Are we a part of the problem?

What can we do to stop it?

Humankind seems to be a virus to Earth like aids is to our body (destroing all defenses till it colapses).

Ice is melting and sea levels are rising, big changes are coming, how do you feel and what consequences manking is going to experience?

Click to view attachment

Climate change is part of the natural cycle of the planet. Millions of years ago big icy space boulders crashed together to form the earth, then as geological processes started it became a flaming hot planet full of volcanoes and sulfur, over the years the temperature has cooled and reheated and cooled. I don't think theres anything to worry about!

We can all be socially more responsible, stop landfill, stop polluting the air we breath, stop killing each other, but global warming isnt a problem, just part of evolution.

Also, proven fact that water produces more carbon emissions than leaf litter which produces more CO2 than humans so unless we drain the seas and chop down all the trees i think were not going to stop climate change with a few concerts and tax increases, and everybody, all the time telling us we CAN turn back evolution!

Anyway thats my rant!! - good topic!

Almost every scientist on earth (except the ones being paid by corporate interests) agree now that humans have done damage to the planet, that global warming is real, that we caused it, and that what we've done needs to be reversed almost immediately. So you can listen to folks on the Internet who say "it's not real" or you can take the word of the tens of thousands of scientists who have been doing the research.

Here are some interesting articles to read -

The cold truth about climate change (salon)

A Primer in Climate Change for Doubters

The believers (Union of Concerned Scientists)

hell, even George W. Bush had to admit it

Here are a few of the doubters.

That said, I don't really see us as a virus on the planet. I see us making mistakes and learning from them, correcting them, cleaning them up, and figuring out better ways of doing them.

On the political front, even McCain is on board now. I'm pretty sure whoever our next president is, we'll be signing the Kyoto accord. The evidence is overwhelming now. The debate is over.

We have the technology to fix this. I really hope that we do something soon. I have been trying to change my way of life for awhile now.
The biggest influence we can have on this is to change our energy needs. We need to move away from fossil fuels and towards renewable resources. We have the technology to make the changes, the problem is the investments... Just don't get me started on this...

You know me, I've got a documentary for everything.

I strongly suggest a viewing of
Who Killed the Electric Car?

Torrent

About why we don't have electric cars yet (we could). Plenty of blame to go around.

Oh yea

We realy are aware of the climate changes and that we are responsible in some part.

But are we making the necessary changes to prevent catastrophe?

I've heard that Arab Emirates Say They Will Build Pollution-Free City;
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Arab-Emirat...ity-76892.shtml

Europe should have done this long ago... i hope we start soon so i can go live there Arab Emirates is to far away for me

do you really think you can turn back climate change? who was responsible for previous ice ages? who was responsible for the dark ages? who was responsible for the dinosaur extinction? I agree we can all change things we do, and i do believe global warming is real, but i don't believe we can undo something that appears to be a natural state of the planets life cycle.

In the universe energy is neither created nor destroyed, it is just in a state of constant movement. Before plants the world was almost 100% carbon, plants changed this to create oxygen, but now we think that somehow humans in the last 50 years of a billion year evolution of the world have changed everything. Are humans really that significant?

No one is saying that it is not part of the natural process. The issue is we are speeding up this process, instead of trying to retard the process.

Science has showed a massive increase in CO2 emissions in the 50 years prior to the industrial revolution so i dont think we are speeding it up that much. I think humans have caused a great deal of damage to the environment especially through the creation and use man made chemicals such as Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) and Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloroethane (DDT) which are still used in some industries around the world, but i think that is a separate issue from pure global warming.

If we have sped up the process of global warming, i fail to believe we can stop it or slow it down and especially not turn the clock back............ I wish we could!!

Personally i have a pretty good carbon foot print. I dont fly, im a veggie, i recycle and i compost. My biggest impact is the car i drive and the household energy i consume, and i would love to see more alternative energy and less pollution but only because i believe that is socially responsible.

I feel the same way. I just wish they would find better alternatives, they are out there but guess who loses money.. the government if we go away from fossil fuels... Dont get me started..again...

There is no way to turn back the cycle, I agree with you on that. I don't believe in turning that back, just saying that retardation of the cycle could happen. That is my viewpoint.

Thankfully scientists have already addressed this, and hundreds of them, from all over the globe, lent their voices to how we can correct the damage we have caused. They even formed a global pact, the Kyoto treaty, which hundreds of countries (even highly industrialized countries like Japan) have signed on to. So change is both possible and necessary and we've been given the information on what to do about it. It's up to individuals to make changes in their own lives and governments to install strict standards for change to take place.

