I just posted this to bug my sister. I will blog more about this one day but the main point is to bug her after our discussion this weekend. Some questions are out there although some people seem to think (sis!) that there are no questions.
- Is global warming a fact?
- If global warming is a fact, what is actually causing it? Is it truly CO2 or sunspots or polarity shifts or natural earth changes?
- If CO2 is causing it, is man's contribution making a difference?
- And the final question to which I do have an answer... Will Kyoto solve this? Absolutely not.
Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah - nanny nanny boo boo... global warming schlobal schwarming sis! Love ya!
9 comments:
HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU KIDS not to fight, especially in public!
I'm not fighting. There's no arguing on this point.
You should see the film: The Great Warming. It was enough to convince me and scare the snot outta me!!!
http://www.thegreatwarming.com/
Mich, I quit going to scary movies years ago. I'm not taking sodes on this but I am not a fan of the Michael Moores of this world and am very scheptical of predicting the future (although as you know, I tend to do it regularly under our present "Universal Health Care").
So we all live with our "beliefs" and convictions and that's O.K., as long as I don't have to pay for other peoples.
Global warming IS a fact. That has been proven. Whether its a direct cause of human activity hasn't been conclusively proven and likely never will be (due to natural warming trends that have occurred in the past millions of years etc etc). It will always be argued, especially by oil industry apologetics.
Lets say global warming isn't caused by human activity. That doesn't change the fact that fossil fuel exploration, drilling, and consumption is terribly environmentally damaging. This isn't got anything to do with predicting the future. We are completely dependent on a NON-renewable resource, one that has taken millions of years to develop. It scares me more than global warming.
So, would Kyoto help global warming? No, I am convinced not. Compared to the States, we are a fart in the wind with absolute amounts of CO2 produced. However, with declining resources (for whatever reason, running out, higher demand, instability in the middle east whatever), wouldn't it make sense to shift our dependence on a more sustainable energy source? I mean, it might cost money now, but in the future if prices go even higher or if the supply "runs out", then it won't affect us as much. We won't be scrambling to find alternatives then.
At least enforcing Kyoto would make people and industry consider alternatives. I just don't get how people can completely ignore this problem or deny it is even a problem. Yeah using scare tactics is kind of a turn off, but its idiotic to think this kind of lifestyle can go on forever without consequences. What happens when every person in China or India thinks that they can live the same lifestyle of abundance like we do?
Its probably hard to be thinking about the future with all the "green" you are seeing being fortunate enough to be sitting on a goldmine of oil. To me, it isn't even a matter of who's wrong or right, its time to move on for so many reasons other than the global warming argument.
I beg to differ Procrastinatrix on the "fact" thing. It is a hypothesis as we don't have a controlled test environment.
Also, the economical pressure of Kyoto is just going to stall Canada from being able to explore other alternatives. This is of no value. A made-in Canada plan to find alternatives would be the right approach eventually.
I say eventually because we should be focusing on air pollution (which isn't CO2 related necessarily), recycling, and stopping cities from dumping sewage in oceans, lakes, rivers, and streams. Environmental consciousness is vital but lets focus on the items that WE KNOW are ruining the environment, not hypotheses on CO2.
things that we KNOW are ruining the environment like oil exploration and drilling?
The earth seems like the only "test" environment suitable to test global warming, and over the past 50 years, rising global temperatures, melting polar ice caps and glaciers and increasing desertification is proof enough for me that its happening. The CO2 hypothesis is just that, a hypothesis, but you can't deny the earth is warming up.
When I hear what this "made in Canada" plan is I will be more satisfied. Eventually is not good enough. Its just lip service until then.
I agree with you on all points Rose... couldn't have said it better. Global warming is a FACT, the causes are unproven, but the contributors are evident. Humans are wreaking havoc on the environment in a multitude of ways, which is why, in our discussion on the weekend Lanny, I think people need to focus on reducing their impact, in whatever ways they possibly can. I agree with you that concrete steps must be taken by both individuals and governments on all issues known to be affecting our environment.
Obviously, we actually disagree on the definition of the word FACT
http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/27034/
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