I'm starting to doubt global warming (somewhat).

[The Anti-Neo Con]

How are they going to explain this weather we've been having this winter, an anomaly?

What if next winter is as cold, or even colder?

[mainegreen]

1. ........

:banghead:

[Jeanette in FL]

16. I second your sentiments

:banghead:

[Coexist]

76. third here...

:banghead:

[springhill]

98. I can't believe there are people on this site that ignorant........

on global warming. That sounds like a statement one of the right-wing wackos might make to try and debunk it.

[dogday]

96. All I know is that while we were freezing in Houston

it was warm in New York this winter, and that is too wild to even think about.... It's real and it is a threat....

[Hissyspit]

2. Global warming will produce EXTREMES of weather

...depending on where you are. It's not all about hot weather.

[The Anti-Neo Con]

4. Wasn't aware of that.

I need more info, but there's really none out there on the subject, or at least about global warming causing extremes.

[rman]

12. You mean you haven't seen "An Inconvenient Truth"?

Because info about climate extremes is definitely in there.
And google will point you to other sources on the matter.

[windbreeze]

51. or....

The Day After Tomorrow???? or read any article out there about Polar Bears, Birds dying, not migrating, Greenland melt, Glaciers melting, chunks breaking off the Polar Ice packs...or any of the articles that concerned scientists are writing..???

Seems to me, the temp rises...which melts the ice all over the world, which releases extreme amounts of co2 which increases the melts, (along with the earth not reflecting the sunlight back, because there's no snow/ice to reflect it, but instead dark earth which grabs the warmth and accelerates the melt) which puts fresh water into the salt water of the oceans, which then shuts down the currents, which then affects the jet stream, which then brings the ice age...it's a vicious circle...and anyone who doesn't believe in it...needs to check the trees outside their house right now, to see if they have buds on them...ours do, 6 weeks before spring is even supposed to start....or how about 41 degree weather in Antarctica in the middle of January...when the penguins were standing in water and acting very confused...

What I really want to know about all this, is the ratio of weight upon the soil, and the effects on the soil, before and after ice...think of a piece of sponge, you have a weight sitting on...then you remove the weight...what happens??? the sponge springs back...now put the earth's soil with ice/no ice in that same position...what happens??? severe earthquakes once the ice that held the soil stable is gone? wouldn't the earth's soil, be a whole lot lighter w/o moisture? at one time the continents were all one huge piece....I guess they don't move when they are held down with ice? but what happens when the ice no longer holds them in place...will they start moving again...or do they move all the time anyway? many questions...about humankind's future...this planet may be getting ready to shake us off(figuratively speaking)...and go about recovering...I guess that would be called a cataclysm, right???....

Sorry, too much thinking...
wb

[rman]

63. a few points

I don't think "The Day After Tomorrow" qualifies as a source, because it is fiction. Not that the premise is nonsense, but it is fiction.

Most of the earth's "soil" is not actually soil but solid rock, which can't absorb much water. But on a large scale rock is a bit elastic so yes it might 'spring back' as the ice that's now on top of it disappears.
There's no evidence that at some point in geological history the plates did not move because they were 'held down' by ice. I don't think they can be "held down".

Nevertheless i agree with the overall point you make: that there appears to be a combination of effects and feed-backs/run-away effects that are very likely to cause relatively fast and dramatic changes to the global climate. There will probably be changes to prevailing ocean currents and wind patterns, bringing drought where once there was precipitation (and agriculture), and bringing precipitation where once there was drought. If the Gulf Stream continues to decline, North-West Europe might see the onset of a small ice age during the course of this century.

In addition to the effects you mention there is the melting of the perma-frost in Siberia: it's essentially swamp and peat: a lot of rotting vegetation - which hold a lot of methane (a greenhouse gas), which will be released in massive amounts when it thaws - and it is thawing.
And then there are the methane hydrates in the deep ocean floor, which are likely to be released in massive amounts when ocean temperatures rise.


Add to that Peak Oil,
and then consider how our 'leaders' are dealing with those crisises.
The oil wars have already started and global warming is either ignored completely or dealt with to little, to late.

