global warming?

[Worff]

Heheh I've always been a skeptic of most environmentalists, and even of a handful of scientists that could easily be paid to report whatever info their payer asks them to.. but it seems it's no longer a question that it is indeed happening, with most scientists agreeing. Here are a few serious ideas to combat global warming, either by preservation or action. Will it be inconvenient?.. probably.. but the consequences of doing nothing are too great to ignore.

Big companies and govt come up with ideas that the public can do (some of which are good common sense ideas anyway, agreed)... most of my ideas put the burden back on big business and govt as well as ourselves.

1. Outlaw unsolicited paper junkmail from being sent to your mailbox at home or office, imagine how many trees would be saved.

2. Presently, many companies manuafacture items to be obsolete in a very short time because it's good for their pocketbooks. Encourage, even demand, companies to make products that LAST longer as well as make parts available to repair products instead of throwing them in a landfill.

3. Encourage telecommuting, which means less office space that needs to be built, climate controlled, and cleaned, as well as saves on fuel consumption from commuting.

4. Lobby or write congressmen and legislators to consider more drastic steps to fight global warming, not just ideas that allow the wealthy and powerful to keep everything the way it is economically and all of their luxuries.

5. Stop wasting power, food, and water immediately... all of us! This is a huge step that is easier said than done. We've become accustomed to excesses and disposable wealth to the point it is ridiculous.

6. Insist on higher fuel economy standards from auto manufacturers. Don't buy the gas guzzlerz just because you think it boosts your image. If you indeed "need" a hummer, by all means get one, but not just to have.

7. Convert auto's and gas stations across the major consumtion countries to E85 ethanol. It's completely doable over reasonable amounts of time.
(might conflict with #9)

8. Insist industrial companies convert to cleaner burning fossil fuels or take a hike. Other ideas will not be enough if they keep spewing obscene amounts of pollution into the air.

9. Vigilantly preserve undeveloped agricultural land we have left, which isnt much. Plant more trees or vegetation instead of more concrete and steel.

10. Stop imprisoning people for smalltime crimes. A nation of prisons is very costly to maintain in terms of money as well as precious resources to pursue, try, and incarcerate. Imprison only those that truly deserve it for more serious offenses.

I have more, but these are the top 10 that came to mind. I'm not saying I'm right either, they are just ideas... it's a start.

Flame away hehe it wont hurt my feelings

[EQIsenhart]

I think global warming is an issue no doubt, but all the things you posted are great examples of what is wrong in this country, dont need to link it to global warming if one doesnt want too but Worff for president ;)

[Jaella]

I think a certain discussion between me, Isen and Urt came to Isen's mind here

[Worff]

Lol good point.. even without global warming all 10 would make world a better place.

[EQIsenhart]

higher emphasis on alternative fuel methods would be a great thing

my physical science teacher was telling us how was involved in some studies exploring methane as a fuel energy source and they got shut down, hardly any money is spent into exploring alternative fuel methods because oil companies would be put of business totally scary thoughts,

they could explore , hempseed oil, ethane, helium, hydrogen even after exploring more safer ways of storing it and utilizing in dont want another hidenburg but ah dont get me started =p

[Bilnick]

The global warming "scientists" tend to point out that we have warmed x degrees in the last 100 years. Why don't they ever mention that global temperatures were actually warmer 1000 (or so) years ago compared to today?

Al Gore shows the maps of the Greenland ice sheet melting......maybe it will melt to the point where it can be farmed again like the Vikings did years ago.

Carbon Dioxide is always pointed to as the "evil" greenhouse gas, specifically human production of CO2. Humans are at most responsible for 3% of global CO2 production, and CO2 contribution for the total greenhouse effect is actually quite low when compared to water vapor, methane, etc.

I wonder how many of the scientists predicting global warming out of control are the same scientists that were telling us a new ice age is coming in the 1970s?

[Uilea]

http://www.aip.org/history/climate/cycles.htm

[Worff]

Don't remember the actual numbers, I always believed it to be cyclical. But, looking at graphs depicting past numbers... the current numbers are off the scale in comparison to other warm periods that preceded ice ages. I say this with respect to CO2 levels that accompanied these warm periods and is believed to be related. It's totally believable that the levels are so much higher now, as major industrial entities and large-scale pollution just plain didn't exist even 2 centuries ago, much less 2, 20, or 200 thousand years ago. So, I agree some of it is natural, just not to the extent that it is, and is getting.

[Bilnick]

6. Insist on higher fuel economy standards from auto manufacturers. Don't buy the gas guzzlerz just because you think it boosts your image. If you indeed "need" a hummer, by all means get one, but not just to have.

The market can do that all by itself. When gas prices went up last summer, the sales of more efficient cars went up and truck sales went down. When fuel prices dropped, sales of trucks picked back up. CAFE is a joke.

Personally I am done buying little 4 banger cars. I owned them in HS and college because they were cheap to own and run, but I can afford to drive a 300+ hp V8 that only averages 23 (or so) miles per gallon. Yeah my 4 cylinder cars averaged 30ish mpg, but they were sloooooooowwwww.

