Are automobiles a major cause of global warming?

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  • gagricegagrice Member Posts: 31,450
    I consider the earth like a gigantic Volcano that could at any moment erupt and end life as we know it. Or an undersea plate shift that could kill hundreds of thousands of people with one big tsunami. Or maybe the San Andreas fault will give one thunderous crack and Northern CA with all it arrogant Liberal Politicians would chip off into the ocean. You know the type that wants everyone to sign the Stimulus bill without reading it. So she can take her Valentine trip to Rome. On our 747 spewing more carbon in one flight than I will spew from my SUV over my lifetime. She no more believes in her heart all the GW rhetoric than Rush Limbaugh. She just sees GW $$$ Carbon Credits.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    What do you mean GW types advocating cities?

    I think most of the GW work to be done will of course be directed at industry, and at mega-cities like London, Tokyo, New York, Mexico City, etc. I think people in North Dakota or the Serengeti are pretty much off the hook here--unless of course they're burning their forests down for some reason.

    The politicians in America especially gave up their power and their right to regulate when they gave over the economy to free market theories/game theory and all that craziness. They in their wisdom accomplished two bad things at once------and now we have a situation in the global economy wherein the people cannot be served by either the free market or by democratic action and regulation.

    So GW might be just the wake-up call that the free world needs.
  • bpraxisbpraxis Member Posts: 292
    Happy Valentines Day to all:

    The latest data from Nasa shows a ten year trend of the earth cooling.

    Last year was the largest decrease in temperature in the last 100 years of recorded data.

    As you all know there are thousands of scientists that do not subscribe to the premise that the earth is cooling, man made or not.

    We seem to experience an ice age every ten thousand years and it has been approximately that much time since the last ice age.

    Is it possible to some of you logical thinkers out there that the premise of global warming has a deeper agenda? Such as more control of the fruits of you labor and property?

    We will possess the technology to teraform other planets and to create any type of atmosphere that we want on this planet in the future.

    Is anyone concerned with creeping global collectivism?
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Ah.....I must respectfully suggest that your posted information may not be reliable and has already been widely discredited in the scientific community.

    Here's a quick list of "who's on board" with global warming-- in other words, that it is happening and it is being driven by man-made activity:

    I'm not posting this to beat anyone over the head, only to suggest that the time for world governments to act is NOW.

    We can't ask automakers to carry this burden alone, that's for sure. This belongs to everyone, everywhere:

    I'm gonna bow out of here with this list, which hopefully will at least settle the issue that there is, in fact, no credible refutation of the theory of man-made Global Warming as yet on the boards. Thanks for reading!

    List of Global Warming Endorsers:

    * Academia Brasiliera de Ciências (Bazil)
    * Royal Society of Canada
    * Chinese Academy of Sciences
    * Academié des Sciences (France)
    * Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina (Germany)
    * Indian National Science Academy
    * Accademia dei Lincei (Italy)
    * Science Council of Japan
    * Russian Academy of Sciences
    * Royal Society (United Kingdom)
    * National Academy of Sciences (United States of America)
    * Australian Academy of Sciences
    * Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Sciences and the Arts
    * Caribbean Academy of Sciences
    * Indonesian Academy of Sciences
    * Royal Irish Academy
    * Academy of Sciences Malaysia
    * Academy Council of the Royal Society of New Zealand
    * Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

    * NASA's Goddard Institute of Space Studies (GISS)
    * National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
    * National Academy of Sciences (NAS)
    * State of the Canadian Cryosphere (SOCC)
    * Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
    * Royal Society of the United Kingdom (RS)
    * American Geophysical Union (AGU)
    * American Institute of Physics (AIP)
    * National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)
    * American Meteorological Society (AMS)
    * Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society (CMOS)
  • oldfarmer50oldfarmer50 Member Posts: 24,297
    "...Keep dropping pebbles in the water and you will eventually displace a lot of water..."

    And if the bucket is as big as a swimming pool how many pebbles would it take? Compared to natural processes man is throwing pebbles and nature is throwing boulders.

    I know it's hard to accept, but we aren't that important.

    2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible

  • houdini1houdini1 Member Posts: 8,356
    Is anyone concerned with creeping global collectivism?

    Yes, but I would call it galloping socialism. Hopefully the socialists (democrats/liberals) have bitten off more than they can chew with ramming this latest legislation down our throats.

    My hope is that in the mid term elections we will rise up and smite them down. :)

    2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460

  • oldfarmer50oldfarmer50 Member Posts: 24,297
    "...There won't be winners and losers if the earth goes totally haywire..."

