Climate change, deforestation, mass extinction...

[zippy2]

It hasn't. Climate Change was a term invented by the political right in order to avoid the more ominous sounding Global Warming. Eventually people seemed to accept it as a euphemism for the same thing. The possibility of the Global Cooling is a something proposed by only a small minority of scientists. If the polar ice caps melt too quickly it is possible that cold water suddenly flowing into the Atlantic could stop the jet stream from flowing creating another Younger Dryas Event, but that would likely be temporary and causing a colder climate in Europe and West Asia but not effect global climate as a whole.

"The right" didn't change it. When 'global warming' didn't suit the coldest winters on record the progressives changed it to climate change. That way they'll be right either way.

Anyway, about the water deal. I remember about 40 years ago a guy by the name of Slim Pickins here in Texas bought up the water rights in a line from kansas to the gulf. I thought he was crazy. I don't think so any more.

 

[Jane_the_Bane]

The problem hasn't changed and the scientific consensus is clear: anthropogenic global warming is happening, and it poses a serious threat to us all. At this point, we're already beyond stopping it, and the best-case scenario sees us slowing it down or limiting the global temperature rise to a few degrees. And even that's still going to be Very Bad News.

 

[Zoness]

At any rate our children and their children (well, if you're my age...24) will be living with the consequences because the current generations have decided that its not a problem for them. It's all about instant gratification and civilization will certainly pay for it. I've gone to quite a bit to reduce my impact on the environment personally to practice what I preach however we're at the point where worldwide policy making efforts and enforcement are the only viable control.

The time to stop the damage has passed, now we just have to make it less disastrous.

 

[gord44]

An interesting theory I have been reading about is that it really is impossible to 'downgrade' a system. Everytime a system (like the one we are in) gain a level of bureaucracy etc, it's nearly impossible to back down from it. Governments have plans to save the enviroment etc, but it will be nearly impossible to do it within the current system. Systems can't backtrack. The only way to do it is a collapse of the current system, which inevitably always takes place (ie Roman Empire).

 

[Troy Rambo]

It is true that God wants us to take care of our world:


“God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.’” Genesis 1:28.


But you people are spending a lot of time and energy in worry:


“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).


Furthermore, God has established all authority on earth. So let them worry about it:


“Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.” Romans 13:1.


Now I suppose you can cast your vote reflecting your beliefs when that time comes. But all this concern about the world by watching and feeding on the news is pointless and harmful. You set yourself up for fear, hatred, and anxiety by consuming this kind of garbage. The only thing you need to worry about are making godly decisions in your everyday life. Stop trying to control the world. That’s the Lord’s job.

 

[smaneck]

"The right" didn't change it. When 'global warming' didn't suit the coldest winters on record the progressives changed it to climate change.

Evidence?

 

[smaneck]

Furthermore, God has established all authority on earth. So let them worry about it:

Since we live in a Democracy it is our responsibility to put in place officials who are not only going to worry about it but do something about it. A godly life involves taking care of our planet. Pope Francis has this right.

 

[smaneck]

An interesting theory I have been reading about is that it really is impossible to 'downgrade' a system. Everytime a system (like the one we are in) gain a level of bureaucracy etc, it's nearly impossible to back down from it. Governments have plans to save the enviroment etc, but it will be nearly impossible to do it within the current system. Systems can't backtrack. The only way to do it is a collapse of the current system, which inevitably always takes place (ie Roman Empire).

To be honest I doubt very seriously whether global warming is reversible at this point. However we are going to run out of fossil fuels within a few decades anyhow. We'll see how the 'system' adjusts to that!

 

[ViaCrucis]

To those speaking against the well established fact of global climate change and the steady increase in global temperature (i.e. global warming) I simply have this:

Ignorance of science is not an argument against science.

"It's January and it's cold outside" isn't an argument against the observable trend of global temperature increase caused by human industry.

Consistently and by the unanimous agreement of virtually every single scientist who studies these things over the course of decades when looking at the data and observing trends there has been the undeniable fact that the earth is, as a trend, getting warmer and the cause of this trend had been caused by us.

CO2 traps heat, when CO2 levels in the atmosphere go up, then the overall heat on the planet goes up. That isn't opinion, that is fact. It's what happens. Methane has this same effect and does it way better than CO2.

Then we have something known as albedo. Have you ever noticed that a white car on a hot day is less hot than a black car? Perhaps you've noticed that darker objects absorb more heat than lighter objects? This is because lighter objects reflect light more than darker objects, a white object is white because it is reflecting most of the visible spectrum, a black object is black because it is absorbing most of the visible spectrum. An object looks blue because it is absorbing most of the spectrum except for those wavelengths in the blue spectrum.

