyone and everyone except possibly creationists that life on Earth has survived extremes of climate and catastrophic events that make modern global warming look like a muggy day. Snowball Earth is just one example of the extremes of climate Earth is capable of enduring.

Life =/= Human life.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/03/gores_faith_is_bad_science.html


So correct me if I'm wrong but isn't CO2 that stuff we exhale every time we breath? Isn't CO2 the stuff that plants breath and then give off oxygen? Isn't CO2 emission strongest in the world in the Brazilian Rain Forest and the Congo due to insects?

Maybe the answer to global warming is to slash burn the rain forests and the Congo and then everyone that still thinks global warming is the result of humans (apparently mainly Americans) can just hold their breath for 30 years till we are in our next cooling cycle.

Fear sells. Keep the people afraid of something and you can control them.
If you are afraid of something it would probably be a good idea to do a little research to find out if your fears are worth keeping.

Well, in that case, I'm down grading from my original statement of overal 7 to a 4. The destruction of New Jersey will be a blessing to us all, and increase the average quality of life of Earth 200%.

:D

You know us Jersians will seek to conquer new territory after we sink, right? Today: New Jersey! Tomorrow: No more Jersey! The Day After Tomorrow: New York! Mixed reviews for the kick-ass movie: The WORLD!!!

So correct me if I'm wrong

you are wrong

Somebody calculated that more species are going extinct (by the most conservative estimates) per year now than during the Permian extinction.

Somebody calculated that more species are going extinct (by the most conservative estimates) per year now than during the Permian extinction.

Though I can't source that statement.

Then offer a counter argument. Correct me. Just saying "you are wrong" is as empty as most of the "science" in support of ongoing global warming.

Obviously I'm not serious about burning the rain forest or the Congo. But I do have to wonder if there might be something to that breath holding idea.

Here are another couple of goodies to chew on...

In the 1970s the big panic was that we were rapidly headed for another ice age.

Burning yard debris releases less 'greenhouse' classed gas than composting.

Herd animals (primarily cattle) produce more methane than motor vehicles.

Most national global review committees only accepted scientists on their boards that supported the idea that global warming was a result of human activity.

Wake up people. Individual governments and the UN are using fear to manipulate you.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/03/gores_faith_is_bad_science.html


So correct me if I'm wrong but isn't CO2 that stuff we exhale every time we breath? Isn't CO2 the stuff that plants breath and then give off oxygen? Isn't CO2 emission strongest in the world in the Brazilian Rain Forest and the Congo due to insects?

Maybe the answer to global warming is to slash burn the rain forests and the Congo and then everyone that still thinks global warming is the result of humans (apparently mainly Americans) can just hold their breath for 30 years till we are in our next cooling cycle.

Fear sells. Keep the people afraid of something and you can control them.
If you are afraid of something it would probably be a good idea to do a little research to find out if your fears are worth keeping.

Are you honestly suggesting that CO2 is not a greenhouse gas? The burning of fossil fuels at mass rates will cause much more CO2 emissions than anything humans could manage.

Of course, climatologists are "controlling" people. Controlling them to do what? OMG, conspiracies are afoot!!!1!!1

Sure, we breathe out CO2. Living things are part of a carbon cycle. Burning fossil fuels introduces new carbon to the cycle. It throws off the balance.

The earth has a capacity to deal with CO2, but that capacity can be exceeded.

Furthermore, the proper term is global CLIMATE CHANGE. The average temperature of the earth IS increasing, but in some places, it may get cooler. Global climate change does mean there will be more extreme weather. It's not good.

I am quite certain that no matter how bad we fuck up the earth, we'll be able to survive. Other species won't be so lucky.

I said 7.

As I understand it, CO2 into the oceans will have two effects, one will be an overall rise in the temperature of the oceans, both on the surface and in it's depths, and secondary it will cause the acidity of the oceans to be highly increased.

In terms of the first, high water levels could directly effect coastal cities and the like in floods and the like, but that could be countered by altering development and other measures. The acidity rise as I understand it, depending on how long we put off cutting CO2 emissions, will damage and possibly destroy reefs, underwater plantation and ecosystem, and much sea life, which will in turn affect our economies greatly.

All of this obviously is saying what will happen if we don't do anything, but in seems as Europe gets on board, and the neocons in the US getting more alienated, it maybe possible to meet the proposed reductions, I believe the 60% overall decrease in emissions by 2020 should be enough.

So I guess how bad it will be will depend on how quickly we get to cutting emissions, if we do that now as I understand it, the effects will be minimal.

Life =/= Human life.

Well, I have a strange amount of faith in the human ability for survival. We're surprisingly adaptable as a whole. But to be honest, fuck human life. :)

I gave it a 4. I live in Canada. Shouldn't be too affected here, anyway, and the Canadian Government (should) be smart enough to get my butt out of my house and put it somewhere safe if my area is in danger.

Even if Global Warming is a threat to other countries, and maybe even mine, I'm not gonna do jack about it. We'll adapt.

Not to mention I've had to ride the bus for transportation for my whole life, and I'm sure as hell not going to keep riding it for the rest of my life. I'm gonna go buy a car when I get the money (and license...), and not a hybrid because those aren't affordable and the credits you get here for buying them in Canada aren't really worth it in my opinion. I'm sick and tired of riding with other people and having my life's schedule dictated by the buses' schedules. Oh well.

Yes, I'm that insensitive.

Today = 5 or 6

10 years from now = 8 or 9

20 years from now = 9.5 or higher


That's my estimate, anyway.

