Global warming / climate change

[Pergamum]

Is it happening?

If so, what exactly is the "it" that is happening?

And if so, why is it happening?

Why is this issue political also? Isn't it just science? Why do opinions split along party lines?

How does the Little Ice Age and Medieval Warm Period factor in?

 

[Curt]

The media darlings like (Nobel Prize winner) Al Gore and Michael Moore like it. Their "science" is viewed as considerably better than that of those who've merely studied science for decades.

I don't know whether we're warmer this year than last (I am, after all, not a scientist). I do know that the glaciers melted and that there were no autos creating gases affecting the atmosphere. I also wonder what difference a degree makes (C or F).

 

[Zach]

My take from talking to a few folks who have studied with some really intelligent Professors who are doing research into this:

It's probably happening. There's probably a link between CO2 and increasing temperatures. It's hard to study well because it is hard to predict how the earth and climate will react. A lot of people are trying to politicize it for their gain and profit.

 

[Backwoods Presbyterian]

All I know is that is 44 degrees in Ellisville, Mississippi in March.

 

[moral necessity]

John Coleman Debunks the Myth of Global Warming - YouTube

The meteorologist and founder of the Weather Channel shows that it's bunk in this 8 minute video.

Blessings...

 

[arapahoepark]

How does the Little Ice Age and Medieval Warm Period factor in?

Funny thing is...they don't factor this in

 

[mvdm]

Here is an informative site that has become a clearinghouse of articles, data, and links to other scientific sites on the issue. I am fairly convinced that the claim of man-caused global warming has key hallmarks of being a religion, not science:

Watts Up With That? | The world's most viewed site on global warming and climate change

Sites with a distinctly Christian perspective debunking these myths:

Cornwall Alliance :: For the Stewardship of Creation

Resisting the Green Dragon

 

[Jack K]

From the math I've seen, it's likely we're going through a warming spell. It's far less clear what's causing that. It could be "greenhouse gases," but warm and cold spells have happened before without them.

We need to keep in mind God's promise to Noah: "While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease" (Gen. 8:22). We'll never be able to mess up the seasons so horribly that the earth becomes unfit for us to live in, even if we try.

At the same time, we need to keep in mind God's commandments in Genesis to tend the garden and have dominion over the earth. We must pay attention, as caretakers, to how our activities affect the earth and its climate. We clearly can have some effect, and must take pains to make that a good effect.

Why is this issue political also? Isn't it just science? Why do opinions split along party lines?

Because environmental constraints tend to have an immediate, negative effect on business, and pro-business is a right wing value. More imprtantly, we might ask why the issue tends to divide Christians from non-Christians. Perhaps because many Christians (myself included) are knee-jerk right wingers for reasons that have little to do with the environment.

 

[Zach]

From the math I've seen, it's likely we're going through a warming spell. It's far less clear what's causing that. It could be "greenhouse gases," but warm and cold spells have happened before without them.

We need to keep in mind God's promise to Noah: "While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease" (Gen. 8:22). We'll never be able to mess up the seasons so horribly that the earth becomes unfit for us to live in, even if we try.

At the same time, we need to keep in mind God's commandments in Genesis to tend the garden and have dominion over the earth. We must pay attention, as caretakers, to how our activities affect the earth and its climate. We clearly can have some effect, and must take pains to make that a good effect.

Why is this issue political also? Isn't it just science? Why do opinions split along party lines?

Because environmental constraints tend to have an immediate, negative effect on business, and pro-business is a right wing value. More imprtantly, we might ask why the issue tends to divide Christians from non-Christians. Perhaps because many Christians (myself included) are knee-jerk right wingers for reasons that have little to do with the environment.

Great post, brother. Christians should always be the truest environmentalists. It's a shame we've often slacked and let the crazies pose as "environmentalists".

 

[Jack K]

Side note...

They do a lot of research on global warming here in Colorado, where there's fear it could destroy the ski industry. Just in... from the University of Colorado... is a study suggesting volcano activity may be the largest factor.

 

[Unoriginalname]

I think it is safe to say that climate is shifting (not everywhere is getting warmer) and see levels are rising. Someone else mention it but this is not unheard of in history (Little Ice Age in the Middle ages, Warm during the European Renaissance). What is actually causing this is debatable. That said requiring businesses to practice in a more ecologically friendly manner has benefits past the environment since industry can affect ground water and air pollution. I do agree that this whole topic has reached a near cultic enthusiasm.

 

[arapahoepark]

I think it is safe to say that climate is shifting (not everywhere is getting warmer) and see levels are rising. Someone else mention it but this is not unheard of in history (Little Ice Age in the Middle ages, Warm during the European Renaissance). What is actually causing this is debatable. That said requiring businesses to practice in a more ecologically friendly manner has benefits past the environment since industry can affect ground water and air pollution. I do agree that this whole topic has reached a near cultic enthusiasm.

Michael Crichton before he passed repeatedly said environmentalism has the hallmarks of a religion, something for which some people didn't like him for, but could never refute him.