Global Warming

[KattyJamison]

We got quiet here for a bit. So I am kicking off a discussion about Global Warming with a popular article my good friend Mellie Gilder M.D. wrote for Discovery Institute (www.discovery.org/).

www.discovery.org/blogs/discoveryblog/rev%20gor...

The article is an easy read, it is funny and interesting, it is not at all science-dry (it is popular article, after all), and it has very good examples of proper citation of sources. I think we could have an interesting discussion about it and Global Warming in general.

@темы: discussion

Comments

[Alario]

Wow, thanks!)
I haven't read the article yet - I'm printing it right now, because I don't like to read things off the screen)

But actually I feel rather doubtful about the global warming. Something is really wrong with our planet, that's for sure, and the reason is humanity, but is the global warming real, or is it just a product of panic-stricken collective mind?... I lack knowledge on the subject at the moment)) So i'll go and read the article, yep)

[KattyJamison]

[f:]ReesKey Well, I have not done the in-depth research Melli apparently did (and this girl does nothing by halves!) but I have some baseline knowledge on the subject because of my previous profession. I think global warming is real, and it is happening, just like it always happened after every ice age. Whether humans have anything to do with its' causes is unknown. Likely they do not: we just have not been around enough. Anyway, we do not have enough data to plot those kinds of long-term changes as they are actually happening - I mean, who knows what weather was like in 300 BC? Or even 100 AD?
And Melli points out a very important fact that apparently many people are not aware of: it is not proven or even conclusively shown that CO2 causes warming of the climate; in fact, it is likely that the warming of the climate causes the increase in CO2.

Having said that, we do cause a lot of problems for this particular planet: trash, trash and trash of various kinds being the uppermost in my mind. But that is a distinct problem and has little to do with temperature.

[Firesong]

It's a great article, but it seems it's not about global warming. It's about more important things - don't trust films, don't tust ANYTHINNG untill you know all the facts and please do research before you go on crusade for some 'great cause". As an information freak I second it... but it's nothing new and it's so sad there are so many people who may need this said to them because they just can't think for themselves.
It's worse than any global warming, honestly. We can't influence this world at large (as Katy said,

we just have not been around enough

) but we and only we define human existence. And nowdays it seems less and less people care to know what they are living (and I don't want start in subject of WHY). People trust unscrupulous sources, people trust anything they see without discerning.
Facts in this article are self-evident. It's so very sad it needed to be written.

[KattyJamison]

Чиффа. It is sad that it needed to be written... I was appalled when I saw this movie, honestly, because it was such a blend of untruth, ignorance and manipulation, but such "sources" are all over the place, about any subject... And no one seems to be doing research at all; people just swallow things whole and ask for seconds.

But she does give interesting information, doesn't she? I was very interested to read the article she quates that states that the glaciers on Kilimanjaro are dry-evaporating without a temperature change. Their calculations are really very well done.

[Firesong]

Oh, sure. If this articcle needed to be written, it could be written so much worse. Your friend did a great job, it was very interesting. i knew almost all the facts she speaks about but never got them in such a comprehensive way. It was very educational.
In sum - I never worried about climat changes much, and now I feel sure why.

[KattyJamison]

I never worried about climat changes much, and now I feel sure why

Actually, that's kind of how I feel... Well, not quite true. I don't "worry" about climate changes; I am curious about them. As in: where are they going, how fast, do we contribute? But we do much worse things to the environment, really.