    According to Ted Turner (Mr. Jane Fonda) there will only be scattered bands of cannibals left if that happens. I guess the losers will be the one who get eaten.

    2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible

  • iluvmysephia1iluvmysephia1 Member Posts: 7,709
    According to Ted Turner (Mr. Jane Fonda) there will only be scattered bands of cannibals left if that happens. I guess the losers will be the one who get eaten.

    oldfarmer, I only needed to read the first part of your post, the part regarding Mr.Jane Fonda, to start LOL! The scattered bands of cannibals already exists with the IAM, SPEEA and the UAW's. :sick: :)

    2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick

  • ruking1ruking1 Member Posts: 19,826
    The record stands for itself, but according to all the chicken littles, we are pumping out MORE/record C02 emissions like never before. How many of these august scientific groups are doing R & D on the subject of C02 as fuel or C02 conversion for related subjects aka "other uses? My donut money is on few to NONE !!!
  • ruking1ruking1 Member Posts: 19,826
    Donner Party of .... your table is ready!
  • gagricegagrice Member Posts: 31,450
    We can't ask automakers to carry this burden alone, that's for sure.

    I would hope not. Even the very flawed IPCC report from the political UN only attributes 15% to transportation. The bulk goes to coal produced energy. I am not sure if China is still building one new coal fired generator per week. That was the rate a couple years ago. As was mentioned, what is our responsibility for selling them the coal? Are we not like drug dealers IF coal is a problem?
  • avalon02whavalon02wh Member Posts: 785
    "Did FEMA fix it all up? Or did they just have Congress Mandate NO MORE FLOODING?"

    No, and no.... The point I was making was, people are going to whine and complain until they get money. Almost half a billion dollars has been spent raising roads, building dikes and moving some people in Devils Lake. The money keeps flowing. The old water pipe going to the water treatment plant is under the lake. If it breaks there is really no way to fix it. A new water pipe is or will be finished soon. More money $$$$$$$$$$$$$

    People around the world continue to build on the coast. As sea level rises they will slowly go under water. But if the scientists are right, and that sea level will take decades to rise a few feet, all those people on the coast will try to stay. They will want governments to spend billions in a fool hardy attempt to hold back the sea.

    One last comment on the Devils Lake flooding. A few decades ago, a ND representative started talking about how dry Devils Lake was and that we should start thinking about how to raise the lake level. He got his wish and then some. It would have been rather ironic if ND had spent millions of dollars to pump water into the lake only to spend millions dealing with the flooding a decade or two later.

    That is why I am not very optimistic that the world will be able to handle climate change or sea level rise. :sick:
  • avalon02whavalon02wh Member Posts: 785
    "And if the bucket is as big as a swimming pool how many pebbles would it take? Compared to natural processes man is throwing pebbles and nature is throwing boulders."

    Not when you consider that there are 6,500,000,000 people throwing pebbles.

    Look at the following link. It is pretty clear that man has made an impact.
    http://lcluc.umd.edu/images/Science_Themes/Foley1-large.jpg

    "I know it's hard to accept, but we aren't that important."

    No, humans do make an impact. Take a look at some of the photos from space of the earth.
    http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/image/earth_night.jpg
    http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/wp-content/2007/11/flares.jpg
    http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/earthandsun/brown_cloud.html

    It is very clear we do impact the environment on a local, regional and global level. Does it matter? It would depend on your perspective.
  • gagricegagrice Member Posts: 31,450
    Concerning man's feeble attempt to control nature. A very good book is "The Control of Nature" by John McPhee. He provides a glimpse of just how foolish man is in trying to control rivers like the Mississippi. Or the landslides in CA caused by sporadic rains.

    I am all for putting out less pollution. I was one of the victims of leaded gas pollution in Los Angeles in the 1950s. We moved to San Diego and areas there also had horrible smog. To this day I cannot go into a shop that is heated with a gas Herman Nelson without getting shortness of breath. I just find it laughable that anyone thinks they are going to slow down the growth of mankind, when we have doctors in LA popping out 8 babies at a time for welfare moms.
  • oldfarmer50oldfarmer50 Member Posts: 24,297
    "...I just find it laughable that anyone thinks they are going to slow down the growth of mankind..."

    Oh, my friend, THEY have a plan for that too. One solution is that the next time you get out of breath and go for medical care they will tell you "sorry, you're too old for us to spend money on. Suck it up, go home and croak. We're saving medical care for the young and politically correct."

