Opinsy: Global warming is a myth

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published in weather , tagged under global warming, American Physical Society, warming establishment, climate changes, additional co2, CO2 concentrations, drastic action, climate research, carbon dioxide, international warming establishment

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leon says: I agree Christopher that the point is to examine whether human behaviour is affecting climate - the biggest climate change of the last millenia was the desertification of the old world from 4000BC onwards which changed society radically (from matriarchal to patricarchal apparently). Recent centuries have seen warm and cold periods which don't fit the greenhouse model. But in recent terms I think local areas certainly are affected, if you cut down trees the cloud cycle changes and creatures create their own environments so monocultures and decimating other species is going to have a bad effect. But on a global level perhaps the sun is more influential than we are i suspect. It is the nature of climates to change, they would not be climates otherwise. The trouble with the argument as it is framed at present is that we are in danger of being distracted whilst it is business as usual for the rich in the West - the only change being more taxes for ordinary people and a new carbon credit to make profit on...

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leon says: 'Swukker' who appears pro-global warming commented on my GW sceptical comment saying 'OK lets follows the money - who are the GW naysayers?' indicating that he/she believes that 'non-warmists' are bound to be rich oil tycoons. However, if you go to the list of over 1000 PhD scientists, or maverick scientists like Demeo's blog, you'll find that few if any have financial interests in being naysayers. in fact the opposite is true, GW is a massive gravy train for individuals and governments. And if you already control the industry of the West and have more money than you possibly spend the GW myth is good for your business in many ways - global tax, applying brakes to developing countries and lessening competition perhaps, or maybe lessening population, I really don't know what the motives could be but the science itself is not supportive of GW...

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Christopher Hudson-Gool says: It's too simplistic to refer to it as 'global warming'. What is occurring is 'climate change'. The question remains (as I have stated previously and others have alluded to also) is human activity responsible for hastening it, or would it have occurred regardless? Either way, if it's recognised that it makes sense to at least slow it down and it's possible to do that, then in my view humankind should be seeking to do it.

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Claire Voyant says: I'm not inclined to say whether absolutely true or absolutely myth yet -- since I follow scientific process. I will share this important tidbit: we've seen this kind of thing before. Lot's of folks are too young to remember, but in the 70s we had quite a scare from scientific discussions on global cooling. There was talk of a coming ice age, and scary photos of some failed corn crops, etc., evidencing the threat. Food for thought. You live long enough and you will see everything, imo.

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leon says: Global warming is definitely a myth - those who say 'well the papers said..' please follow the money, certain individuals owning carbon exchange systems are making fortunes. Plus carbon tax is a global taxation system, by the rich for the rich and against you! See this page for some of the thousands of PhD scientists who smell a rat - http://www.cato.org/special/climatechange/alternate_version.html The other problem is the climate hasn't got warmer since about 2001 and the actual number of extreme events is also within normal ranges.

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Swukker says: Okay, let's follow the money. Ignoring the nutjobs and those are constitutionally forced to go aganst the consensus, where do the GW naysayers come from? Those industries with most to lose should the powers that be work to ameliorate the effects of climate change.

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Graham Burns says: Interesting video "Can Science Save Us" - not specifically dealing with the climate change question but still very interesting nonetheless - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgDcS31EtCo

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Steve Wannall says: The science proving the existence of human assisted climate change has been demonstrated so many times now that I can't believe we are even still having this debate. By my observation, there are only two types of people still clinging to the belief that it's a myth: those who are resistant to the idea of clean, renewable energy because they think that they might lose money...and those who are so woefully uneducated they are willing to believe a small handful of greedy oil company executives over an entire global conglomeration of scientists.

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Sarah Kent says: i'm not sure how to disposition this one as the planet is constantly warming due to gases being released from beneath the seas surface, and the sun is always getting hotter, i think the worst case scenario is that we as humans have sped up the process since the industrial revolution. it will never be reversed as, like i said, it is a natural occurrence. we just need to try and preserve and not add to this as much as we have been for the past 100 odd years

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Imogenkw says: People who think it's myth are denying the truth because it's too big to comprehend and it scares them and they don't have the confidence to believe they can help to make it better. This needs to change by people seeing they can work together to change things.

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Hans Bolang says: I think most scientist in this area agree that their analyses shows that humans have had an impact in the climate. I would say that climate change is a more appropriate term then global warming, as human activity effects the weather patterns which will become more unpredictable with extreme weather as a result. The average temperature as whole will get warmer although the regional effects might differ. Earth has gone through several major climate shifts in the past. On the long timescale nature will survive and adapt the question is, will humankind?

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Geoffrey Rowney says: From the onset of the Industrial Revolution the energy generated by machinery has created heat and contamination. We enjoy all the benefits that this has brought, but we must take all possible steps to prevent damaging this fragile Earth which is our home. The warning is seen in the hurricane 'Sandy' . There will almost certainly be more extreme events. It is impossible to turn the clock back, but surely we must do all possible to reduce these bad events.

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Philip Grimes says: I'd agree with Scott Mitting that new and circumstantial evidence isn't enough to condemn mankind's impact. But given that environmental science is an infant (historically), what other gauge is there for current economic behaviour? Who'd deny that deforestation, over-population (the mass proliferation of just one species!) and the arrogant idea that continuous rapid GDP can negate Malthus' philosophy of population growth, or Lionel Robbins' laws of scarcity - will leave the world with its head in its hands (whether it's an accelerated ice-age or a prematurely heated age). Some bead-wearing ecologists quote: 'Don't worry about the planet, the planet will look after itself', and it's sorely tempting to agree. Why wouldn't an ecosystem correct it's own imbalances (war, famine, climactic upheaval)? The issue is: who suffers? At the moment, developing nations with poor infrastructure suffer from extreme weather, whose source is nebulous, but science is increasingly pointing cause at Western (and latterly Indo-Chinese) economics.