[windbreeze]

75. I know

that the DAT was just fiction...but...much of it could turn out to be true and the speed with which it happened, is something I believe they now consider to be entirely possible....I haven't seen Gore's "Inconvenient Truth" yet...

icequakes, are another phenomena and they are increasing, in Greenland and the ice shelf that is quickly disappearing..also the point is, that as one thing or the other escalates....then everything related, does too...

http://tinyurl.com/29zvxc
http://tinyurl.com/2x9zpz

As far as the methane from the ocean floor...they have been doing experiments already to see if gas escaping from the ocean floor possibly causes the problems in the Bermuda triangle...

http://tinyurl.com/272kk

The point is, no one is taking care of anything...ignore it, ignore it...and I say, whatever we want to call this phenomena ie: global warming/climate change, etc.,...we ignore it, at the very peril of the human race as a whole....especially considering how it all seems to be escalating at a terrible rate of speed...

We agree...
wb

[joeunderdog]

92. Global Warming s/b called (Catastrophic) Climate Change for this reason.

First cold day, and--poof!--the Itoldyaso's. It is confusing and most people who want their proof that Global "Warming" doesn't exist, don't want a long explanation about dramatic shifts in temperature. Labels do matter, and even though the earth is warming, people jump off the bandwagon during cold snaps.

[Hissyspit]

25. From Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming

"An increase in global temperatures can in turn cause other changes, including a rising sea level and changes in the amount and pattern of precipitation. These changes may increase the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, such as floods, droughts, heat waves, hurricanes, and tornados. Other consequences include higher or lower agricultural yields, glacier retreat, reduced summer streamflows, species extinctions and increases in the ranges of disease vectors. Warming is expected to affect the number and magnitude of these events; however, it is difficult to connect particular events to global warming. Although most studies focus on the period up to 2100, even if no further greenhouse gases were released after this date, warming (and sea level) would be expected to continue to rise for more than a millenium, since CO2 has a long average atmospheric lifetime."

[fidgeting wildly]

29. There are buckets of information!

Try Al Gore's book, or the movie. The information presented really is very accessible to non-scientific brains like mine. Alternatively, you could try two minutes on Google to educate yourself about the basics.

[jollyreaper2112]

31. think of it like your washer

When it's balanced on the spin cycle, all goes well. When it's not balanced, it goes jumping all around. It jerks left, right, backwards, forwards. You don't say "The machine isn't unbalanced because it's lurching leftwards just as much as rightwards."

Here's another factoid to consider. Too much fresh water in the ocean will stop the global conveyor, our ocean currents. These currents are what helps to distribute the heat across the panet. Without the conveyor, the equator gets even hotter while the temperate zones become colder.

They probably should have just called it "climate change" rather than global warming. It's a poor choice in marketing.

[acmejack]

39. I'm from Exxon, welcome aboard!

Where shall I send your check?

[mwb970]

59. It should really be referred to as "climate change".

The change in heating patterns results in a redistribution of warmth, with some areas actually getting colder as a result, despite a net gain in overall average temperature.

[Shakespeare]

68. No info out there?

Do you live in a cave, or something?

1. Google is your friend.

2. Go rent An Inconvenient Truth

Good fucking christ.

[kestrel91316]

78. "...I need more info, but there's really none out there on the subject

ROFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!

Of course there is. What hole have you had your head buried in for the past umpteen years that you don't know about CLIMATE DESTABILIZATION?????

But I suspect you might be just a little less than honest in your post, pretending to be naive. It gets old.

[SmokingJacket]

91. Yes, the globe IS warming overall, which causes the normal

weather patterns to get disrupted -- more storms, more variations in the jet stream that brings weather down from the north. Here we had three months of WARM winter, and now an extreme two week cold snap.

[MUAD_DIB]

43. Ding! That's it in a nutshell.

Earth has gone through these same periods in the ancient, ancient past: extreams of temperature change from season to season.

But the important thing is that they didn't happen overnight (within a century) but took time to occur.

[shadowknows69]

49. Increased moisture due to warming will increase precipitation

Northern New York is getting pounded with snow like we haven't for a decade. Last year 40's most of the winter and it didn't get out of the mid 40's this year until January. Then in a week it dropped to below zero. Any skeptics of climate change should check the weather records in my town for the last 20 years.

[aquaman]

3. That's funny......

Thanks for the joke so early in the morning.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

5. global warming is a misnomer

it really is extremes of temperatures that is the problem.

