It looks like we need a separate thread for the topic of global warming. So, here we go:
1. Who broke it? (i.e. what are the causes?)
2. Who should fix it?
3. Does
everyone needs to know any science to understand that the issues of climate change need to be addressed (i.e. I don’t need to know how my car works in order to be able to drive it…)
23 comments:
1. Who broke it? (i.e. what are the causes?)
I think it was a mixture of who "broke it" so to speak. I don't think you can blame any single factor. I know that for one, global warming is a natural process. Though, it is not supposed to be this extreme or elevated so quickly, meaning humans have taken something that is natural, and kind of made it worse. Such as emitting greenhouse gases. So it's both something that is natural, though made to me much worse by those inhabiting the planet.
2. Who should fix it?
It should be everyone's duty to fix it... I mean, we all have to share the planet. Isn't a basic human instinct self-preservation, or the preservation of the race? That kind of falls under not letting the planet go through complete hell due to what we do to it. Everyone needs to contribute, I believe. If you only have certain people helping out, and others just doing whatever they want, then the positive actions will just be negated by the destructive actions of others.
3. Does everyone needs to know any science to understand that the issues of climate change need to be addressed (i.e. I don’t need to know how my car works in order to be able to drive it…)
Yes. I think that if people don't understand what is happening, if they don't see the facts, they won't think it is a serious problem, or like the comic suggests, just won't care because it can't be confirmed. It's pretty hard to make people change how they live -- if you want that to happen, you are going to have to make sure they understand what is actually going on.
well, people don't need to know every science, cause in the end nothing is really gained. (Plus, thats what high school is for.) But and issue such as global warming is very relevant to our lives today. Understanding how your car works is great, but understanding that in your life time your home could be submerged in water is more important.
Ok, so now that glaz thinks that I know nothing about Global warming, here we go.
1) The causes of Global warming are mulitple, such as: Factory Emissions from the burning of fossil fuels, the burning of gasoline by cars and other motorized vehicles, humans from the CO2 released as a by product from cellular respiration performed by every cell in our body, AND from plants at night who perform the same cellular respiration. It is true that plants do take in CO2 during the day, but there is always night when there is no light so no photosynthesis can occur.
2) Who should fix it? EVERYONE! We should stop blaming the government (even thought they haven't done all the can) and take action ourselves. Everyday people can do things: carpool, recycle, useless electricity, etc.
3) We do not need to understand science to understand a graph showing that the average temperature has increased or understand what impact the polar ice caps have on our planet to see that those ice caps are disappearing. Not everyone needs to know the science behind climate change but they should understand what is happening (increased CO2, what they can do to help).
Hope this satisfies you Glaz
so now that glaz thinks that I know nothing
Hey! Stop putting words in my mouth! That is where my foot currently resides…
answers to everything:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF_anaVcCXg
1. I do not really believe that anything or anyone "broke" it. I think that global warming is inevitable because humans have become so reliant on things that make global warming worse. Although our greenhouse gasses speed up the process, I think that global warming would have occurred anyway, but just at a slower rate.
2. Every able person should fix it. After all, who wouldn't want to save the planet if we have the chance to? Some might argue that, "It's not possible to change the way of life that EVERYONE has gotten used to!" and that since preventing global warming is not a priority for everyone, nothing will stop it. I believe yes, it is inevitable, but we can do little things to slow it down in its tracks. Also, just doing little things like using an earth-friendly bag to put groceries in can inspire others to do the same thing.
3. I think everyone needs to know the basic facts of what is going on just so that they can understand the severity of the situation. I do not believe that knowing specific scientific terms is necessary...even so, people should try to expand their knowledge of the world around them a little bit.
This is pretty much the policy paper I'm writing now... perhaps i should just copy past the entire thing.
1. Who Broke it?
As Themoonisalie said, there is a natural process to the earths warming and cooling, but we know that over the past 400,000 years, the temperature will rise due to natural changes in the earths cycle... this temperature change causes the CO2 level to rise, the key part is that the CO2 then accelerates the temperature rise. and if you look at once of several graphs of CO2 vs. average temperature, you can see that temperature rises VERY sharply, but takes a while too cool back off.
2. Who should Fix it?
As everyone has been saying... Everyone.
While it is VERY important that we get the government to place nation-wide mandatory emission caps, and provide federal funding to key areas of research (such as the hydrogen fuel cell, advancements in solar and wind power, and cellulosic ethanol, a bio-fuel that has been overshadowed by it's FAR less practical, but readily available cousin, 85-Ethanol.
Anyway, while all that is very important, what it really depends on is every individual who can make minor changes in their lives to benefit the environment. From things as simple as using incandescent bulbs and using public transportation, to the larger changes that far fewer are willing to make (i.e. veganism). Many people aren't even aware that on average, American food travels eats has traveled 1,500 miles to reach a persons mouth. THAT is an enormous waste of fuel and energy.