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Scott Mitting says: Just because there wasn't a record temperature last year doesn't mean we're out of the woods or that the data shows "there's no global warming". It's still in the top 10 hottest years. There is no precedent for the current heat levels or the rate of change in the historical records. This does not prove that humans did anything, as correlation to CO2 output with warming is not necessarily causation, it's just a strong enough circumstantial case that would get a murderer put on death row. But those sentences are overturned all the time in the light of new evidence.

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shadowrangler says: The climate has changed from the dawn of time so to say global warming is a myth is just plain stupid. The fact that there is more water in the world due to ice caps melting is being borne out with all the wetter weather were having. It doesnt' have anywhere else to go but into the climatic system. Its no surprise that the conspiracy theory surrounding global warming started in the USA, a country which refused to sign the treaty to stop global warming. Maybe after Sandy they may change their minds?

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Christopher Hudson-Gool says: Firstly, it's wrong to refer to it simply as 'global warming'. 'Climate change' is occurring; one has only to read the reports of the ice caps melting to know that is so. The question really is whether or not human activity is responsible for the extremes we seem to be experiencing now, or has at least hastened what otherwise might have occurred. As long as that question remains, humankind should be addressing it and if practicable seeking to do something about it.

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Jeremy Choo says: Global warming is a myth. Climate change isn't. We are in an interglacial period, which basically means that anything can happen, and if there is a time when anything climate-wise significant can happen, it is now. If we continue the way we are heading, the ice caps will melt, but that won't just create higher sea levels.

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Al Wright says: Global climate change is definitely occurring BUT how big an impact humanity is having on it I have no idea there seems to be an equal amount of experts playing both sides. There does appear to be a lot of media fuelling, but at the end of the day surely any decline in fossil fuel reliance is a benefit, but a thousand years ago if you had said the earth was a big ball flying around the sun you'd have been declared insane. Having said all that, I'm going to agree that global WARMING is a myth, as for global climate change I really don't know. Also remember that the last time the Thames froze over it had some of the worst pollution its ever had!

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Danielle Lagocki says: All it is, simplest way to put it....Its the planet changing! It did it before and its doing it again. Seasons change! Why did we have an Ice Age before? and not now...different seasons, the world is naturally warming up! If we think this is bad, think how the world felt when it used to be one continent...and think of the events that led to the continent splitting? Its just repeating! THE WORLD CHANGES! Just because we are used to our climates now, doesn't mean its an abnormal thing for the world as WE know it, to change. It has been chaning since it created! Life has continued throughout all the past changes and it will continue to do so! Global warming is not a myth, i agree with that, but the fear surrounding it is!

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Sian Grinnall says: @WayneMclean- source of your outlandish data? I say look around. Read the papers. It's pretty obvious if you look out the window.

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Wayne Mclean says: The world stopped getting warmer almost 16 years ago, according to new data released last week. The figures, which have triggered debate among climate scientists, reveal that from the beginning of 1997 until August 2012, there was no discernible rise in aggregate global temperatures. This means that the ‘plateau’ or ‘pause’ in global warming has now lasted for about the same time as the previous period when temperatures rose, 1980 to 1996. Before that, temperatures had been stable or declining for about 40 years.

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Tom Gillibrand says: For every article saying global warming is a myth there are plenty of articles saying it isn't. For millions of years, nature has had a fine balance and to suggest the humans coming along and pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere won't have an effect on this balance is surely false and untrue.

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Kitedingo says: Even if it is true what is its significance, there appears to be a general human belief that we have a greater impact on the planet then nature. It's arrogant, false and untrue. Global warming whether it exists or not is a myth in the sense that it is nothing more than the natural evolution of the planet.

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Iain Keith says: The world's leading scientific institutions agree in the science, and NASA, who've done heaps of research proving climate change, landed someone on the moon. I'm pretty sure they'd get the science on global warming right.

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Alejandro Rivas V. says: The Global warming was prophesied in the Bible. Is happen NOW, and will be much worse in a few months. We NEED pray.

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6756746nout says: To make a difference to who? A few degrees here and there might not sound significant and certainly isn't some kind of apocalyptic vision of the planet, but icecaps melting and the food chain being altered is certainly a difference in my book and definitely not mythical.

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Rob Meadows says: A couple of decent vocanoes going off would make the last 50 years global warming look like peanuts... it may be happening but the planet is too dynamic (over millenia) for it to make a difference.

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Usefula786nimal says: The world should be cooling right now if it followed natural cycles. A lot of evidence points to the climate change being caused by humans. http://ossfoundation.us/projects/environment/global-warming/human-caused

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Chiefsir23yn says: Actually 97% of climate scientists agree that global warming is happening and that it was caused by us humans.

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Rooferfirst says: Well, the surface temperature is rising. This is due to a natural change in the climate and greenhouse gases only have a very minor effect on the state of the atmosphere.

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Thudcoconut says: Venus ended up pretty bad since it couldn't keep the carbondioxide out of the atmosphere...

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Lickforkcats says: Global warming makes perfect sense... You can´t pump out an infinite amount of fossile fuels into the atmosphere and expect nothing to happen.

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Studglove says: Simple propaganda by governments and environmentalists. There is no such thing as global warming, but what we see now are natural changes in the climate that happens every so often.

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