# Global Warming Is it true or Not?



## i'myourpal (Sep 3, 2022)

From National Geographic to local newspapers I'm sure you've heard about global warming issues. Mostly, scientists have been studying this issue.
Sometimes they exaggerate things just so they keep our interest.

How do we know if this global warming is true if we can't go out to see it for ourselves?
Is this polar ice really melting? If it's still rising in America or Canada then how can we still go to the beach?
Even if not the beach then any ocean that you can stand by the seashore?
The weather over here is cooler more months then hotter.

So does anyone know if the global warming is true or is it just a myth? 
What is your whole take on this issue?


----------



## RB-TX (Sep 3, 2022)

i'myourpal said:


> From National Geographic to local newspapers I'm sure you've heard about global warming issues. Mostly, scientists have been studying this issue.
> Sometimes they exaggerate things just so they keep our interest.
> 
> How do we know if this global warming is true if we can't go out to see it for ourselves?
> ...


My opinion only, I have no education on the subject, but I have been around for 88 years and lived in several area in the US, and observed. 

First of all, there are always records broken for heat, cold, snow, etc. all over the country, which makes it easy to confuse weather conditions which are temporary with climate, which can only be measured over many thousands of years.  

Second, history tells us we have had much colder climate at times as evidenced by the ice ages.  So we have obviously had global warming in the past. 

Based on my observations, I believe winters are generally a bit colder on the average, and perhaps summers are a bit warmer. But that is only one life time, so it means little.  If it were 5,000 or 10,000 years from now, our observations would carry more meaning.

So, my conclusion is that I don't know, but I do think climate change has always gone on, and will continue. 
Do I think humans have caused it?  No!  Possibly they have had a minuscule affect, but in the whole, human involvement is insignificant.

All the money thrown at the effort to control
the weather / climate, won't make a hoot of difference.

Politicians and scientist have reason to keep the issue alive, and that id money.

You asked for my take on the subject.  This is what I believe.


----------



## Grampa Don (Sep 3, 2022)

There are those who willfully ignore information they do not want to believe.  Trying to convince them otherwise is fruitless.

Is the earth flat?  Did we really go to the moon?  Is Elvis alive?


----------



## Packerjohn (Sep 3, 2022)

I live in Canada so things are not too bad.  However, I do walk either before or right after breakfast.  The afternoons are just too hot.  If you don't believe in global warming, you need to sit down with a nice cold beer with those folks from the UK or some of the "beautiful" people from California.  You just might learn something, dud!


----------



## Warrigal (Sep 3, 2022)

Come to Australia and you will have no doubt. The climate is definitely changing. Decade by decade the average temperatures have been increasing. The nine hottest years on record have all occurred in the last ten years.

Summers (and the fire season) are becoming longer and Winters are on the whole milder and shorter. Some places have experienced repeated major flooding events in the same year and wildfires have been catastrophically huge in area.

In Antarctica the (eastern?) ice sheet is melting from below and breaking up as it slides into the ocean. The same thing is happening to glaciers just about everywhere. Quite recently in the northern hemisphere melting of a glacier (can't remember where exactly but I think in Asia?) caused a glacial lake to collapse causing catastrophic flooding to villages and towns down stream. 

So yes, @i'myourpal, take it from me and from the evidence, global warming is real and we have been too slow to take action. I remember being in New Zealand in 1975 and standing on the edge of a glacier that had retreated quite a long way over recent times. One glacier retreating is not of consequence but when glaciers in both hemispheres are in retreat the planet is trying to tell us something.


----------



## dko1951 (Sep 3, 2022)

There is plenty of sand for those needing a place for their head. One thing for sure, there is nothing that can be done about now. We have reached the tipping point just like the hammer ride at the carnival, no stopping now.


----------



## Don M. (Sep 3, 2022)

There is mounting evidence...all over the globe...that climate change IS occurring.  Anyone who denies this is obviously Not paying attention to the news.  This is not something that will impact most of us in the near future, but those living in another 50+ years will be increasingly affected.  Perhaps when Florida and much of the Eastern and Gulf seaboards are under water, and much of our SW is uninhabitable, the "deniers" will wake up to reality.


----------



## Nathan (Sep 3, 2022)

i'myourpal said:


> So does anyone know if the global warming is true or is it just a myth?
> What is your whole take on this issue?