One major change has already occurred with the banning of chlorofluorocarbons.

It's easy to say, "Bah we can't do anything about it." A lot of folks, particularly in corporate industries like oil and auto manufacturing and so forth, would LOVE us to adopt this attitude. Thankfully, the science is now compelling enough that even governments are being motivated to do what they can.

If we have sped up the process of global warming, i fail to believe we can stop it or slow it down and especially not turn the clock back............ I wish we could!!

It's too bad you didn't read any of the links I posted. Seems your mind is already made up. Nothing can be done about it. Oh well. To which I would simply respond, just keep living your green life because you find it socially responsible. As long as you're doing that, you're not a part of the problem, regardless of what you believe.

dont take this as a slur against the US but With less than five percent of the world’s population, the United States is responsible for about 25 percent of total global warming pollution. Despite this fact, in 2001 President George W. Bush withdrew the U.S. from the Kyoto process, claiming that the Protocol was unfair to industrialized countries and would hurt the U.S. economy.

Just as Mudget stated, I am hoping our next president signs this as well.



25% is a pretty big amount, that is 1/4 of the amount. A freaking quarter of the pollution comes out of the US. That is a huge amount if we can shrink that down.

By some theories:

Before the dinosaurs were around the Volcanoes of the World were very active, spewing milions of tons of carbon into the air. Eventually, algae and later plants began to colonize the land, and in so converted the green house gas into oxygen. Huge rain forests spanned the globe, and over time the carbon in the air was held up in the biomass of the forests. Dinosaurs and turtles and scorpions and even mammals lived there, till whatever it was killed them off. Anyway, those forests are what coal is (according to what I've read) made of.

Looking at it from this view, our burning of all these fossil fuels (Do your local power come from Coal?) is kind of like restarting the cycle, taking the role of the volcanoes.

The real trick here that everyone can do now is to use less energy and buy (a lot less) things

The earth is always going to win, if you abuse it, it will wipe you out... the biggest problem is the clear cutting of the rain forests... period point blank.

I've always thought the U.S. response (under Bush) to Kyoto was completely juvenile. Basically it was "since China's not doing it, we're not doing it, neener neener". Real wisdom there.

Considering that the global warming is natural way for our planet to behave, it would be really bad if we would stop it. Life on the planet earth would come crashing down.

And I'm a bit sceptic about the whole global warming stuff. Yeah, we do our share of it, but is it really that bad as Al Gore is saying? Doubt it. Great example would be that if our calculations were correct, we would have run out of oil meny years ago and internet would have crashed. Neither has happened.

All I'm saying is that you should think about the way you live, but don't have a mental breakdown if you forget to switch off the lights when you leave the house.

I agree with Mudget that the majority of the scientific community is backing the science behind global warming and and our impact on it. It is my understanding that science does not discredit global warming being a natural process, that with time brings about significant temperature change across the globe, but our actions are 100% related to the speed in which it is happening and severity.

Taking care of the environment through conservation and sustainability is the key to a bright future. When we re-learn to adapt to our environment rather than adapt our environment to suite us we will start to win-(not only with global warming). When a greater economic premium starts being placed on the environment by the business world energy conscious technology will become the norm and viable option on mass. People scared of loosing money by investing in the environment forget there is often product unlike many of the .coms that were often just ideas that floated( don't get me wrong love ideas)

Without all the big players America, China, India and Russia taking a stand there are some hard times ahead and I guess that's inevitable Earth only has a finite amount of resources .The richest will feel the strain last so bring it to them and unite. Tell your local member of parliament that you want them to get to work in a electric car powered by solar panels @ home. Put the pressure on

Polttouuni! you just gave me an Idea for a short film.

It starts out with a scruffy guy, (conservationist type, hemp sandals, vegan the whole nine... Scene starts out he leaves his house gets in his Eco-friendly Electric car.
Scene flashes back to his house with a light on, he catches it in his rear view.... it consumes him, he keeps looking back not noticing he is gaining speed, losing track of things because he is upset about the light, heading down the hill faster & faster... now the house out of his sight, he looks ahead and emerging through his windshield is a huge green power transformer! he crashes into it! *pan back to the block he lives on... all lights go out. steam rises from the crushed eco-car as he shakes his head.

[no humans were harmed in this short film, just one unlucky above ground power transformer & eco-car]

Time to break out the steady cam, think I'll call it lights out.
Don't worry I'll give you an executive directors credit Polttouuni

And I'm a bit sceptic about the whole global warming stuff. Yeah, we do our share of it, but is it really that bad as Al Gore is saying? Doubt it.

