Awareness/Debate: Global Warming

Rococo · #1 12-07-2007, 09:07 PM

I wasn't sure of where to stick a thread on global warming, but i figured there could be differing opinions on it..

But i was just wondering what everyones views on global warming are..

I think that if a group of people starts conserving energy and becoming more aware of what is going on in the world around them it could make a big difference.

I'm not sure about other countries but I know in America that a lot of people take the fossil fuels we have for granted, some people are even ignorant to the fact that global warming is happening and just deny the fact..

You can tell just by the weather that's been happening for the past few years that something is happening. The summers aren't as warm and the winters aren't as cold.. certainly kids that are still in school will notice because there are fewer snow days every year, yes by the warming we can save costs in heating in the winter and even in the summer it's not even getting as hot as it normally does, but I'm sure that once it does warm up it will be a lot hotter than normal.

This website just shows some of the things that you can do for global warming http://www.ecobridge.org/content/g_wdo.htm

luvducks · #2 12-07-2007, 09:20 PM

I think this problem has become far worse because of the lack of support and cooperation. I have done much research on global warming for school and what it comes down too is the need for countries to come together to stop the destruction.

Sure some citizens do small things but there needs to be a big change made by a mass population to get somewhere. The Kyoto Protocol has 55 parties. The United States decided this wasn't an issue and we left in 2001. However many of our southern states are experiencing severe storms and flooding, which scientists are linking to global warming. I live up north and you can tell somethings wrong when winter isn't even "bad".

I just think if we could all pull together we'd get there. This is our own doing and we can't deny it. But like many issues that require intentions that are actually carried out instead of talked about, this probably will be a problem for a much longer time to come.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyoto_Protocol

#3 12-07-2007, 09:27 PM

Okay, I wasn't going to post because I wanted to refrain from going into the science of it all! And I won't, because if I start, I won't be able to stop.

I know people think that global warming is some governemental thing to freak us out, but come on dudes (for those who don't see it), it's happening! And we ARE the cause of it. The biggest cause for it was probably the rise in the Industrial Revolution years. Soon after global climates had been increasing per year. And natural things are also adding to the climate change, i.e. volcanic eruptions and the gases they let out.

As far as making a difference? I personally feel it's too late for that. It's happening, it's here.. and sure we could make a slight difference in things, perhaps slowing it down, but it won't stop it, either. And it doesn't help that some countries/governments/people are in denial about it. :/

I'm gonna end there...

lol

Rococo · #4 12-07-2007, 09:33 PM

I wonder what will happen in the long run.. I don't think I'm ready for winter to stop..

http://www.climatehotmap.org/

this link shows what kind of changes are happening where on a detailed map

luvducks · #5 12-07-2007, 09:41 PM

Well put both of you :) And I couldn't agree more. Little things done by people aren't going to help. 1 out of every 3 people taking extra percautions is likely to get us no where. We're not talking about a small section of the world. The whole planet is being damaged, meaning everyone living on it has to help. It's just sad that some people won't face the facts and see that we are ruining our home. :(

Rococo · #6 12-07-2007, 09:44 PM

hey.. maybe we can just live on the moon

in all seriousness though.. it's just too bad that most people won't take the time to read through a couple of well researched articles to see what's happening and why, ignorance will hurt the world in the long run

#7 12-07-2007, 09:53 PM

What's really sad and upsetting is seeing the less developed countries being hit with the severe heat some more. They're lacking facilities to keep them cool. Thank God we have air conditioning, fans, cool clothing, ice cream, ice, cold water, showers.. I could go on.

I think sometimes we're not grateful for what we have, or not consider the people who are less forunate than us. I know I sometimes forget. :| With global temperatures rising slowly, countries in Africa, etc are going to be experiencing the worst of it first..

Ches · #8 13-07-2007, 07:09 AM

Animals and humans produce CO2. From the 0.04% breathed in, about 3.5% is exhaled. Carbon dioxide is also the product of combustion - anything carbon based will produce carbon when burned.

Since the reduction of atmospheric pollutants such as airplane exhaust due to 'environmentally friendly' planes and other chemicals, there has been a large reduction in the effects of 'global dimming'. Global dimming is caused by a larger amount of water droplets in the air which reflect sunlight out of the atmosphere. Couldn't the effects of dimming and warming therefore be mutually exclusive?

Rococo · #9 13-07-2007, 01:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rococo's friend from school

Unfortunately due to sheer stupidity, ignorance and blind faith in a majority of the public, it is a pretty challenging issue to get people psyched about and to try to persuade them to help make a change. The American life style that most to all people in this country are accustomed to does not make it any easier to solve the problems. For example, the most basic problem that leads to global warming is with car emissions. Some ground has been made with this in the creation of the hybrid cars, however with the lack of enough funding and encouragement to all car companies, (or at least the decent ones), enough of these models can not be made fast enough for the public to buy. I believe the last I heard was Toyota's hybrid model called the Prius was estimated to ship out 500,000 models in 2008 (might have been 50,000). But even so the demand for these cars is high enough that there is a waiting period to get one even when they do come out. Since people are not to fond of waiting they will stick to their regular gasoline based model cars which does not help the environment. Also, many people find other ideas of public transportation and car pooling either cumbersome or incapable to fit their life style.

