Global warming

[Confused]

This is a spin off from Homeschooling children where Otseng says that Global warming shouldn't be taught as to their is no proof of this:
http://clipmarks.com/clipmark/2DB6DAB0- ... D47119D08/

This is a slide show of some of the now obvious effects of the global warming:

In the Canadian high Arctic, a polar bear negotiates what was once solid ice. Bears are drowning as warmer waters widen the distance from floe to floe

An Indian woman walks on the dried up Osman Sagar lake on the outskirts of the capital of the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh Hyderabad. The amount of the earth's surface afflicted by drought has more than doubled since the 1970s.

Banana-leaf rafts save Indian villagers washed out of their homes. Creeping seas and increasingly savage monsoons make for deadlier floods.

Residents of New Orleans fight their way to the Superdome as Hurricane Katrina hammers down on the Gulf Coast. Studies show that in the past 35 years the number of Category 4 and 5 hurricanes worldwide has doubled, while the wind speed and duration of all hurricanes has jumped 50%.

Once cool and wet, forests like this in Alaska are falling victim first to drought, then to fire.

http://www.nrdc.org/globalWarming/qthinice.asp
2. What kinds of changes are taking place in the Arctic now?

Average temperatures in the Arctic region are rising twice as fast as they are elsewhere in the world. Arctic ice is getting thinner, melting and rupturing. For example, the largest single block of ice in the Arctic, the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf, had been around for 3,000 years before it started cracking in 2000. Within two years it had split all the way through and is now breaking into pieces.

The polar ice cap as a whole is shrinking. Images from NASA satellites show that the area of permanent ice cover is contracting at a rate of 9 percent each decade. If this trend continues, summers in the Arctic could become ice-free by the end of the century.


3. How does this dramatic ice melt affect the Arctic?

The melting of once-permanent ice is already affecting native people, wildlife and plants. When the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf splintered, the rare freshwater lake it enclosed, along with its unique ecosystem, drained into the ocean. Polar bears, whales, walrus and seals are changing their feeding and migration patterns, making it harder for native people to hunt them. And along Arctic coastlines, entire villages will be uprooted because they're in danger of being swamped. The native people of the Arctic view global warming as a threat to their cultural identity and their very survival.


4. Will Arctic ice melt have any effects beyond the polar region?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ALASKA HEATS UP
The effects of global warming on the north are not limited to the Arctic -- higher temperatures are already affecting people, wildlife and landscapes across Alaska. Click on the numbers on this map to see what's happening on the front lines of global warming.
1. Barrow 2. Shismaref 3. Yukon River 4. Wasilla 5. Kenai Peninsula 6. McCall Glacier 7. Fairbanks


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(See more Google Earth maps.)
Yes -- the contraction of the Arctic ice cap is accelerating global warming. Snow and ice usually form a protective, cooling layer over the Arctic. When that covering melts, the earth absorbs more sunlight and gets hotter. And the latest scientific data confirm the far-reaching effects of climbing global temperatures.

Rising temperatures are already affecting Alaska, where the spruce bark beetle is breeding faster in the warmer weather. These pests now sneak in an extra generation each year. From 1993 to 2003, they chewed up 3.4 million acres of Alaskan forest.

Melting glaciers and land-based ice sheets also contribute to rising sea levels, threatening low-lying areas around the globe with beach erosion, coastal flooding, and contamination of freshwater supplies. (Sea level is not affected when floating sea ice melts.) At particular risk are island nations like the Maldives; over half of that nation's populated islands lie less than 6 feet above sea level. Even major cities like Shanghai and Lagos would face similar problems, as they also lie just six feet above present water levels.

Rising seas would severely impact the United States as well. Scientists project as much as a 3-foot sea-level rise by 2100. According to a 2001 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency study, this increase would inundate some 22,400 square miles of land along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States, primarily in Louisiana, Texas, Florida and North Carolina.

A warmer Arctic will also affect weather patterns and thus food production around the world. Wheat farming in Kansas, for example, would be profoundly affected by the loss of ice cover in the Arctic. According to a NASA Goddard Institute of Space Studies computer model, Kansas would be 4 degrees warmer in the winter without Arctic ice, which normally creates cold air masses that frequently slide southward into the United States. Warmer winters are bad news for wheat farmers, who need freezing temperatures to grow winter wheat. And in summer, warmer days would rob Kansas soil of 10 percent of its moisture, drying out valuable cropland.



Since we are already seeing the effect of Global warming, hence proving the theory, the questions for debate:

1) How can anyone still refute the existence and effects of global warming?

2) We can't stop what has already begun, but can we reduce the damage?

3) Is this a part of intelligent design? or just a natural occurence?

[otseng]

Um, I don't believe I've stated anywhere that it should not be taught.

1) How can anyone still refute the existence and effects of global warming?
I don't think there's much dispute that there are major climate changes around the world.

But, scientists are still debating over the cause of it and what, if anything, should we do about it.

2) We can't stop what has already begun, but can we reduce the damage?
Though we are not sure how much of a factor is attributed to human activity, I believe we should minimize the amount of pollution produced.

But, minimize is a very subjective term. We own a Toyota Camry and a Toyota Sienna. Is that ecologically irresponsible of me to drive those? For those who own a Toyota Prius, it might be. But for those who drive a Toyota Sequoia, it might not be.