Well, what you have to do is have hundreds (thousands) of scientists do research into the area and come to a conclusion based on hard data and no politics (and no guessing). Because that has been done and is still being done, there has been a consensus in the scientific community. Does it mean they are right? No. Scientific consensus can change over time. But for now, the answer is: man-made global warming exists. You can see the ozone hole from satellites. You can correspond the ozone hole with 70 years of industrialization. You can google this and read to your heart's content. But you can't just "doubt it" without actually knowing the facts (unless you don't want your opinion taken seriously).

Oh I have watched that Al Gore movie. I hated how it seemed more of a way to get publicity. And I'm not saying we haven't had our share of it.

I'm just saying that for now, ranting about the global warming is a pop thing. Meny people want to look a little bit more caring. There are things that are in much worse shape than our lovely little ozonelayer, but for now, it's "cool" to be so activive with things type of things. And meny firms have made a great business with it.

Are you sure that that everything Al Gore is saying is true? It isn't as bad as he is saying. Just wanted his little movie to be a little more dramatic.

Oh and I loved they way you made me look like a total angst by forgetting the last part of my post. You know, the part where I told people to live as well as they can, but not have a mental breakdown if they forget to turn off the lights when they go out.

P.S. Thank you Unfazed. Sounds like a great movie!

I wasn't dissing you if that was what you were thinking, just a random thought I had. Unless you meant Mudget dissed your last part.. uhh gettin late.

Nope, not you. And I really didn't mean dis as a disrespect. As you can see, I do have some language barrier going on here.

Ok man no worries then , I'm with you about not going too crazy about Global warming...

The clear cutting of rainforests, bothers me the most of all, if it could stop instantly now... we could recover, most people don't even see this as the biggest problem, imho it is, you can't recreate it once it's gone unlike other things that can repair themselfs, entire species of plants that could be beneficial to humans go extinct, along with many animals. Rainforest deforestation does contribute in global warming along with other problems.

More info here if interested. http://www.rain-tree.com/facts.htm

Oh I have watched that Al Gore movie. I hated how it seemed more of a way to get publicity. And I'm not saying we haven't had our share of it.

Just to set the record straight, I've never even mentioned Al Gore or his movie. To be honest, he was behind the times when he put that movie out, but I'm glad it educated some new people anyway. But no, man-made global warming exists with or without Al Gore and his movie.

I know that it exists. I was just saying that I have had my share of the "global warming propaganda". And it was a movie that showed the worst possible situation.

Thats exactly the truth and we need to change our ways.

Probably in our life time we won't see NYC or California or New Jersey under water but it will happen... Sooner if we

don't give a crap about man-made global warming, or not so soon if we start to slow the process.

Hey man believe whatever you want. That movie just reflected the current consensus by the majority of the earth's scientists. That's why I personally think it's a big deal. Not because of "propaganda" of any sort, which after years of studying propaganda, do not find "An Inconvenient Truth" to be. It's more like a science lesson.

My suggestion to you, if you don't like the documentaries ("An Inconvenient Truth" is just one of several), then do your own research and find out what you can. Come to your own conclusions. But always, always, scrutinize the source of your info.

Global warming has nothing to do with Al Gore. Most of us don't do anything because of childish refusal and selfishness

It takes *at least* $100 to clean up every $1 of pollution. You can't re-make ecosystems or species. Live with the lights off. Turn the TV off if you are on the computer. Stop buying new stuff. Go climb some trees & do some drugs people! Trust me, you'll like it :D

I do believe in global warming, but i don't believe that us ( citzens and the public) are causing it, global warming was a result of coparates and government's eternal greed.
take into consideration the following :

a car that emits carbon dioxide 15 times as much as a normal V4 engine car would contribute to global warming.

a petrol refinary that emits 800 times as much as a that same car, would VASTLY contribute to global warming.

IMO; we don't really NEED to buy hybrid cars and such, because that's not the major problem, the problem is; those companies and goverments that are behind the making of each product that in a small way contributes to the global warming issue.

so it's not how we use the stuff, it's how they make the stuff

Lots of stuff contributes significantly to global warming, both man-made and not.

Cow flatulence, however silly it sounds, it a significant contributor. lol

Airplane contrails contribute.

Actually, airplanes are second only to cars in contributing to the problem.

No doubt we can do our own part to help with the problem.