[niceypoo]

32. Global warming is a description

Its called that because average temperatures rise world wide. Its effect on local weather can be varied because it changes air pressures, humidity, etc. Some areas can turn to desert, some can get more rainy and some get cooler.

[proud2BlibKansan]

6. Climate change

Look it up. Educate yourself.

[iamjoy]

7. I'm Not Convinced Of It Either

Seriously, I'm not 100% sold on global warming - at least, so far as it being caused by humans/CO2 emmissions.

BUT, I still think we need to reduce our greenhouse gases. I think being more energy efficient and doing more to treat our earth with respect will have other benefits.

I'm also not convinced you aren't joking or playing devil's advocate. I've done that myself a few times here.

[kestrel91316]

79. You need to see An Inconvenient Truth. Seriously.

[iamjoy]

94. I've Seen It

it's very persuasive.

And, one thing that struck me was Al Gore saying that maybe there are threats other than terrorism.

I also remember him talking about the ice samples.

BUT -
the wisest scientific minds once used all their reason and observation, all the tools available to them and said the earth was at the center of the universe.

It is more likely however, that rather than being completely wrong - current theories on global climate change simply aren't telling the whole story. there's more to the picture that we're not seeing.

AND, too often people talking about global warming use hyperbole, or innaccurately cite things as caused by global warming. Take hurricanes for example. In 1938 a Category 3 hurricane hit New England. So, before "global warming" had really kicked in, the waters were warm enough for that.

Furthermore, I remember going to Alaska's Glacier Bay and being astonished to learn how much it retreated in the nineteenth century - I think it was over 20 miles. While in Alaska, I also saw an advancing glacier.

So, strange weather events have been going on throughout time. I do think we are contributing to global climate change, but also that there's more going on than we usually hear.

[kestrel91316]

95. Find me ONE climatologist who believes that human-produced

fossil-fuel source CO2 is the ONLY reason for climate variation. You know darned well nobody has claimed that.

Climatologists around the world are virtually unanimous that humans are behind the abrupt increase in CO2 and global warming. But none of them claim that only humans, and not nature, have an effect. They ARE scientists, after all. They didn't get their brains sucked out of their heads as a condition of getting their PhDs.

Why should we ignore our huge contribution to the problem and do nothing, merely because nature exists??? That's like the kid who, after raiding and breaking a cookie jar, points to the other, younger child and says "He ate a cookie, too!"

We cannot evade responsibility merely because CO2 is produced naturally in far smaller amounts than we have produced it.

[iamjoy]

99. I Never Said We Should Avoid Responsibility

in fact, I said we need to act as if it is because reducing carbon emissions and being more aware of our affect on the earth will have other benefits, anyway.

We can't do anything about the moon getting farther away or the earth's magnetic field disintigrating, but we can about carbon emmissions.

We just need to be careful that what we do doesn't make things worse.

[Gman]

8. Watch "An Inconvenient Truth"

and you will have no doubts.

Global warming is about extremes. Also, remember that there were cherry trees blooming and there was no measurable snowfall in NYC in December. IIRC, this was the first time there was no snow in December in NYC. with global warming, fall and winter start later and spring and summer come earlier.

"An Inconvenient Truth" is on DVD now.

[MadHound]

9. The technically correct term is global climate change

And it will bring about extremes of weather, some of which are just now becoming apparent, so which are still being speculated about. One of the most interesting things is that due to the melting of the Greenland ice pack and the subsiquent addition of millions of gallons of fresh water to the Atlantic, the Gulf Stream could be brought to a halt and actually throw NE America and Europe into another ice age.

[Cobalt Violet]

10. Massachusetts has been much warmer that usual.

It's been the warmeset ever. We just had a cold week but Dec. and Jan. were so warm I saw song birds that shouldn't been here and people reported flowers blooming. I'm not sure about northern New England.

[Marrah_G]

62. I am in Attleboro, MA

My flowering trees budded....there were 5 Bluejays and 4 cardinals and a slew of other birds in the front trees looking extremely confused (so I bought a few of those huge bird suets things). Then literally overnight it plunged 50-60 degrees and its been cold since. And no snow.... never in recorded history has there been so little snow in Eastern Mass.

