Global Warming

[Twilight Mistress]

Eh... Just thought I'd post this to see what you guys think about it (I'm majoring in Environmental Studies). Me, I believe that it will take all efforts to cease the exponential rate of Global Warming, and if things continue to follow the same trend I don't believe that the earth will be able to recover. Therefore there will be no future for generations to come unless the problem is acted upon immediately.

[Toxo]

In Finland - where I live - there's been abnormal amount of "black Christmases" one after another. We usually have about -20C and snow from October to April. Last winter we had snow only for a week before it melted again. What I'm trying to say is that something is happening here and I don't like it one bit. It's been happening for awhile. I believe Global warming is happening, yet I've heard lots of people say that the Earth is only heating and getting colder like it usually does. Like during the World War II it was a lot colder here than usually. I can't say anything for sure, but I sure miss the snow...

[Twilight Mistress]

Wow.. That is pretty crazy. We've had some really weird weather patterns here, too. Not to mention that it's snowing in places that it never has before. What gets me the most is that the polar icecaps are melting at an accelerated rate, meaning that the sea levels will rise and engulf all coastal regions and probably even some of the inland areas. The insane thing is that scientists have been debating about this matter for a while now, theorizing that it is "normal" for fluctuations in temperature to occur just as it is for mass extinction to occur. However, I believe that they fail to take into account the fact that earth might not be able to sustain any life if it's pushed too far past its limits and if the specific energy that cycles through the biosphere is disrupted and changed. It's all messed up.. That's why we as individuals have to make a stand before it's too late. We might be able to reverse at least some of the effects that Global Warming is inflicting upon us and other neighbouring organisms. All of us can make a difference if we all stand together. We owe it to our loved ones, the organisms that we share our existence with, and future generations. If any mass extinction were to occur, what makes anyone think that we would be discluded?

[Toxo]

The sad thing is that even if everyone from my country would do as scientists etc. tell us to do (hey, my word stock isn't THAT wide) with the CO2-stuff, it still wouldn't help. It's mostly about huge countries like China and The United States who should do something about it. I'm not sure if there has been lots of progress, but I do know that us (= small countries) are suffering from it nontheless.

[Twilight Mistress]

That's the problem, though. If you think about it, when all of the effects that humans are inflicting upon the environment are put together, the numbers are mind-boggling. In order to make certain changes, however, it must begin at an individual level; it's not going to start anywhere else. Only then will others observe and begin to follow, resulting in an entire shift towards sustainable development (development that is ecologically friendly). You can start by recycling, changing your lightbulbs to those that use less energy, and begin to walk more whenever possible (like instead of driving to the corner store, walk. Instead of using your car everyday to travel, take a bus. Little things do eventually add up. It's like taking a dollar and putting it away everyday for a year without spending it; at the end of the year you will be surprised as to how much you've really saved)

There have also been recent studies that say we would need at LEAST an extra two earths if everyone on the planet were to adopt a developed nation's lifestyle (U.S, Canada, Europe, etc.). This means that we do not hardly have enough resources to sustain everyone at that level (80% of earth's resources are only being used by developed nations!).

[gr33n_sl33ves]

The Earth has always fluctuated in regards to its temperatures. After all, it was nice and toasty when the dinosaurs were around, and then we had that whole Ice Age thing. But the global warming we have right now is coming on too fast, and humans are to blame for that.
We need more wood to make more houses, because there's more people, and so we clear-cut entire forests. But all the machinery necessary to do that expels tremendous amounts of CO2, but we don't have the trees to filter all that, so where does it all go? Into the oceans, and then the oceans turn to acid. And it sure doesn't help when we're filling the oceans with chemicals and other crap!

Consumerism is probably the biggest problem. The western mentality that we have to have MORE! BIGGER! BETTER! than anyone else is the reason the West is using 80% of our natural resources. And like you said, the planet can't support those demands.
Change on an individual level is the only way we're going to be able to do anything, but on the whole, people are stupid and set in their ways. They don't want to change if they don't have to. And even when they do have to, they still don't want to change.
In that regard, it is the responsibilities of those in charge to push through environmental changes, force the people into changing their ways. Because the vast majority isn't going to want to change it's convenient lifestyle just because a bunch of "tree-hugging hippies" tell them to.

[Toxo]

Yeah, I know what you two are talking about.

The good news is that we have pretty good public traffic and I use a buss to get to school which is about 15km away from my home (in a different town) instead of using a car. And the wood cutting thing: most of our country's landscape is of forests, so it is our main line of business. I'm pretty happy that we have so many woods, since the air is much fresher than in some countries.

What really bugs me is that many teens (and adults) throw garbage all around the place without a care in the world when there's a trash bin 10 metres away. I admit that we need more trash bins, especially in the centre, because the bins get full quickly and few feel like carrying garbage in their pockets.

[Twilight Mistress]

Litter is one thing that I truly hate when I look around in a city (not to mention that the buildings are ugly and take away from the beauty of nature). There should be more places where people can divide their waste between what they can recycle and what would be considered garbage.

There will, of course, be people who do not agree with changing their lifestyles, simply because they feel that it doesn't affect them, but it's pretty much like that for everything; there will always be someone out there that doesn't share the same point of view. In that case, the majority of people would have to adopt environmentally friendly lifestyles in order to promote the quality of living (really, we are being affected now; we're running out of water and other essential resources, the air has been highly intoxicated with chemicals, species are being driven to extinction, crops and farmland are being destroyed by climate change, new diseases are arrising, polar icecaps are melting which will raise the sea levels, etc). The way I see it, where there's a will, there's a way. We cannot give up in our fight against Global Warming, that's for sure. Don't forget that scientists, although they strive to predict what will happen in the future, are human beings and thus can only estimate what they think will happen. Therefore the effects of Global Warming could add up faster than what orginally thought.