[constant thinker]

Where are we exactly in our latest 10,000 year cycle of going through ice ages - are we on the way out or on the way in??   Anyone know?

I think that is also another question. I think some people thinking we're on the way out, while others think we're on the way in.

I haven't been able to personally view data from ice core drilling, nor have I heard of any definitive reports/conclusions. If someone does know more, that would be excellent.

[Yggdrasil]

I went to a talk on alternative energy technologies by Steve Chu who also talked a little about the evidence for the role of human actions in global warming.  He gave two fairly good reasons to show that human releases of greenhouse gasses are a significant contributior to the increase in global temperatures.  First, while it is true that the earth is going though a natural warming period, the magnitude of the rate of change in global temperature over the past 100 or so years is significantly greater than the rate of warming seen during any other time period on Earth.  Second, climate modeling which takes into account only natural variables cannot reasonably model the changes in the global temperature seen over the past 100-200 years.  However, when these same models factor in human variables, the models fit the real climate data fairly well.

[mir]

Here is a good article:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/11/05/nosplit/nwarm05.xml

Another one:
http://www.economist.com/surveys/displaystory.cfm?story_id=7852924

This discussion is probably endless if you get going. Its the typically ID for a question without answers. We dont know.

[lemonoman]

So I did my mock-expert-panel thing on Friday, and it sure was fun!

We started discussing the environmental impact of global warming, and the prof brought up the point that sometime, the situation may get so out of hand that we can't stop it, no matter what we do.

Then, as always with this type of discussion, someone brought up greenhouse gas emissions.  People were all typical with the "Everyone needs to cut down, turn down your heat or walk instead of driving to the store...blah blah blah".  Man I hate it when people say things like that.  So I let 'er rip and said, "Why should I sacrifice my quality of life just to try to slow down something that might already be out of our control".  lol...man did people get angry.  It's amazing how people can be so self-righteous.

Anyways, I'm aware that reducing greenhouse gases should probably be a higher priority for governments, industries, and citizens alike...but the fact of the matter is no one's gonna do anything until they're forced to.  So my suggestion is to stop whining, roll over, and take it.

Any comments?

[billnotgatez]

Is it correct that China has passed or is passing the USA in greenhouse emissions and they are not required to do anything in the Kayoto protocol?

I also saw an article in the Scientific American that said if it was not for humans we would be in another ice age.

If we reduce the population of the world to 10% would global warming stop. Who among your fellow panel mates would volunteer to be the first to go?

[billnotgatez]

I was hoping for some comments too
Oh well

[Mitch]

Try http://www.swivel.com/ when looking for data.

[lemonoman]

Is it correct that China has passed or is passing the USA in greenhouse emissions and they are not required to do anything in the Kayoto protocol?

I also saw an article in the Scientific American that said if it was not for humans we would be in another ice age.

If we reduce the population of the world to 10% would global warming stop. Who among your fellow panel mates would volunteer to be the first to go?

I've also heard that we'd be in another ice age if it weren't for humans...but ... would that be so bad?  Thin out the population a bit, revitalize the landscape that's been torn to shreds...

I wonder what happens when a glacier meets a building?  Does it just freeze around and throughout the building, or does the slow freezing force the building to be pushed ahead by the glacier?  I digress...

Reduce the population, that's always a risky question.  Best bet maybe it to let global warming take its course, and let THAT thin out the population?