You personally are to blame for global warming

[bennywhale]

What is being done about global warming?

Not a lot. Not a lot by government, not a lot by the Left and not a lot by you.

How many of you take responsibility for your actions and use your car less? and when you do drive it in a way that is less polluting? ie slower, downsize your car to a less pollutin one?, use less electricity in the house? get rid of your aircon?, take time to pick out food that has been produced closest to you or America?, fly less on purpose?, use public transport more?, write letters to government?, senators?, Media?, raise awareness amongst your peers regularly?, organise marches?, volunteer for studies?

There are so many things we should be doing and most of us are not. The US is 5% of the worlds population but produces 27% of the worlds greenhouse gases.

It is down to you personally to make a change and alter your lifestyle. The rest of the world is not lucky enough to lead the pampered existence we in the West have, the least we could do is tone it down a bit so we don't kill millions in the coming decades. The huge polluting companies are invariably serving you and your lifestyle, it is up to you to put pressure on your shops and businesses through your power as a citizen and a consumer to change the way they behave.

You must think about it every day and act accordingly

It is your responsibility. Our grandkids and the rest of the world will never forgive us, will your conscience be clear???

"Be the change you want to see in the world" Ghandi

Does anyone care??? And what is anyone out there doing about it????

[nam78_two]

1. Amen to that

I agree :(
We all need to try and try hard.

[slackmaster]

2. How about if I stay home and telecommute one day this week?

That's the best I can do in the short run.

[bennywhale]

9. Briiliant

well done.

We all need to think how we can help and incorporate it into our lives.

Then we pressure the gov and big business, as we have the moral right to and know the issues.

[slackmaster]

15. I'm so burned out from a month of on-call tech support...

...My boss knows I'll quit if he keeps up the pressure for me to be in the office all the time.

[OneBlueSky]

3. actually, I work from home, drive less than 10k miles/year . . . n/t

.

[Skittles]

27. I don't work at home and drive less than 5K miles a year

so THERE :)

[Javaman]

36. I drive -5K a year....I drive backwars. ;)

:rofl:

[gratuitous]

4. I could quit bicycling and using public transportation

And buy a Hummer -- seeing as how I'm personally to blame.

Remember where you're posting, please. A lot of us are already putting into practice the little personal economies that lessen our impact on the environment. I don't much appreciate being scolded when I'm doing things right.

[bennywhale]

10. Read the post

i said most, and then asked what everyone was doing. The title was just to bring people in. And we are all personally responsible for our actions and therefore global warming and its oncrease or reduction.

Don't take it to heart, just join the debate

[fuzzyball]

5. Yes, we all need to do OUR part.....however I have one nagging question

bothering me about global warming. What caused the melting
of 1000 foot thick glaciers which blanketed north America
10,000 years ago during the ice age? Where did all that heat
come from to melt the glaciers and create the great lakes as
we know today? Did the cave man burn too many twigs? LOL.

Which is why I think the earth undergoes long & short term cycles
of alternately cooling and heating.

But inspite of all that, there is no reason for us to keep burning
excessive amounts of fossil fuels than is absolutely necessary to
keep our standard of living.

[electron_blue]

8. Have you read "Thin Ice"? It addresses a lot of these questions

you raise about long term changes. Fascinating reading (in spots, too long in others).

[bennywhale]

11. The planet does have cycles of

temperature thats right. the thing about this one is it shouldn't be happening, its man made and its happening too fast for the planet to sustain it. In the past cycles happened in hundreds of thousands of years and often millions. Animals and even plants had time to adapt and cope with it. This is happening over decades

We are approaching a tipping point where we can't return from. Global warming has and is happening we can't stop it, but we can stop ourselves reaching the tipping point, whereby the polar caps melt (and stop reflecting the sun, thus accelerating warming melting more ice etc), the perma frost melts releasing millions of years of carbon (thus warming and melting more) the ocean becomes too toxified killing the blankets of invisble algi that photosynthesise 1/2 the earths carbon and so on. Beyind this tipping point is catasrtophe

[fuzzyball]

23. Ice age repeats every 20,000 years, not millions of years, and....

the next ice age when it comes in another 10,000 years will
end civilization as we know it. The entire north American continent
above Texas & Florida will again be covered by 1000 feet thick blanket
of ice.