NASA's take on global warming

Take the Green IQ quiz

'Earth Hour' to plunge millions into darkness

By Madeleine Coorey Posted Thu Mar 27, 2008 10:57pm PDT

NASA image of planet Earth in July 2007. Twenty-six cities around the world are set to turn off the lights at 0900 GMT in an effort to raise awareness about global warming.(AFP/NASA/File)

SYDNEY (AFP) - Twenty-six major cities around the world are expected to turn off the lights on major landmarks, plunging millions of people into darkness to raise awareness about global warming, organisers said.

'Earth Hour' founder Andy Ridley said 371 cities, towns or local governments from Australia to Canada and even Fiji had signed up for the 60-minute shutdown at 0900 GMT on March 29.

"There are definitely 26 (cities) that we think, if it all goes to plan, we are going to see a major event of lights going off," he told AFP.

Cities officially signed on include Chicago and San Francisco, Dublin, Manila, Bangkok, Copenhagen and Toronto, all of which will switch off lights on major landmarks and encourage businesses and homeowners to follow suit.

Ridley said it was also likely that other major European cities such as Rome and London, and the South Korean capital Seoul, although not officially taking part, would turn off lights on some attractions or landmarks.

The initiative began in Sydney last year and has become a global event, sweeping across 35 countries this year.

From 8:00 pm local time in Sydney, the energy-saving campaign will see harbourside icons such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House bathed only in moonlight, restaurant diners eat by candlelight and city skyscrapers turn off their neon signs.

Organisers hope the initiative will encourage people to be more aware of their energy usage, knowing that producing electricity pollutes the atmosphere through the burning of fossil fuels which are contributing to global warming.

But they are also aware that it will be just a small step in solving the problem of rising temperatures around the globe.

"Switching the lights off for an hour is not going to make a dent in global emissions," organiser Charles Stevens, of the environmental group WWF, told AFP.

"But what it does do is it is a great catalyst for much bigger changes. It engages people in the processes of becoming more energy efficient."

Stevens said the initiative encouraged businesses to be more careful with their electricity use while at the same time sending "a fairly powerful message to governments that people are demanding action."

Some 2.2 million people participated in last year's 'Earth Hour' in Sydney, cutting the central business district's energy usage by more than 10 percent.

While no cities from China or India are involved this year, Stevens said it was hoped that the movement would expand in 2009, which he said would be a particularly significant year given that it is the deadline for United Nations talks to determine future action on climate change after the Kyoto Protocol.

Ridley, who began 'Earth Hour' last year while working with WWF Australia, said the initiative was about individuals and global companies joining together to own a shared problem -- climate change.

"Governments and businesses are joining individuals, religious groups, schools and communities in this terrific movement that's all about making a change for the better," he said.

"It's staggering to see so much support from across the globe in just our second year and we're hoping that this will continue to grow year after year."

Cities officially involved in 'Earth Hour' include Aalborg, Aarhus, Adelaide, Atlanta, Bangkok, Brisbane, Canberra, Chicago, Christchurch, Copenhagen, Darwin, Dublin, Hobart, Manila, Melbourne, Montreal, Odense, Ottawa, Perth, Phoenix, San Francisco, Suva, Sydney, Tel Aviv, Toronto and Vancouv

we are part of the problem.. .i think so.. .we made this problem.. .making new things that we think makes our life easy.. .we always look at the positive effects/results of the things we do.. .there are some "side-effects" of these things.. .that results to these 7 new sins.. .as well as Global Warming.. .

we always "bite into the bright side".. .

for me we are... thats why we have to do our part... this is our home lets clean it , & live it....

^^ I know where you've just been

quite frankly I don't really care about Global warming and its effects hundreds of years from now. And there's absolutely nothing I can do about it so I'll just sit back, have a smoke, enjoy my life, and worry about current events rather than a future I won't be alive in...

I bet you haven't got any kids.

Deja vu

At least he's honest. But it's too bad most people have that attitude. "Live for now, nevermind the future". Unfortunately people are going to be acquiring all of our messes. I'm glad at least some people have the respect to want to make a positive difference.

and now you're making me feel bad... but seriously, there's nothing, as an individual, I can do about it. Nor can anyone of us. Saving electricity or using hybrid cars will not make that big of a "difference",, if it's happening it's happening... That's why I'll just let the future generations worry about it... We got enough problems of our own

You can stop making it worse.



