Global Warming - Facts or Scare Tactics

The shifting nature of the challenges to the survival of humankind is especially upsetting when we refer to the effect of global warming. The legacy of "the castle" that has been passed down through the continuum of time, gives an insight into the devastation that inundated Britain in the Saxon/Norman era. Their gift serves as a reminder that we are borrowing the Earth from the next generation.

Well, I am not so sure that the so-called baby boomer generation has learnt these lessons from the old Saxons and Normans. Anyone serious enough about passing the earth on to the next generation will be prepared to make some minor sacrifices to ensure that we receive it in a condition that makes it possible for us to take the baton and run with it for our children.

All scientists agree that the Earth's climate has gone through many cyclical changes during our planet's history. These include the ice ages and extended periods of warmth. It is a historic fact that natural phenomena such as volcanic eruptions, variation in the Earth's trajectory around the sun, and the impact of stellar bodies on the planet have affected the Earth's climate.

A significant increase in greenhouse gases could cause serious climatic problems resulting in uncontrolled global warming. With the advent of the Industrial Revolution during the late 18th century, human activities have changed the composition of the atmosphere and may have been influencing the Earth's climate.

One of the primary impacts of uncontrolled global warming is significant global climate changes. Global climate changes resulting from global warming are expected to have pervasive and, in many cases, profound impacts on human populations, natural resources, and economic sectors.

As with most emotional topics, there are significantly opposed views on the subject of global warming. According to Al Gore in "An Inconvenient Truth", the consequences are almost a predetermined catastrophic conclusion and we should expect the worst. On the other end of the spectrum Vaclav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic recently published book, "Blue Planet in Green Shackles" in which a strong case is made for the view that the assumed risk that human civilization have on a fragile Earth is unfounded and has probably become a new belief system based on global warming activism.

There is enough objective evidence available to convince me that the planet is really in peril. To paint a total gloom and doom picture however may result in some to give up hope altogether and to "just live for today". Others may reject the total existence of the thread because of such exaggerations. On the other hand, to ignore and reject the existence of a thread altogether, will be completely counter productive. I am convinced that we have a serious thread on our hands and that everybody should take hands in an attempt to turn the impact of global warming around or at least reduce further negative consequences.

© 2009 Carl Marx