This has been debated to death on countless sites all over the internet.  It is a political football now(for the past 20 years).

Go read what the experts*** have to say, rather than regurgitate the propaganda that the naysayers offer.  Propaganda is the tool to control your mind, not enlighten you as to the facts.

***https://climate.nasa.gov/


----------



## Alligatorob (Sep 3, 2022)

i'myourpal said:


> How do we know if this global warming is true if we can't go out to see it for ourselves?


Look at the extensive temperature data that has been published, no question its getting warmer.  I pretty much agree with @RB-TX when he says "_there are always records broken for heat, cold, snow, etc. all over the country, which makes it easy to confuse weather conditions which are temporary with climate, which can only be measured over many thousands of years_." The only way to understand what is happening is to look at the long term data.  That clearly shows warming.


i'myourpal said:


> Is this polar ice really melting? If it's still rising in America or Canada then how can we still go to the beach?


North pole for sure, lots of photos and data showing it.  South pole is a little harder to see, but evidence is net melting.  

Water level has only risen a few inches, beaches are still there, but in many places further inland than they used to be.  Having lived much of my life on low lying lands close to the Gulf of Mexico I have seen this rise and its effects in my lifetime.


i'myourpal said:


> The weather over here is cooler more months then hotter.


Could be, localized changes vary, some places are getting colder, but not nearly so many as warmer.  Its the long term global average that matters.


i'myourpal said:


> So does anyone know if the global warming is true or is it just a myth?


I believe it is true.  And I think most all the long term data supports it.


i'myourpal said:


> What is your whole take on this issue?


It's a complex one, sorting out the magnitude of the effects and causes is hard enough.  Forecasting the future even harder.  And again I agree with at least some of what @RB-TX says:


RB-TX said:


> All the money thrown at the effort to control
> the weather / climate, won't make a hoot of difference.
> 
> Politicians and scientist have reason to keep the issue alive, and that id money.


Doing anything effective is hard, it would have to be at a global level to work.  We don't even agree as to what the best thing to do is.  Much less have hope of getting most of the world to do it, even if we knew and agreed what "it" was.  And politicians have latched onto this and really confused the issue.


----------



## i'myourpal (Sep 3, 2022)

Alligatorob said:


> I believe it is true.  And I think most all the long term data supports it.


The reason why I asked members here the only ocean I have seen is the Pacific Ocean because I lived there.
I've been out of that state for 15yrs away from the drought and wildfires. But asking you guys and not just reading newspapers gives me another aspect of what I see.


Warrigal said:


> Come to Australia and you will have no doubt. The climate is definitely changing. Decade by decade the average temperatures have been increasing. The nine hottest years on record have all occurred in the last ten years.
> 
> Summers (and the fire season) are becoming longer and Winters are on the whole milder and shorter. Some places have experienced repeated major flooding events in the same year and wildfires have been catastrophically huge in area.
> 
> ...


you helped me to learn more about your country as far as the weather. You seem to be taking a bigger hit by a certain degree then the US.
Australia is probably closer than the US to the ice caps.

So all the answers that were said makes it sounds like the global warming is really true. Because worldwide especially near the water is seeing what is taking place around us.
California was too calm and nice weather that I couldn't understand until i came here and get a different perspective on what things are like.


----------



## Warrigal (Sep 4, 2022)

i'myourpal said:


> The reason why I asked members here the only ocean I have seen is the Pacific Ocean because I lived there.
> I've been out of that state for 15yrs away from the drought and wildfires. But asking you guys and not just reading newspapers gives me another aspect of what I see.
> 
> you helped me to learn more about your country as far as the weather. You seem to be taking a bigger hit by a certain degree then the US.
> ...





i'myourpal said:


> So all the answers that were said makes it sounds like the global warming is really true. Because worldwide especially near the water is seeing what is taking place around us.
> California was too calm and nice weather that I couldn't understand until i came here and get a different perspective on what things are like.


----------



## mike4lorie (Sep 5, 2022)

I... I am not too sure if I believe in Global Warning... I am not sure it's something we are all doing to the world... Has the world not changed over the last 1000 years... All the science books told us there were icebergs everywhere, then they started to melt... I am not a very educated person, But I think the earth changed over the years... We may not be helping it, but I don't think we are causing all the earth's problems...


