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Arguing about the cause of global warming is like standing on the railroad tracks arguing whether the train is your fault. We see the train, and it ain't stopp

• EliAndrewC 18y ago
  I've never quite understood this argument. If humans are causing and/or worsening global warming, then understanding how we're doing this will let us know what we can do to mitigate it.
  • Retric 18y ago
    AC is one example of mitigation that is independent of cause. I think it's important to compare the cost of preventing global worming vs dealing with global worming. I suspect that finding a cheep alternative to Coal power plants and internal combustion cars is going to be the cheapest long term solution, but there are a wide range of options. In the end CO2 can only have a finite impact on global worming so the question becomes what trade offs are worth it. PS: When other options become cheaper then stopping becomes "free".
• DanielBMarkham 18y ago
  Grass grows over mountain inside of 200 years. Film at 11. Forgive me for not panicking, but somehow I missed the comparison with other planets and 10,000,000 year graphics that put this in perspective. Oh. That's right. We have no other examples of complex ecosystems to draw on, and scant little data to draw conclusions with on with our current climate. But by all means, it must be disaster on its way.
  • timr 18y ago
    "...scant little data to draw conclusions with on with our current climate" Yeah, I guess the scientists just forgot to put data in the IPCC reports, and the tens of thousands of peer-reviewed articles on the subject that came before them.
    • jerf 18y ago
      Your argument needs updating. It's no longer IPCC consensus vs. internet loudmouth crackpots. It's IPCC consensus vs. the consensus of a large and growing number of scientists, armed with some peer-reviewed papers themselves. "Shut up, the IPCC knows what it's doing and nobody disagrees with it" has lost what validity it may have had.
      • deleted 18y ago
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• kingkongrevenge 18y ago
  There are more growing glaciers than shrinking glaciers.
• mseebach 18y ago
  No? If global warming is happening for whatever non-man-made-CO2 reason, spending ridiculous amounts of money cutting carbon won't help us. Since that's the preferred public policy option these days, it's pretty relevant arguing over the cause.
  • kingkongrevenge 18y ago
    The state of the debate is now whether global warming is even happening, not potential warming causes.
  • khafra 18y ago
    I'm not sure your conclusion follows from your premise. For instance, it could be the case that global warming is caused entirely by increased sun activity, but that concerted human effort to decrease atmospheric greenhouse gasses could still cool the earth off. Combinatorily, I see 7 possibilities combining global warming (exists/doesn't), and is (entirely/partially/not at all) anthropogenic, and (can/cannot) be ameliorated by human effort. *sponsored by the committee for strong syllogisms