Human and killing earth

I have no idea if there has ever been a thread like this, but I couldn't find one active so hear you go.

Are we as a society killing our own planet? Global warming and all that, are we the cause of it? The chief cause? Does being "green" actually do a damn thing besides making people feel better? Is Al Gore actually Jesus? Ok, that last one was a small and not very funny joke, but the rest are real...seriously.

The earth does go through a natural process of heating and cooling, however I think that our actions are speeding the heating process along at such a rate that our environments cannot adapt to the change as well as they could. going green isn't the be all end all solution to the global warming problem, but it's better to have more reliable renewable energy sources. That way we aren't just sucking the planet dry until we can't sustain our societies any longer.

We arn't doing as much damage as we are led to bilieve. As for global warming I like to think that Earth is just going through a natural warming period. I also believe that we are going through a magnectic pole reversal which weakens the Earths's magnetic field letting more solar radiation through warming up the Earth; this is all just speculation, I am not a sicentist.

Regardless of the cause of global warming, money is being put to good use in making environmental-friendly technology that will inevitably help us a lot one way or the other, be it cheaper transportation, less global warming, etc.

are humans killing the planet?

no, far from it. The planet has survived for a very long time and there is no way humans could do anything much to it. Even every nuclear bomb on the planet would barely scratch the surface.

now, are humans a primary cause of global warming?

almost certainly. Ever since the Industrial Revolution, when civilization started to burn coal like never before, global warming rates have increased significantly. Humans are releasing carbon into the atmosphere that hasn't been actively participating in the carbon cycle for millions of years. Those fossil fuels have been stored away in the planet since the age of the dinosaurs, when the planet was warmer and there were no humans. Now it's all being released into the air at once, which is going to cause some problems like it or not. Will it hurt the planet? No, not really. But it will hurt, and in fact already is hurting, the things living on the planet.

I mean, the planet has been through an Ice Age before and survived just fine, but I'm not sure how you all feel about trying to live through one.

Originally Posted by Hombre de Mundo

Regardless of the cause of global warming, money is being put to good use in making environmental-friendly technology that will inevitably help us a lot one way or the other, be it cheaper transportation, less global warming, etc.

This is true. Though I still much prefer old fossil driven cars over electric ones, thus far anyways.

The reason we are causing additional global warming, is because we are taking carbon that has been stored by natural processes, and reintroducing it into the current system. The problem is, the Earth was going along at it's own pace, and doing well without all of that carbon, so it is an unnatural load on the biosphere. There are other causes of rapid and extreme CO2 emission, such as volcano or massive gas pockets, located on ocean and lake beds. But to my knowledge, they haven't had too much of an impact, and Volcanoes probably offset their own emission by cooling the Earth XD.

I think the going green mentality is silly, but I think infinite renewable energy, is definitely not silly.

Originally Posted by Flames of Valor

I think the going green mentality is silly, but I think infinite renewable energy, is definitely not silly.

But with no infinitely renewable energy source that can be implemented worldwide with any speed, surely living economically is the thing to do to reduce resource consumption until we can find alternatives.

Now, though I don't particularly fear draining our planet dry to the point where our way of life in unsustainable, and see it possible (though it's a pretty complacent stance to take) that the effects of global warming are exaggerated, there are other negative effects that continuing our lifestyle can have. Air pollution and water pollution can cause serious health problems, for example, to humans and to other ecosystems, so I think that the economical living mentality is important.

Originally Posted by Sam

But with no infinitely renewable energy source that can be implemented worldwide with any speed, surely living economically is the thing to do to reduce resource consumption until we can find alternatives.

Now, though I don't particularly fear draining our planet dry to the point where our way of life in unsustainable, and see it possible (though it's a pretty complacent stance to take) that the effects of global warming are exaggerated, there are other negative effects that continuing our lifestyle can have. Air pollution and water pollution can cause serious health problems, for example, to humans and to other ecosystems, so I think that the economical living mentality is important.

All of those technologies would be such good investments of the future though, people refuse to look ahead, another reason the infrastructure in this country is in decline. We need to invest more instead of making quick fixes.

The planet isn't alive. There are only alive things on it. This isn't Final Fantasy 7 y'know...

Originally Posted by Phazon goron

The planet isn't alive. There are only alive things on it. This isn't Final Fantasy 7 y'know...

It wasn't meant to be literal, more figurative.