Global warming on a personal level

[Relay]

I have just seen the AL Gore movie An inconvenient truth. And i must say that he dont add anything new i didnt heard or read before. Then i log in to forums like this and can see threads and messages who try to deny or question the problem of global warming.
Is global warming a problem today?
Will it be a problem in the future?
I am not a scientist who have all the facts clear and ready to lauch on a forum like this, but i have a feeling that it is something wrong, and Al Gore have a very important point. As he said in the Academy award it is not a political issue it is a moral issue.
I can only tell this problem from my perspective but it is thrilling enought.

From Wikipedia below

Erwin was a powerful storm which hit Denmark and Sweden on 8 January 2005. The name Erwin was chosen by the German Weather Service, while the storm was named Gudrun by the Norwegian Meteorological Institute. Sustained wind speeds of 126 km/h with wind gusts of 165 km/h were measured in Hanstholm, Denmark - the same strength as a Category 1 hurricane. At least 17 people died in the storm.

The storm caused a lot of financial damage in Sweden, where the forest industry suffered greatly from damaged trees, as more than 7,500,000 cubic metres of trees were blown down in southern Sweden. This resulted in sweden, at the time had the worlds biggest storage of lumber and got visited by enthusiasts all over the world because of the overwhealming stock sites. This was a huge blow to the lumber inustry and the goverment had to pay out enormous insurense money to the victims. About 341,000 homes lost power in Sweden and several thousand of these were out of power for many days and even weeks in some cases, as about 10,000 homes were still without power after three weeks. The death toll in Sweden was seven victims, while four were killed in Denmark.

I know beacuse i live in just that area there the storm named Gudrun hitted the worst. I remember i heard strange noise outside the window and could see the results the morning after. The last storm who hit sweden before Gudrun was in 1969, and it wasnt so big or caused so much damage as this one did.

I middle January this year we had our warmest Januari month i have ever experienced. The snow had been absent the whole winter, and it idndt came until in February. Some late evenings in January i could see the temperature was 9 Celsius outside. And that is what the temperature used to be in Late March or/and April here, not in middle January. Something is wrong with the climate!

Another point is what do you do on a personal level to reduce the global warming?
I think i do pretty much, i dont have a car, i use mass transit buses, trains to get around, or even walk if it is not to far away. I have that kind of lifestyle and i dont see that it is something strange or special with that. My countries infrastructure are very mass transit friendly with good bus connections to many part of the country eys even to countries abroad. Yes even within the cities the local transports are very good and used.

What do you others do?

 

[90K]

Would there be global warning if the earths population was only a 1/4 of what it is today? Would we have global warming if greed wasn't a motivator? Would we have global warning if we didn't burn fossil fuels?
I believe it is a little of everything all in one because the earth is changing as are us. But you can't change global warning in the US, Europe and parts of Asia alone it has to be across the board or it is fruitless.

 

[Relay]

Would there be global warning if the earths population was only a 1/4 of what it is today? Would we have global warming if greed wasn't a motivator? Would we have global warning if we didn't burn fossil fuels?
I believe it is a little of everything all in one because the earth is changing as are us. But you can't change global warning in the US, Europe and parts of Asia alone it has to be across the board or it is fruitless.

I know and agree to that we allneed to work to stop the global warming both on global and on local level. Thats why i became so sad when i see people who made a joke of this, without taking the risk seriously.
USA contribute alone with more pollution than any other continent do.
I do my part and have chnged my way of life bit by bit. For me the lifestyle they seem to have in US is not gonna last very long without consequences for both them and me on this planet
How ready are americans to adapt their lifestyle who not create so much pollution who adds to the global warming that much?
I use masstransit every week dont drive any cars and so on. If the will to change exist, its possible to change.

Global warming from Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming

In the European Union, Global warming has been an even more central and sustained issue. Both "global warming" and the more politically neutral "climate change" were listed as political buzzwords or catch phrases in 2005.[3] However, in Europe, the global-warming theory has gained wider acceptance than in many other parts of the world, most notably the United States.

