:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

But the air and water in the United States is cleaner now than it was anytime in the last century. Yet we continue to put the impetus and blame on the United States. Why aren't the green activists protesting in the countries with runaway pollution?

:thumb: Excellent point.

Wow. Can't believe how much of an emotional issue this has become... I'm kinda siding with Frances on this one who said earlier (paraphrasing) that we shouldn't put too much stock in Al Gore's theories and we shouldn't dismiss them too easily either... Does Global Warming Exist? If so, is it man made? If so, can makind curb it? I don't know the answers to these questions. I know that there use to be (several) periods in time when there were ice ages. Now they are in retreat. We are in a warming period as the data we have from the last 100 years might suggest. What does this mean? Do we have hard data from the last 500 years? 1000 years to compare? Not really. The harsh winters we had in the late 70's had many climatologists suggesting we were in for another ice age. How much stock can we put into someone who calls themselves a climatologist anyway? We spend billions of dollars in this country on technology (satellites, ground radar, etc.) to try and predict the weather for the following day. Is this accurate? The answer is yes... about half the time (I'm exagerating a little, but not much). When they are wrong it is because there were too many factors that may have affected the outcome. Despite all these experts on the weather look how risky it is to predict the weather for 10 days out. Now we have these climatologists who are so bold and bright they can predict the trends for the entire world for the next 100 years. Solar impact, el nino, volcano eruptions, so many factors that it would be impossible to predict with any degree of certainty. Should we put much stock in these scientists? Definitely... a little. But with all good modern science a good scare is worth billions in funding...

 

IMO I think we should go back to the good old '90's when the only thing we had to fear was the big asteroids that were going to wipe us out...

:thumb:

 

The eruptions of Mount Pinatubo in 1991 and 1992 dumped more gas and toxins in the atmosphere than Man has in his entire time on the planet. The guts of the Earth were spewed into the upper atmosphere. Not just ash, greenhouse gases galore from burning coal, oil, iron, copper, and every element contained in and below the crust. (Why can't people see this? You don't need to be a scientist to use common sense.) Global weather WAS affected. The temperature DROPPED and average of 1.5 C in 1992 and 1993 around the earth. At the time, scientists where afraid the shock just might completely destroy the ozone layer. Guess what. In 1999 reports indicated that the ozone had actually repaired itself. Mother Nature adjusted and recovered.

 

The 1815 explosion of Tambora was so bad it caused 1816 to have no summer. It was snowing in July and August as far south as Virginia. Mother Nature adjusted and recovered.

 

I believe that we should do what is necessary to protect our environment, but there is no need to go overboard.

 

Exactly. Also, does anyone know what the temperature has done in the amazon over the past five years - it has gotten colder, so much colder that the local scientist there are concerned. Does Al Gore have a movie about that? No, that is not as interesting or as alarming as "Global Warming".

 

The scientist at the polar ice cap also admitted that the first time the ice cap was measured was during the polar winter season, and the most resent time it was measured was in the polar summer. This was not to mislead, but some people took this information and turned it to their benefit.

If you believe that our current existence is based upon evolution dating back billions of years to an impossibly complex sequence of happy accidents, you have very good reason to be scared out of your wits by Al Gore and his apocalyptic message of man’s wanton destruction of his environment.

 

If on the other hand, you believe that we are the result of intelligent design instigated by an all-knowing Creator, then your fears—though very real to you—have far less traction.

 

One of the interesting underlying themes of the Bible is the concept of seasons. Dozens of times, we are instructed/reminded that God designed nature to operate in fixed patterns and cycles. The foundation underlying the Fourth Commandment to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy is grounded in the principle of God established seasons and cycles.

 

The words of Solomon, (described as the wisest man who ever lived) from Ecclesiastes Chapter 3, were the core of a hit song written by Pete Seeger in the 1950s, and propelled to become one of the defining songs of the 1960’s by The Byrds in 1965.

 

The first eight verses of Ecclesiastes 3 read as follows: To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

 

The most widely used calendar in the world is the Gregorian calendar established in 1582 AD by Pope Gregory. It is a solar calendar, based on a solar cycle of 146,097 days, or 400 years, which also works out to be 20,871 seven day weeks. The Gregorian calendar finds its roots in the Julian calendar established by Julius Caesar around 46 BC, which in turn was based upon the works of Greek astronomer and mathematician Hipparcus 100 years earlier.