3) Is this a part of intelligent design? or just a natural occurence?
If one believes in the ice age and the earth is billions of years old, it would seem logical to explain it as a natural occurence. Just 15000 years ago, glaciers covered all of Canada. And it's been retreating ever since then.

And the North Pole was once a tropical area.

"Axel Heiberg Island, at 82 degrees north and just a stone's throw from the North Pole, was once a great vacation spot—during the Eocene epoch, about 45 million years ago. Lush redwood forests, ferns, flowering plants, and a huge variety of animals, now extinct, once thrived here."
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news ... dwoods.htm

So, if one accepts an old earth, what we are experiencing is nothing new in the grand scheme of things.

[McCulloch]

Since we are already seeing the effect of Global warming, hence proving the theory, the questions for debate:

1) How can anyone still refute the existence and effects of global warming?

2) We can't stop what has already begun, but can we reduce the damage?

3) Is this a part of intelligent design? or just a natural occurrence?

What does it matter? God is not going to allow anything really bad to happen to the creatures that he loves and created in his own image. Unless he wants to punish them or wipe them out, in which case, there is nothing that can be done. The faithful have the power of prayer and God has promised to do whatever they ask. And Jesus is coming back real soon now ...

[otseng]

If the effects of global warming becomes as bad as some people say, then it could be the beginning of the end times as prophesied by Jesus.

Mat 24:3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what [shall be] the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

Mat 24:7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

Mat 24:8 All these [are] the beginning of sorrows.

[otseng]

I ran across an interesting article today.

Problem is, global warming may not have caused Hurricane Katrina, and last summer's heat waves were equaled and, in many cases, surpassed by heat in the 1930s.

...

Nearly all climate scientists believe the Earth is warming and that human activity, by increasing the level of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, has contributed significantly to the warming.

But within the broad consensus are myriad questions about the details. How much of the recent warming has been caused by humans? Is the upswing in Atlantic hurricane activity due to global warming or natural variability? Are Antarctica's ice sheets at risk for melting in the near future?

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4487421.html

We should continue to study and monitor the climate, but I don't think there's any need to be overly alarmed by global warming. Personally, I believe there are other more pressing issues in regards to the environment than greenhouse gases. But, groups have sensationalized global warming and forced other issues off the radar.

[WelshBoy]

Unless he wants to punish them or wipe them out

Mac, when did you last see a rainbow? Don't you know that is God's promise never to flood the whole world again?!

Mat 24:3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what [shall be] the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

Mat 24:7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

Mat 24:8 All these [are] the beginning of sorrows.

With all due respect otseng, those sorts of things have happened through the ages and are hardly a clear-cut sign of anything. Secondly, JC doesn't mention floods in that passage does he?

[McCulloch]

Unless he wants to punish them or wipe them out

Mac, when did you last see a rainbow? Don't you know that is God's promise never to flood the whole world again?!

All sing together:

• God gave Noah the rainbow sign
  God gave Noah the rainbow sign
  God gave Noah the rainbow sign
  It won't be water, but fire next time.
  
  Won't be water, but fire next time
  Won't be water, but fire next time
  Won't be water, but fire next time
  God gave Noah the rainbow sign.
  
  Words and Music Adaptation by Woody Guthrie
  © 1997 by Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc

[palmera]

There is not a debate among scientists as to whether or not global warming is happening. There are a small group of Christian scientists on the fringe who are being funded by right wing/ christian groups who argue against global warming. Further, the Bush administration here in America has done a bang up job, using the media, to make it seem as if global warming is a hotly contested issue. THIS SIMPLY IS NOT THE CASE. With the exception of the fringe scientists who exploit the credibility inherent in their position, the scientific community- across the world- acknowledges that there is an immanent crisis due to global warming.

But, don't take my word for it. The IPCC has recently finished their latest report on global warming. This document, written by over 600 scientists worldwide and peer reviewed by another 600, will explain in the greatest detail yet (as though they haven't already given enough evidence!!!!!) exactly what we've been doing to propel global warming and what we face in the future. The first part (1600 pages)of the report comes out on Feb. 2nd.

EDIT: Apparently only the twelve page summary of the first part will come out next week. The rest of the report will come out in the comming months. Unfortuantely I've been reading reports that the 12 page summary for policy makers is being "edited in secret by governments officials" this week before it will be released. Hopefully this means that people other than those in the Bush admin will get a look at it before it get's hacked into pieces. We'll see.

[Cathar1950]

Unless he wants to punish them or wipe them out

Mac, when did you last see a rainbow? Don't you know that is God's promise never to flood the whole world again?!

All sing together:

• God gave Noah the rainbow sign
  God gave Noah the rainbow sign
  God gave Noah the rainbow sign
  It won't be water, but fire next time.
  
  Won't be water, but fire next time
  Won't be water, but fire next time
  Won't be water, but fire next time
  God gave Noah the rainbow sign.
  
  Words and Music Adaptation by Woody Guthrie
  © 1997 by Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc

I just love Woody.
In an older tale the gods or god put down his bow and was no longer at war with mankind.

[Jose]

Sorry, palmera, the IPCC is just another of those tree-hugger, leftist, gay agenda wacko groups trying to push Al Gore's fable. We all know that global warming is simply the good lord warming us up for the Apocalypse. Seattle seems to buy into this enough to change their school system's rules.