It's really rather un-nerving.

[Cobalt Violet]

74. I thought I saw a few blue birds in my yard back before the cold snap.

I know they were blue birds, but they shouldn't have been. I know what they look like and their is no other bird around here this time of year that even looks close. The next day the temps dropped just like you said and I hope they made it okay. I saw a mosquito that week too; it was in my house.

It so weird. I've never seen it like this.

[joeunderdog]

93. It's Feb. with 4 " of snow total. (Nothing to see here.)

And I mean nothing. No snow in the big bad NorthEast?

[itsmesgd]

11. I wonder if it is a coincidence that the global climate change news and evidence of report tampering

by the shrubs admin comes as the full brunt of winter is hitting the country so that more people will say, "Global warming...I wish".

[The Anti-Neo Con]

13. Not a joke & not a flame post, seriously.

This is supposed to be the coldest Feb. here where I live since the record setting cold winters of the late 70's.

[itsmesgd]

23. It's all about El Nino this winter

El Nino is spanish for.....The Nino (per Chris Farley)

Not global warming, but radical environmental change. Go buy An Inconvenient Truth and spread the gospel.

[mainegreen]

28. You need to get a book that will describe ocean and air currents

and the role they play in weather. It should clear up a lot of why it seems some places get colder. But the short of it is that air and ocean currents carry temperature from one region to another. However as global temperature changes this causes many effects which change change or even stop currents. The best example is the gulf stream. As the Ice Pack on the north pole melts, the fresh water released must flow into the north Atlantic (look at a map of the north pole, notice it's a bowl with one opening). This reduces the salinity of the water in the north Atlantic, which reduces it's density, which means it is less likely to sink. If it does not sink, then the gulf stream has a harder time flowing into the north Atlantic, as the gulf stream water flows in to replace the sinking water. Without the gulf stream, Europe becomes much colder, almost Siberian in temperature. Of course, without the gulf stream the carribean gets hotter. Complex interactions like these are why global warming may seem to confusingly make weather colder, but remember: the average temperature on Earth is increasing. Unfortunately the weather also becomes more extreme. A bad combo indeed.

[Imperialism Inc.]

35. Well, yes, it is a joke, whether you meant it seriously or not.

A couple week stretch of cold weather somehow nullifies a long term trend? I mean c'mon. How am I supposed to take you seriously? Answer? I don't.

[kestrel91316]

80. Global warming causes changes in weather patterns, which leads

to worse extremes - hotter hots, colder colds, wetter floods, and dryer droughts. The top ain't spinning smoothly now. It's starting that wobble it gets right before it flies off across the room and breaks.

[Jim Warren]

14. Awfully early in the year

for "planting".

[fed-up]

53. BINGO! n/t

[NewJeffCT]

15. Umm - we've had an unusually warm winter in CT

I think we've had about 2 inches of total snow so far, when we're normally up to around 3 feet by now. We had temperatures up in the 70s in early January and quite a few days over 60.

The past few weeks have been closer to normal, but still hardly any snow.

Most of the Northeast has been abnormally warm this winter.

China is also experiencing an unusually warm winter (Beijing has seen their highest temps in 150 years, Shanghai has been warm as well)

[HereSince1628]

17. I've found the world much colder since my first age spot.

It was cool when my beard turned grey and Mr. Grey could no longer play. But I'm now routinely experiencing the effects, chilling effects, of global aging.

It's all about how we see the world, tain't it?

[Auggie]

18. Don't doubt it. It's happening. And you ain't seen nothing yet...

[blonndee]

19. Have you read about any of the most recent scientific reports?

Gloomy picture of global warming
Scientists tell Congress there is little doubt the problem exists and that humans likely caused it.
By BARBARA BARRETT
McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON | Four of the world’s top physical scientists told Congress on Thursday that there is little doubt that the world is getting warmer because of mankind’s influence.

They painted a dire portrait of rising sea levels, worsening storms and widespread droughts, which they said could result if humanity doesn’t change its ways.

The panel’s appearance raised the curtain on the political theater that will be the global warming debate in a Democratic-controlled Congress. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, broke ground by testifying before a House committee. A Republican lawmaker cross-examined her and others peppered the scientists with questions about dinosaur flatulence and China’s coal plants.