In U.S. politics, global warming is often a partisan political issue. Republicans generally (though not universally) oppose action against a threat that they regard as unproved, while Democrats tend to support actions that they believe will reduce global warming and its effects.[citation needed] Recently, the balance has begun to shift, and bipartisan measures have been introduced.[6]

 

[90K]

I lived in Japan for 5 years and everytime it rained my white car looked dingy brown and I kept it looking right all the time. I haven't experienced that living here in the states and I live near an air base and they fly a lot. I'll be frank on this subject I am concerned because we have so much technology right now in almost every avenue with regards to energy usage that is it sickening but unless these politicians who are elected by us don't clean there hands of kick backs this issue will destroy us. Not just here but abroad, I like driving a car and I like the action of a very fast car on the track, but we could still enjoy these things but we have to make an honest effort.
In industry we allow our products to be made and assembled overseas, keeps the price down and those 3rd world nations could give a damn about safety, let alone pollution control measures. I'm no greeny weenie but I agree we can do more and it will be hard to train ourselves but we are teachable and if we saw a reward or credit for lack of consumption maybe those could be incentives?
Like I mentioned yesterday I believe solar technology is a very valid and assessable resource that could offset heating and cooling cost. Look at how many of these huge 3,500 plus sq foot homes could benefit from that. You know the dual zone homes they are building now days. I have a very old home and I have a average winter electric bill of 50~60 bucks a month and my summers vary depending on the temperature outside but it is well below 150 a month and if I had solar panels on the back of my home because of the awesome sun I receive I might not even use electricity some days.
Cars could use solar panels on the roof, optional areas would be the trunk and hood but they would have to be made lighter to support being opened and closed and be able to support shocking during closing. This would assist in the hybrid theory and most cars could use this during the commute. A car will sits outside for 4~6 hours daily on the job just soaking up energy and that could make a big difference in fuel consumption. I don’t know how to address big trucks because of the load they haul and reliability that would have to be needed to support such a platform. But in those two distinct examples we could really make a difference and it would most depend on if you lived in the city or country on how this could affect you. If I commute 60 miles one way would solar power actually help me? Well I think it would during grid lock because you wouldn’t need the engine. And like the hybrid theory of using an electric engine under 40 MPH this would be awesome because you might be able to extend speed to say 55~60 mph with solar and limited gas engine use for say like 50-100 miles depending on the terrain. I believe that alone could blow the hybrid mileage out of the water.
Hiring private companies to come in and assess these ideas and do reliability test and cost analysis would be a welcome start. As we all know having a soft figure would only be an idea since it would not be a real number and it would inflate during testing and whatnot. But leaving the g out of this would be great and allow them to oversee the process.
I haven't watched this movie yet I just can't grasp having to hear Al Gore rant about this concern, but maybe in time I'll make the effort to afford his ideas but I don't think I need too.

 

[Gurdari]

Don't worry so much about the messenger! Watch and think about the science on it's own merit (or misdemeanor).

Seems rather late for this movie, when most of us heard about GlobWarm in the 80s.

 

[Creek_George]

I think now we are getting the wake up call on global warming...

Ya really can't deny it..if one even keeps half an eye open on the worlds weather.It's more than obvious some big changes are on the way.

Is it the Earth..and just us helping it along more faster?..(Global Warming)...Could we prevent another Ice Age even living life without even a simple campfire?

I don't think we can stop it..I don't think we can even slow it down.

I think we have played a part..or a big part..

I think it's great though..more are taking our envorment..and natural resources more serious.

90k is right...It would take a global effort..As long as big business & profit have the say..and our dependency on fossil fuels exists...3rd world countries for many years to come..will have the practices we have today here.

PLUS the Earth has gone through several changes in it's history..Ice Ages come..and go...Species come ..and go....

I read awhile back that somewhere in Russia..there are HUGE peat fires..(underground)...that put off more carbon dioxide than...I can't remember the example...but it was ALOT....A SHIT LOAD of greenhouse gas.

The warming could just be the Earth going through it's cycle...Constantly changing....

We with our way of life..have helped to deplete the Ozone Layer & perhaps sped things along....They are doing big tests now though...watching the polls...This year alot of good data is gona come in on this subject.

I believe we have to live best we can..not to contribute to harming the Earth...Learn..and discuss this..Take it serious.

I have not watched..or listened to any of Gore's thoughts on this...but am glad we are starting to have some well known people bringing more awareness to this...

I'm very bumbed about the summers being warmer..not as much rain etc...I've also read that some Indian Villages in Canada are gona be relocating inland off the water....The way they'd make a living & there life is gone..with the drastic changes in some places up north.

Polar Bears way of life is changing as well....

I just hope the seriousness of global warming don't become a political crusade....I don't believe there are 2 sides to what's happening to our planet...We all gota join together...a global effort.

Good post..

 

[Gurdari]

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[90K]

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