...When water freezes, it expands, if you put an ice cube in a glass of water the level will drop as that cube melts. If you think about an iceburg, something like 90% of it is underwater. With those facts in mind, it seems plausible that the ocean level could actually DROP as the ice melts. And if all the ice on earth melted (including anything on land, such as glaciers), the net effect wouldn't be even close to "catastrophic", unless like BongDong you live right at sea level...

True. That is, true if all of the major iced-up areas were just icebergs floating in the ocean, which they aren't. I mean think of Antarctica (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctica#Geography). Specifically: "About 98% of Antarctica is covered by the Antarctic ice sheet, a sheet of ice averaging at least 1.6 km (1.0 mi) thick. The continent has approximately 90% of the world's ice (approximately 70% of the world's fresh water). If all of this ice were melted sea levels would rise about 61 m (200 feet)."
Also Greenland (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland_ice_sheet). Again, specifically, "If the entire 2.85 million km3 of ice were to melt, it would lead to a global sea level rise of 7.2 m (23.6 ft.)[IPCC, 2001]. This would inundate most coastal cities in the world and remove several small island countries from the face of Earth..." My emphasis.
I'm not even going to list all the coastal cities at threat, but when you consider that (I need to find out whether this is true) supposedly over half the world's population lives within 30 miles of a coast... well, a 200 foot rise in sea level sound pretty catastrophic to me. Most of the southern UK'd be flooded, so that's me pretty much fucked.

Today = 5 or 6

10 years from now = 8 or 9

20 years from now = 9.5 or higher


That's my estimate, anyway.

Well, 20 to 30 years ago they said we were headed for another ice age. Go figure. :rolleyes:

Well, I have a strange amount of faith in the human ability for survival. We're surprisingly adaptable as a whole. But to be honest, fuck human life. :)Did you have a time and a place in mind?

Well, 20 to 30 years ago they said we were headed for another ice age. Go figure. :rolleyes:

do you honestly just block out all the times that the incorrectness of this statement gets demonstrated to you?

I gave it a 4. I live in Canada. Shouldn't be too affected here, anyway, and the Canadian Government (should) be smart enough to get my butt out of my house and put it somewhere safe if my area is in danger.

Even if Global Warming is a threat to other countries, and maybe even mine, I'm not gonna do jack about it. We'll adapt.

Not to mention I've had to ride the bus for transportation for my whole life, and I'm sure as hell not going to keep riding it for the rest of my life. I'm gonna go buy a car when I get the money (and license...), and not a hybrid because those aren't affordable and the credits you get here for buying them in Canada aren't really worth it in my opinion. I'm sick and tired of riding with other people and having my life's schedule dictated by the buses' schedules. Oh well.

Yes, I'm that insensitive.

Hybrids are cheaper than non-hybrids.

Well, 20 to 30 years ago they said we were headed for another ice age. Go figure. :rolleyes:Because human emissions of Sulfur dioxide which reflects incoming solar radiation. It was only after C02 levels continued to rise that the effect was over come and the temperature began to rise again.

And I doubt very much that many scientists were saying a new age age is coming.

Did you have a time and a place in mind?

Get em to line up and I'll get to business. :)

Well the fact that this isn't the first time that this has happen? I mean are we forgetting about the Medieval warming period?

The medieval warm period was not as warm as it is now.

Get em to line up and I'll get to business. :)worst failed flirt ever. I refuse to ever even consider dabbling my hands in such activity again. I talking about myself and not your respectable self. Wow, I managed to call you respectable AND keep a straight face.

For the planet itself in the extremely long term? 2, maybe 3. After all, Earth has been hammered by numerous astroids and had other calamities befall it.

For our species and many others? 9-10. The town of my birth is surrounded by water and basically at sea level. Bad times ahead.

worst failed flirt ever. I refuse to ever even consider dabbling my hands in such activity again. I talking about myself and not your respectable self. Wow, I managed to call you respectable AND keep a straight face.

I don't mean to question your stamina, but do you really think you're up to the task? :p

Get em to line up and I'll get to business. :)

Haha - this reminds me of a Seinfeld quote, which I can't be bothered to find but roughly goes..."Ha, fashion! Look, anyone can design a dress, but getting all those beautiful women together in one place....genius!"

:headbang: wow, this makes me angry! i live in northern canada (for real) and here, the effects are HUGE! Usually, our first snowfall is as early as late September to mid October. I recent years, it has been put over a month back. for example, this year, our first snow came after Christmas! That is months later than it should be!!! An i promise on my mothers grave that i tell you no lie. Usually, all our snow in town is gone by late april. this year, it is already gone. The coldest we got this year was -37oC. We usually can get as low as -45oC. the economy of the north is crumbling. for those who do not live in the north of ontario, our major economy (aside from mining and forestry) is ski-doo tourism. This year, the ski-doo trails were open for only a few weeks because there was not enough snow. usually, we can expect a few months of Americans coming up north to ski-doo, but this year, the ski-doo season was cut extremely short. it has been remarkably warm in recent years. Just watch the movie "An Inconvenient Truth" by Al Gore and you will see that global warming is FACT!!! Or you could come up north. Whichever way you take, global warming IS here.

Threat to Earth: 0
Threat to Humanity: 5-7(jumps to nine if WW3 starts due to Global Warming)
Threat To Civilization: 9(what I actually based my vote on)(jumps to ten if WW3 starts due to Global Warming)
Threat to our Lifestyle: 10