Global warming?

[speedracer95v6]

Originally posted by Earnhardt132000:
I'm with Mike, global warming is a natural process, take a look at the average water temps of the past years, they've been going up and down for the past 100 years. This is nothing out of the ordinary.

Anyways, today it was around 35 and raining. Perfect weather for 4wheeling, deep mud holes can be quite fun [img]smile.gif[/img] .

Oh I didn't speak to the cause of global warming, I'm also of the natural process camp (well, 90% of it at least!), but I do know that this weather is unusual, and I really don't care! [img]smile.gif[/img]

It's when I start seeing glaciers that I'll get worried...or maybe when I'll get lucky and the sea shore will just get a little closer.

[V6Bob]

"Oh I didn't speak to the cause of global warming, I'm also of the natural process camp (well, 90% of it at least!)"

The vast majority of independent scientists (those not paid by one side or the other) think the contribution to warming due natural processes is about from about 50% down to zero (they think that, without human activity, the world would be cooling now).

The real controversy now is whether natural effects from the warming will make warming less severe (negative feedback) or more severe (positive feedback). The positive feedback position has the majority right now, but the negative feedback position is a significant minority.

This is a balanced article about the real position (as opposed to those spouting propaganda) of the scientific community:

http://www.newscientist.com/channel/...mg18524861.400

The Wikipedia article is also good and has a ton of links to more information:

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

"It's when I start seeing glaciers that I'll get worried...or maybe when I'll get lucky and the sea shore will just get a little closer."

The first big problem may be agriculture. In Europe the fear is that melting ice will reduce the salt content of ocean water and disrupt ocean currents (Google the "Atlantic Conveyor") that keep Europe unnaturally warm. This would make Europe get a lot colder and disrupt agriculture. US scientists are worried that global warming could cause drought in the Midwest and the same agricultural problems.

[speedracer95v6]

And a non gulf stream fed north would get colder, leading to increases in glacial mass, leading to a reflection of more sunlight, and more cooling. Over time the warming will revert....

It's a climatological rollercoaster!