What have they done to deserve it? Nothing, they don't even exist yet, of course :)

thought that i might get in this

Before i say anything else let me make it clear that i think that Global warming is something that is a true and very real naturally occurring but human speed process, and these are my opinions (some facts are scattered throughout )

As far as i can see, it is quite true that global warming is something that we need to begin to think about, or should have began to think about quite some time ago (depending on how you view the problem). However, i do believe that most everyone will agree with me when i say that even if we start now, with efforts (on a major front) to lessen pollution problems (stupid greenhouse effect) there will more then likely be nothing done by the majority of people.

Mainly because if some kind of united front were to be started by oh lets say the U.S government, it would mean that years of denial and supposed funding for ways to reduce this effect would have to be told to the public. This of course would probably not happen until something catastrophic happens.

Anyways, i guess it is pretty much clear that we are the problem, whether or not we would care to admit it. It seems that we (humans) tend to abuse all of our natural resources, until we begin to have problems on a major scale; either that or we simply "sweep it under the rug" --- so to speak. Though i do find it rather funny that we end up playing the blame game with these sorts of things. As to how it is that we would be able to lessen the problem, well i believe that we should go a LOT greener.......i think it was mentioned before that the U.S contributes 25% to the pollution of the world.

@ Mudget - i would have to agree with you when you say that the attitude of A SHIT LOAD of people today are simply Live for today, and screw tomorrow...bt i guess with today's society structure (mainly in the U.S) its to be expected. Though this doesnt make it any less saddening

@ melbournecroatia - love the pic

Can an individual make a difference that matters?

Yes.

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/25984

http://www.npca.org/wildlife_protection/make_a_difference/

http://honda.house.gov/townhall/global-war...-JMagalhaes.pdf (pdf)

http://www.globalwarminginstitute.org/

what's the point of this one if people still don't realize the importance of this?

global warming is a sham, a money grab. its a natural process, one that the earth goes through on occasion. pouring money into it doesnt help either, it just makes those people richer. what we should be pouring money into is the space program. that's where the future lies, and there we can actually do some good. global warming right now though, is just a greedy money grab

maybe pouring money could help in a proper way as well as led my proper people.. .

my two cents

in a way that is harmful to us( immediately ) and our environment. So really everything YOU do affects us all. We all need to realize this and act upon it.





It is a shame we cannot learn to produce what we make for our personal enjoyment , pass time , work, pleasure , in a manor that would make a positive impact on our global environment. our current efforts aren't organized enough, globally, to make the kind of impact we need to implement in order to ensure a healthy prosperous earth for generation to come. in other words, dont produce things that will have a negative environmental impact, or cant be intirely recycled. we need to learn how to make things in a way that wont create these negative environmental impacts and stop using those that do. a very hard thing to do when our governments arent making sure those options are available. it should be their responsibility to provide this , however, maybe its our duty to informe them (the governments) of their responsibility.



The real shame would be not to do anything at all. So that 20 years from now we can all tell our kids how good we used to have it, that we didn't need respirators to go play outside. And that we just couldn't do anything about how we changed our lives, because we would be forced to outside our comfort zone. sometimes i hate myself for the way i live.



Also, we really need some hero's out there. some of us don't have the finances to make a big difference. But i know there are lots of rich people just sitting on their piles of money. And I'm not saying thats a bad thing at all. But if you are not going to use it in the next ten life times then why not do something that may get you remembered for ever. By using it to clean up the world, and implement a serious global environmental group. That alone would gain the respect of the global population, and give the group the power it would need to enforce global environmental regulations and standards. As well as making sure proper and adequate research is done, so that we always have the best and safest methods available for our population and planet.

and with said respect from the global population , would have power to enforce governments to environmental codes set by those who know and care. and aproved by vote, globally.


i wish, the world would have to be run on something other than greed,
best of luck to us!



Sincerely, kronictokr

ps

i vote we start a petition for global environmental unity. the G.E.U.
for the protection of futur generations! Anyone wana help?


i have something similar already started, not a petition.
global environmental awareness. but i have to admit i have neglected it for a while, and you'll find a similar text to this there, as well as other ideas and links
check it out if you like

heres the link
http://groups.myspace.com/globalenvironmentalawareness

of course you come with a cynical opinion while thousands of neutral scientists come with actual evidence. once again, i'll listen to the science of the day.

Global warming is real. Sure, it can be a natural occurrence, but there is no doubt that even if it is natural we are drastically speeding the process up. Also, global warming is being used as a sham by some people to exploit the fear for money, but that does not mean it isn't real. Just because some butt heads are using it to profit doesn't mean everyone is.