3. Does everyone needs to know any science to understand that the issues of climate change need to be addressed?
Yes, you can drive without knowing how your car works, but if something goes wrong on the highway, you should know what is wrong, what to do, what not to do. I'm not saying we all should become car mechanics, but we need a limited amount of knowledge in the area.
Same applies to science, we don't all need to go figure out how to develop the hydrogen fuel cell, but we need to know exactly what is happening to our planet, as well as how we can fix it.
1) The Earth's climate changes in response to outside influences that we humans put on it. The main cause of global warming is the advent of a high concentration of greenhouse gasses. The more detailed causes of warming remain "an active field of research" but very high levels of greenhouse gases due to human activity and fossil fuel emissions within the past 50 years are clear causes for this enormous problem.
2) It is everyones resposibility to "fix" global warming becuase global warming effects us all. No one lies out of the reach of the pervasive arms of global warming becuase we all share this planet and all depend on our planet for survival. It is our duty as humans to adhere to our natural instinct for survival and preserve our planet by stopping global warming.
3)I dont think everyone needs to have a basis of scientific knowlege to know that our polar ice caps are melting, our climate is changing and everything that we humans have known with respect to our atmosphere and world is changing. I think the pure magnitude and severity of this issue renders it able to effect everyone and help anyone to understand this issue.
In response to: if something goes wrong on the highway, you should know what is wrong, what to do, what not to do.
I do not think that this is a valid interpretation of what we are trying to say. If I know a basic concept, i.e. Buring of gas in my car makes CO2 which is heating up the earth, I do not need to understand how my car burns the gas to make the CO2 and how CO2 directly leads to an increase in temperature and all the science behind it. Science is not what is necessary, just a basic knowledge of what we can do to help.
ooops i guess i diddnt really answer the question but i hope it will suffice
global warming is real, we must all accept this. The climate is drastically changing. It just irritates me a little how some people don't believe in global warming. The average temperature for this month (October) was probably 70 degrees.
1. well i suppose humans contribute to the problem massively, but it could be normal and we just never went through it and documented it.
2. if humans don't then mostly mother nature will take care of it with an ice age.
3. Some common sense is needed which a lot sadly lack. If there is common sense and they are aware of the situation then no science knowledge is not really needed.
i dont think people realize that the earth is bad enough as it is that we just realize that we cant do anything about it. I mean sure recycling plastic and paper is good but it cant save the earth. Its already deep enough that we cannot save it. Eventually its gonna start deteriorating, which it has probably started to already.
You do need to know how things work, for example your car, but you don't need science to hlp you with it. Like for example, EVERYONE knows how to open a door, but yet, you don't need to find what the gravitational pull is on the door or how gravity effects on how the door opens. so that's why you do need to know how things work in life, but most of the time, you're not going to use science to figure out how it works.
so I basically agree with everything that themoonisalie said, except for one point. He (or she) says "Isn't a basic human instinct self-preservation, or the preservation of the race?" as an argument that humans instinctively want to help out global warming. I see this as an arguement for why people are not helping out. When there have been too many humans occupying an area, in order to live better, they spread out. This involved cutting down more trees and destroying more habitats. Humans want to survive and live a better life, so they destroy the world around them to accomplish that.
And second, yes some see the need to preserve our race, but most our too consumed with their current economic status. If we really were concerned about the preservation of our race we would take the temporary economic loss (so we could pay for plans to fix the environment).
2.
For one thing, I believe that the people should fix this problem. And since in the US the government is supposed to be the people, the elected officials in our government should actually do something about this problem instead of just sitting on their asses waiting to get reelected. And the government should stop giving oil companies subsidies, which they are planning to do and take $14 billion from oil companies and give the money to renewable energy resource development. Except this probably will get vetoed by Bush. But this bill is still a step in the right direction. But the government needs to be the driving force behind this fix of global warming, because only they can institute new laws and policies. Like not allowing the sale of hummer to the public. Or reducing the costs and inconveniences of public transportation so that more people will use it and the workers wont be going on strike all of the time. The fourteen billion is would also be well spent on the public transportation. And since the US plays a major role in global affairs, if our government actually does something to stop this phenomenon,then other developing nations might try to develop themselves in a cleaner more renewable fashion.
And going along with the common, theme, everyone can help fix global warming, and they should, if they aren't selfish pigs who believe that only they are important.
i think that global warming is not something that was just recently "broken" because air pollution is something that has been going on for over 100 years (think London Fogs, where people couldn't walk through the street without their skin being turned black from the coal.) But no one can doubt that in recent years, the temperatures have become increasingly warmer. Temperatures warming is a natural process, but as themoonisalie said, it should not be happening quite so fast.
