Re: The Great Global Warming Swindle
Interesting to see how the debate has unfolded and sadly it's as political as ever. Anywho let me preface my following comments as saying I generally believe that there is Global Warming. Is it all man made? Probably not but I still think it's credible.
1. Let's talk about the pop culture version of Global Warming for a moment. Under the view of pop culture and those who aren't inclined to study the phenomenon Global Warming just means we're all going to heat up and die from the runaway greenhouse effect a la Venus. In recent years (last 10-15 years) the effects of Global Warming have been viewed by the scientific community in quite a different way. One such view is that weather will become more eratic, go through wild swings etc etc. Just look at this winter as an example of this. The atmospheric conditions are very unsettled.
There are theories which propose that instead of us dying from the heat of global warming we'll continue to face wild and extreme weather which could lead to a deep freeze. This theory seems to have some creedence as the Jet Stream actually slowed to a crawl over the north atlantic waters which gave northern and central Europe some extreme cold, snow, and howling winds while most of North America was going through some very unseasonable warm weather. A visualization of this deep freeze theory can be found in the film THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW or if you want to go to the source material then pick up Art Bell and Whitley Streiber's THE COMING GLOBAL SUPERSTORM.
Another corolary to Global Warming is Global Dimming which addresses a question dossier asked about chemicals in the atmosphere. Atmospheric scientists have noticed (and i'm sure older folks on here too) that sunlight doesn't seem to be as bright as it used to be. This is because of CO2s in the atmosphere and such creating smog/haze that envelopes the planet. The scary thing about it? it seems that the more pollutants we pump out the more the haze/smog blocks out sunlight and keeps the planet warmer then it should be. So not only are we warming the planet but we're potentially blocking out one of the most important ingredients for life in sunlight.
2. About cycles, they're not 30 year cycles. That's way too small of a sample size for a planet that's been around for millions of years rather we should look at the overall picture. A few months ago TIME magazine did a story about how the Earth is the hottest it's been in thousands of years. Even that is too short of a span to look at because while it's true that it's hotter now then it has been in a few thousand years the media fails to mention that the Earth was in a mini ice age so obviously now that we're getting out of that ice age it's going to be hotter now then it was then! However, there is corresponding evidence that does show that while the warming may be natural we as humans are speeding it up. Temperatures have been skyrocketing with the introduction of the Industrial Age. The more pollutants we put into the atmosphere coincides with the increased temps. So it does seem that the warming trend is natural but we're pushing it like a maniacal driver on the highway.
3. Last but not least, without getting political about nuclear power you'll notice that environmentalists don't talk about it much, why? Because they know damn well that it's probably the safest and most efficient alternative form of energy on the planet but they've painted themselves in a corner by screaming for years about how nuclear power is dangerious and we'll see a North American Chernobyl. So they just stay mum on the topic of nuclear power and hopes it goes away.
Interesting to see how the debate has unfolded and sadly it's as political as ever. Anywho let me preface my following comments as saying I generally believe that there is Global Warming. Is it all man made? Probably not but I still think it's credible.
1. Let's talk about the pop culture version of Global Warming for a moment. Under the view of pop culture and those who aren't inclined to study the phenomenon Global Warming just means we're all going to heat up and die from the runaway greenhouse effect a la Venus. In recent years (last 10-15 years) the effects of Global Warming have been viewed by the scientific community in quite a different way. One such view is that weather will become more eratic, go through wild swings etc etc. Just look at this winter as an example of this. The atmospheric conditions are very unsettled.
There are theories which propose that instead of us dying from the heat of global warming we'll continue to face wild and extreme weather which could lead to a deep freeze. This theory seems to have some creedence as the Jet Stream actually slowed to a crawl over the north atlantic waters which gave northern and central Europe some extreme cold, snow, and howling winds while most of North America was going through some very unseasonable warm weather. A visualization of this deep freeze theory can be found in the film THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW or if you want to go to the source material then pick up Art Bell and Whitley Streiber's THE COMING GLOBAL SUPERSTORM.
Another corolary to Global Warming is Global Dimming which addresses a question dossier asked about chemicals in the atmosphere. Atmospheric scientists have noticed (and i'm sure older folks on here too) that sunlight doesn't seem to be as bright as it used to be. This is because of CO2s in the atmosphere and such creating smog/haze that envelopes the planet. The scary thing about it? it seems that the more pollutants we pump out the more the haze/smog blocks out sunlight and keeps the planet warmer then it should be. So not only are we warming the planet but we're potentially blocking out one of the most important ingredients for life in sunlight.
2. About cycles, they're not 30 year cycles. That's way too small of a sample size for a planet that's been around for millions of years rather we should look at the overall picture. A few months ago TIME magazine did a story about how the Earth is the hottest it's been in thousands of years. Even that is too short of a span to look at because while it's true that it's hotter now then it has been in a few thousand years the media fails to mention that the Earth was in a mini ice age so obviously now that we're getting out of that ice age it's going to be hotter now then it was then! However, there is corresponding evidence that does show that while the warming may be natural we as humans are speeding it up. Temperatures have been skyrocketing with the introduction of the Industrial Age. The more pollutants we put into the atmosphere coincides with the increased temps. So it does seem that the warming trend is natural but we're pushing it like a maniacal driver on the highway.
3. Last but not least, without getting political about nuclear power you'll notice that environmentalists don't talk about it much, why? Because they know damn well that it's probably the safest and most efficient alternative form of energy on the planet but they've painted themselves in a corner by screaming for years about how nuclear power is dangerious and we'll see a North American Chernobyl. So they just stay mum on the topic of nuclear power and hopes it goes away.
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