<snip>

But the latest report from a U.N. commission shows agreement from thousands of scientists and more than 100 countries, including the United States, that global warming exists. There is a 90 percent certainty that humanity largely caused it, the report says.

...

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/politics/16657130.htm

Global Warming Report
Scientists issue a warning to the world
By Karen Fanning

February 8, 2007

The United Nations released a report summary on climate change last week. The long-awaited document, which was released in Paris, France, forecast a dim future for planet Earth, warning that global warming is getting worse.

<snip>

The study, issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), blamed human activity for the rising temperatures seen around the globe. Its authors, a group of scientists, warned that average temperatures could increase between 2.5 to 10.4 degrees over the next century. Temperatures climbed just 1.2 degrees between 1901 and 2005.

According to the report, global warming is also contributing to rising sea levels around the world. The report predicts that sea levels will rise between 7 and 23 inches by 2100. It warns that levels will continue to rise for the next 1,000 years.

The full report is thousands of pages, and will be released in four sections. It is the fourth study the IPCC has published since 1990, and marks the first time the panel has declared that global warming is unmistakable.
...

http://content.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=11487

February 9, 2007
UN report removes all doubt on global warming
“I think the debate is over.”

JIM BELL

In a massive study that stitches together nearly everything that scientists know about climate change, a United Nations panel said last week there is now little doubt that the Earth is warming rapidly because of the massive amounts of oil, gasoline and coal that human beings have burned since 1750.

”The net effect of human activity since 1750 has been warming... It’s now unequivocal,” said Dr. Susan Solomon, co-chair of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, at the release in Paris, France this past Friday morning of the panel’s latest findings on climate change.

<snip>

And they concluded that the greenhouse effect is real. Gases in the upper sections of earth’s atmosphere, especially extra amounts of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide produced by human activity, trap heat from the sun and radiate it back to the Earth in a manner similar to the glass walls of a greenhouse.

“Warming of the climate system is now unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global sea level,” the report says.

...

http://www.nunatsiaq.com/news/climate/70209_01.html

[kestrel91316]

81. But, but, but where's the PROOF????

:sarcasm:

[Tin Man]

20. One week of cold weather, does not make for a cold winter, or a cold year.

And FWIW, this recent "cold snap" isn't really extreme at all; it's more in-keeping with historically "normal" winter weather.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

26. agreed, in nyc the last few days of cold isnt even as cold as normal.

it just feels colder because it happened in the middle of fucking spring weather in january

[elocs]

34. That's right--winters here in western Wisconsin used to be much worse.

When I was a kid here during the 50s and 60s we would routinely get lots of snow as well as temps in the -20s range. What we have had the past week is more normal yet does not match the extreme cold temps we once had. The doubters of global warming based upon a simple cold snap certainly give ammunition to the naysayers. I agree--study up a little before you spout that you doubt. Knowledge is the cure for ignorance.

[mwb970]

60. It's the same in Ohio.

When I was younger we had much more snow in central Ohio. I used to get stuck in snowdrifts (in my Pinto) all the time. I carried a snow shovel in the car. Now we barely have snow all winter, much less snowdrifts!


edit: typo

[frustrated_lefty]

21. You jest, right?

You think temperatures ranging 140 degrees apart across the country is normal? Birds dying by the thousands, bees collapsing and killing hives, rare flowers being tricked into spawning early only to die the next week when temperatures plummet? That strikes me as a little bit off.

[EST]

22. There is a difference between weather and climate.

No one knows whether the advent of global warming will kick off a dramatic global cooling event or not.

Global warming may very well cause an increase in cooling in various parts of the world that depend on the present climate to continue to be capable of supporting civilization. Local conditions are no measure of world wide climactic conditions, no matter what old anal cyst Rush may say.

Increases in average ocean temperature can exacerbate the violence of certain weather events resulting in, for instance, the entire continental Euroge and the British isles becoming covered with snow for the next twenty thousand years.

[KittyWampus]

24. Hence the need to call it Global Climate Change or Global Volatility.

weather and ocean current cycles are becoming unstable.

