Global Warming?

[Gobalopper]

Interesting article on global warming, it was actually hotter during the middle ages then it is today.

Middle Ages were warmer than today, say scientists

20th century climate not so hot, study shows

[XxxbillabongxxX]

hey, i know you from westwood, neways, yeah, thats kinda weird that it was hotter in the middle ages than it is now. Its gonna suck if the polr icecaps melt and flood. We will be living in boats, thatd suk

[slaphapy]

umm ya the maha Gobbie is the admin of these boards now ^-^

Its gonna suck if the polr icecaps melt and flood. We will be living in boats, thatd suk

hehe waterworld, I love that movie :D

but, to the point, i think global warming got kinda over rated. I think it's really kind of stupid to think we will die of global warming before anything else... in fact the global warming in some cases is good, such as better environment for agriculture ;) (mmm food)

[Acriku]

Global warming is definitely overrated.

A note about the polar ice caps, the amount of water displaced by the polar ice caps is relatively equal to the amount of water in the polar ice caps. Remember - ice is water expanded, so really there is less water than displaced (appr.). So don't worry :)

[SurlyPIG]

Great links Gob. I've always thought that global warming was a highly exaggerated theory of a worst-case scenario that was blown out of proportion by Greenpeace and David Suzuki...

Acruku, I thought it might be. When you think of ice bergs, for instance, at least 85% of its volume is underwater. I know not all polar ice is that thick, or in the form of bergs, but its something to think about...

[Egeides]

I followed enough science in the last years to know that many researches came and many of them do not have the same results because it is apparently very hard to get certain and precise data/conclusions. And this is true for those who believe in catastrophic scenario as the ones thinking the warming is normal.

But whattever are the consequences of warming, it did came with industrialization. To which extent it is only from this, I dunno

[Emperor Harkonnen]

then how come Giedi Prime home of House Harkonnen is not overflooded by water. they don't care about the enviroment of their planet

[Vanguard3000]

Because Giedi Prime is a fictional planet. ::)

[Warlord Ripskar]

The ice of the North pole is not a concern since it is floating, however the ice of Antarctica is not which is a problem if it melts. We won't be living in boats, it's just low lying areas such as Holland and the Pacific islands that will disappear and they already live on boats. The real problem is that the climate will become more severe.

In Britain that means more floods, In the US it means more Tornadoes and Hurricanes etc.

[SurlyPIG]

You're forgetting the Antarctic waters. Note that the TOTAL amount of water displaced by ice TOTAL in the world is approximately equal to the amount of water they contain.

[Acriku]

Yep, but it's funny how people miss that knowledge, and go freaky-deaky on the icebergs. Idiots ;D

[ken124578]

and they already live on boats.

I should slap you for that >:(

[Vanguard3000]

My understanding is that the ocean will only rise by about 100m. That is, anything below 100m above sea level would be flooded. It would be pricey, considering that includes a lot of major cities, but it's not exactly threatening to the human race.

[Acriku]

100m sounds like poppycock to me. That is way too much. Maybe 100mm...

[Miles]

You're forgetting the Antarctic waters. Note that the TOTAL amount of water displaced by ice TOTAL in the world is approximately equal to the amount of water they contain.

except that Antarctica's ice largely is supported by land, and is not floating in the sea as are the glaciers in Canada, Alaska and Greenland. I still don't see it having catastophic rises in ocean levels, but climate changes may become a problem. However, we have to remember that the Earth's climate is not static. There could be natural reasons for the rise in temp.

[Gobalopper]

There could be natural reasons for the rise in temp.

The sun for example. :)

[Cyborg]

hehe waterworld, I love that movie :D

You too? ;D

[Edric O]

This is pathetic. A typical excuse used by greedy money-whores to keep pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere like there's no tomorrow. >:( (and if they keep doing it, there will be no tomorrow, quite literraly)

Gob, what exactly are you thinking? Do you deny basic chemistry? Greenhouse gases are making the Earth's atmosphere hotter. That is an undeniable FACT.

The melting of the West Antarctic ice sheet alone (which is the most unstable) would cause a worldwide rise in the sea level by 7 metres. That would be more than enough to flood almost every single coastal city in the world. The East Antarctic is extremely hard to melt, but if we manage to screw it up we'll have a massive 30 metres worldwide rise in sea levels. It may not seem like much, but if that happened tomorrow, the famine and population displacement it would cause would result in the complete collapse of the global economy, and the end of our civilization as we know it.

Personally, there's nothing I despise more than people saying "Hey, you can continue to screw up the environment all you like! It won't get TOO bad..."

[Acriku]

Edric, I have read scientific articles that global warming is overrated, and isn't as big as tree-huggers say it is. Check it out for yourself, tree-huggers exaggerate too much.

