Whistle blowing on Global Warming

[Anaxogoras]

The problem is, the cost of being wrong could be catastrophic as well.  Your logic here is divorced from reasonable cost-risk analysis.  The negative impacts to emerging economies of CO2 reduction laws and treatise, as well as to developed nations, is already being felt, and have proven largely ineffective.  The percent certainty is important in determining if it is more cost effective to attempt to reduce CO2 (and hopefully but not certainly) slowing warming, take other proposed measures to counter-act warming, or instead to mitigate it's effects.  What if the science dictates that CO2 has done all the warming it can do (a claim I've heard)?  The forcing function of CO2 are, I've read, an exponential decay; i.e. as the concentration goes up, the impact per unit of increase goes down in an exponential decay pattern.  Could that not explain why GW has essentially halted for the last decaded, even though CO2 concentration has been rising still?  What I'm saying is, the nature of the malady must be understood, if we're going to have a cure (or even need a cure) that does not do more harm than the malady.  Having honesty from the scientific community is essential, and these emails intimate that we're not getting it.

There's other problems associated with CO2 besides warming, the acidification of the ocean being a big one.  Do you like seafood?

Really, I think you've made my point for me nicely.  Inconvenience from making more efficient use of our energy resources is a safe bet.  I'm not going to Vegas with the integrity of the biosphere, no thank you.

[druski85]

Carbon emissions or not, oil is a finite resource upon which modern society is dependent.   Demand increases daily, and while new fields are indeed capable of extraction with new technology, they too will not last forever.  Not to sound like an alarmist, but to do nothing as a society to wean ourselves off this dependency is at best negligent and at worst suicidal.

Now coal and natural gas are somewhat different situations.   Both are finite, but we won't run out of either for many hundreds of years.  That being said, coal in particular releases all sorts of fun toxins when combusted (yes, even with scrubbers) and therefore has it's own inherent risks.  

What it comes down to for me is (regardless of whether or not man-made climate change is a reality) it makes absolutely zero sense for the most advanced nations in the world to cling to outdated technology sourced in finite resources.  

But I digress...

[saggs]

No, No, No,  You see I've figured it all out, global warming IS man made, but it IS NOT Co2.

Here's what's happened; As the population of the world increases, so to does the number of wicked heathens and infidels, and more and more of these people are dying everyday and going to hell.  Now... as we all know hell is "down there" in the middle of the earth, and those souls in hell are burned in agony for eternity.

So it's simple you see; the fires of hell are growing bigger each day, with each new soul damned for eternity, thus causing the earth to warm from the inside.

[sluggish]

No, No, No,  You see I've figured it all out, global warming IS man made, but it IS NOT Co2.

Here's what's happened; As the population of the world increases, so to does the number of wicked heathens and infidels, and more and more of these people are dying everyday and going to hell.  Now... as we all know hell is "down there" in the middle of the earth, and those souls in hell are burned in agony for eternity.

So it's simple you see; the fires of hell are growing bigger each day, with each new soul damned for eternity, thus causing the earth to warm from the inside.

Then again... You may just have discovered a new energy source!

[DrDea]

 Its impossible for me to take this thing seriously when people like Gore live like they do demanding everyone reduce their carbon footprint. Everyone but them.
 The data has been skewed to fit their agenda. It will be difficult at best to find a group to study the data in an impartial manner. To many will NEVER admit they could be wrong on BOTH sides of this. Just isnt gonna happen. The core samples from ice showing a normal warming and cooling trend were all dismissed in the name of doing "good" for the planet. How can these people be taken seriously? When they held the conference in DC the guy running it wanted it on the statisticly warmest day in DC and they cut off the Air conditioning.He was on TV gloating about it!!!
  No,Im not buying it when so much deception went into proving their opinion on the matter.

[stran]

Do you carry 4 spares in your car? Waterpump.... hoses, torque converter???

Seems a lot of dinos, plants and animals were once wiped out from a catastrophe. The earth recovered nicely I thought. I see this crock as another way for someone to milk those with money to babysit those without.

though i don't give a damn about global warming.
that's a shoddy analogy. the Earth will not change if you blow out your tires...

[John Curnutte]

 What these supposed scientists say is all bulls*it . However you cannot keep polluting the earth it will give way in time . Oh and Gore can talk when he cleans up his act .
          Nutte

[Die Hard]

The Earth's biosphere is a self-balancing, self-cleaning system. It's the only way it could have survived numerous cataclysmic events and countless disasters throughout its existence.

That said, we shouldn't go out of our way to pollute it. After all, it is our habitat.

[FireDrgn]

SO go chop down 2 billions christmas trees and throw them in the trash that should help. 

. Some one is going to hit the nuke button long before we get there.

I believe we should be good stewards of what we have regardless of Golbal Warming or not. You can only pollute so much before your forced to drink or eat it.

[DMBEAR]

Thank God for Man made global warming.

If those darn pre historic guys weren't driving their monster trucks during those Mammoth hunts, or watching The Caveman Games on their big screen TV's we'd still be in an Ice Age.    

[batch]

doesnt Al Gore care about the plants? CO2 is required for plants to live and grow...... if we drastically reduce it then the plants will die.......

poor poor plants......... then what will vegetarians eat?

promote global warming..... long live the plants........ they have feelings

[Shuffler]

though i don't give a damn about global warming.
that's a shoddy analogy. the Earth will not change if you blow out your tires...

It's a good one..... but it requires a little thinking.

The person I quoted said that GW was a possibility so we should do something about it now.

I asked this question of him.... not you..... to see if he did the same in his daily life. His vehicle could break down at any time. Was he prepared. It could be catastropic for him and his family if he was not.

[DMBEAR]

A lot of people say Al Gore is a hypocrite, but I don't think so.

As you can see he kisses cows instead of eating them. 

[Sabre]

Really, I think you've made my point for me nicely.  Inconvenience from making more efficient use of our energy resources is a safe bet.  I'm not going to Vegas with the integrity of the biosphere, no thank you.

Can't say as I see how , but suit yourself.  You're pulling a bait and switch with the acidification remark.  How high CO2 can go before the oceans become untenable for marine life is another topic entirely.  The discussion is whether the planet is warming due to man-made influences.  If that's not the scientific problem, then quit talking about GW and let's talk instead about acidification.

One problem I have with this whole discussion is the assumption by some that if a person does not agree with Cap-N-Trade policies and CO2-induced GW that, (a) I don't care about pollution and (b) I'm against energy independence.  Both are as far from truth as can be.  In regards to the first, I care deeply about avoiding unnecessarily polluting our environment.  The problem is in the definition of "pollution"; CO2 isn't...indeed, it is essential to life on our planet (did you know that plants grow faster, and with less water, when CO2 levels are elevated?).  In regards to the second,  I am a champion of gaining long-term energy independence for my country.  Again, the devil is in the details.  For me, energy independence means abundent energy produced indigenesly, enough to power strong economic growth.  It does not mean starving our economy to meet meaningless reductions in CO2 emisions, particularly if the actual un-adulterated science doesn't support the need.  Take CO2 emissions out of the equation and energy independence can be achieved easily: First, remove artificial roadblocks to tapping into domestic fosil fuel sources; stop subsidizing corn ethenol, streamline the approval/construction/certification of nuclear power; take the money being wasted on corn ethenol/carbon sequestration/Cap-N-Trade regulation and put it into incentives for R&D of alternate energy.

[john9001]

SO go chop down 2 billions christmas trees and throw them in the trash that should help. 

Ever been to a xmas tree farm, the xmas tree are grown as a crop, when trees are harvested new ones are planted. It's called a business, people work there.