[kestrel91316]

82. I use the term "climate destabilization".

[jus_the_facts]

87. How 'bout GLOBAL POLLUTION which contributes to climate change....

:shrug:

[salin]

101. "Global Volatility" - isn't that one of the *goals* of bushco?

ala PNAC ala keep everything so destabilized that no 'competing superpower' could emerge?

Sorry for the nonsequitor - that term just made me think - snarky at first but then remembered that seriously was a goal per PNAC: Global Volatility.

Back to Climate Change... perhaps Global Climate Volatility.

[niceypoo]

27. Global warming isn't about how cold or hot it is on any give day or month

Global warming is about long term average temperatures. The greenhouse effect is necessary for human survival. CO2 in the atmosphere makes it warm enough that we can survive. What is happening is humans are releasing a couple billion years worth of stored carbon into the atmosphere in a geological instant. Educate yourself as to what global warming is before jumping to conclusions.

[Dorian Gray]

30. I thought that global warming

was responsible for conditions that created extreme weather conditions. So, extreme storms or temporary extreme cold are not indicative of global warming NOT existing. Rather, if you take the average temp of the Earth as a whole, the temp is steadily increasing on an annual basis.

Though, I understand the inclination, at 8 days straight under 20 degrees here in NYC, why the heck you may feel like Global Warming is not in effect. I'm shivering as I'm typing this! :)

[BlueManDude]

33. 6 weeks ago we were having freakishly warm weather in Boston.

[Captain Hilts]

36. Lake Effect snow because they lakes are not frozen as they should be. nt

[Katherine Brengle]

37. Repeat after me - Global CLIMATE CHANGE -

Global Climate Change
Global Climate Change
Global Climate Change

Global "Warming" will create extremes on both ends.

[devilgrrl]

38. I live in a safe neighborhood - I truly doubt CRIME happens.

:eyes:

[Double T]

40. One winter season or month is NOT a trend in temperature...........

please refer to graph for long term temperature trends. Our planet has a SERIOUS PROBLEM that is rapidly becoming much worse.

[elias7]

41. no troop was killed in Iraq yesterday, the war is going very well!

[Ganja Ninja]

42. Think back about 4 weeks.

What were the temperatures like in the eastern half of the US? Don't let a normal winter weather cold snap lull you into thinking global warming isn't real. Consider the long term trend. Right now we're having typical winter weather but these temperatures should have spanned a 2 1/2 to 3 month period not just the last 2 weeks.

[greenman3610]

44. Global warming. Climate Change. Climate Crisis.

I prefer "Global Weirding".

Seriously, as long as we still have polar ice caps,
we will have occasional streams of cold air come
at us, thank God.


"Over the past several decades, satellite data have revealed the gradual shrinkage of sea ice on the Arctic Ocean. This image shows the extent of ice in September, 1979 (yellow line), compared to its extent in September, 2005. This is a reduction of more than 20 percent"

[treestar]

45. Local weather conditions aren't so relevant

Last month was unnaturally warm in a lot of places.

But the overall concept of global warming is much bigger than that. I remember our local paper having an article claiming that current severe winter meant there was no global warming.

It's the overall planetary conditions that count for purposes of determining global warming.

[meow mix]

46. warmer on the north slope of alaska, then where you are. its not wisconsin warming

people really should look beyond thier own yard once in awhile

[BoneDaddy]

47. Oh God

it shows you really haven't read a single thing about Global Warming. If you did you would realize that Global Warming is not a constant increase in temperature throughout all seasons. We have had the hottest ten years on record in the past 12 years.

Gl Warm does not mean our winters become summers over night. It means that our climate is an incredibly complex entity with checks and balances. GL Warm will mean that we will have erratic weather patterns, extreme weather conditions, as the earth attempts to reach a level of homeostasis. The truth is apparant if you just looked for it.

Stop listening to Sean Hannity.

[DuaneBidoux]

48. They really shouldn't even describe it as global warming.

If you would study the models in more depth (as I have) you would know that there will not be global warming everywhere--there are even someplaces that will become much colder (one of those places potentially being Europe).

The upper latitudes will be (and already have been) impacted much more. There will be warming in the Arctic and on Anartica and that is without doubt happening extensively. Polar bears are drowning at the North Pole (because they become stranded on ice flows that break away and can't get out) and species of flora and fauna that belong in the US South are turning up in Canada. There are literally thousands of other signs of global warming virtually everywhere in the world.

