Posted by:
Beaker30
at Wed Dec 29 08:25:41 2010 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by Beaker30 ]
I think originally tagging human influenced climate change as "global warming" was the big mistake. As many have said in this thread, the Earth does go through natural cycles of climate change of both warming and cooling. But those changes are also affected by the species alive at the time.
For instance, the plant life during the Carboniferous era was much different than it is today. Those plants existed due to the carbon dioxide to oxygen ratio at the time. They also lowered the carbon dioxide and raised the oxygen levels over time. This led to changing atmospheric and temperature conditions in which plants evolved. The Earth was once dominated by more "primitive" plant types such as ferns and conifers, to now being dominated by the more modern "flowering" types of plant. All of which was affected by climate change which occurred naturally. But the species alive at the time did have a profound effect on that climate also. By removing so much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere during photosynthesis, the greenhouse effect was reduced and temps slowly declined. Once it passed a certain level, the next ice age was inevitable.
Calling it global warming is a misnomer. But Natural climate change is occurring and is inevitable. But to think or maintain that it is happening regardless of human actions is myopic at best. We are the species alive at this period in the Earth's history that is having the major impact on ecosystems. To think that the tons of carbon dioxide the we emit into the atmosphere daily via the burning of fossil fuels while simultaneously harvesting large tracts of rain forest (which helps remove carbon dioxide) is not having an accelerating effect on climate change is literally nonsensical.
Humans are affecting climate change. We are not the sole reason the climate is changing, but we are influencing both the direction and speed with which it is occurring. We need to see ourselves as stewards of the earth. Not view the Earth as an unlimited resource to be used without discretion.
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RE: JLassiter-Global Warming or IceAge - Beaker30, Wed Dec 29 08:25:41 2010
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