Also, it will be 7,000 years until it melts, rising the ocean 5 meters. Plenty of time to prepare for it.

[DjCiD]

"Screw the great-grandkids I want heat now!" ~ Drew Carey while spraying an aerosol out the door during winter ;D

[SurlyPIG]

DJ ozone depletion is not related in the slightest way to hydrocarbon combustion. Just CFCs. I suspect you know this, but obviously Drew Carey did not. ;)

Edric it is NOT a fact. It's a theory. And it's a lousy one at that. I could say that increasesd importations of manderin oranges are increasing the pregnancy rate of west-coast Canadians, but if I can't prove a link between the two its useless. Its a ludicrous connection, oranges and and pregnancy, as is pollution and global temperature. Action in support of this theory has been largely unscientific and misinformed. There is geological evidence that outlines Earth's recent climate history, and it is shown to be fluctuating widely. It fluctuates in a manner most like a dynamic equalibrium because of the nature of the system of the planet. Many factors contribute every ice age and every heat period to make the temperature go right back the other way.

I think we should be MUCH more concerned with things we actually know exist and can stop like sulfur gas from bad coal and oil, ozone depletion, garbage, forest decay etc. I think as humans I do not think it is our responsibility to maintain the status quo for things we do not effect. We do not effect global temperature.

Another note, Edric, you are correct about the Antarctic ice sheets. However, assuming GLOBAL warming is truly GLOBAL, the Arctic around Canada, Russia, and Greenland will increase in relative proportion and melt in relative proportion, lowering the sea level by a relatively equal amount. So we only need to be worried about Antarctic warming if the only concern is ocean rising. The only problem that might arise is that, although gravity equalizes sea levels relatively well, the water melting in the antarctic might have the tendancy not to venture very far.

[Gobalopper]

I'm not saying we shouldn't be trying to reduce emissions just that global warming isn't all its been made out to be. It is basically a scare tactic to try to get people to change in my opinion.

[slaphapy]

there is one(not saying there aren't more) bad thing that could come from spraying bad things into the atmosphere

if you do that enough then the atmosphere will get so thick that it will block out some light and you would end up with a sort of foggy looking sky.. you wouldn't be able to see the stars at night, and things like that, and during the day you wouldn't be able to see the sun, the whole sky would just block out the sun, making just a really white sky that's foggy... it would look really wierd, but also note: this wouldn't even get at all bad for a really really long time.. and I don't think anyone should say "we are going to die from global warming" because the amount of time it would take to get some serious effects of global warming is just enourmous. Before anything like that happens, the earth will probably be destroyed by some meteor or something.. you never know it may take so long that the sun may turn into a red giant consuming all of the planets up to saturn with it's growing size.. but that won't happen for another 5 million years or more ;)

[Exo Etherial]

Warmer in the Middle Ages, what areas during the Middle Ages? Did you know that he Middle Ages were a time of massive geological upheaval in the Americas? Volcanoes were forming or active at the time, and spewing huge quantities of CO2 into the air.

Global warming is a tricky thing. Especially considering the cold snap in the eastern United States and Canada. Most of the citizens there would consider Global Warming utter bunk. Yet when I look upon it, I see an example of its effects. Technically Global Warming is the addition of trapped energy in the atmosphere, not so much things everywhere getting warmer.

As heat is trapped by excessive amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, high-pressure systems start to form, and high winds pick up. Or winds that are already there pick up speed. Or in some instances slow down, or change directions. Where it might sweep away or completely obliterate naturally occurring warm weather patterns (the deep freeze in the East).

This shift in wind patterns effects evaporation rates over the ocean as well. Affecting rainfall because if the air is too heavy it rains prematurely, or if it's too light, it does not rain at all (the droughts in the West).

Well those are my thoughts; hope it helped a little bit.

[Edric O]

So, Ace, do you deny the existence of greenhouse gases? In other words, do you deny the CHEMICAL PROPERTIES of, say, carbon dioxide?

If CO2 does not affect global temperatures ( ::) ), then how do you explain the massive difference in temperature between Earth's and Venus' atmospheres? (among a hundred other things, but this is the most obvious)

Honestly, Ace, your argument is about as solid as a creationist's. Hey, evolution is a theory too! ::)

FACT: Emissions of greenhouse gases from human activities raise global temperatures. We're not sure how much or how fast, but they are warming the Earth's atmosphere. To claim that human activity has no effect on global temperatures means denying the chemical properties of a great number of substances (as well as saying that everything we know about Venus is a flat out lie).

Now, Gobalopper: Let's assume for a second that you are right. Tell me, how exactly is getting people to change a bad thing? How is reducing pollution a bad thing?

You know what this reminds me of? Nazi apologists... "Hitler didn't kill THAT many Jews" ::)