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Several years ago, Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth shocked many Americans as it detailed the terrible plight of our warming planet. However, many Americans are not taking Mr. Gore's claims at face value. In fact, the percentage of Americans who are skeptical about global warming is growing according to recent sources. Some say that in fact, the climate seems to be cooling as of late. Others cite the natural temperature cycle that the earth has had over hundreds of thousands of years.
Most reports on global warming cite that CO2 emissions are the problem. Man's carbon footprint is to blame and without drastically reducing it, the earth with meet a cataclysmic fate... or will it? Carbon dioxide has been present in higher quanities in previous years than it is currently. Also, CO2 accounts for only a small portion of the greenhouse gases in our atmosphere, with water vapor accounting for a much larger percentage. Ice cores and other studies have cast doubt on the manmade global warming crisis.
While there are claims on both sides of the issue, there is far from a scientific consensus regarding the global warming. Over 31,000 American scientists have signed a petition stating that they do not agree with the idea that manmade global warming is a real threat.
A recent Gallup poll determined that 41% of Americans, up from 33% a year ago, believe that the media is exaggerating the threat of global warming. Out of eight different environmental concerns included in the poll, global warming came in last, while water pollution took the top spot.
Comments
I decided I wouldn't believe any reports that didn't mention the obvious benefits of warming to those living in the colder north.
After reading over a hundred supposedly even handed reports without one mentioning the clear benefits of warming, I simple stopped believing anything this money grabbing hysteria mongers were saying and looked at the science - and then I really did can mad cause with a science background I didn't think I'd ever fall for such a cheap trick. In short: it's all bogus!
Here we go again. Climate change is real. Maybe you don't want it to be real, but that doesn't make it disappear. From the 31000 scientists you mentioned above only a very small minority are real climate scientists. See (my comment cannot contain links. This is stupid) www dot scholarsandrogues dot com/2009/08/02/152-oism-scientists-cant-be-wrong/
Bart, climate change is real. It was real in the Medieval Warm Period, it was real in the Little Ice Age and it is still real. The climate changes. That is what we get for living on a planet orbiting a sun with a little wobble in that orbit. Some of you may think we are living under a dome but we are not and we have no control over the planet's climate. In the past people have tried praying, burning witches, making sacrifices to their gods, etc. You may wish to pay more taxes to your government to stop this but it will have the same effect.
The Earth may have gone through climate change in the past, but did it have to cope with 6 billion (soon 9 billion) polluting humans? We are polluting ourselves out of existance, however, it looks like the planet will have the last laugh...
I believe that the total amount of animal life on the planet has stayed close to the same. There are more humans now but the hordes of dinosaurs are gone. The huge herds of mammoths, bison, etc are gone. As for polluting, I am not sure if the planet knows or cares which species is defecating on it. I am noticing in all this that humans do not feel good about themselves. All animals disturb/change nature to live. My chipmunks dig holes in the ground and urinate and defecate everywhere. They store nuts in the ground and die there. They don't feel bad about it. The beavers in my river build damns and houses in the river. They strip bark off trees and eat foliage. They don't feel bad. The squirrels build dens in the trees, they chew bark off trees and collect nuts from trees. They don't feel bad about what they are doing. Why is it that environmentalists feel it is alright for animals but not for humans? Why is it that humans who believe this feel they must make other humans believe it?
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