----------



## dko1951 (Sep 5, 2022)

mike4lorie said:


> I... I am not too sure if I believe in Global Warning... I am not sure it's something we are all doing to the world... Has the world not changed over the last 1000 years... All the science books told us there were icebergs everywhere, then they started to melt... I am not a very educated person, But I think the earth changed over the years... We may not be helping it, but I don't think we are causing all the earth's problems...


I would suggest going to nature.com and put in climate change in the search. This is a science journal that has been around since the late eighteen hundreds (not as a website) where all submitted works are peer review for validity in the science community. Any subject regarding most sciences is covered and different perspective are shown with differing theories. Truly a wonderful place for knowledge and enlightenment in the sciences.


----------



## mike4lorie (Sep 5, 2022)

Thank you @dko1951, I will check it out, thank you for that!


----------



## Warrigal (Sep 5, 2022)

mike4lorie said:


> I... I am not too sure if I believe in Global Warning... I am not sure it's something we are all doing to the world... Has the world not changed over the last 1000 years... All the science books told us there were icebergs everywhere, then they started to melt... I am not a very educated person, But I think the earth changed over the years... We may not be helping it, but I don't think we are causing all the earth's problems...


Mike, there are two heat engines that cause the Earth to be the dynamic planet that it is.

The first heat engine is internal. The core is still hot and below the earths crust the mantle is plastic and there are convection currents that cause the continents and the sea floor to drift about very slowly, causing earthquakes and volcanoes. This is not affected in any way by what humans are doing and we have no control over any of this. All we can do is to use instruments to monitor what is happening. If the earth was not responding to the internal heat engine in this way erosion would have long ago levelled the surface and the whole planet would be under water. 

The second heat engine is external. The Earth, like the Moon, receives radiant heat from the Sun which is absorbed by the land, the oceans and the atmosphere. The heat absorbed is also radiated back into space which is good, otherwise Earth would cook like a pig on a spit. The Earth has an atmosphere that acts as a kind of blanket, maintaining temperature levels, depending on latitude, that are within the range that support life in the many forms that we are familiar with.

The critical gases that help maintain ideal temperatures, not too hot and not too cold, are the greenhouse gases. They are only a very small percentage of the composition of air but they are very important. Too much and the planet heats up. Too little and it begins to cool.

Carbon dioxide is the most important of the greenhouse gases. It is produced when anything that contains carbon atoms decays or is burned. It is produced when animals breathe out, or when limestone is dissolved in acidic water. Fortunately, carbon dioxide is also taken out of the air by plants. They use it to make food from the CO2 molecules and a cycle has been set up on this planet whereby oxygen is used up and CO2 is produced when animals breathe (or decay etc) and CO2 is used up and oxygen is produced by plants as they grow. In this way, the Earth's average temperatures are kept fairly steady over time. 

It is more complicated than the simple picture I have outlined but since the Industrial Revolution a couple of centuries ago, the steady state has been disturbed. We have cut down so much of the world's forests that used to absorb CO2, we have dug up the coal, which is essentially fossilised wood, to fire the furnaces and to generate electricity and in doing so, have released enough CO2 to change the percentage composition of air enough to hold more heat in. When the internal combustion engine became popular, we relied on petroleum, which is the fossilised remains of huge amounts of marine organisms, for transportation and we have been happily belching out CO2 from the exhausts of our cars, trains, ships and aeroplanes ever since. Industrialisation has been the cause of upsetting the natural balance that we now see in changes to weather patterns, in climatic changes and in the magnitude and frequency of fires, storms and cyclones and flooding. It is the reason why glaciers have been retreating world wide.

Can we reverse the process? Theoretically, yes. However, unless we try we will never know. Once a new balance is established we may not have the liveable planet we know and love. Life will certainly continue but civilisation could collapse. When life become difficult, arable land is fought over, mass migrations take place and peace evaporates. If nuclear war breaks out, global warming will be the least of our worries.

What must we do? The short answer is find some other way to make electricity, cook our food, heat our buildings and drive our engines other than burning fuel that contains carbon atoms. We must decarbonise on a huge scale with every country doing its part. We've left it very late, ignoring the old maxim that a stitch in time saves nine. Had we acted sooner we would be in a much safer place now. Now it is all hands to the pump, m'lads, or the house is lost.

