A lot of these "doom and gloom" stories are based on the theory of global warming. If you listen to the ones with vested intrest in that theory, you would get the impression that everything is going to come to an end in the next few decades the way they play it up.
The whole thing is based on what appears to be a slight 1 to 2 degree increase in the average temp of the world. Half of this increase happened before around1940. But how do they come up with these numbers?
One source is from weather reporting stations spread all across the world. Some of these stations have been around for 50+ years but most for less than that. Some of these stations were built in the middle of nowhere way back when but are now in the middle of suburbia or even in town. Now maybe I'm wrong but it seems to me that towns and cities are generally warmer than rural areas, has the data taken that into account? Also the fact that many of these stations have only been in existance for maybe half a century or less, they can only account for the last 50 or so years worth of data.
Older data came from fewer locations and was based on measurement devices that were capable of less precision than what is available today. Therefore the accuracy of the increase in avg temp is based on data that may or may not be comparable in the small increments that are being passed around.
Even if the data is correct on the increases, what can the government really do? Some say we need to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide we emit. Given that best estimates of the amount of CO2 humans generate is in the 4 to 6 percent of the total, I would submit there is little that humans could do to reduce that in a significant enough way to produce any meaningful results. As it is the best estimates of man's contribution to the supposed increases is around .07 degrees, a reduction of CO2 by us would result in a statisticly insignificant reduction.
The carbon level in the atmosphere is somewhere around 380 parts per million, but data derived from ice core samples and other forensic data indicate that CO2 levels have been as high as 1200+ppm in the past, Other data indicates that the average temp has been as much as 5+ degrees warmer than it is now. It also indicates that the CO2 levels trailed the temp increases and were therefore a result of the temp increases, not the cause. BTW, plants do very well when the CO2 levels are above 1000ppm and would generate more oxygen and benefit the ecosystem in the process.
What it comes down to is that any warming that is taking place is just the result of a normal and known cycle that has repeated itself many times in the past and will probably do so again in the future. Man has little to do with it and therefore has little he can do about it. One thing about climate, it is always changing and will continue to do so and everything affected by it will have to change and adapt as well. Of course if you listen to PETA, all the animals out there cause more "GW gasses" thanall our cars combinedso I suggest we open up the hunting seasons and thin some more out and do our part to reduce global warming.
