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Climate Change & Global Warming


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How important is Global Warming to you in the Grand Scheme of Things?  

246 members have voted

  1. 1. How important is Global Warming to you in the Grand Scheme of Things?

    • Give me a break, I've enough on my plate
      17
    • I suppose there's something in it, but it's for the Politicians/Corporations/Those in power to sort out
      4
    • Yes I think it is important and I try to do my bit.
      79
    • If we don't stop it, the Planet dies in a few years, it's as simple as that.
      34
    • I think it is all hype and not half as bad as they make out
      108
    • I don't know what to think
      17

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It's hard to know how to respond to James Lovelock. He's so chirpy, yet his message is about as pessimistic as it's possible to be. He is probably the most convincing scientific voice on the subject of climate change, yet most people would be horrified if they chose to believe him (which of course they don't). I admire him for being able to find happiness without the necessity of hope. Unfortunately his message makes me feel rather depressed, because I suspect he will be proved right, as he has been before.

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Where a lot of things are misconstued I think are in the wording.

 

Climate change is the current buzzword, as is climate change DENIERS.

 

But the thing is a lot of people who are called deniers actually do believe the climate is changing. What we aren't convinced by is the evidence that man made actions are to cause. Sure it might have a small effect, but I think we are over-estimating ourselves.

 

The climate has always been changing, and for those of you say it has never happened this fast, I would remind you that a lot of the longterm figures are off because they moved weather stations from rural areas to urban areas which are naturally warmer because concrete traps heat. The idea that the changes in the climate are happening because of us is nearly comforting in a way, as if we are the cause, we can control it.

 

Sure we should try and look after the environment as we have to live here, but a lot of the measures are costly and ineffective in the long run.

 

For example, windmills http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1536418/Wind-farms-are-failing-to-generate-the-predicted-amount-of-electricity.html

 

Green living myths dispelled: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/dec/13/ethicalliving.carbonfootprints

 

Some more green myths: http://www.abd.org.uk/green_myths.htm

(Can't vouch for credibility of all those statement though)

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  • 2 weeks later...

It's on iPlayer here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00s04qp/Beautiful_Minds_James_Lovelock/

Even more fascinating than I expected. Amazing to see how the Gaia hypothesis, which was dismissed when he came up with it, is now at the heart of the way we think about the environment and the climate. The programme also disproves the idea that scientists who speak about global warming are all in the pay of governments and universities - Lovelock's been working out of his garden shed for 40 years.

Of course, when it comes to predictions for the future, he's always pretty terrifying. As someone in the programme says "I hope he's not right about this. But he has a history of being proved right".

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The Gaia hypothesis is an age old principal worshiped from Ancient Greeks who gave the name to mother earth also Pagans, Druids, all these cultures believed in mother earth as one entity and worshiped and treated Gaia with respect. So if anyone is to be blamed for Global warming if there is such a thing it is the rise of Christians and there belief in one god! Aborigines still believe in Gaia perhaps if the people of the world woke up to the fact that there is no God but only our planet the world would be a beter place. No Wars..

 

The church made any worship of the earth a devil practise so does this mean all green tree huggers are recyclers devil worshippers?

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The Gaia hypothesis is an age old principal worshiped from Ancient Greeks who gave the name to mother earth also Pagans, Druids, all these cultures believed in mother earth as one entity and worshiped and treated Gaia with respect. So if anyone is to be blamed for Global warming if there is such a thing it is the rise of Christians and there belief in one god! Aborigines still believe in Gaia perhaps if the people of the world woke up to the fact that there is no God but only our planet the world would be a beter place. No Wars..

 

The church made any worship of the earth a devil practise so does this mean all green tree huggers are recyclers devil worshippers?

 

Interestingly, in the programme, Lovelock acknowledged how his theory had been taken on by New Age pagans and Christians, who felt it showed God-like influence within the natural world. He said he feels more sympathy with the Christian perspective, though he suggested he didn't actually believe in God.

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There is a distinct difference between imagining nature as 'Mother Earth' and building a scientific theory based on observations of complex natural systems. Yes, I agree the Gaia theory seems to fit with ancient ways of looking at the Earth, but it's not exactly the same thing.

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You answered my question it's now a scientific theory so it must be correct but when hundreds of thousands probably millions of people knew it to be correct it was just a belief. A computer graph only shows what the human input tells it to show or whoever wrote the program tells them to show.

 

This guy came up with nothing new and would of been laughed away but because of the press an how the worlds media look at global warming now "His Theory" is jumped upon. Makes me laugh.

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You answered my question it's now a scientific theory so it must be correct but when hundreds of thousands probably millions of people knew it to be correct it was just a belief. A computer graph only shows what the human input tells it to show or whoever wrote the program tells them to show.

 

This guy came up with nothing new and would of been laughed away but because of the press an how the worlds media look at global warming now "His Theory" is jumped upon. Makes me laugh.

 

Hmm, interesting analysis. :?

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Lovelock seems a bit of a romantic in his view of the hows and whys of the way things interact.

 

James Lovelock defined Gaia as:

a complex entity involving the Earth's biosphere, atmosphere, oceans, and soil; the totality constituting a feedback or cybernetic system which seeks an optimal physical and chemical environment for life on this planet.

His initial hypothesis was that the biomass modifies the conditions on the planet to make conditions on the planet more hospitable

 

An entity which seeks to make conditions for life more user friendly may be part true but only in the same way that Zebras invented Lions so the herd would be stronger and faster with more grass for the ones that don't get their guts ripped out.

 

If there's any good in his ramblings; it's that it may be the first steps away from the idea that all life on the planet is nothing more than a freak accident in a dying Universe.

 

That Galaxies are born and evolve is inevitable. That stars sprout planets is inevitable and once a planet of the right size finds an electrical balance in the right place for life to take off; then it inevitabley will.

Lovelock seems to think the land was put here in order to keep his feet dry and because his feet are dry; sees this as proof of his theory.

Life finds balance by f*****g, fighting and feeding in its desperate attempt to stay alive and this is about all any lifeform has time to worry about. To say we are somehow connected to the planet and other living things in a variety of ways is hardly breaking new ground.

 

Lovelock has chosen Gaia as his god and because we're not living up trees any more, he thinks we have forsaken the holy truth and has now settled on giving out the fire and brimstone speech for our sins against Gaia.

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