Is man exacerbating the current heating cycle? Quite possibly yes. At the
current rates of growth, Chinese economy will overtake USA in 20 years. 35
years from now, India will have the 2nd biggest economy in the world, pushing
USA to 3rd place and Japan to 4th place.

My question is, how can we reduce global warming without the cooperation
of China and India (where nearly half of the people in the world live)?
Both countries are exempt from Kyoto and refuse to sign into
hydro-carbon combustion restrictions.

[Jersey Ginny]

24. You are saying two things (maybe 3)

One, as I read this, is that these cycles are natural and we MAY be contributing to a slight increase in global warming. That facts say that you are wrong. CO2 levels in the atmosphere are off the charts and climbing. There is significant impact NOW on the earth that is visible and measurable. Second, the issue of India and China are real issues. You are right that China and India (especially China with its massive Coal reserves) are contributing to global warming. The US is still the CO2 leader in the world. We can begin to recognize that we are in the 21st century by seeking alternative/less poluting forms of energy. WE SHOULD SIGN KYOTO. Even when Clinton did, he and Gore failed to really challenge US industry to clean up its act. They bargained to "sell" excess CO2 emissions instead and tried to get credit for having some big forests. We can assist China and India with modern technologies that can make their power plants enormously cleaner. Chinese cars are a big problem. The US is exporting old model cars to China that don't have catalytic converters b/c Chinese gas is not pure enough. The converters break as a result. The 20th century was the century of oil, the 21st century will be the century for alternative energy, including nuclear power. I am looking into solar for my house. Every house and building where feasible ought to be build with solar panels. Making changes in efficiency and energy sources NOW will keep America in the "lead" (for whatever that is worth) through the 21st century and Chinese world leadership will be a blip on the screen of history since their economies are oil-based and this is unsustainable.

[hatrack]

26. Sorry, not even close - Milankovitch Cycle information from NOAA

The tilt of the earth relative to its plane of travel about the sun is what causes seasons. The hemisphere "pointing toward" the sun is in summer, while the opposite hemisphere is in winter. The earth makes one full orbit around the sun each year. The northern hemisphere is in summer in the left image, while 6 months later, the southern hemisphere has summer, as in the center image. If the earth's axis were "straight up and down" relative to the orbital plane, as in the right-hand image, there would be no seasons, since every point on the earth would receive the same amount of sun each day of the year.

Changes in the "tilt" of the earth can change the severity of the seasons - more "tilt" means more severe seasons - warmer summers and colder winters; less "tilt" means less severe seasons - cooler summers and milder winters. The earth wobbles in space so that its tilt changes between about 22 and 25 degrees on a cycle of about 41,000 years. It is the cool summers which are thought to allow snow and ice to last from year to year in high latitudes, eventually building up into massive ice sheets. There are positive feedbacks in the climate system as well, because an earth covered with more snow reflects more of the sun's energy into space, causing additional cooling. In addition, it appears that the amount of Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere falls as ice sheets grow, also adding to the cooling of the climate.

The earth's orbit around the sun is not quite circular, which means that the earth is slightly closer to the sun at some times of the year than others. The closest approach of the earth to the sun is called perihelion, and it now occurs in January, making northern hemisphere winters slightly milder. This change in timing of perihelion is known as the precession of the equinoxes, and occurs on a period of 22,000 years. 11,000 years ago, perihelion occurred in July, making the seasons more severe than today. The "roundness", or eccentricity, of the earth's orbit varies on cycles of 100,000 and 400,000 years, and this affects how important the timing of perihelion is to the strength of the seasons. The combination of the 41,000 year tilt cycle and the 22,000 year precession cycles, plus the smaller eccentricity signal, affect the relative severity of summer and winter, and are thought to control the growth and retreat of ice sheets. Cool summers in the northern hemisphere, where most of the earth's land mass is located, appear to allow snow and ice to persist to the next winter, allowing the development of large ice sheets over hundreds to thousands of years. Conversely, warmer summers shrink ice sheets by melting more ice than the amount accumulating during the winter.
What is The Milankovitch Theory? The Milankovitch or astronomical theory of climate change is an explanation for changes in the seasons which result from changes in the earth's orbit around the sun. The theory is named for Serbian astronomer Milutin Milankovitch, who calculated the slow changes in the earth's orbit by careful measurements of the position of the stars, and through equations using the gravitational pull of other planets and stars. He determined that the earth "wobbles" in its orbit. The earth's "tilt" is what causes seasons, and changes in the tilt of the earth change the strength of the seasons. The seasons can also be accentuated or modified by the eccentricity (degree of roundness) of the orbital path around the sun, and the precession effect, the position of the solstices in the annual orbit.

