In pictures: How the world is changing

[3dGameMan]

In pictures: How the world is changing: ~source (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/05/sci_nat_how_the_world_is_changing/html/1.stm)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/05/sci_nat_how_the_world_is_changing/img/1.jpg

Introduction

While the effect of human activity on the global climate is hotly debated, physical signs of environmental change are all around us.
Some scientists say an increase in the rate of melting of the world's glaciers is evidence of global warming.

Argentina's Upsala Glacier was once the biggest in South America, but it is now disappearing at a rate of 200 metres per year.

Other scientists say its reduction is due to complicated shifts in glacial dynamics and local geology....

[KaNaDiAnIcEmAn]

quite amazing but inevitable really.

also off but on topic

if you have ever seen the The Time Machine (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0268695/) there was a couple scenes which showed the changing earth and landscape which were truly amazing, made you wonder what is going to happen to our world (cool movie too!)

[Anduril]

Thats pretty intresting. I like the glacier pic. Looks like a very drastic change.

[egarrard]

There are different reports of other glaciers expanding. Global warming is a fraud. :lmao

[wazman]

The world changes. Ebb and flow, come and go. Once we're dead and gone, the world'll just keep right on doing what it's been doing for millenia.

[egarrard]

My topic today sounds humorous but unfortunately I am serious. I am going to argue that extraterrestrials lie behind global warming. Or to speak more precisely, I will argue that a belief in extraterrestrials has paved the way, in a progression of steps, to a belief in global warming. Charting this progression of belief will be my task today.

Let me say at once that I have no desire to discourage anyone from believing in either extraterrestrials or global warming. That would be quite impossible to do. Rather, I want to discuss the history of several widely-publicized beliefs and to point to what I consider an emerging crisis in the whole enterprise of science-namely the increasingly uneasy relationship between hard science and public policy. more... (http://www.crichton-official.com/speeches/speeches_quote04.html)

:devil

[Maro]

Global Warming is most certainly not a fraud - the mechanisms may not be fully understood by humans but it is there.

[egarrard]

Global Warming is most certainly not a fraud - the mechanisms may not be fully understood by humans but it is there.Praise the Lord! :Wink

[abb1]

There are different reports of other glaciers expanding. Global warming is a fraud. :lmao
I believe that Global Warming is definately happening. I remember twenty years ago, the winters were a lot colder with a lot more snow. Winters are getting a lot warmer. Global Warming probably isn't going to be a major issue in our lifetimes, but it definately will be an issue!

[jcline]

global warming is a load of crap.

put water in a cup, half full, add ice till its 3/4 full, let it all melt, and the water level wont even change, people make a big deal outta nothing, its stupid

[abb1]

global warming is a load of crap.

put water in a cup, half full, add ice till its 3/4 full, let it all melt, and the water level wont even change, people make a big deal outta nothing, its stupid
We are not talking about ice in water, we are talking about the whole northern globe that is covered in ice and snow which will all melt (we get flood warnings all the time here in Canada in the spring time when all the snow melts). This will definately cause a rise in the global water level, but who knows to what effect. That is not the only threat. Can you imagine what a 20 degrees temperature change will do to people living in L,A,, California, and among the equator. The heat will be unbearable.

[Maro]

global warming is a load of crap.

put water in a cup, half full, add ice till its 3/4 full, let it all melt, and the water level wont even change, people make a big deal outta nothing, its stupid

So what's your explanation besides Crap?

[CyberGuy]

global warming is a load of crap.

put water in a cup, half full, add ice till its 3/4 full, let it all melt, and the water level wont even change, people make a big deal outta nothing, its stupid

The water level will change by the amount the ice was sticking out above the water lien.

Try putting 1/2 cup of icecubes in 1/4 cup of water. In this case most of the ice is above the water line. Now watch that water line climb as the icecubes melt.

Same difference. at the poles a large portion of the Ice caps is hundreds of feet above sea level. If they all melt it has nowhere to go but into the sea - raising its level. Melt a portion of it, coastal cities & villiages will end up underwater Melt the whole things, all that will be sticking up out of it will be mountains showing up as islands.

Global warming is a big deal and not just because of the flooding. We may not not be the root cause of it but don't mistake it as being a non issue. Right now it is all speculation what the cause is. I doubt we can stop it even if we wanted to.

[eire1274]

The water level will change by the amount the ice was sticking out above the water lien.
False. Ice (crystalized water) loses it's fluid dynamic and gets larger as it freezes, due to the molecular spacing in a structured crystal. As ice melts (while floating in water) it doesn't raise the water level appreciably; it's "float depth" shows a similarity to the ice crystal, e.g. the part floating out of the water is the amount of extra size it gained freezing.

Getting back to the discussion, human-caused global warming is a myth. The planet's course in warming has been going on for ages, prior to man't industrial age, and it is still going on.

The reason for our warmer winters recently is due to the fact that the mean surface temperature of the Pacific Ocean is lower than normal, meaning less evaporation, meaning less lower-to-upper air interaction as it gets pushed over land. This is similar (but less extreme) as the conditions that caused the Dust Bowl conditions in the late 1930s and 40s. Before anyone starts screaming, "Melting polar ice caps have cooled the ocean!" make note that the Atlantic is warmer than normal, and has been causing some strange weather in parts of northern Europe, but more so in Asia (Russia).