Does all of the above help?


----------



## Don M. (Sep 5, 2022)

Virtually ALL scientific evidence is showing that the climate IS warming.  The last major global warming cycle was 56 million years ago...when there were NO humans on the planet.  

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-last-great-global-warming/

Today, there are about 8 billion people, and more coming every year, and countless huge population centers which may become flooded, or so hot that millions of people will be forced to relocate.  Today, thousands of people are trying to migrate North from Central America and Africa....those numbers may reach millions as the climate warms.  

If the forecasts are correct, rising oceans will inundate everything from Houston, TX, to Boston MA., and the heat and lack of water will make the entire SW areas uninhabitable.  If present trends continue....and they probably will...the world will a different place in another 100+ years.


----------



## Teacher Terry (Sep 5, 2022)

Yes I believe in climate change. Future generations are going to have huge problems if something isn’t done.


----------



## mike4lorie (Sep 5, 2022)

Warrigal said:


> Mike, there are two heat engines that cause the Earth to be the dynamic planet that it is.
> 
> The first heat engine is internal. The core is still hot and below the earths crust the mantle is plastic and there are convection currents that cause the continents and the sea floor to drift about very slowly, causing earthquakes and volcanoes. This is not affected in any way by what humans are doing and we have no control over any of this. All we can do is to use instruments to monitor what is happening. If the earth was not responding to the internal heat engine in this way erosion would have long ago levelled the surface and the whole planet would be under water.
> 
> ...


Thank you @Warrigal, Thank you for opening my eyes in detail, very much appreciated...


----------



## dko1951 (Sep 5, 2022)

Warrigal said:


> Mike, there are two heat engines that cause the Earth to be the dynamic planet that it is.
> 
> The first heat engine is internal. The core is still hot and below the earths crust the mantle is plastic and there are convection currents that cause the continents and the sea floor to drift about very slowly, causing earthquakes and volcanoes. This is not affected in any way by what humans are doing and we have no control over any of this. All we can do is to use instruments to monitor what is happening. If the earth was not responding to the internal heat engine in this way erosion would have long ago levelled the surface and the whole planet would be under water.
> 
> ...


Beautifully written and so, so real. I am a realist, though some may say a pessimist and I would define a realist that believes there is hope, but not much. In the 1960's there was a movement labeled ecology. At the time global warming was not even as they say, a twinkle in your mothers eye, but an attempt to create an awareness that our planet was in danger. The powers that be poo pooed the idea and look where we are now. Fifty years later and we are literally on the brink and the driving factor in this failing is mankind greed. I hold no faith in mankind's ability to turn this around. I know, it sounds pessimistic, but is optimism anything more than looking through rose colored glasses at this point? Man has, if anything, proven incapable of doing what is right. Pretty much in all aspects of our survival. Politically, morally, spiritually and almost any ally you can name.


----------



## dko1951 (Sep 5, 2022)

Don M. said:


> Virtually ALL scientific evidence is showing that the climate IS warming.  The last major global warming cycle was 56 million years ago...when there were NO humans on the planet.
> 
> https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-last-great-global-warming/
> 
> ...


You are far too optimistic, 100 years? They way we humans are consuming and depleting our natural resources and dumping our waste, we don't have even close to that amount of time. I am not concerned for myself, but for those that follow me. I tried, I really did. Can't fight the big powers that be.


----------



## RB-TX (Sep 6, 2022)

dko1951 said:


> You are far too optimistic, 100 years? They way we humans are consuming and depleting our natural resources and dumping our waste, we don't have even close to that amount of time. I am not concerned for myself, but for those that follow me. I tried, I really did. Can't fight the big powers that be.


Chicken Little is real !


----------



## dko1951 (Sep 6, 2022)

RB-TX said:


> Chicken Little is real !


I'm guessing you are in denial. If that perspective remains the view of all, we are more than certainly looking at a dim future. Bad enough that the people that can actually do something about view it as not profitable, but when the masses can't even see and agree.?? Enjoy the fantasy in your world. Not to worry though, as one person I know said, why should I care, I won't be here.


----------

