Global Warming

[PalmettoSon]

Here's an easy way to draw attention to a very serious problem affecting our environment. No money required, just sign up to show your concern!

THE STOP GLOBAL WARMING VIRTUAL MARCH ON WASHINGTON is a non-political effort to bring all Americans together in one place, proving there is a vast consensus that global warming is here now and it is time for our country to start addressing it. With the support of leading scientists, political and religious leaders, prominent Americans and concerned citizens, the Virtual March on Washington will move across the United States via the Internet from one town to the next, showing the evidence of global warming's alarming affects, and highlighting real people's concerns and real solutions along the way.

Through our interactive map, you can track the progress of the March in real time as more people join, see the path on which we're traveling together, and read the stories from March stops across the country. We will march to Indianapolis and visit the Indy Racing League where all of the racecars will soon be converted to run on biofuels; in Colorado, where an elementary school is purchasing 100% of its electricity from wind power (saving 420,000 pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere per year); and to New York City to visit the ground-breaking green rebuilding of the World Trade Towers; amongst many more destinations.

Over the next year, the March will travel across the U.S., gaining strength in numbers and raising awareness about global warming.On Earth Day 2006, the March will arrive in Washington D.C. touse the strength of our numbers to urge:

1. The president to initiate a real plan of action to address global warming.

2. Congress to enact new laws to reduce global warming pollution from U.S. power plants, factories and automobiles.

3. U.S. businesses to start a new industrial revolution of clean energy products that will reduce our oil dependence and global warming pollution.

Click Here

[ParrotheadGator]

Ya know, for every "leading scientist" there is that talks about global warming, there's another "leading scientist" that disproves their theories.

A simpler explination of global warming is that, in global history terms, just a short while ago we were in an ice age...it's only natural for there to be "global warming"...it's the cycle of the earth. Not in our own short life spans, but in a historical, vast time period view.

On a side note, what do "religious leaders" have to do with fighting global warming?

[El mojito]

Ya know, for every "leading scientist" there is that talks about global warming, there's another "leading scientist" that disproves their theories.

A simpler explination of global warming is that, in global history terms, just a short while ago we were in an ice age...it's only natural for there to be "global warming"...it's the cycle of the earth. Not in our own short life spans, but in a historical, vast time period view.

On a side note, what do "religious leaders" have to do with fighting global warming?

eom

[Big Phan]

Nothing to do with global warming, but been meaning to ask for quite a while now...ParrotheadGator - is that Urbie in your avatar?

[PalmettoSon]

Ya know, for every "leading scientist" there is that talks about global warming, there's another "leading scientist" that disproves their theories.

A simpler explination of global warming is that, in global history terms, just a short while ago we were in an ice age...it's only natural for there to be "global warming"...it's the cycle of the earth. Not in our own short life spans, but in a historical, vast time period view.

On a side note, what do "religious leaders" have to do with fighting global warming?

Actually, there are almost no leading scientists that disagree with global warming. There are plenty of studies funded by energy companies that say it's bunk, but there are very few peer reviewed studies that claim global warming is not real. Be aware that to be taken seriously in the scientific community, and to become a leading scientist, your findings have to be agreed upon by the unbiased panels of scientific journals. I am not pusing this for one political side or another, I simply believe that this is a real problem, and that if enough people get involved we can be heard. Just like anything else, for any real change to take place, we need people on both sides of the aisle and from all walks of life.

[El mojito]

So much for global warming

http://www.nature.com/news/2005/050502/ ... 502-8.html

News


Published online: 5 May 2005; | doi:10.1038/news050502-8
Clear skies end global dimming
Quirin Schiermeier
Earth's air is cleaner, but this may worsen the greenhouse effect.


Hello sunshine: cleaner air could make the world warmer.

© Punchstock

Our planet's air has cleared up in the past decade or two, allowing more sunshine to reach the ground, say two studies in Science this week.

Reductions in industrial emissions in many countries, along with the use of particulate filters for car exhausts and smoke stacks, seem to have reduced the amount of dirt in the atmosphere and made the sky more transparent.

That sounds like very good news. But the researchers say that more solar energy arriving on the ground will also make the surface warmer, and this may add to the problems of global warming. More sunlight will also have knock-on effects on cloud cover, winds, rainfall and air temperature that are difficult to predict.

The results suggest that a downward trend in the amount of sunlight reaching the surface, which has been observed since measurements began in the late 1950s, is now over.

The researchers argue that this trend, commonly called 'global dimming', reversed more than a decade ago, probably following the collapse of communist economies and the consequent decrease in industrial pollutants.

The widespread brightening has remained unnoticed until now simply because there wasn't enough data for a statistically significant analysis, says Martin Wild, an atmospheric scientist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich and an author on one of the reports.

Sunny days

Wild and his team looked at data on surface sunshine levels from hundreds of devices around the planet. They found that since the 1980s there has been a transition from decreasing to increasing solar radiation nearly everywhere, except in heavily polluted areas such as India and at scattered sites in Australia, Africa, and South America1.

A second study, led by Rachel Pinker from the University of Maryland, College Park, found a similar trend by looking at satellite data, although their research suggests the extent of the brightening is smaller2. Unlike ground stations, satellites can sample the whole planet, including the oceans. However, satellite data are difficult to calibrate, and so are considered less accurate than measurements from the ground.

Surprisingly, Wild's study shows a brightening trend in China, despite the fact that there is a booming, fossil-fuel-intensive industry in that country. Wild says he can only speculate that the use of clean-air technologies in China might be more widespread and efficient than has been thought.

In contrast, India's vast brown clouds of smog, which result from wildfires and the use of fossil fuels, have reduced the sunlight reaching the ground.

Just warming up

Researchers will now focus on working out the long-term effects of clearer air. One thing they do know is that black particulate matter in the air has been contributing a cooling effect to the ground. "It is clear that the greenhouse effect has been partly masked in the past by air pollution," says Andreas Macke, a meteorologist at the Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences in Kiel, Germany.

Uncertainties remain part of the game because scientists have only a limited ability to track cloud cover and particulates, says Macke. Increased cooperation in programmes such as the NASA-led International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project should help to close the gaps in our knowledge of how dirty air affects climate, he says.

[diamonddan]

Wasn't there a story a couple of weeks ago that reported that Antartica is getting larger?



Until then, the"warming" theory I always felt made the most sense was about the end of the ice age. That basically, the earth has been slowly watning for thousands upon thousands of year. It's how we roll. It is not humanity's fault, and there ain't a damn thing we can do about it.

[El mojito]

Wasn't there a story a couple of weeks ago that reported that Antartica is getting larger?



Until then, the"warming" theory I always felt made the most sense was about the end of the ice age. That basically, the earth has been slowly watning for thousands upon thousands of year. It's how we roll. It is not humanity's fault, and there ain't a damn thing we can do about it.

I believe, that they found a under sea volcano in Antartica that is active
right now

[BilltheLizard]

PalmettoSon, I also have concerns about global warming and think that there is a valid concern about what we as a whole are pumping into the environment.

But I don't see any chance of making a difference with the current buffoon we have in office. He does not care about the environment and I doubt if he ever will.

I wish things were different, hell I have a degree in Environmental Policy and feel like so many prior efforts to make this country environmentally better are being thwarted.

[ToplessRideFL]

I offer no scientific value....trust me!!

However I KNOW that in the past 30 years the weather has changed in Florida. Its different than it was. The rain isnt dependable and the winter isnt dependable ..... but the lack of snow IS dependable! So I supposed I will continue to adjust!