I have been following the Climate Change phenomenon for a long time now and the recent argument over whether the reality of Climate Change is man-made or a natural cycle has become much of the focus of the media. To me this is something of an obfuscation of the reality at hand. The opponents of man-made Climate Change go to great lengths to prove that humans are not in any way responsible for the events that we are observing. The man-made Climate Change proponents on the other hand are arguing just as vociferously in support of their model.
I think that in the end it doesn't seem like it really matters. The whole point of concern over Climate Change has always been the effects that will be seen on our planet and on our species. These effects are very real and will happen in one form or another whether or not human beings have any hand in the creation of the problem. Some of these effects will be: more severe weather, floods, droughts, disease, loss of land, displacement of people, extinction of species, crop failure, etc. A fairly complete list can be found here. I would find it much more comforting to know that Climate Change WAS human-induced because that would imply that we could proactively work to change what we had inadvertently created. But if it is a grand natural cycle, that implies that there is nothing we can do to change it and instead we will just have to adapt and "ride it out."
Out of all of these anticipated problems, how many of them depend on human beings being the culprits behind the creation of warmer weather? None. These same things will happen no matter what the cause of Climate Change, and it is these things which we must all eventually come to terms with. That is the big issue that those opponents of man-made Climate Change fail to address. They are so busy trying to use their "It's not our fault" argument to escape responsibility for what is going on that they fail to realize that the results are here no matter what the cause!
Article comments
1 - Brian aka Guppusmaximus
So where's the scientific evidence that Global Warming exists?
THE 2008 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CLIMATE CHANGE REMARKS OF JOHN COLEMAN
It's not whether Global Warming is a natural cycle or man-made. It's just that it doesn't exist!!
2 - Mark Saleski
remember to click your heels together when you say that.
3 - Brian aka Guppusmaximus
Why, Is Gore the Wicked Witch(West,East)?
4 - Dr Dreadful
So where's the scientific evidence that Global Warming exists?
If you look right there, Brian - just beyond the end of your nose - you might just catch a glimpse of it.
5 - Brian aka Guppusmaximus
UH..*shrug* OK.
6 - Jordan Richardson
Isn't John Coleman the guy that started The Weather Channel? And why does this debate even still exist?
We can play Battling Experts all day long and it won't get us anywhere. The fact is that we need to take better care of our planet so that we can leave a better world for our children and so on. Why is there such resistance to new technology and new ways of living that help that along?
7 - Brian aka Guppusmaximus
Yes, Mr. Coleman founded The Weather Channel and he had the gonads to confront that useless bureaucratic dept (UN IPCC) about their flawed evidence that only four independent reviewers analyzed!
I'm not against new technology or better & more efficient ways of doing things. What I am against are the tactics supported by the bad,flawed science that hypocrites like Al Gore use to scare a nation into guilt about living a modern life while he makes a f*cking fortune using this unfounded evidence to lecture people. That us citizens have to make sacrifices to save a supposed dying planet while the politicians & corporations do whatever they please!
I suggest you read John Coleman's statements & take a look at Penn & Teller's Bullsh!t episode on "Being Green"!
Ultimately, if the citizens of the world want to stop the destruction of the Earth - They should start massive reforestation efforts, look towards artificial energy sources & stop breeding!
8 - global strategy
To deal with global warming, the government needs to immediately plant more trees, and stop cutting them down. It is a major problem they need to deal with. The importance of trees has been understated by "scientists" that truly don't understand the relevance of trees. Don't criticize the importance of the concept until you know all the facts. On top of deforestation, we are polluting the environment. Another contributing factor is modern day energy systems rely on explosion rather than implosion, and this generates heat. Every systems need to be more efficient and work on implosion, so they stay cool. The non-profit energy research organization is active in these areas which will help reverse effects of global warming. I suggest everyone also read "Living Energies" by Callum Coats which explains the work of Victor Schauberger and the importance of trees to our planet. Don't rely on information from the authorities as their advisors don't fully understand the life cycle of the planet. We need to push the authorities to develop forest management and sustainability plans, and this will solve at least part of the problem.
9 - smr
Haha Brian, you're saying it doesn't matter that we release billions of tons of C02 into the atmosphere because we're in a cycle right? it will all go away eventually because we're in a cycle.. right? haha you are laughable and exactly whats preventing the progression of an environmentally friendly world. I suggest you educate yourself a little bit to understand these C02 molecules WE (MAN MADE) are releasing into the air is indeed connecting to oxygen molecules, thus, creating another blanket around the earth AKA Global Warming. Its not going away sweetheart. Some day you will understand, but I think its above your knowledge.. I feel bad for you.
10 - Joel Raven
Look, it's kind of hard to argue that global warming doesn't exist. There were glaciers covering half of north America once, they naturally receded, that's global warming. There's global cooling too. The large debate here is whether humans are causing this change to happen or whether we are part of a natural cycle. And if humans are the cause, can we stop it? My initial feelings are that humans may be accelerating global warming but they certainly did not induce it. The large majority of greenhouse gas is actually water vapor that only remains in the atmosphere for a short period of time. As you may work out yourself, the hotter the earth gets, the more water vapor that ends up in the air. Because the earth naturally warms at an exponential rate it makes it very difficult to determine human impact. I think the best thing to get out of this media frenzy is that pollution, which is bad for more localized environments, will be reduced. Additionally, people can save a lot of money by going green. I hope that climate change stimulates the economy and we can get cheaper power in the future from wind and possibly nuclear in the more distant future when the technology gets cheaper and more efficient.
11 - Emily Bowman
Well for some time of the past years of studying if global warming was a total lie, I found that it really is not s lie but it is actuly is actuly just a cycle of nature at its peak. We help with just some of the global warming, but it just only does like 10 percent of the 90 percent of the cause. It just another way to get more money out of us tax payers.
12 - kenneth ncb moore
glaciers have been melting over the past 150 years in America's glacier filled parks and they continue to melt today. add this warming to man-made warming and do a EIS on this combined climate change.
13 - Richard Welch
It is now well established that CO2 does not cause warming. It actually works the other way around: Warming increases CO2. Both the historical pattern and geopulsation theory indicate we are reaching the peak of the present interglacial period,as does the dampening of temp increases in the past dozen years (see Roots of Cataclysm, Algora Publ. NY 2009). The warm peak will of course be followed by another glacial episode as has always been the case for the past million years or so. Long term, prepare for a massive intrusion of Canadians into Dixie.
14 - Dr Dreadful
Mr Bookie McPlugger makes the absurd claim that:
It is now well established that CO2 does not cause warming.
Tell that to the 98% of climate scientists who disagree.
It actually works the other way around: Warming increases CO2.
Only if you fudge the statistics.
Both the historical pattern and geopulsation theory indicate we are reaching the peak of the present interglacial period...
Geopulsation? Whassat now? I think you just made that up.
In fact, having done a quick Google search, I know you did.
...as does the dampening of temp increases in the past dozen years
Oh, so now it's not that temperatures have decreased in the past decade or so (which they haven't) - it's that they're still increasing, but the increases themselves have dampened! And this is supposed to be proof that warming is about to end?
You do realize that's like claiming there will soon be a world shortage of cola because Pepsi only increased their production by 14.5 per cent this year as opposed to 15% last year?
The warm peak will of course be followed by another glacial episode as has always been the case for the past million years or so.
Humans weren't around farting out billions of tons of fossil fuel emissions a million years ago, so don't bank on it.