    Fortunately, it won't effect me since I am planning to live forever (so far, so good). ;)

    2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible

  • dave8697dave8697 Member Posts: 1,498
    read that the Global market for biz jets is going to drop to 1400 units in 2009.
    GM actually makes the planes and used to make the engines until 1996.
    So there are somewhere near 15,000 very rich folk screaming around in jets with 15,000 lbs of thrust. God forbid that a company with 260 billion in sales dare have their CEO use one (GM). And keep adding 1400 more of these into usage each year. Thousands of jobs depend on the biz jet industry. Now make me feel guilty for using a small V8 that gets 19 mpg hwy pulling 6000 lbs along.

    Gasoline is about 10% of all fossil fuel burning.
  • ruking1ruking1 Member Posts: 19,826
    Scientists Use Sunlight to Make Fuel From CO2
    By Chuck Squatriglia 01.04.08

    link title

    Startup Turns CO2 Into Fuel
    By Dave Demerjian October 21, 2008 |

    link title
  • houdini1houdini1 Member Posts: 8,356
    No need to worry about all this stuff now. We will all be RICH soon with the passage of the stimulus bill. Three million new jobs will be created and at the price of the bill that comes out to $275,000. per job !

    Where do I get one of those applications? :D

    2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460

  • ClairesClaires Member Posts: 1,219
    It's known that fewer than 30% of the experts invited to respond in this poll participated. Is there any word on the actual number of climatologists in the total sample (3,146) that did respond?

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  • ruking1ruking1 Member Posts: 19,826
    So where you/they offering grant monies? :blush:
  • avalon02whavalon02wh Member Posts: 785
    http://tigger.uic.edu/~pdoran/012009_Doran_final.pdf

    The above link gets you right to the document.
  • ClairesClaires Member Posts: 1,219
    Ok, so the 97% consensus referred to in the headline is the 75 out of the total of 77 climatologists who participated?

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  • ruking1ruking1 Member Posts: 19,826
    Well seemingly the majority of climatologists can not see much beyond their ability to have a high consensus rate. That reminds me of a Texas concept/saying, lots of TALL hats: almost no cattle.
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    I think it goes:

    All hat, no cattle.

    As in a lot of talk but not much backing it up. It came in common usage around here during the last administration.

    Chris Field is speaking Chicago this weekend - "Despite widespread concern over global warming, humans are adding carbon to the atmosphere even faster than in the 1990s, researchers warned Saturday.

    Carbon emissions have been growing at 3.5 percent per year since 2000, up sharply from the 0.9 percent per year in the 1990s.

    "It is now outside the entire envelope of possibilities" considered in the 2007 report of the International Panel on Climate Change."

    Climate warming gases rising faster than expected (AP)

    The BBC version - Global warming 'underestimated'
  • gagricegagrice Member Posts: 31,450
    All I can say is be prepared to DIE!

    What I find interesting is these so called scientist that are all in consensus that man is the major factor in GW, do not broach the subject of sunspots. Or the most recent studies that show the ocean temps as lower over the last 10 years of study. Once someone has jumped on a bandwagon. And that is all the GW consensus is! It is difficult to admit you were wrong. I think the same goes for posters on forums. They get an idea and will not let it go. I am as guilty as the next guy.
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    I am as guilty as the next guy.

    You? Nahhhh. :shades:

    Scientists tend to get narrowly focused in one aspect of their field. I think that's a reason why Al Gore's slide show was such a hit. He was able to distill a bunch of factoids from various disciplines down to simple bits and combine them into a compelling story.
  • ruking1ruking1 Member Posts: 19,826
    ..."All I can say is be prepared to DIE! "...

    The Ancient Mayan Civilization (now extinct) and Notradumus (been dead for a while) agree... 2012 !!!! Or BUST !!

    There no business like....
    link title

    ..."Even with a turkey that you know will fold
    You may be stranded out in the cold
    Still you wouldn't trade it for a sack o' gold
    Let's go on with the show
    Let's go on with the show!
    The show!
    The show! "...
  • houdini1houdini1 Member Posts: 8,356
    You are wasting a lot of bandwidth with all these "scientific studies" you keep posting.

    I can show you scientific studies that show the earth is flat, that bumblebees can't fly, and that I am my own grandpa.

    Words can be twisted so that the less intelligent among us will believe and fall for anything. Just note the recent election. :)

    2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460

  • iluvmysephia1iluvmysephia1 Member Posts: 7,709
    was that a politically-basher of a statement, or did you mean something totally different? Just kidding. :blush:

    There's pollution abundant, but, CO2 pollution coming from man, yes, and more of it all the time. More users of automobiles hasn't helped.

