Hello, All: Been awhile since I've posted. Busy working and not out in the wild....:-( I'd like to ask if those on this web-site think: A) global warming is real? and B) Is it natural or is it man-made? Personally, I feel that mankind has contributed to "global warming" or perhaps I should say, "climate change". However, it is my personal opinion that mankind's contribution has been minimal as compared to nature itself. As an example, Krakatoa, which exploded in the late 19th century, has been said to have spewed more contaminates into the atmosphere than all expelled during the following century. I am asking, not as a politico, but as a person concerned with the "natural" world, "uncontaminated" by mankind. Do you think we are better off or not? Thanks!
The population of the earth back in the 1880, was about a sixth of what it is today, meaning there was less ‘cropping pressure’ on the land. Meaning there were fewer people having to live on the flood plains or marginal land.
When Krakatao blew, the effects were long lasting. There was noticeable amounts of volcanic dust in the atmosphere for at least three years, some even say 13 to 20 years. So much dust in fact, that globally the temperature dropped 1.2 degrees C, and remained lower for 5 years, when the dust from the volcano created a solar radiation filter, effectively blocking out the sunlight. The increase levels in sulphur dioxide and sulfurous acid, didn’t help matters either, as this increased the reflectivity of the cloud layer in the high atmosphere.
That was nature, we humans are doing worse thing to the atmosphere, a study by Department of the Environment and Heritage, in 2005 for the Australian government found that 99% of all sulphates in the atmosphere are man made, from burning coal and oil.
All that is ‘by the by ‘ My take on the matter is, nature is warming up the planet, it does that in predictable cycles, we humans are merely accelerating the process, i.e. man made pollutants are speeding up a natural process. This warming up, on the whole, will not affect the earths atmosphere much in the long term. It, the earth, will warm and cool right up to the point the sun goes nova, will man survive the changing planet long enough to see it, at the rate we are going, I doubt it.
What we are doing is making it hard for those people pushed to the marginal land to survive. The poor will be driven off their land, by the rising water, it’s not just the human tragedy, the much needed land will no longer be there to produce crops to feed the population, increasing the ‘cropping pressure’ on the remaining land.
People in the near future will starve because our dependence on fossil fuel now.
My switching off the lights, turning down the heating, not driving unnecessarily, recycling, all that I can. May not help the planet, but it is helping my bills. That for me is another good reason.
In the end, I do my bit and if when I am dead I have left the world in just a tiny bit better shape, I’ll be happy.