So do the polar ice caps and mountain glaciers, because of the high concentration of ice which reflects light back off the planet helps regulate global temperature--by reflecting that light back out into space. On the other end our oceans are dark, and absorb light, that heat absorbed by the oceans likewise regulates global temperatures--especially when it comes to ocean currents which take warm ocean water from the equator and bring it to places which otherwise would be under a glacier such as northern Europe.

When greenhouse gasses increase heat gets trapped within the atmosphere instead of radiating back out into space, this causes temperatures to incrementally increase over time--that is an observed fact. This increase of temperature causes glacier and polar ice to melt and break apart, there is a natural melting/freezing cycle due to yearly cycle--mountains gain more ice in the winter and lose ice in the summer--but what has been observed is that more is melting in the summer and we have less in the winter--that is we are losing glacier and polar ice every year. This means two things:

1) With less ice that means the planet's albedo gets smaller--in other words there is less ice to reflect light away from the earth, less ice reflecting light means more light warming the earth compounding the problem with greenhouse gas.

2) As that ice melts, especially polar ice, it melts into the ocean thus there is less ice and more ocean (even if the overall addition to the ocean is fractionally small) that means more light being absorbed.

But I suppose the other option is to simply cover our eyes and ears and yell really loud and pretend like facts don't matter.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[zippy2]

Evidence?

History is the evidence, dear.

 

[zippy2]

I realize temps are higher. The earth is getting warmer. It is in a cycle. That is what the earth does.

I am just not convinced that mankind is what is causing it. You give us a lot of credit/blame that perhaps we do not deserve.

And what if you ARE right? What are you gonna do? Kill off mankind so you can save the planet? Save it for who?

 

[awitch]

Now I suppose you can cast your vote reflecting your beliefs when that time comes. But all this concern about the world by watching and feeding on the news is pointless and harmful. You set yourself up for fear, hatred, and anxiety by consuming this kind of garbage.

So you want to pretend it all away to save you a little stress? This isn't about the media; it's about the consensus of the scientific community.

If it's god's job to control the world, then he gets my vote of no-confidence.

 

[zippy2]

So you want to pretend it all away to save you a little stress? This isn't about the media; it's about the consensus of the scientific community.

If it's god's job to control the world, then he gets my vote of no-confidence.

He would get a vote of no-confidence from you since you claim to be a pagan and a witch. How is it you come to "Christian Forums" again?

 

[gord44]

He would get a vote of no-confidence from you since you claim to be a pagan and a witch. How is it you come to "Christian Forums" again?

This is the World Religion and Christianity forum. A place for people from a variety of different beliefs to come together and chat.

 

[Arthra]

California has experienced a lot of the effects of Climate Change.. Our water table is low..even the ground in some areas is sinking due to lack of water.. The drought is causing forest fires...some central cities are out of water and need water transported to the people.. Crops are waisting away and it appears the costs of food will rise. A few cities are looking at desalinization on the coast. Solar panels are popping up like poppy flowers.

The town where I live has met the requirement to reduce water consumption by 35 %. I've had our lawn replaced with drought tolerant plants and gravel.. Installed low flush toilets. I received a 2000. dollar water rebate credit... so no water bills for awhile!

At the last meeting of the Interfaith Council in our town there was a booklet produced by the Citizens' Climate Lobby entitled "Faith-based statements on Climate Change" with about twenty statements from various religions including the Baha'i Faith... Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism Eastern Orthodox, Baptist, Brethren, Episcopalian, Buddhism, etc.

So I believe we're attempting to respond to the issues of climate change around where I live.

 

[awitch]

He would get a vote of no-confidence from you since you claim to be a pagan and a witch.

It's not his approval I seek so that doesn't concern me.

How is it you come to "Christian Forums" again?

I was invited after an exodus from beliefnet.

 

[zippy2]

It's not his approval I seek so that doesn't concern me.



I was invited after an exodus from beliefnet.

I am sorry. That was rude of me.

 

[awitch]

I am sorry. That was rude of me.

No offense was taken

 

[Robban]

I don,t get it.
On the one hand science means that the Earth is so and so many millions or billions years old and yet after only, what, 2-3 hundred years since the industrial revolution and we have damaged it beyond repair?

What if Everything is going to plan?

The World is destined to exist for 6,000 years.
And then the redemption will come.
What if it turns out that what the World calls for fairy tales, and insulting the Patriachs by Calling them bronze age Shepards who were so simple ignorant and other degrading descriptions, were right?

 

[awitch]

What if it turns out that what the World calls for fairy tales, and insulting the Patriachs by Calling them bronze age Shepards who were so simple ignorant and other degrading descriptions, were right?

What if it's wrong?