Although I am not convinced that global warming is primarily caused by greenhouse gases it is fun to watch the silly proposals made by many to be on the (perceived) right side of the discussion. I thought this quote from the July Forbes magazine was interesting:

 

I like it a bit warmer anyway.

 

Global warming is the least worrisome problem of that country. The Chinese governmental regime is nothing but human crap. I don't support wars, but sometimes I wish the U.S. would punish those s.o.b.'s in China, Vietnam, N. Korea, Cuba, etc.

 

We're not going to war or anything with them. Why? Cheap labor. You don't want to piss them off, or you'll be paying $5 for the toy in your Happy Meal.

But, they are a threat to the world simply because they industrialized and globalized so fast they don't realize the damage they can do. BUT, the US is still the number one pollutor... we burn about 1/3 the world's resources

 

[QUOTE=Purple_sky,Jul 9 2006, 03:02 PM] Global warming is the least worrisome problem of that country.

 

[QUOTE=ItsBen,Jul 9 2006, 03:31 PM]

 

Well I *AM* convinced CO2 (a greenhouse gas) is the major source of the problem, though it is not the only one. If you take the fact that cars and trucks are on the road in this country around the clock, and then add that with deforestation in Central and South America, and on top of that add the the removal of farm lands here, *AND* the dearth of foliage in new commercial and residential developments in the US, it makes plenty of sense to me.

China's MPG standards are already quite far ahead of our own (to say nothing of Europe's or Japan's), yet we have Ford and GM telling us that if the government raises standards, cheap competition will come in and ruin the US market. They've been making this argument for decades now, and it's more hollow now than ever.

As for your other political views Purple_sky, you "...don't support wars", but you think the US should "...punish anyone it pleases"? Please clarify, because these two statements are quite at odds with each other.

 

Interesting. In the estimated four billion years that earth existed we have an estimate for the climate for the last two billion. In that time there are only five or six times that it has been as cool as the last few million years. In fact the dinosaurs that were dominate for over 500 million years were adapted to much warmer temperatures. So why is it that we humans that have only been around 5 or 6 million years think that the climate we prefer is the 'normal' one for this planet?

We have only had the ability to study the intensity of the sun (above the atmosphere) for the last couple of decades and really don

 

There's an exception to every rule. In general, I don't support wars; moreover, I was exaggerating for fun.

But anyway, I won't go into further argument on this topic. Let me just simplify it by saying that I've seen what such regime was like and it was bad.

Go on and discuss your eco- topic! Developing countries, such as China and India, will produce and expose levels of pollution never seen in history from such countries. That is part of the development.

 

[QUOTE=cdelena,Jul 9 2006, 08:24 PM] Interesting. In the estimated four billion years that earth existed we have an estimate for the climate for the last two billion. In that time there are only five or six times that it has been as cool as the last few million years. In fact the dinosaurs that were dominate for over 500 million years were adapted to much warmer temperatures. So why is it that we humans that have only been around 5 or 6 million years think that the climate we prefer is the 'normal' one for this planet?

We have only had the ability to study the intensity of the sun (above the atmosphere) for the last couple of decades and really don