What's your stance on Climate Change?

[Evull]

Do you believe in life after love?

[Deleted]

I'm gonna bring this up, because fuck it why not?

Lots of people in this thread are going to say they believe the evidence. But I'm betting most people have never actually seen or read the evidence themselves. They've seen Al Gore, they've read blogs, newspapers, and wikis maybe.

But the percentage of people who have subscriptions to the likes of Nature is marginal. It really bothers me that this topic is the one where people state "I've read the evidence", no, you fucking haven't.

I love reading articles myself, and in my entire life I've probably only read ~50 in full on climate change.

[Doctor Amadeus]

Not sure why this is worded belief, climate change global warming is a fact, doesn't matter if you believe in it or not.

[Deleted]

how the fuck can you "deny" it? co2 is a gas that absorbs heat a lot easier than oxygen. that's a fact that you can easiely check. more co2 in the atmosphere=warmer atmosphere. whats there to deny?

[Faroth]

I agree we're affecting it, yes. I'm not sure I'm convinced we're hurtling towards immediate disaster as quickly as some have claimed, though. I'm also not sure or convinced exactly how much we're impacting it. The planet has been through massive climate changes. The fact that we came out of an Ice Age shows climate change prior to our "Gas drinking, piston clinking, air polluting, smoke belching, four wheeled buggies from Detroit City" and the Sahara Desert is believed to have once been a lush oasis of flora and fauna.

So would climate change still be happening if we never discovered fossil fuels and were still traveling exclusively by foot and animal power? Yeah, I think it would, but we're probably helping it along faster.

[Edited I believe to "I agree" because, yeah, as others have pointed out. Kind of semantics, but I can go with it on this one]

[Kraenen]

There is no faith in regards science. It's just understanding and acceptance of reality.

There is a certain faith that people outside science take - not the same as other faiths, but they have a sort of trusting belief that's implicit in the methods, the researchers, and the conclusions. This is independent of whether or not it's true or correct or accurate.

[Queen of Hamsters]

It's not religion. Yes, of course I believe in what we see happening, which is that the human race is a cancer on this planet when it comes to resources and pollution. But as things are going right now, we might just have made ourselves go extinct before the planet starts breaking down under our pressure.

I seriously doubt that we will see Day after Tomorrow-style effects, but mankind having an impact on the planet ain't exactly for the rocket scientists only to see.

[Deleted]

how the fuck can you "deny" it? co2 is a gas that absorbs heat a lot easier than oxygen. that's a fact that you can easiely check. more co2 in the atmosphere=warmer atmosphere. whats there to deny?

It's not that simple, and making it sound that simple undermines the argument.

[Kraenen]

The word "belief" bugs me... It's not a belief if its true. It's happening. The questions should be rephrased to say "do you believe the scientists that say global warming is happening". To that answer, I would say yes.

To me that means you believe it. You take it as true, and you act/think upon that basis.

[Tenris]

I didn't know truths were optional. Then again people believe in astrology so what do i know.

[whynotchris]

There is no faith in regards science. It's just understanding and acceptance of reality.

Yes, but for some reason the issue is a debate. I couldn't word it, "Are you denying the science behind Climate Change, you twat?!" because I would probably get some tainted answers. (ha! pun.) I just wanted to see a sample from mmo because I watched a rather depressing debate.

[Kujako]

This is how to science. Take a statement, put "all current evidence suggests" at the start and "but we could be wrong at the end".

So... "all current evidence suggests that the atmosphere is warming due to man made/released CO2, but we could be wrong".

What's more, the job of every scientist in the world is to prove the others wrong. If they can't and your idea is falsifiable, then at least for now your idea stands.

[Faroth]

There is no faith in regards science. It's just understanding and acceptance of reality.

Until new science proves old science wrong and you've been accepting flawed reality all this time.

...whoa.

I didn't know truths were optional. Then again people believe in astrology so what do i know.

*huff* Soooo cynical. You must be a Scorpio.

[Lenonis]

Saying that humans are solely responsible for climate change is just as silly as saying that humans have no impact on climate.

I mean -- if you just look around you can see the affect we have on the ecosystem. That in turn, over time, is going to affect climate. It's really a 2+2=4 scenario.

Here is the fundamental question the OP meant to ask:
Do you believe that the human impact on climate change is significant enough to warrant action to reduce it?

[Herecius]

It's not a matter of belief.

You are not to ask if somebody 'believes' in climate change, you should only ever ask what somebody is going to do about climate change.

For my own small part, I have significantly reduced my energy needs in the past couple of years, as well as my water usage. There isn't much more I can do short of installing solar energy, which I plan to do in the next year or so.

[Deleted]

Until new science proves old science wrong and you've been accepting flawed reality all this time.

...whoa.

You're implying reality is fixed, nice misunderstanding.

[Sky High]

I think "global catastrophe" is subjective. I think it will hit the 3rd world the hardest at first. Less water, less food, etc. But the industrialized countries will feel it a bit later, though maybe not as bad.

We live in CA, you know how bad the draught is here, expect more of that, though hopefully we will get some rain from the el nino.

well, I just don't think it's ever going to hit us all at once, Day After Tomorrow style anyway. but yes industrialized countries are better suited to deal with these sorts of things, no doubt about that.

[Dendrek]

I don't believe anything unless our benevolent capitalist overlords say it's true.

[zealo]

I believe we're affecting it, yes. I'm not sure I'm convinced we're hurtling towards immediate disaster as quickly as some have claimed, though. I'm also not sure or convinced exactly how much we're impacting it. The planet has been through massive climate changes. The fact that we came out of an Ice Age shows climate change prior to our "Gas drinking, piston clinking, air polluting, smoke belching, four wheeled buggies from Detroit City" and the Sahara Desert is believed to have once been a lush oasis of flora and fauna.

So would climate change still be happening if we never discovered fossil fuels and were still traveling exclusively by foot and animal power? Yeah, I think it would, but we're probably helping it along faster.

afaik it have been proven ice ages have been happening in cycles, meaning in a very distant future i.e in 90 000 years it will happen again.

[Kraenen]

But thats like saying, I believe ice is cold, and fire is hot. I do not believe, I know they are.

Aren't cold and hot subjective? Besides that, there's nothing wrong or contradictory with saying you believe ice is cold and that you know it's cold. In fact you could say you believe that ice is cold because you've experienced it directly and have sensory knowledge. It might sound a bit awkward to say it.