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I don't think you're getting the point. But I'll give it a try.
Since it happened before without our influence, it's possible (not necessarily definite, but possible) that it can occur - is occurring - now without our influence. That since we weren't around to cause these previously mentioned circumstances before, then LOGICALLY they can still occur without our influence - i.e. that we might not be causing it now.
You missed the point, there is no scientific evidence that the current global warming is being caused by natural events. There were events that could have occurred in the past that we are not aware.
Fair. For every person that says "Global Warming, it's cold outside today!" there's someone that says "This hurricane is obviously due to climate change". I'd agree that neither statement is justified.
No, I can agree with that. It is fairly pointless ( even though I just did in my previous post, more tongue-in-cheek) to use those types of comparisons.
You missed the point, there is no scientific evidence that the current global warming is being caused by natural events. There were events that could have occurred in the past that we are not aware.
No, you missed the point. Their is literally tons of evidence that it has occurred without our intervention and many aspects of that data is evident today. The very fact that it is following the same trends and patterns of the past is quite compelling. And I really have no clue as to what your last sentence is trying to say or what it adds to your point.
If the climate has warmed and cooled literally hundreds (if not thousands) of times before we climbed out of trees, then logic dictates it will continue to do so, w/ or w/o our intervention. That it is currently warming (or at least the last few decades, as the last decade actually saw a leveling off of temps) is following trends we have direct evidence of suggests that the climare is following its own cycle. See the aforementioned graphs of thd last few warming/cooling cycles.
Now is this stating that man has nothing to do w/ his environment? Nope, but it does suggest and support that the climate will probably do its own thing regardless of what the monkeys currently spending their brief time on earth's back are doing.
On average, the global average temperature is practically the same. Incoming radiation is equal to outgoing radiation. Yet over millions of years, very insignificant and very minimal daily changes have sent the earth between a ball of ice and a ball of fire.
...Consider the different heat retention properties of things like water and land.
...Consider the physical differences between solid water and water vapor and it's significance to weather.
...Consider the heat retention of the various gases in the atmosphere.
...Consider the fact that the night and day temperatures vary greatly on Mercury and aren't present on Venus.
...Consider the light blocking properties of matter in the atmosphere.
...Consider the temperature inversion in the atmosphere
...Consider the average temperature of the hydrosphere.
...Consider slow moving ocean currents.
I think Al Gore(out on his houseboat)said something about the dinosaurs having huge air conditioners.
He just needs more research $$$ to prove this.
Again, the fact that something has happened naturally does NOT mean it can't happen from Mans' action.
Do you have the SLIGHTEST understanding of LOGIC?
Your contention is akin to saying that "forest fires happen naturally so they can't happen from Mans' action" or "nuclear fusion happens naturally so it can't happen from mans' action" or "species go extinct naturally so it can't happen from Mans' action" - that argument is stoooooopid.
If CO2 spikes in the past (that have happened naturally) caused the temps to rise, and we raise the CO2 numbers - why would you think the temps won't rise THIS TIME (just because it's MAN increasing the CO2 instead of NATURE increasing the CO2)?
Geeze!
Ken
[INDENT]You are attempting, and doing a poor job of it, of making a distinction without a dfference. No amount of add'l change man creates (if any, and that is a HUGE [FONT=Arial Black]IF)[/FONT] pales in insignficance.
You are arguing a nullity as if it had great import, and you spoke with great wisdom, neither of which are the case.
[/INDENT]
No, you missed the point. Their is literally tons of evidence that it has occurred without our intervention and many aspects of that data is evident today. The very fact that it is following the same trends and patterns of the past is quite compelling. And I really have no clue as to what your last sentence is trying to say or what it adds to your point.
If the climate has warmed and cooled literally hundreds (if not thousands) of times before we climbed out of trees, then logic dictates it will continue to do so, w/ or w/o our intervention. That it is currently warming (or at least the last few decades, as the last decade actually saw a leveling off of temps) is following trends we have direct evidence of suggests that the climare is following its own cycle. See the aforementioned graphs of thd last few warming/cooling cycles.
Now is this stating that man has nothing to do w/ his environment? Nope, but it does suggest and support that the climate will probably do its own thing regardless of what the monkeys currently spending their brief time on earth's back are doing.
Ah, I see. No, the temperatures have been up up up for the past 50 years (http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/graphs_v3/Fig.A.gif), with the past decade being the warmest. That is a REALLY short amount of time for temperature to increase so rapidly. The previous fluctuations in temperature have been mostly due to the change in shape of the earth's orbit (Milankovitch cycles). Still, those temperature fluctuations took thousands of years to change just a few degrees. The current pattern is much different than the historical pattern, which is why climate scientists are concerned.
There are also shorter term cycles which are caused by sunspots. However, if the sun spot cycle was the major driving factor, we would've seen a dip in the last 20 years, which we haven't. Another strike against the sunspot cycle is that if sunspots were the major driving force of current warming, temperatures would be going up at the equator more than the poles. This is not the case (http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/graphs_v3/Fig.B.gif). The fact that the temperature is increasing more rapidly at the poles than at the equator points to warming caused by the greenhouse effect.
While it's true that the earth is going to do its thing with or without us doesn't mean that we aren't affecting the climate. We've already affected every nutrient cycle, every aquifer, every water body, every ecosystem on earth. We've changed the composition of the atmosphere itself by adding CO, CO2, NOx, SOx and a million other things into it. If we can change local climates so easily by cutting down a forest or building a city, I don't think it's too much of a stretch to believe that we can change the global climate through our collective actions.
Melting glaciers.
Expanded growing seasons.
Advancing tree lines.
Less ice in the arctic every summer.
More examples of climate change:
Expanding glaciers
Shorter growing seasons
Receding forests
More ice at the poles year round
Lower sea levels
You see, this is also climate change, both of which have occurred time and again since the dawn of time. So.... what's your point? Did we cause these, too?
Somebody help me out here... is this poster some sort of joke or something? Really, it's kind of hard to take seriously these kinds of posts.
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