Comments on: Do Volcanoes Cause Global Warming? http://blogs.edf.org/climate411/2007/05/21/volcanoes/ Blogging the science and policy of global warming Mon, 16 Nov 2009 07:13:20 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5.2 hourly 1 By: selsbecker http://blogs.edf.org/climate411/2007/05/21/volcanoes/comment-page-1/#comment-2026 selsbecker Wed, 04 Feb 2009 21:11:19 +0000 http://blogs.edf.org/climate411/2007/05/21/volcanoes/#comment-2026 I agree with both Brian and Webster about the fact that we are hurting ourselves and others rather than the planet however global warming is questionable itself. For the past 50 years or so climatologists and scientists have been studying the earth's atmosphere and so and and so forth. But if you can remember about 30 years or so ago the scientiests of that time were warning us of another ice age, that the world was going through a cooling period. We were all going to freeze to death. Well here we are in 2009 and now we are talking about a global warming period. It doesn't matter how much proof that you can gather from how much emmisions are let out each year or even that there is a hole in the ozone, you can't simply say that global warming is happing by how much CO2 is put into the air each year based on a 30 or 50 year scale...the earth has been around for a LONG time and you would have make tests and experiments over centuries and even thousands of years to determine this...which we can't. The earth will flush itself out just like it always has...i'm not saying that we shouldn't take better care of our planet and ourselves as well as others...just that just because it seems like it is happening doesn't mean that it really is. I agree with both Brian and Webster about the fact that we are hurting ourselves and others rather than the planet however global warming is questionable itself. For the past 50 years or so climatologists and scientists have been studying the earth's atmosphere and so and and so forth. But if you can remember about 30 years or so ago the scientiests of that time were warning us of another ice age, that the world was going through a cooling period. We were all going to freeze to death. Well here we are in 2009 and now we are talking about a global warming period. It doesn't matter how much proof that you can gather from how much emmisions are let out each year or even that there is a hole in the ozone, you can't simply say that global warming is happing by how much CO2 is put into the air each year based on a 30 or 50 year scale…the earth has been around for a LONG time and you would have make tests and experiments over centuries and even thousands of years to determine this…which we can't. The earth will flush itself out just like it always has…i'm not saying that we shouldn't take better care of our planet and ourselves as well as others…just that just because it seems like it is happening doesn't mean that it really is.

]]> By: K.C. Weber http://blogs.edf.org/climate411/2007/05/21/volcanoes/comment-page-1/#comment-229 K.C. Weber Wed, 23 May 2007 19:49:50 +0000 http://blogs.edf.org/climate411/2007/05/21/volcanoes/#comment-229 I agree wholeheartedly with Brian. When we pollute, we are the ones who suffer, along with other life around us. The Earth and it's enviornment will eventually rebound and return to normal, as I stated above. But in the meantime it is mankind and other forms of life who will be hurt. We are hurting ourselves and other forms of life much more than we are hurting the Earth it's environment. I agree wholeheartedly with Brian. When we pollute, we are the ones who suffer, along with other life around us. The Earth and it's enviornment will eventually rebound and return to normal, as I stated above. But in the meantime it is mankind and other forms of life who will be hurt. We are hurting ourselves and other forms of life much more than we are hurting the Earth it's environment.

]]> By: Brian http://blogs.edf.org/climate411/2007/05/21/volcanoes/comment-page-1/#comment-228 Brian Tue, 22 May 2007 19:45:56 +0000 http://blogs.edf.org/climate411/2007/05/21/volcanoes/#comment-228 The crisis in global warming and climate change may well turn out to be a human one moreso than a planetary one. There is little doubt that Earth would find equilibrium once again if climate changes were severe enough to wipe out the human species. As K.C. Weber mentions this planet has recovered from catastrophes in the past and will do so again. If we humans manage to eliminate ourselves (or even reduce our numbers), we will eventually cut our emissions to the point where natural processes will begin to reverse our efforts to poison the planet. The problem is the "long periods of time" required to do this are very different in geologic terms versus human ones. We don't have millennia to let nature run its course. We have to act now if we want to have a positive impact on the human condition for future generations. The crisis in global warming and climate change may well turn out to be a human one moreso than a planetary one. There is little doubt that Earth would find equilibrium once again if climate changes were severe enough to wipe out the human species.