What does The Milankovitch Theory say about future climate change?
Orbital changes occur over thousands of years, and the climate system may also take thousands of years to respond to orbital forcing. Theory suggests that the primary driver of ice ages is the total summer radiation received in northern latitude zones where major ice sheets have formed in the past, near 65 degrees north. Past ice ages correlate well to 65N summer insolation (Imbrie 1982). Astronomical calculations show that 65N summer insolation should increase gradually over the next 25,000 years, and that no 65N summer insolation declines sufficient to cause an ice age are expected in the next 50,000 - 100,000 years ( Hollan 2000, Berger 2002). Ed. - emphasis added - sorry, not only did you get the cycle timing wrong, you weren't even close to establishing causality from naturally occurring cycles causing ice ages. So, if it took me 30 seconds to find the basic information on the precession of the equinoxes and Milankovitch cycles, what's holding you back?

References:
Milankovitch, M. 1920. Theorie Mathematique des Phenomenes Thermiques produits par la Radiation Solaire. Gauthier-Villars Paris.

Milankovitch, M. 1930. Mathematische Klimalehre und Astronomische Theorie der Klimaschwankungen, Handbuch der Klimalogie Band 1 Teil A Borntrager Berlin.

Milankovitch, M. 1941 Kanon der Erdbestrahlungen und seine Anwendung auf das Eiszeitenproblem Belgrade.
(New English Translation, 1998, Canon of Insolation and the Ice Age Problem. With introduction and biographical essay by Nikola Pantic. 636 pp. $79.00 Hardbound. Alven Global. ISBN 86-17-06619-9.)

Recent Calculations of Earth Orbital Parameters and Insolation by A. Berger are archived at the WDC Paleo.

For more detailed explanations of orbital variations with graphic representations, please see WDC Paleo's educational slide set "The Ice Ages".

See also the "Past Cycles: Ice Age Speculations" section of "The Discovery of Global Warming" from the American Institute of Physics for a history of the development of the astronomical theory of climate change.

EDIT

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/milankovitch.html

[fuzzyball]

41. My point is not the accuracy of the cycle, rather the inevitabilty of it..

As one who has been a profession engineer for 37 years,
I have learned one thing for sure. Actual experience is
far superior to any theory. The Milankovitch "theory" you
mention is just that...a "theory". There is no way to prove
it is accurate since we do not have dependable recorded
climate data going for more than 120 years or so. He very well
could be accurate. But no one is going to convince me his
theory is foolproof. Again, accuracy of ice age cycle timing
id not the issue, its inevitabilty is. And I was responding
to a post which put the ice age cycle in millions of years,
which is probably wrong by orders of magnitude.

I think the existence of ice age roughly 10,000 years is pretty
well agreed upon by science based on avaiable geological data.
The inescapable fact is that we will at some point have another
ice age. IMO that will prove to be much more catastrophic to humans
than global warming. Warming could open up currently semi-frozen
areas such as Siberia for agriculture. Global cooling will be much
harder to survive. Is it possible that even the mighty dinosaurs
succumbed to the global cooling? Who knows!!

[hatrack]

42. "Just a theory" - that's all I need to know

Buh-bye.