    But are our glaciers melting unprecedently? Out of control? Running out of ice on the tops of mountains? Coldness seems to still be abundant, even in SE Arizona.

    2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick

  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    I was going to say something about a lot of idiot incumbents getting reelected but decided to let it slide after my All Hat crack. :shades:

    George Will flopped up a good quote today:

    "Nothing is so firmly believed as what we least know." (Apocalypse Now? Highly Unlikely - realclearpolitics.com)
  • houdini1houdini1 Member Posts: 8,356
    "Nothing is so firmly believed as what we least know."

    Good quote and good article. Good to see we have won you over ! :)

    2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460

  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    Won me over to what? So far I think Al's winning the arguments. Even if he's wrong, I like most of the side effects like renewables, conservation, energy-efficient stuff, fewer grass lawns, less factory food and more local stuff, and better mass transit, etc. Lots of that stuff saves me money too.
  • houdini1houdini1 Member Posts: 8,356
    Lots of that stuff saves me money too.

    Saves you money? We all like to save money and resources but you have to be careful. Saving money in the short term can sometimes be very expensive. Like the guy who bent over to pick up a penny and stuck his butt through a plate glass window. ;)

    2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460

  • gagricegagrice Member Posts: 31,450
    renewables, conservation, energy-efficient stuff, fewer grass lawns, less factory food and more local stuff

    I'm with you on all the above. I just cannot get behind all the empty stinking buses I see around here. The bus hits Alpine 4 times a day. I have never seen anyone get on and rarely see more than 3 people on the bus. Last I read the San Diego Transit runs over $150 million deficit each year. Running buses and trolleys in heavily traveled corridors is fine. 1000s of buses running around empty is a HUGE waste of money and fossil fuel. Not to mention buses are the major cause of GW :shades:
  • wvgasguywvgasguy Member Posts: 1,405
    ...in one of the auto magazines this month where they believe the dessert is soaking up as much CO2 as do the forest? Maybe, just maybe in creation the desserts were placed here for mankind for a purpose of which we were never aware.
  • oldfarmer50oldfarmer50 Member Posts: 24,297
    "...Coldness seems to still be abundant, even in SE Arizona..."

    Didn't you hear? That's just weather, it doesn't count. Don't believe your eyes (or your shivering). Climate Change is invisible, kind of like the monster that was in your closet when you were little---you knew it was real even though all the grown-ups told you it wasn't. ;)

    Besides, you shouldn't be worrying about CC. I hear your neck of the woods is the kidnapping capital of the world now. Better lock the doors on the Lancer. :cry:

    2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible

  • alltorquealltorque Member Posts: 535
    ...in one of the auto magazines this month where they believe the dessert is soaking up as much CO2 as do the forest? Maybe, just maybe in creation the desserts were placed here for mankind for a purpose of which we were never aware.

    Does this refer to any particular type of dessert ? Cherry pie, chocolate fudge sundae or..............what ? I thought desserts were placed on Earth to make us feel good at the end of a meal but if they're soaking up CO2 as well, then that's a real bonus. Bring 'em on.

    On the other hand, if you meant deserts......................

    Sorry, just an old Brit who couldn't resist. :)
  • wvgasguywvgasguy Member Posts: 1,405
    Yeah, I looked for spell and clicked it but nothing showed up. I guess that's because it thought I was indeed talking about desserts. I was eating a twinkie when I was writing that so maybe that's a direct link to my brain.

    So you're a Brit? You guys have really messed up the English language. When I was in London I couldn't understand anyone. :)
  • gagricegagrice Member Posts: 31,450
    Sorry, just an old Brit who couldn't resist.

    I wanted to say that. You Brits just have a way with the English language. Have you paid Brown your carbon credits today?
  • ruking1ruking1 Member Posts: 19,826
    "CARBON CREDITS" are just GW code words for NO/NONE R & D and killer applications for all this CARBON and C02. ;)
  • gagricegagrice Member Posts: 31,450
    SANTA FE, N.M. - Former astronaut Harrison Schmitt, who walked on the moon and once served New Mexico in the U.S. Senate, doesn’t believe that humans are causing global warming.

    "I don’t think the human effect is significant compared to the natural effect," said Schmitt, who is among 70 skeptics scheduled to speak next month at the International Conference on Climate Change in New York.

    Schmitt contends that scientists "are being intimidated" if they disagree with the idea that burning fossil fuels has increased carbon dioxide levels, temperatures and sea levels.