They really should more properly call this "global climate change" as they now know there will not be universal warming, but once one term gets started it is tough to bring it to a hault.

[WyLoochka]

56. Climate Change is a better

term, imo, as it doesn't serve to set people who haven't read much about the phenomenon off on the wrong path as far as conceptualization goes.

[hatrack]

50. For starters . .

Here's one of the best sites I know - it's run by climatologists but not so technical that someone unfamiliar with the science can't get a handle on it.

http://www.realclimate.org

Beyond that, "global warming" is a terrible name, along with "global climate change".

"Climate breakdown" or "climate destabilization" are far more accurate, both in terms of what's projected and what's already happening.

[Bushwick Bill]

52. It could produce an ice age!

Thom Hartmann lays it out nicely.
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0130-11.htm

[InvisibleTouch]

55. This is also discussed in detail...

...in one of the scariest books I've ever read, "The Coming Global Superstorm," upon which the movie "The Day After Tomorrow" was based. (The movie was often laughed at for being "far-fetched," but in fact it isn't. It just turns a very possible scenario into a narrative, which makes it accessible to people who otherwise might not read the science.) While the authors are clearly not scientists (and admit as much), and some of their theories aren't supported by accepted scientific knowledge (and they also admit as much), most of it is well-researched and based on solid data.

Here's a link:

http://www.amazon.com/Coming-Global-Superstorm-Art-Bell/dp/0743470656/sr=1-1/qid=1171039074/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-5512430-4778318?ie=UTF8&s=books

For the record, I like the term "Climate Crisis" over "Global Warming," because it encompasses all possibilities and really highlights the danger.

[tabatha]

54. good video

http://www.libertynewstv.com/RAW CLIPS and STILLS/AUGUST2006CLIPS/LNTVGlobalLink.wvx

[Zero Division]

57. The first half of the winter was unseasonably warm here in the Midwest.

And don't forget the intense heat waves that were experienced in both North America and Europe over the summer, as well. It's Global Warming, which is something many people still don't seem to understand. Extreme cold weather events can still occur as the average temperature of the planet rises. It is also possible that Global Warming can contribute to or cause localized cooling patterns in a very complex system like the Earth's climate, since the average temperature is just one interrelated component of the climate.

I also suggest reading through this FAQ page at RealClimate.Org: http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/category/extras/faq/
It answers many of the global warming skeptics' assertions.

[cooolandrew]

58. Betsy Rosenburg says the correct term is more 'Climate change'.

In the winters it will always still get somewhat cold as the earth moves further away from the sun in those months. But once the summer comes along that's when we notice it.

[Jonathan50]

61. The insurance industry thinks something is going on.

http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/262007_Homeowners_Insurance.asp

GULF COAST: Allstate Insurance has indicated its intent to raise premiums and deductibles and reduce benefits for temporary living expenses and is dropping coverage completely for 140,000 customers in 18 Louisiana parishes.

NEW YORK: Allstate is no longer offering new policies on Long Island, New York City, or Westchester County and will not renew 30,000 policies because of hurricane risk. The company also cancelled 28,000 policies in 2005. Ceres points out that New York has not had a damaging hurricane for almost 70 years.

MASSACHUSETTS: Three different insurance companies have dropped a total of over 23,000 homeowners on Cape Cod and other coastal areas since 2004.

RHODE ISLAND: Some insurers plan to discontinue homeowner coverage in coastal neighborhoods and others are limiting or refusing to write new policies. The state's insurance regulator has been allowing companies to cancel policies in some neighborhoods so the companies don't leave the state altogether.

[rman]

64. Same in the UK

(some) insurance corporations are advising city councils and home owners against building in/moving into low-lying areas.

Isn't it interesting that some corporations are more prudent about these things than many governments are.

[WinkyDink]

65. No snow but a dusting in my area of PA. Ask the ski resort operators about GW.

In Switzerland, also.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

66. Not A Criticism, But You Are Only Doubting It Due To Your Ignorance Of The Subject.

By ignorance I mean lack of factual knowledge surrounding the complexities of what global warming/global climate change is, not ignorance meaning 'unintelligent'.