[bennywhale]

43. Global warming could open up currently semi-frozen areas such

as Siberia for agriculture"

Oh dear, i'm sorry you've been taken in by this lie, peddled mainly by the right and mainly by those with a vested interest in big polluting companies. Global warming is good..yeah

The Perma-frost is vital to the planets NATURAL temperature, melting it is not a good idea. And what will also happen is that the carbon trapped within the perma frost across the northern region will be released by its melting, further tipping the balance of gases in the atmosphere and further warming the planet. It may be fit for agriculture briefly, but its gonna have to take a lot of refugees from the deserted middle bit of earth. ends of civilisations and all that.

what you haven't taken into account also, is that global warming may paradoxically usher in an ice age in the Northern hemsiphere while still baking the middle. This is due to ocean currents that keep the North warm by circulating water afrom the tropical climes to the North, such as the gulf stream, being altered, diverted or even slowing to such an extent they vanish.

this scenario would be a catastrophe for humanity as there would be very little land left that would be habitable.

What you also don't take into account are the timescales and causes. The difference between this period of warming and the others is that this is taking part over decades and is caused by US polluting the atmosphere with gases. The natural cycle takes much longer, many thousands of years (not millions as i stated. an error) as to be barely noticable, giving civilisations and eco systems time to adjust.

You may be prepare to play fast and loose with the planet, i think we should be better safe than sorry. we've only got one planet.

[bennywhale]

29. Your question 'how do we reduce glabal warming without the

co-operation of China and India, both countries being exempt from Kyoto.

AMERICA REFUSED TO SIGN IT. And this government doesn't admit that humans are causing it!!!

We need to address how does the world address global warming without the co-operation of the US (who produce 27% of greenhouse gases) answer is it can't. What needs to be done is for massive pressure to be put on the US and a groundsweel of changing attitudes to this THE PROBLEM of the 21st century. Without the US doing anything the world can't tackle it. The US is complicit in detroying the planet. Every citizen of the world must take responsibility and act.

I take your point about China and India, but there is no way we can persuade them to reduce their ommissions if the US is doing nothing. At this point the US is still the global power, it needs to take a lead and start the momentum for the Chinese and India to follow. However China are already more up to speed on this and recognise it as a danger. The deserts to the north of Bejing are growing and sand storms IN Bejing are becoming more common. they know its happening and are addressing it through hydro-electricity etc. They obviously need to do more and there needs to be a new international treaty, but WE the people need to take resopnsibility for it.

"Be the change you want to see in the world" Ghandi

peace

[electron_blue]

6. I agree! Thanks for the reminder.

I do a lot of what you list (drive less than 6K a year, cut way back on flying, walk to work most days, found local farmer's markets, cut back on a.c.), and it is still just a drop in the bucket considering what I am still doing that is harmful.

Maybe a weekly challenge is in order? Find one thing to cut back or eliminate or change, personally.

[bennywhale]

12. Thats a good idea, it keeps the issue in

peoples mind. and we all need to be responsible

Good luck spread the word.

[meegbear]

7. Glad to see you blame me ...

and yet you never say "I" or "me" in your post. What have YOU done?

[bennywhale]

13. Didn't i??? sorry didn't mean

to pile it all on you. i meant us and me etc.

i do all the things i outlined as much as possible, whet do you do???

interested sincerely

[Sapere aude]

14. Well I'm going to run right out and get me one of those non polluting

cars and to hell with my current auto payments. And I am going to use only wind and solar energy. I am going to call the utility company right now and have them install the equipment they have laying around for all of us to use. No more fossil fuels for me after this afternoon!

Yes it is all my damned fault that I haven't done this before!

[bennywhale]

18. Very constructive my considerate friend

[Jersey Ginny]

25. Sounds like Selfish Republican-Speak

They don't take any responsibility. They just take and take and take.

[MadHound]

16. Let's see, what am I doing

Well, first off, I drive a Bajaj scooter, 100mpg while cruising at fifty five mph. Have a fifty two mile round trip commute, but use much less cas than those with a normal car and a twenty mile round trip commute. Oh, and lots less emissions too.

I grow a lot of my own food, and will be growing ever more of it. I get my beef from my neighbor who raises cows, I get my other meat from farmers down the road.

Here shortly I will be putting in a woodstove and a windturbine. This will take care of my utility needs.

Oh, and I'm building a business in the organic, heirloom food sector, specificly an orchard.

I haven't flown in years, and where I live there is no public transportation.

And I've always been politically active, in all areas of life.

Just doing my small part.

