yes, it is our fault
A couple weeks ago I was speaking to a friend of mine, and the topic of global warming came up. I was astonished to hear that while all evidence points to rapidly increasing global temperatures and sea levels, she believed that this was likely due to natural processes, not humanity. It was rather frightening to hear, because this friend is in Environmental Engineering and plans on becoming a lawyer - in all likelihood, she will be one of the people creating legislation to control greenhouse emissions 20 years down the road.
I decided that perhaps I was misinformed, and resolved to do some research as soon as I had a chance. Well, before I even had the chance, research landed on my lap care of Slashdot: According to a European study of a 3km-long antarctic ice core sample that dates back 650,000 years, "carbon dioxide levels today are 27% higher than they have been in the last 650,000 years and levels of methane, an even more powerful greenhouse gas, are 130% higher".
Another recent study from Rutgers University in New Jersey has found that sea levels have been rising steadily at about 1mm/year since the last ice age. Except for the past 150 years, when humans started burning fossil fuels - since then, the rate has doubled to 2mm/year.
This article provides a decent summary of both studies. They all say basically the same thing: It's real, not fake; it's getting worse, not better; it's our fault, not natural.
I'm not a fan of doomsday scenarios, and there sure are a lot of tree-hugging wackos out there presenting a lot of bad science. But it bugs me when certain people consider peer-reviewed scientific papers extremist, and filter news to keep the public uninformed. The message: Wake Up.
I decided that perhaps I was misinformed, and resolved to do some research as soon as I had a chance. Well, before I even had the chance, research landed on my lap care of Slashdot: According to a European study of a 3km-long antarctic ice core sample that dates back 650,000 years, "carbon dioxide levels today are 27% higher than they have been in the last 650,000 years and levels of methane, an even more powerful greenhouse gas, are 130% higher".
Another recent study from Rutgers University in New Jersey has found that sea levels have been rising steadily at about 1mm/year since the last ice age. Except for the past 150 years, when humans started burning fossil fuels - since then, the rate has doubled to 2mm/year.
This article provides a decent summary of both studies. They all say basically the same thing: It's real, not fake; it's getting worse, not better; it's our fault, not natural.
I'm not a fan of doomsday scenarios, and there sure are a lot of tree-hugging wackos out there presenting a lot of bad science. But it bugs me when certain people consider peer-reviewed scientific papers extremist, and filter news to keep the public uninformed. The message: Wake Up.