To the extent that humans are contributing to global warming, they should be involved in fixing it. If we broke it, or at least assisted in breaking it, we should fix it. Completely reversing the climate change is most likely impossible, but we could at least help by trying not to make it worse, trying to cut back on greenhouse gas emissions for the future.
I think that a basic knowledge of the science behind global warming is very important for those who want to help fix it. You should at least know what affect the things you are doing, whether they are harmful or helpful, have on the environment.
1. Earth’s climatic balance is completely out of balance. This problem has been caused by many factors including: pollution from factories, carbon dioxide from rotting trees, the burning of coal, natural gasses, fossil fuels, and deforestation among many other things. Though there is evidence that global warming is a natural procedure, our misuse of the world’s resources will only harm us later on.
2. We all need to understand that our existence in the future will be based on our actions that we take. Everyone needs to contribute in order to keep the human race alive. The government needs to take control of the situation and set aside money for the projects that we need to betterment the Earth. Solar and wind power are not strong enough to keep big cities like New York or Paris running 24/7, therefore we might need to consider going nuclear. We also need to build plants that can desalt the oceans and convert them into drinkable water, which is a key component of our existence. With the increased number of natural disasters occurring, our crops are being destroyed regularly. We need to start growing synthetic food to sustain our appetites when there will be no more strawberry fields.
3. No, I do not believe that learning science will influence one person from another, because anyone can read a graph. The problem is comprehending the information and understanding the severity of it. I think that the media needs to keep pushing the global warming issue to the world, to inform those who are still in the dark. Though people may not believe in the problems of our earth and would rather shun them, they would at least be prepared for the future. In the future, when disaster really strikes, the people who are well-informed with the happenings will take charge in order to survive.
1. Who Broke It?
People have been taking advantages of the beauty that this Earth brings us for many decades now. Over time we have become more preoccupied with ourselfs. We are interested in faster, stronger, bigger, better. What what counts as better. We still have to keep in mind that we live on this Earth and if we don't treat it well it could kick us out. People are using WAY too much gas and being way too liberal with the use of natural products. People figure that many things in this Earth will never run out. Has this ever been a problem in the far past though? Our population is growing fast, and we need to begin limiting our resources. By emitting greenhouse gases, we are setting ourselfs up for a disaster. Overindulgence seems to be a huge problem, as seen is obesity. Well, thats a whole other topic.
2. Who should fix it?
Well, who should fix it? There are definetly going to be people who say "Oh no, but i'm very conservative with products and I carpool and I dont use too much gas...." Well guess what, its not all about you. We ALL have to take action, so that we can ALL stay living on this beautiful planet. If we avoid taking action it is going to sneak up on us, and then we will have no idea what to do. Besides what would be worse than the scientists sitting there saying "I told you so..."
3. Does everyone needs to know any science to understand that the issues of climate change need to be addressed?
Well this goes back to people being uneducated. If people dont know how to help protect their envirnment how are they going to be able to do anything! Being ignorant and wasteful is going to lead to our destruction.
to respond to chello? it is true that it should be everyones responsibility and it is the job of teh politicians to raise awareness and instruct everybody. Most people are only concerned with their life and not the future..if theyre not going to be alive in 50 years why should they care if half the world is going to be underwater? It is an acute way of thinking, and somebody needs to get through to them.
In response to what Chelllo said i think that thats a little too cynical. Agreeing with the statement that humans value self-preservation, wouldn't facts showing that there is a threat to this preservation alarm people? I think so. People are not so "consumed with their current economic status" that they wouldn't try to sustain the the human race if there were facts that no one could argue with. This situation might be difficult to come by since even though we already have facts to prove that global warming is occuring, there are people who are still skeptical about these facts. What i am worried about is that by the time global warming theory is set in stone, it will be too late for the skeptics to help the human race's preservation.
1)People being greedy lazy slobs. that's the reason for global warming.Everyone has to use some kind of motorized vehicle and burn fuel to get from point a to point b. we use up natural resources and cut down trees and introsuce harmful chemials into the environment which all cause global warming.
2) We should because we created the problem. If we all stop being lazy slobs(do the opposite of what i said in question 1) things will get better.
3) Not really. people just need to be aware that it is a very serious problem and they need to be told what they can do as individuals to help stop it. Not everyone needs to know the exact scientific reasons behind why our planet is heating up, they just need to kow that it is and its a problem.
1. Humans just broke i over time. It wasn't a breaking point type of thing, but really something that just took a long time to develop, and was recently noticed instead. Greenhouse gases have been produced unnaturally (Breathing would be naturally) by humans for over 250 years (even since coal started to be burned in the 1700's.
2. It shouldn't be just one person or country to fix it, but rather everyone. It impacts everyone, and is the responsibility of everyone.
3. Yes. To know it you need to know at least basic sciences. For example, you need chemistry to understand the greenhouse gas part.
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