An Inconvenient Truth. The end of the world in our lifetime?

[Caddy_4_Life]

For those that haven't seen this film by Al Gore, I highly advise you to do so.

For those that have seen the movie, what were your thoughts and reactions to it? Please state points that you wish to debate or where you thought Al Gore was incorrect, if you can back it with credible sources.

I'm not going to give a synopsis of the film as I want a discussion only from people who have taken the time to see this terrifying and eye-opening movie.

-Caddy

[xorbie]

you are probably overreacting, and the people who are going to come in and disagree with you are probably douchebags.

[wonderwes]

I have been meaning to see this film. If people think global warming isn't the real deal, they should certainly see this. I was watching a 60 min report on this topic. They were talking to a scientist showing the 60min crew how the greenland ice sheet is wasting away. The scientist said if we stopped running all cars and factories completly, we would still have the heating effect for a few decades. Oh that and 25 US states have reported their highest yearly temperatures ever.

BTW the U.S. accounts for 1/4 of all the world's emissions. Uh... yikes.

[hawk59]

[ QUOTE ]
For those that haven't seen this film by Al Gore, I highly advise you to do so.

For those that have seen the movie, what were your thoughts and reactions to it? Please state points that you wish to debate or where you thought Al Gore was incorrect, if you can back it with credible sources.

I'm not going to give a synopsis of the film as I want a discussion only from people who have taken the time to see this terrifying and eye-opening movie.

-Caddy

[/ QUOTE ]

I read a book that made a convincing argument that human warming has managed to avoid an ice age. So warming isn't all that bad.

Obviously you would prefer not to have significant climate change because it's such a complex system that there are bound to be negative results that you can't predict. But the world is not going to END. The earth has been significantly warmer than this in the past, and has had significantly higher greenhouse gas concentrations but life kept on going.

I think the environmentalist side of the debate is overly alarmist, but at the same time I think it's a good thing, beacuse it's better safe than sorry.

[Caddy_4_Life]

[ QUOTE ]
you are probably overreacting, and the people who are going to come in and disagree with you are probably douchebags.

[/ QUOTE ]

I hope I'm overreacting because the evidence presented in the film was terrifying to say the least. Every day the ice on greenland and Antarctic are wasting away. The film showed that if 50% of the ice in Greenland melted and 50% of the ice in the Antarctic melted it would raise the sea level world-wide by 20 feet. That means most of the US east cost, almost all of Florida, most of Ontario, all of Manhatten would be underwater. The results however are world-wide and effects almost every country. When is this projected? Anytime between next year and 50 years if our world doesn't start taking steps to lower our CO2 levels and slowing down global warming.

Again, this is information presented very thoroughly in the film, and is whatsoever not my own opinion. I was not an environmentalist by any means before seeing this film. Heck I own a new Cadillac Escalade for christ sakes.. I'm part of the problem. [img]/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img]

-Caddy

[Warik]

Weren't we worried about the next ice age 30 years ago? Don't we have an unacceptable margin of error on historical temperature readings up until recent history? Wasn't it MUCH, MUCH hotter back in the Middle Ages than it is today?

Please.

I live in Florida, the state that a) will supposedly be under water if Antarctica melts and b) is supposedly going to have the worst hurricane season this year even though we've been through 2 months with nothing. I'm not worried at all.

Global warming is BS and I've not seen any evidence to the contrary that can't be easily refuted. See you in 50 years.

[Bob Sacamano]

[ QUOTE ]
Weren't we worried about the next ice age 30 years ago? Don't we have an unacceptable margin of error on historical temperature readings up until recent history? Wasn't it MUCH, MUCH hotter back in the Middle Ages than it is today?

Please.

I live in Florida, the state that a) will supposedly be under water if Antarctica melts and b) is supposedly going to have the worst hurricane season this year even though we've been through 2 months with nothing. I'm not worried at all.

Global warming is BS and I've not seen any evidence to the contrary that can't be easily refuted. See you in 50 years.

[/ QUOTE ]

[kibble420]

December 21, 2012

[Quicksilvre]

[ QUOTE ]
Weren't we worried about the next ice age 30 years ago?

[/ QUOTE ]
The science of long-term weather forcasting has gotten much, much better in the last 20 years or so. While I didn't see AIT, I did see the Discovery Channel's documentary about global warming (the one with Tom Brokaw), and the number of scientists that didn't believe in global warming five or ten years ago, but do now, is striking.

[ QUOTE ]
Don't we have an unacceptable margin of error on historical temperature readings up until recent history?

[/ QUOTE ]

This has gotten better as well, by measuring the amount of carbon dioxide in Arctic pack ice. Worldwide temperatures are so tightly correlated with CO2 amounts, that scientists are confident about measuring temeratures for several hundred thousand years into the past.

[ QUOTE ]
Wasn't it MUCH, MUCH hotter back in the Middle Ages than it is today?

[/ QUOTE ]

The North Pole is expected to melt down to open water this century, for the first time in millions of years. While it has been hotter during various points of Earth's history, the temperature has never gone up this quickly before.

[ QUOTE ]
I live in Florida, the state that a) will supposedly be under water if Antarctica melts and b) is supposedly going to have the worst hurricane season this year even though we've been through 2 months with nothing.

[/ QUOTE ]

Current predictions put the sea level rise at about two feet this century, which is a couple hundred feet of coastline lost. Not only will there be fewer beaches to hang out at, That's thousands of people displaced, especially from places like Bangledesh. Also, the rise in water level mean things like storm surges make it farther inland.

So, the world won't end, but it'll be pretty unpleasant for a number of people.

[ QUOTE ]
Global warming is BS and I've not seen any evidence to the contrary that can't be easily refuted.

[/ QUOTE ]

The vast majority of experts nowadays disagree with you.

[ QUOTE ]
I'm not worried at all.

[/ QUOTE ]

You're a fool.

Cite:

The Guardian article

[henrikrh]

Global warming is real, but we are still within our bounds for temperatures the planet has already witnessed. There are gaian regulating mechanisms for temperature increase and pollution as well (global diming), so as long as we don't overload those mechanisms we should be fine, but that is what we are starting to do, and then it goes very quickly froms seemingly fine to totally [censored].