    "They’ve seen too many of their colleagues lose grant funding when they haven’t gone along with the so-called political consensus that we’re in a human-caused global warming," Schmitt said.

    Dan Williams, publisher with the Chicago-based Heartland Institute, which is hosting the climate change conference, said he invited Schmitt after reading about his resignation from The Planetary Society, a nonprofit dedicated to space exploration.

    Schmitt resigned after the group blamed global warming on human activity. In his resignation letter, the 74-year-old geologist argued that the "global warming scare is being used as a political tool to increase government control over American lives, incomes and decision making."

    Williams said Heartland is skeptical about the crisis that people are proclaiming in global warming.

    "Not that the planet hasn’t warmed. We know it has or we’d all still be in the Ice Age," he said. "But it has not reached a crisis proportion and, even among us skeptics, there’s disagreement about how much man has been responsible for that warming."

    Schmitt said he’s heartened that the upcoming conference is made up of scientists who haven’t been manipulated by politics.

    Of the global warming debate, he said: "It’s one of the few times you’ve seen a sizable portion of scientists who ought to be objective take a political position and it’s coloring their objectivity."


    More
  • larsblarsb Member Posts: 8,204
    Oh, shoot, Gary, since that guy is an ASTRONAUT maybe we ought to believe HIM !!!

    P.S. Still waiting for the first real scientist to pipe in and say "I lost my grant funding because I do not believe in Global Warming." So far, it's been a rallying cry for the "alternate view" believers but I have not ever seen it proven true, other than hearsay.
  • wvgasguywvgasguy Member Posts: 1,405
    Former astronaut Harrison Schmitt, who walked on the moon and once served New Mexico in the U.S. Senate, doesn’t believe that humans are causing global warming.

    Well I may share that belief, but can you really believe him? After all he's 1) a politician and 2) he claims to have walked on the moon and we all know that was a government hoax
  • ruking1ruking1 Member Posts: 19,826
    So how do we put this in a family and pc context?... They got em by their Gxxxx's/ Bxxx' 's !!! ah... I mean GRANTS !!!! :blush:
  • gagricegagrice Member Posts: 31,450
    He is a scientist. So tell me a scientist that gets up and says Man Made GW is absolutely true. All I ever see are politicians at the podium. I think I would believe an astronaut with a scientific background over a politician with an agenda for selling his movies, books, carbon credits and speeches. Taking into consideration our astronaut did spend time in the liars den as a senator. There are 70 scientists that will be at the conference all questioning the basis for this SO CALLED consensus.
  • houdini1houdini1 Member Posts: 8,356
    P.S. Still waiting for the first real scientist to pipe in and say "I lost my grant funding because I do not believe in Global Warming."

    Uh, loss of their grant is why you haven't heard one recant and you probably never will until some better money grab comes along.

    In the meantime I will continue to do my part against GW by eating more apple pie !!

    2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460

  • larsblarsb Member Posts: 8,204
    Still looking for the first really true story of someone who says "ONLY because I do not believe in MMGW was I denied funding" that is other than just hearsay.
  • gagricegagrice Member Posts: 31,450
    Hard to keep up with all the GW BS... :sick:

    When it comes to global warming, hamburgers are the Hummers of food, scientists say.

    Simply switching from steak to salad could cut as much carbon as leaving the car at home a couple days a week.

    That's because beef is such an incredibly inefficient food to produce and cows release so much harmful methane into the atmosphere, said Nathan Pelletier of Dalhousie University in Canada.

    Pelletier is one of a growing number of scientists studying the environmental costs of food from field to plate.

    By looking at everything from how much grain a cow eats before it is ready for slaughter to the emissions released by manure, they are getting a clearer idea of the true costs of food.

    The livestock sector is estimated to account for 18 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and beef is the biggest culprit.

    "Switching to no red meat and no dairy products is the equivalent of (cutting out) 8,100 miles driven in a car ... that gets 25 miles to the gallon," Weber said in an interview following the symposium.


    http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.e36a67d49c1127a8c17cc38ed4a4c27e.211- &show_article=1

    So if you are a Vegan you can drive a Hummer and not feel guilty. Ain't America grand?
  • larsblarsb Member Posts: 8,204
    Well, as far as I know, we DON'T have the technology to make cows stop polluting.

    We DO have the technology to virtually eliminate vehicle pollution.

    So let's address the issues we can control, eh?
  • larsblarsb Member Posts: 8,204
    The chances of seeing a Vegan driving a Hummer are about equal to seeing a Vegan lining up at Fogo Y Brasa for the red meat feast.
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