We should try to cut our emissions of pollutants and prevent deforestation whether or not they are causing climate change. These things are good in and of themselves.
The second part of the question doesn't have to depend on the first - one could believe climate change was caused by non-human agents but still think that humans could do something about it. I agree that there are many good reasons for stopping cutting down old forests, reducing reliance on fossil fuels etc. besides combating global warming - but I was interested in whether people currently thought we actually could or should try to do something about climate change.
A growing area in conservation is the idea of biodiversity; after all, mono-cultures tend to be bad in nature.
Is this somewhat related to the work the place I do computing stuff for does - UNEP-WCMC (http://www.unep-wcmc.org/), the lovely gaggle of letters which stands for "United Nations Environment Programme, World Conservation Monitoring Centre".
The Iron Hypothesis (http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/ESD-Gobi-plankton-Bishop.html) is intriguing, and it's nice to see people are looking into alternatives to reducing emissions (not because I think reducing emissions is a bad idea, but because I think we might not be able to do it).
Geologically, Earth is actually moving towards an Ice Age so it should cool down rather than heat up, so clearly there's something wrong with the cycle and mankind is very likely to be the cause of it.
I'm no expert myself but it's been mentioned in the global warming discussion in the last decade or so. I heard it on TV so it must be true. ;o) Obviously, I won't argue with someone with the technical knowledge.
A thousand years mean nothing on that scale, of course.
That is basically true but we're not necessarily at the hottest ponit in the cycle yet: there have been hotter times in the planets history. Sadly the planet doesn't always go from the same value of 'coldest' to the same value of 'hottest' and so it's a little vague. None the less, we are coming out of an ice age, and at some point the planet will turn around and start getting colder again, heading towards another ice age. Why that happens is still unknown. Also, climate change is not happening any faster now that it has at points in the past before human interaction. (my credentials are: taught high school level Environmnetal Science, and daughter of a leading climatologist)
*nods* I know about the variations and also the rather large timescale in which these things can happen. Earth and especially things like climate and weather are still things science is pretty clueless about due to its fickle nature.
I seem to remember the explanation for the ice age/warmer age periods was a shift in the angle of declination of the Earth's axis (hence it moving closer or further away from the sun) but the explanation as to why that shift happens is still unknown.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2004-08-19 02:02 am (UTC)We should try to cut our emissions of pollutants and prevent deforestation whether or not they are causing climate change. These things are good in and of themselves.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-19 02:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-19 02:27 am (UTC)Is this somewhat related to the work the place I do computing stuff for does - UNEP-WCMC (http://www.unep-wcmc.org/), the lovely gaggle of letters which stands for "United Nations Environment Programme, World Conservation Monitoring Centre".
no subject
Date: 2004-08-19 04:35 am (UTC)/science-fiction-fan
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Date: 2004-08-19 04:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-19 05:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-19 09:38 am (UTC)Thats odd. Someone I know asserts we're still coming out of the last ice age so we should expect some warming. (His source was 1A Geology I think.)
I should stress I claim no knowledge on the topic myself!
no subject
Date: 2004-08-19 09:43 am (UTC)I'm no expert myself but it's been mentioned in the global warming discussion in the last decade or so. I heard it on TV so it must be true. ;o)
Obviously, I won't argue with someone with the technical knowledge.
A thousand years mean nothing on that scale, of course.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-19 11:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-19 12:19 pm (UTC)I know about the variations and also the rather large timescale in which these things can happen.
Earth and especially things like climate and weather are still things science is pretty clueless about due to its fickle nature.
I seem to remember the explanation for the ice age/warmer age periods was a shift in the angle of declination of the Earth's axis (hence it moving closer or further away from the sun) but the explanation as to why that shift happens is still unknown.