Excerpt: Scientist Chris Walcek says earth's history tells us the planet's natural climate variability is the primary cause.
Walcek says, "10,000 years ago we were sitting under 2,000 feet of ice right here. It looked like Antarctica right here. And then over a one to two thousand year period, we went into todays climate and the cause of that change is not, well, nobody has a definitive theory about why that happened."
Note: Atmospheric scientist Dr. Chris Walcek is a professor at the University at Albany in NY and a Senior Research Associate at the Atmospheric Sciences Research Center--
Bio here:
Understanding global warming
By: Jim Kambrich
You've seen a lot of news stories on it and perhaps you have seen Al Gore's movie, "An Inconvenient Truth." While scientists agree global warming is real and happening now, they disagree over what's causing it.
"We can say with no doubt that humans have affected the composition of the atmosphere," says Jim Schwab, a senior research associate with SUNY's Atmospheric Sciences Research Center in Albany.The question is, how much have humans affected the atmosphere?
Schwab believes man made pollutants are the major cause of the earth's warming. He says, "there's a natural cycle that we're in as well, but I believe that they are half or more of what we've seen since 1940."
As scientists continue to collect data they will tell you that we still know so little about why earth's climate does what it does. Scientist Chris Walcek says earth's history tells us the planet's natural climate variability is the primary cause.
Walcek says, "10,000 years ago we were sitting under 2,000 feet of ice right here. It looked like Antarctica right here. And then over a one to two thousand year period, we went into todays climate and the cause of that change is not, well, nobody has a definitive theory about why that happened."
Professor John Delano, with the University at Albany's Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, says this whole debate is contrived. Whether man-made or not, global warming is here.
"Is it 75%, 65%, or is it 85% due to human activity? That's the difference," according to Delano.
Where these scientists agree is that we have to find an alternative to fossil fuels because our use of them has accelerated the warming process. It's greatest at the polar regions. Arctic ice has already been reduced by 50% since 1979 when NASA began studying it.
With less ice to reflect the sun's energy, the ocean absorbs more of it changing currents and climate.
In addition, Reuters reports that scientists in Siberia have found the permafrost, permanently frozen subsoil, is melting, releasing more deadly greenhouse gas.
Professor Delano says, "if that thaws, methane gas is released. Methane has 28 times greater greenhouse potential warming per molecule than carbon dioxide."
Whatever we do to modify our lifestyles to try to stop the climate change may not do a thing.
All three scientists agree it will take a worldwide shift from fossil fuels to alternative energy to even make a dent in global warming.
Even then, we may only slow the process because of the powerful natural forces at work here.