Global Warming is a real and present problem for the world. It is by no means an easy problem to eliminate. And many people don't realize that simple actions like shutting off lights when they leave, putting computers to sleep, and using environment friendly bulbs makes a big difference. For example, this past year at school, I worked with MASSpirg and we were able to get the school to implement a computer sleep policy on all lab and library computers as well as faculty computers which ended up saving the school like $45,000; and the figure we came up with if we were able to get the entire student body to join in on this with their personal computers was somewhere around $300,000.

But it really boils down to people becoming more open minded, becoming aware of the facts, and taking those few extra seconds to do those simple actions to make a difference.

This was posted by one of my class mates in a group on facebook that i had made about global warming, he is very passionate about it and hopefully all of these little things will get us somewhere, even if it's not very far

Ches · #10 13-07-2007, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rococo's Pal

Unfortunately due to sheer stupidity, ignorance and blind faith in a majority of the public,

Way to get your audience on-side there... Unfortunately, I can only find that ignorance is a valid description in the opening statement. Stupidity and blind faith seem to be but emotive language to express the author's exasperation.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rococo's Pal

For example, the most basic problem that leads to global warming is with car emissions.

Actually, I believe it's refineries and high carbon coal burning power stations. Cars aren't quite as much to blame as these industrial chuggers. Not sure what its like stateside, but here the charges to tax a car are relative to the CO2 they produce. As of next year the biggest culprit 4x4s are going to cost £500 per annum in road tax. (My car costs £35 because I'm so green. Its petrol but has CO2 emissions the same as a hybrid. ;))

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rococo's Pal

Also, many people find other ideas of public transportation and car pooling either cumbersome or incapable to fit their life style.

This can't really be blamed on individuals, but more the companies that employ them. I have seen some organisations 'attempts' to encourage alternative transport and car-pooling. Perhaps an email across the board saying 'why not try car pooling?' That'll do it...

My g/f and her mother both work in the same place and their shifts have but 1hr difference. When they asked if they could match their shifts so that they could car-pool, they were 'politely' refused. If employers could make more of an effort, perhaps then their workers could also.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rococo's Pal

Global Warming is a real and present problem for the world. It is by no means an easy problem to eliminate. And many people don't realize that simple actions like shutting off lights when they leave, putting computers to sleep, and using environment friendly bulbs makes a big difference. For example, this past year at school, I worked with MASSpirg and we were able to get the school to implement a computer sleep policy on all lab and library computers as well as faculty computers which ended up saving the school like $45,000; and the figure we came up with if we were able to get the entire student body to join in on this with their personal computers was somewhere around $300,000.

How much could you have saved if you powered down the computer completely? Sleep, power saving and hibernation modes are all well and good, but cannot compete with shutdown in terms of energy efficiency. Certain servers need to be on all the time, but workstations can be shutdown with minimal fuss.

Kean · #11 13-07-2007, 05:34 PM

I feel sorry for the people in the Society Islands/French Polynesia that will experience global warming worse than most of us, I think I read somewhere that the entire islands of Tahiti, Bora Bora, Huaine, Tahaa, Kiribati and Marquesas will be completley under water eventually. I hope that's not true, especially considering that these are some the places in the world which use the least of our resources. It seems like we're the ones enjoying our 6-door Hummers etc and they're the ones that will suffer from that, before us.

Oh, if it wasn't mentioned, just to go along with some of Ches' tips, a lot of people don't even know that electricity and power is being used for EVERYTHING that is plugged in in your house, whether it's turned on or not. So why not unplug that lamp somewhere in your house that you know you never use? Or the computer printer if you use it rarely - just leave it unplugged until you actually need to print.

2.0 · #12 13-07-2007, 05:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ches

Animals and humans produce CO2. From the 0.04% breathed in, about 3.5% is exhaled. Carbon dioxide is also the product of combustion - anything carbon based will produce carbon when burned.

Don't forget also, methane is a greenhouse gas and cattle produces a whole lot of methane. Aside from blaming cars and industry, we should be looking at the way we eat. Many of us eat a lot of beef (guilty as charged), and in doing so we're promoting the production and subsequent overpopulation of bovine cattle destined to human consumption.
Eat less meat and more veggies, but make sure they're varied veggies. Monocultures in agriculture are also a problem (i.e. when we only grow certain types of things because that's what we'll eat), but it's an ecological issue not really related to global warming.

Go out, plant a tree.

wild cherry · #13 16-07-2007, 12:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ches

Animals and humans produce CO2. From the 0.04% breathed in, about 3.5% is exhaled. Carbon dioxide is also the product of combustion - anything carbon based will produce carbon when burned.

Since the reduction of atmospheric pollutants such as airplane exhaust due to 'environmentally friendly' planes and other chemicals, there has been a large reduction in the effects of 'global dimming'. Global dimming is caused by a larger amount of water droplets in the air which reflect sunlight out of the atmosphere. Couldn't the effects of dimming and warming therefore be mutually exclusive?

You see what a mine of information i am ches, all you did was ask me about global warming and you came away with all this info from me.
Im not just a pretty cherry am i

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)