[bennywhale]

19. Thats it. You nailed it, just doing my small part

If everybody just did their small part thats a tidal wave of action. People power.

Good luck and keep it up!!!!!

[Chemical Bill]

17. I started running biodiesel...

in 2003. The net CO2 output is a very small percentage of petrodiesel.


Bill

[bennywhale]

20. Good man Bill

keep it up.

Hav eyou got any links for info on that

[FILAM23]

21. I 've been trying

I started driving in 1967, have never driven anything but
economcal 4 cyl cars and trucks.Except 1 & 2 cyl motorcycles and scooters.

[alvarezadams]

22. Don't look at me!

I haven't owned a car since 1989. I live 3 blocks from my office, I take public transport daily when I have to go beyond walking distance (which is hard in Madrid - you can cross the whole damned city on foot in 1 1/2 hours if you have to).

[MarkDevin]

28. "What is anyone out there doing about it????"

You can find some great ideas here:

http://www.climatecrisis.net/takeaction/

[bennywhale]

30. Good link. Thanks for that n/t

[ndcohn]

31. hmmm...

the smugness and elitism of this post completely overwhelmed the positive message for me.
no offense, but who are you to say that "we" are "not doing alot" to "do something" about global warming. you have no way of knowing what anyone person may or may not be doing, and i don't think you're in much of a position to tout yourself in such a "i'm better then everyone else" way absent this knowledge and especially given that you didn't even indicate what YOU were doing. sorry for ranting, and i'm not mad or anything obviously, i just hope that you find a better way to convey your position.

[bennywhale]

32. It was just a case of getting my point across about

personal responsibility, i'm surprised your offended.

I don't wish to turn this into a competition, just get debate going and draw peoples attention.

Shame you don't want to engage, most people have reacted positively.

this is THE issue of the 21st century

[lynne]

33. You got that right !

With every keystroke, each of us are guilty of sucking electricity. Multiply that by the number of people online 24/7 and it's no wonder that we're seeing a dramatic increase in global warming.

The only truly responsible thing to do is to get up and unplug this damned compu

[sendero]

34. Don't worry...

... the American energy-squandering way is about to be brought to an abrupt halt - not by concerns for the future or fear of global warming, but by simple market forces.

Americans will soon simply not be able to afford to waste tons of gas and electricity.

[FormerDem06]

35. My dad always said

The indistrialization of China and India would destroy the climate. I am beginning to think he is right. Too many countries building too many factories and driving too many cars. Not that we have a right to do it more than anyone else mind you (I'm not saying that).

It's just that the only real change in the last 20 years has been the infrastructure growth in China and India. And they are exempt from Kyoto. How'd they manage that?

[mike923]

38. Because Kyoto is designed to

hurt the American economy, while not improving the environment. That's why no elected officals have ever voted for it, or will promise to have it passed if elected.

[bennywhale]

40. What??????? Is this a global conspiracy probaly

hatched in the UN. "Designed to hurt the American Economy" Yeah those Europeans would have had a hand in that those bastards.

And heres me thinking it was addressing climate change and concern for the environment.

Thanks for the info. Its been foiled though because all of europe has signed it to try and fool us and now the plot they hatched will destroy their economies to.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha we gottem

[bennywhale]

39. Whoa there. America is responsible for 27% of global

ommissions with only 5% of the worlds population. AMERICA is responsible for damaging the climate.

"And they are exempt from Kyoto. How'd they manage that?"

They are developing countries, and again AMERICA refused to sign Kyoto

People need to accept the US is THE main contributor to glabal warming and is doing the least about it

[Javaman]

37. Hmmm...what do I do...

I now take the bus to work, take the stairs instead of the elevator to my floor, replaced all of he bulbs in my home with fluorescents (eventually LED's), have a compost pile, starting growing my own fruit trees, and have begun an apiary, raised the thermostat to a cool 85 (I live in texas), keep all lights off when not in use (now I understand why my parents kept shutting them off), installing water barrels, have a tankless water heater, using organic paint in my home, eventually want solar panels.

And lastly, saving for either a hybrid or an all electric car (I'm still 2 1/2 years away, so I'm hoping something will come out by then).

My mission is to leave a smaller foot print on the planet then the one I started with.