So how can you then say we don't know what the weather was like 250 years ago (your method would be crap for that but there are ways)?
The temperature wasn't measure 250 years ago.
So how can you then say we don't know what the weather was like 250 years ago (your method would be crap for that but there are ways)?
Think the winter we've had sums it up really.
Better to be safe than sorry so I prefer we adopt a greener approach to life.
Better to be safe than sorry so I prefer we adopt a greener approach to life.
You can calculate them from ice cores. So yes we do know what the temperature was 250 years ago.
The global temperature has risen since the industrial revolution, correlated to the increase of CO2 in the atmosphere. There is also proof that this extra CO2 has come from man-made sources. Don't know what there is to not agree on to be honest
I tend to agree. After my kids and their kids I'm out of here so boll ox. Anyway it's our destiny to destroy our planet..... You've all seen Planet of the Apes haven't you ?
Serious question:
In Victorian times, as the ice retreated northwards in the arctic, a natural damn broke which held back millions of tonnes of frozen ice which was released from the great lakes type areas in North America (as mentioned in Al Gores Documentary). This then affected the sea currents and caused the warm water conveyor belt (can't think what it's called atm) to stop and this caused a mini ice age which led to the Thames freezing and ice fairs and alike being held. So my question is, couldn't the accelerated melting of the ice cap in the arctic just be a case of nature returning to the point it would have been at if that blip hadn't been caused by that massive ice release?
Flooding happens in cycles, could the difference be that more people are living on land which is a flood plain so that when there is flooding, then we notice it more? - So many news reports seem to push the idea of climate change as the cause to every natural occurance that there is a danger that any real effects could be lost in this media hype. (ie: interviews with locals who lived in area for 20 odd years which then floods and they are interviewed saying "i have never seem it this bad in my whole life / ever since i have lived here" making it sound like a unique and frightening event. They then interview someone else who has lived there for 30+ years and they say its the worst it's been flooded since about 30 years ago when they last had a major flood there. - everyone latches onto the first interview and use it for proof of climate change and arn't bothered that the area has a natural cycle of flooding ever 30 years or so (just like Lewes does))
Shouldn't things be improving since we (in this country) lost most of our heavy industry which churned out CO2 and other pollutants?
Can scientists and Governments and the powers that be reaslly come out now and say (after spending billions investigating it and making people pay green taxes, etc) that it is all a natural cycle and not man made? Resources are running out so, even if climate change isn't man made, then there is still a benefit to try to scare people into using less which ultimately means that whatever is left, will last longer. (and could give the extra time needed to come up with and perfect viable alternatives (like solar, wave and wind power & nuclear?))
ps - i thought they revealed years ago that climate patterns / temperature changes fit more closely to methane levels rather than carbon dioxide?
As a scientist myself (though not an environmental scientist), I can say that if I started to find evidence that goes against something that has been believed for many years, I'd be more interested in studying it, not trying to hide it.
With regards to your last point, this may well be true - methane is a more potent greenhouse gas - but CO2 levels are much higher, are still rising and cause other problems as well, for example the acidification of the oceans, which leads to the corrosion of coral reefs.
Resources running out is just yet another reason why we should be looking to find renewable sources of energy.
I don't really go with the argument that it could just be a cycle either. Of course the Earth's climate goes in cycles, and we are largely unable to control that. That goes for any effects the Sun as as well. But it seems fairly clear to me that the actions we've made since the 1800's have meant that there are various chemicals now in our atmosphere that are there in higher concentrations to what they should be. We know that these chemicals (methane, CO2, etc) can act as greenhouse gases, and we've measured a change in our climate that correlates with our activity in producing these chemicals. That change in climate has not really led to anything drastic yet (you certainly can't blame one bad weather event on climate change), but if we carry on doing it, I believe we will start to see more frequent, more drastic changes. Our planet is very very good at absorbing changes to our atmosphere, acting as a buffer, for when unusual events do occur. But if we push this to far, there's only so much that our planet can absorb.
You have forgotten two things though:
1) Icebergs are made of fresh water, the sea is salt water and salt water is more dense than fresh water.
2) Not all the ice is floating in the sea.
Apart from that you all good.