[Worff]

Whats the rush? hehe maybe you'll be 2 more car lengths closer to that red light :P Seriously, how is more power gonna help you? I understand if you need it like to pull a work trailer, etc. But since USA has so many speed limits anyway, going 100 mph is out of the question, so maybe getting from 0 - 60 two secs faster? /shrug lol

[Zyzzerzazz]

I think money has and always will dictate the direction of our interests.

Very sad.

At first we lose our health in the scramble for wealth, then in the end, we lose our wealth in search for our health back again.

Human nature is the root of all these problems.

If we were not such a selfish and near-sighted race/society/culture, money would not rule our conditons. And we would be making smart desigions on topics such as Planet health and enviromenental well being.

All of US know that we will not suffer the consaquenses of our irresponsiable actions in our lifetime. But our Great grandchildren and their Great grandchildren will. So why should we give a shit about the planet NOW? We will not be affected by it so much.

Thats the mantra I see from our leaders and personalities in power.

[Bilnick]

A car that can accelerate faster can merge into traffic easier and safer. How many times have you been driving and some jackass pulls out in front of you and accelerates slowly??? How many times has it been a Corvette or a Porche?

I agree, I do not "need" a fast car, it is purely my preference. I don't "need" 4 computers running at home either, but thats what I like.

[Bilnick]

Back to global warming......


Mars is getting warmer too! (Probably from emmissions of the mars rover. )

[Jahras]

We go over a lot of this stuff in my field (bio-engineering) and a few notes

Yes the planet does go through warming cycles and ice ages every few thousand years according to the evidence we've seen from examining deep ice cores from the poles. The nice thing about these cores, is that bubbles of air from thousands of years ago remains trapped in them for us to analyze, and we can see small fluctuations in the carbon content of the air between ice ages and warmups, but not very much at all compared to today's carbon boom (with the exceptions of ones also laced with ash, signaling a volcano or mediorite strike, which also stir up lots of atmospheric carbon). Those ice ages and warmings were almost entirely by patterns in earth's orbit. And today's atmosphere can be compared to previous years found in ice cores, and show an elevated level of carbon in our atmosphere, and we've known about carbon's black body radiation effects for a long time, and can easily test it. Leading to the conclusion that there is more carbon in the atmosphere now, and more carbon in the atmosphere makes for a warmer atmosphere, those facts are inarguable in any scientific sense.

1. Outlaw unsolicited paper junkmail from being sent to your mailbox at home or office, imagine how many trees would be saved.

While this is a good idea, a vast majority of the trees that are cut down to print this on would have not been planted if they weren't intending on harvesting them. Tree farms are all over the carolinas and GA, but yeah it is indeed wasteful in all the energy consumed to process it.

New fuels are being explored, but ones that aren't profitable to lobbying groups are getting looked into at a snail's pace. Ethanol does not reduce our carbon output all that much, but is still a good step in alternatives to oil, but the reason so much attention has been given to it, as opposed to other cleaner fuels, is that the agricultural lobby in the US is very strong, and put a lot of pressure on the feds to push that through, because it's extreamly profitable for everyone involved with corn farming.

Helium-3 is probably a fuel being researched that most of you haven't heard about, although it is a long way off (atleast 20+ years) but that is one of the big reasons that the US has become in going back to the moon, that's where there is a huge amount He-3. The reason it's so valuable, is because it's a very safe, non-radioactive fuel with a very high yield potential for fusion energy, so much so that I think the estimate was that 5 metric tons of it would supply all of Great Brittan and Ireland with electricity for a full year.

Lastly I hate to bring religion into this, but it is a fact that a lot of adherents to Christianity that you talk to about the earth being unlivable in X hundred or thousand of years don't really care, because to them the rapture or whatever they believe in will surely have happened by then, or that the bible tells them to have dominion of the earth and subdue it etc, while conveniently forgetting remarks in both testaments commanding people to be faithful and wise stewards of the earth. I'm not generalizing that all or even most believe that, but the people I've met that do take total disregard for the environment for those reasons really disgust me.

[Worff]

A car that can accelerate faster can merge into traffic easier and safer. How many times have you been driving and some jackass pulls out in front of you and accelerates slowly??? How many times has it been a Corvette or a Porche?

I agree, I do not "need" a fast car, it is purely my preference. I don't "need" 4 computers running at home either, but thats what I like.

lol point taken. I have 4 comps at home too... but once I thought about this more seriously, I dont have them all running anymore, I only turn on the ones I'm using which is usually 2.. I keep lights and TV's off that aren't being used... I dont stand at refrigerator staring in waiting for a Big Mac to jump out at me :P Everyone could do something small like that, and in the least would lower their electric bill, at best would help if multiplied by 500 million people in reducing emissions. I am guilty myself of being wasteful in the past... even if scientists are wrong and humans have no "amplification" effects on natural cycles, it's still a good idea to be more aware of waste. Saw today, 2 billion tons of food were thrown away in USA in 1 year. All I can say to that kind of waste is Holy Shit!!! hehe