 

I find it interesting that a Hebrew shepherd who was neither an astronomer nor mathematician, defined, established and recorded this basic seven day cycle 1,300 years earlier than Hipparcus, and based it upon events he claimed occurred around 4,000 BC.

 

I say all of this merely to point out that there are both scientific and spiritual reasons to believe that our earth and sun are merely fulfilling a long term cycle of activity resulting in a short term disturbance of our 100 year weather cycles.

 

Yes, we should within reason try to save the rainforest, be smarter about recycling and not wasting our resources, come up with better and more efficient sources of energy, etc. BUT, it’s not wise to follow Chicken Little in hysterical panic.

If this link has already been posted I'm sorry. http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressRoom.Blogs&ContentRecord_id=32abc0b0-802a-23ad-440a-88824bb8e528

 

It talks about a climatologist from the weather channel wanting to decertify those climatologists who are skeptical about manmade global warming. Not exactly the way to get answers.

From Newsweek:

 

There are ominous signs that the Earth’s weather patterns have begun to change dramatically and that these changes may portend a drastic decline in food production – with serious political implications for just about every nation on Earth. The drop in food output could begin quite soon, perhaps only 10 years from now. The regions destined to feel its impact are the great wheat-producing lands of Canada and the U.S.S.R. in the North, along with a number of marginally self-sufficient tropical areas – parts of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indochina and Indonesia – where the growing season is dependent upon the rains brought by the monsoon.

 

The evidence in support of these predictions has now begun to accumulate so massively that meteorologists are hard-pressed to keep up with it. In England, farmers have seen their growing season decline by about two weeks since 1950, with a resultant overall loss in grain production estimated at up to 100,000 tons annually. During the same time, the average temperature around the equator has risen by a fraction of a degree – a fraction that in some areas can mean drought and desolation. Last April, in the most devastating outbreak of tornadoes ever recorded, 148 twisters killed more than 300 people and caused half a billion dollars’ worth of damage in 13 U.S. states.

 

To scientists, these seemingly disparate incidents represent the advance signs of fundamental changes in the world’s weather. The central fact is that after three quarters of a century of extraordinarily mild conditions, the earth’s climate seems to be cooling down. Meteorologists disagree about the cause and extent of the cooling trend, as well as over its specific impact on local weather conditions. But they are almost unanimous in the view that the trend will reduce agricultural productivity for the rest of the century. If the climatic change is as profound as some of the pessimists fear, the resulting famines could be catastrophic. “A major climatic change would force economic and social adjustments on a worldwide scale,” warns a recent report by the National Academy of Sciences, “because the global patterns of food production and population that have evolved are implicitly dependent on the climate of the present century.”

 

Article

If in fact the growing season in northern latitudes has been shortened by two weeks over the past 50 years, how are we experiencing true global warming? It sounds as though we might want to consider accelerating our efforts to "warm the globe" instead of stopping global warming.

 

On the other hand, the catastrophic changes associated with a rise of "a fraction of a degree" at the equator tell us that the earth and our environment are finely tuned. Too finely tuned IMO to have occured by chance, without a Designer... but that's another discussion. :lol:

Note to self: next to "honest politician" and "educational television" add "climate expert" to list of oxymorons.

Note to self: next to "honest politician" and "educational television" add "climate expert" to list of oxymorons.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

If global warming is real, I am gonna start praying. If it is not then good. I am not saying it is real or not, but you have to admit that we have really screwed our enviroment over with pollution.

Article in Reuters this morning reports that Exxon Mobil has stopped funding groups skeptical of global warming claims and has entered think tank discussions aimed at producing regulations for limiting greenhouse gas emissions.

 

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16593606/

 

The WSJ has an interesting take on why some CEOs of big businesses may be warming to global warming.

 

http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/kstrasselpw/?id=110009578

If global warming is real, I am gonna start praying. If it is not then good. I am not saying it is real or not, but you have to admit that we have really screwed our enviroment over with pollution.

...and politicians. :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

If global warming is real, maybe my dream of owning a grove of citrus trees will come true... in Minnesota.

...and politicians. :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

If global warming is real, maybe my dream of owning a grove of citrus trees will come true... in Minnesota.

:laugh: Hopefully it is not true, I like snow in the winter time in Kentucky.

:laugh: Hopefully it is not true, I like snow in the winter time in Kentucky.

Shoot, Baby... you're sittin' on future beachfront resort property... :lol: