Give me the reasons why you are a climate sceptic?

[malificent7]

I'm not by the way...but neither am i overly anxious about it.
Some of my friends are and are also very against Greta Thunberg etc. So is it possiblook e to be worried about climate change but anti Greta and/ or do you think climate change is baloney?

Given the recent bush fires in Australia i think we should all be aware that we are all at the mercy of our climate, even if we don't think change is man made.

To all the geniuses on here, can I ask you one question?

What is it that humans are doing that is causing this climate change?

We can't melt snow. We can't stop storms. What makes you think that we can heat up the planet?

If we're all powerful, surely we have the ability to freeze the planet? PMSL.

And I'm the idiot.

You only have to look at the way warming has speeded up dramatically in the last few decades to have no doubt that man-made climate change is a reality. It simply cannot be accounted for by glib reference to historical changes which were much slower.

How did the ice melt Judy? 5 ice ages we've had. Surely by a dramatic climate change?

I am all for improving our attitude to environment but definitely not fond of Greta Thunberg, who (climate change aside) seems like a rather unstable young lady to me.

What makes you think that we can heat up the planet?

When fossil fuels are burned, they release carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, which in turn trap heat in the atmosphere.

This is basically Science 101. Are you seriously saying you don't understand this? If you don't, then you can helped.

People have lots of reasons:-

1. Billions believe in God and think time on the planet is a tiny bit of billions of future years they have. Some even believe we are in End Times anyway and the end of the world is nigh.

1. We have always known in historical terms humans are only on the planet for a blink of an eye anyway so why does it matter if we go a bit sooner?

1. Who is to say a human has more of a right to live on the planet than a dog or a virus or a rock anyway? If humans are bad for planet earth the sooner we die out the better- you could argue coronavirus is a win for enviornmentalists. If 5 in 6 people died on this planet for whatever reason the planet would do a lot better.

1. There are in some areas concerns about the science of it all but I do not share that view entirely.

Have you heard of the Dunning-Kruger effect, Skierrdery?

I'm getting a bit tired of the planet is being destroyed by cows farting narrative

How did the ice melt Judy? 5 ice ages we've had

Much, much more slowly than has ever previously been the case, in this century alone. Things that, in past centuries, have happened in geologic time - i.e. over hundreds of years - are now happening in decades. The loss of ice is accelerating and is historically unprecedented. Taking one glacier alone, Jakobshavn in Greenland: this is now moving downhill (due to melting) at a rate of 46 metres a day, against 23 metres in 2003 and 12 in 1997. Overall, glaciers are melting at a rate two to three times faster than the corresponding average in the last century.

Over the last decade alone, record high average annual surface temperatures have been recorded, and there are numerous other signs of change demonstrating the problem, e.g. in ice distribution, and the salinity, levels and temperatures of the oceans. Satellite technology enables us to see that there has been accelerating ice change in places like Greenland, Alaska and Antarctica, with accompanying rise in global sea levels - between four and eight inches in the last 100 years. Although sea levels have changed previously, the recent rate of change is well about the average for the last 2-3000 years; currently it's around a tenth of an inch a year.

And I'm the idiot.

Errm, you said it, we didn't.

what is the point of not going to school other than to have a protest?

None at all, but no doubt turning up to one of Greta's "events", shrieking and crying as if she's a pop star is a lot more fun than double maths. Lots of opportunity for competitive hysteria too, which appeals to some

As for feeling they have to do this because teenagers "don't have the vote" ... there's actually a very good reason for that

www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/abuse-threats-made-greta-thunberg-3897936

Seriously. WHY does she upset grown adults THIS much?

I am a mathematician and so understand that it is impossible to conclude with any certainty what role do co2 emissions play in the global warming, ie to what extent is it manmade and to what extent it is just a natural variation.
The fact that the claims that it is manmade are thrown as if they were indisputable facts makes it clear that it is an attempt for manipulation of a public opinion and there is a lot of money to be made by selling people associated products, from solar batteries to electric cars to vegan food to tinfoil hats of course while still also selling them diesel and meat produce. Basically it is a commercial endeavor to create new market for range of goods.
Greta is just a mascot. I don’t know who can take her as an actual side to the debate.

The vast majority of climate scientists and scientific organisations believe that climate change is happening and human activity is contributing to it (source: climate.nasa.gov/scientific-consensus/)

These are scientists, not business types or activists making money or getting famous off this stance. Very dedicated people with years of training and research specifically on climate.

So are they all lying? On drugs? Is this some giant conspiracy to -- what? I don't even know. When did scientists and experts become so distrusted?

Why do you, sitting there at home with zero expertise on climate science, think that so many people with so much experience are all wrong?

There is a person on this thread who doesn't even understand how the atmosphere works, yet is convinced they know more than thousands of scientists. I honestly don't get it.

Peopl;e have very strong views on these matters and the facts are the facts. My points above though are valid for many eg I just drove back frmo the shop and passed the Jehovah's Witnesses locally. Then I passed neighbours who believe in reincarnation etc etc. It is not the case that everyone is sitting here tihnking this planet or these times are their only life.

Others have no problems with people dying out.

" 5 ice ages we've had."

We're still in the current one - an Ice Age is defined as when there's an arctic ice cap. This is quite likely to be an interglacial.

Previous ice ages lasted a LOT longer than the paltry 2.5 million years the current one has been going. Maybe our activities will stop/delay the next glaciation, who knows?

The fact that the claims that it is manmade are thrown as if they were indisputable facts makes it clear that it is an attempt for manipulation of a public opinion and there is a lot of money to be made by selling people associated products, from solar batteries to electric cars to vegan food to tinfoil hats wink of course while still also selling them diesel and meat produce

Well put, but you forgot to mention the opportunity for lots of nice new taxes
I've yet to see a government which doesn't welcome the chance to rake in a bit more money, especially if they can do it on the back of a popular cause ...

People can be very concerned about climate change and not necessarily agree with the way that Greta et al are handling it, in the same way that some people voted for Brexit whilst loathing Farage.

How rude.

Regarding the majority of climate scientists supporting the view that humans have majorly contributed to global warming:
To do otherwise would be a professional suicide. I work in academia. People need to publish and get grants. There might be niche for a few pet sceptics who already have a permanent position and don’t care about getting big grants or being outcasts in their profession.

Also the actual truth about global warming is not remotely as appealing. The truth is that with the scientific tools we currently have at our disposal we simply don’t know what part we humans play in climate change. We need to learn more. In the meanwhile we might want to decrease consumption of everything just for the reason that it causes pollution that definitely kills people.

Now who would listen to something like that if there is a lecture nearby about how we can just buy a new electric car to save the planet?

The people who have no problem with the population of the planet being reduced are usually the ones who will have worked out that it won't be their children wiped out or starving if food production is damaged. It will of course be the poorer populations of low-lying countries, the ones who cannot simply up sticks and buy a house elsewhere.