If you read up more on what causes it and how it will effect global climate, as well as the facts as to how it has impacted our current weather and why just simply the fact it is so cold in some places this winter is completely irrelevant, you will undoubtedly regain strong convictions about just how important and real the problem is.

My advice would be to do more research and acquire more facts about it before closing your mind off to it. Don't look at it as doubts, but simply a need to learn more. As you research more and become less ignorant to the facts surrounding the issue, you will undoubtedly find yourself growing more and more convinced that this is in fact an issue that requires our immediate attention.

[alfredo]

67. The Jet Stream dropped down, bring arctic weather to the

mid west and east. The snows you are seeing in New York is because Lake Ontario is large, deep, and warm from a warmer than usual fall and early winter. The arctic winds pick up moisture from the warm lake and dump that moisture in the form of snow.


I am glad to see a cold winter here. We needed the cold to kill off bugs and other creepy crawlies. We had moths in December.

[MyNameGoesHere]

69. For anyone that doubts

pollution is a good thing i suggest you put your lips around a cars exhaust for about 3 hours and suck on the it. Not willing to do that? Why? Well never mind that Global Warming is real and man made how about just admitting that pollution isn't good for you or us?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

70. Isn't that like saying...

"I doubt that smoking is bad for you. If it were, how come it's so cool?"

[Quixote1818]

71. The reason they are having such powerful lake effect snows is because waters

in the great lakes are warmer than normal. Warm water produces more precipitation.

[Blue_In_AK]

72. The climate models I've seen

have predicted that "global warming" will ultimately result in extreme cold in the northeast and Europe as the infusion of fresh water from melting glaciers slows the currents in the Atlantic. It's unfortunate that the term "global warming" came to be used and not global climate change which is probably more accurate in the long term.

[northzax]

73. it's called 'climate change' not 'global warming'

for good reason.

[hedgehog]

77. The recent report on Global CLimate Change noted that snowfalls in my region* went from

about 8 1/2 feet per winter in 1900 to about 11 1/2 feet per winter in 2000 as Lake Ontario warmed up though the century. Annual snow fall totals are expected to continue increasing. It's my own observation that winter is arriving later and leaving sooner, nmeaning that the snowfall is packed into a shorter season. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go see if my husband is finished shoveling 6 ft of snow off our barn roof.........





* Oswego, County, New York

[kestrel91316]

83. Have to lol about this OP. Posts flamebait and then

disappears. I think the Marx avatar is done mockingly..................

KKKarl really MUST start hiring people who are more subtle...........

[Texasgal]

85. A classic Swoop N' Poop! n/t

[kestrel91316]

88. Classic "concern troll"........"I'm so concerned that we might actually

have fallen for a pile of crap with this global warming thing, dude.............thanks for the check, Karl!"

[Texasgal]

84. Global warming

is about EXTREME weather conditions and the global changes it has on our planet.

We are talking about KATRINA, The TSUNAMI, FLOODING. EARTHQUAKES...Things like that.

Get educated, and learn some things. Don't write off what you don't know.

[SCDem]

86. Visit this website

www.theclimateproject.org and scroll down to the bottom of the page click on your state and see where there are presentations in your area - if there are none then email the site and request one.

Whether the original post was in jest or not it can't hurt to be more educated about our climate crisis.

[candidate]

89. It was 70 degrees here in CT in December

And so far we've only got about an inch of snow.

[NickB79]

90. It's been about -15F here in Minneapolis this year

That sounds pretty cold. However, I'm an avid gardener. Our area, since I was a child, has been listed as a zone 4 growing region by Arbor Day. This means that, on average, you can expect a winter low of -25F to -30F. We haven't seen that kind of cold in many, many years. A yearly low of -15F sounds bad, but compared to what it should be, it's significantly warmer than before.

[frogcycle]

97. your timing sucks

don't you pay any attention to the news? An international panel of scientist just overrode your doubts.
wetting your finger and sticking it in the air does not really constitute global climatological research. Why don't you defer to those who know what they are doing?

[mvd]

100. Global warming isn't about one winter, or even two

We are in a lasting cold pattern, but the last two Januarys here have been 8 and almost 6 degrees above average. Scientists can look as far back as the 1800s and compare specific data with past discrepancies in temperature. Global warming has both come over a shorter period of time and accelerated faster.