Thursday, March 11, 2010

Who doesn't believe in global warming?

According to the Gallup Social Series Environment poll, 48% of the people polled don't believe in global warming. Gallup believes that less people believe in global warming because "a reflection of the record-breaking snow and cold temperatures of this past winter. Additionally, evidence from last year showed that the issue of global warming was becoming heavily partisan in nature, and it may be that the continuing doubts about global warming put forth by conservatives and others are having an effect". Only a slight majority, 53%, of people believe that global warming is occurring, or will happen in the near future.

It's sad to see that less and less people believe in global warming. The fact is, global warming IS REAL, and we'll start to see the effects get worse and worse as time progresses. The problem is that the changes have been slow yet gradual enough to make a difference, but not a noticeable one. Scientists everywhere have confirmed that the earth's temperature has gradually increased throughout the years, and it's only getting warmer. Unfortunately, with less and less believers, people won't be as interested in fixing this problem as they were once before.
I'd like to know if you guys believe in global warming, or think that this is all make-believe.

8 comments:

Lily said...

Global warming, according to the dictionary, is "an increase in the average temperature of the earth's atmosphere, especially a sustained increase sufficient to cause climatic change." I think that the words itself are a bit mislabeled. It doesn't mean the world will only get extremely hot because there are still seasons into play and many other factors. The point is that global warming causes severe climatic changes. Its sad how people easily throw away their fear because of ONE thing that seemingly contradicts that fear. ;/

Sam Kennedy said...

Americans don't hold much stock in science. 45% of the American population doesn't believe in Evolution.

Sammie said...

I know that some people, my dad for example, are skeptical about global warming because the earth went into its own ice age without any human intervention. Rising temperatures may be part of a cycle the earth goes through, but I know this doesn't account for all the CO2 and pollution that is being released into our atmosphere. Even if people don't believe in global warming, the amount of pollution we release every day will eventually have negative effects and if its not dealt with now, it may be too late later.

Sam Kennedy said...

Guess what? Scientists actually aren't very divided on this subject. Most of them agree. Just because conservative news sources make a big deal out of studies that question its existence does not mean that the preponderance of evidence is not in its favor.

Behold! The chilling effect of media on the American mind too lazy to look up actual facts!

The new Kevin (a.k.a Kevin Kwan) said...

Reason #1 (at least for me) not to get too involved with the green movement:

It makes people who already have large egos acquire even larger egos. Have you noticed that all the glory-hunters at our school who threw their support for environmentalism receive nothing but admiration and praise from everyone (and less than professional admiration from a few overly-affectionate individuals if you know what I mean)? Their future and quality of life are so much better than the rest of us.

What am I saying? It's 4:05 in the morning, and I'm in a bitter mood right now.

Sam Kennedy said...

" Have you noticed that all the glory-hunters at our school who threw their support for environmentalism receive nothing but admiration and praise from everyone (and less than professional admiration from a few overly-affectionate individuals if you know what I mean)? Their future and quality of life are so much better than the rest of us."

Well, they certainly get some praise, but to be frank, I haven't really noticed it. While I'm sure it exists, I don't think it exists in large enough quantities to make their "future and quality of life... so much better than the rest of us." That is, I think, an exaggeration.

And in any case, the effects of their actions are still positive. Being praised for trying to save the planet is not a bad thing. It would be wise, I think, to follow their example. We don't have to like their motivation, but that doesn't reduce the quality of their actions.

The new Kevin (a.k.a Kevin Kwan) said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Victor Sukhovitsky said...

Global warming is real, but many of the arguments supporting it are either inconsequential or irrelevant. For example- polar bears are approaching extinction because the ice is melting and leaving them without food or habitat. there are hundreds of other species of animals going into extinction every year that we give not a shred of notice to, and one major species inhabiting the ice caps is not as important as thousands inhabiting the rain forests. im sorry i dont care how much you love polar bears but thats just a fact - thousands of animal species, the worlds most important forests, cancer medication providing plants =more important than just the polar bears. next off, the carbon dioxide emissions are horrible, but the percentage carbon that is man made - our carbon footprint, and how much it affects global warming itself, has been measured to be a tiny fraction of one percent! and while they call this number "significant" because it is, in that it means we are indeed contributing to the global warming, it is not significant enough to take so much financial action to solve it that it will detract heavily from trying to save the nations economy. i can go on.....