• Question: you said in the discussion this morning that you believe in global warming. now i'm very interested in this topic and have done my research and tbh, don't believe at all in it. Climate change, yes. Man-made, no. could you plz give me your side of the argument so i have points from both ends of the argument?

    Asked by dobby to Aime, Akshat, Diana, Gemma, Judith on 15 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Gemma Sharp

      Gemma Sharp answered on 15 Jun 2011:

      It’s really good that you’re interested in this and that you’ve formed an opinion through the research you’ve been doing – that’s a big part of science! I’m particularly glad that you’ve asked for our sides of the argument too because it’s always important to consider things from different angles.

      I think Aimé will know far more about this than me, but I’ll give you my two pence…

      Like you, I agree that climate change IS happening, but unlike you I think human activity is the main culprit. Through doing things like burning fossil fuels and knocking down forests we have increased the amount of heat-trapping gases (like carbon dioxide) in the atmosphere, and that is the main thing that’s causing the world’s climate to change.

      Now I’m not an expert on the subject by any means, but I’ve formed my opinion through reading the reports of panels of expert scientists. If it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for me! I can’t see why they’d have any ulterior motive, but I CAN see why it would benefit big energy companies to deny that climate change is happening.

      Thanks for asking the question and getting us thinking 😉

    • Photo: Judith McCann

      Judith McCann answered on 15 Jun 2011:

      Gemmas right, the discussion is one of the best ways to find out arguements of both dies-so great question asking!

      I think Aime will be able to answer this fat better than me but… I’m going to answer anyway :p Geologists have found that the amount of carbon dioxide int he atmosphere of the earth generally goes through ups and downs over a really long period of time so i can see why you’d think that its normal. But the speed that CO2 has increased in our atmosphere in the past 150years is far higher than the earth has had before, suggesting it is people that have given it a boost (the industrial revolution, lots of coal burning)

      NASA has a great website where you can see how the temperature of the earth has changed as well as how NASA find out how weather patterns change, pretty cool

      http://climate.nasa.gov/warmingworld/

    • Photo: Akshat Rathi

      Akshat Rathi answered on 15 Jun 2011:

      Nice answers Gemma and Judith. That NASA link is quite useful.

      Just like other scientists in the forum I believe that climate change is being caused by human beings. There are many things that make us skeptical about this fact but we must remain open minded about the possibility if we were to arrive to the right conclusion.

      This website has great answers to all the arguments against the notion that climate change is not man-made. http://www.skepticalscience.com/argument.php

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