As K.C. Weber mentions this planet has recovered from catastrophes in the past and will do so again. If we humans manage to eliminate ourselves (or even reduce our numbers), we will eventually cut our emissions to the point where natural processes will begin to reverse our efforts to poison the planet.

The problem is the "long periods of time" required to do this are very different in geologic terms versus human ones. We don't have millennia to let nature run its course. We have to act now if we want to have a positive impact on the human condition for future generations.

]]> By: K.C. Weber http://blogs.edf.org/climate411/2007/05/21/volcanoes/comment-page-1/#comment-227 K.C. Weber Tue, 22 May 2007 01:37:55 +0000 http://blogs.edf.org/climate411/2007/05/21/volcanoes/#comment-227 Many consider Earth to be a fragile planet, and to take care of it needs to be like walking on eggs. Yet, the formation of all the planets was violent and explosive. During the early times of the solar system, as the planets formed, there were massive collisions between planets, asteroids, and meteors. Arizona’s Meteor Crater is an impact crater on the Earth that is 4,000 feet wide and 600 feet deep made from an asteroid 150 feet across. In the early stages of the Earth’s formation, volcano’s also filled the Earth’s atmosphere with a nearly continuous flow of pollutants of ash and gasses. The Earth was not a very hospitable place for life during the early formation periods, and if we used today’s reasoning, it would be concluded that life should never have formed on the Earth. Yet, even though the Earth has been hit bay many large comets, asteroids, and meteors, only a few impact craters can be seen today, such as Arizona’s Meteor Crater. Most of the others are difficult to find because of natural erosion and the fact that they are now overgrown with plant and animal life again. Also, even though the Earth’s early atmosphere was filled with pollutants that once caused a global warming that we would consider disastrous today today, the Earth’s air and water go through a continuous cleansing process and eventually becomes clean again. Over long periods of time, the effects of pollution always get dispersed and disappear into the ecological system. For those who think that man’s influence on the Earth is so permanent and damaging, you will be surprised to know that if man were somehow killed off and stopped influencing the Earth altogether, all traces of man would eventually be absorbed back into the ecological system and disappear, just as many ancient civilizations have disappeared in the past. Sincerely, K.C. Weber Many consider Earth to be a fragile planet, and to take care of it needs to be like walking on eggs. Yet, the formation of all the planets was violent and explosive. During the early times of the solar system, as the planets formed, there were massive collisions between planets, asteroids, and meteors. Arizona’s Meteor Crater is an impact crater on the Earth that is 4,000 feet wide and 600 feet deep made from an asteroid 150 feet across. In the early stages of the Earth’s formation, volcano’s also filled the Earth’s atmosphere with a nearly continuous flow of pollutants of ash and gasses. The Earth was not a very hospitable place for life during the early formation periods, and if we used today’s reasoning, it would be concluded that life should never have formed on the Earth.

Yet, even though the Earth has been hit bay many large comets, asteroids, and meteors, only a few impact craters can be seen today, such as Arizona’s Meteor Crater. Most of the others are difficult to find because of natural erosion and the fact that they are now overgrown with plant and animal life again. Also, even though the Earth’s early atmosphere was filled with pollutants that once caused a global warming that we would consider disastrous today today, the Earth’s air and water go through a continuous cleansing process and eventually becomes clean again. Over long periods of time, the effects of pollution always get dispersed and disappear into the ecological system.

For those who think that man’s influence on the Earth is so permanent and damaging, you will be surprised to know that if man were somehow killed off and stopped influencing the Earth altogether, all traces of man would eventually be absorbed back into the ecological system and disappear, just as many ancient civilizations have disappeared in the past.

Sincerely,
K.C. Weber

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