Does the greenhouse effect worry you?

[Lost To Apathy]

This is my attempt at making a serious thread.

No, but: I have noticed in the last years of my life, say 5 or so.. that there is almost no snow when there is supposed to be. When I was a kid, I played around in snow almost 1 meter thick sometimes. Nowadays the winters are almost devoid of snow, or if it comes it is irregular and melts away. Granted, in the most northern parts of Sweden this isn't a problem, I have spent a winter up there.

What do you think? Is this a result of the greenhouse effect, or is it just a coincidence? Do you worry about it? I want my snow damnit!

 

[King Chaos]

I do worry about it, and I also remember alot more snow in the past than there has been in the last two or three years. It could be a coincidence though. I got a feeling this winter is one that's not to be forgotten though.

I truly do fear these problems with global pollution are just imminently our demise. Why cant we all live in wigwams again, hunt for food, grow our own crop and stop being all capitalist?

 

[Salamurhaaja]

Granted, in the most northern parts of Sweden this isn't a problem, I have spent a winter up there.

Haven't been to the north this winter then, we've had 0C temps for the
last month and we've only gotten snow like twice, tho second time was
about 20cm, but it's almost all melted now. We've had like maybe 2 days
of -15C temps. Last year we were at -25 to -35 for weeks.

Don't think this is greenhouse effect tho, just a weird anomaly.

 

[emjayhaych]

Yeah it's scary stuff. I'm actually doing an illustration project on climate change at the moment, and I've been reading all sorts of information about it. A lot of it's to do with illegal logging in the rainforest too - cutting down acres of forest releases more CO2 than any newly planted trees can cope with, and obviously we need trees to convert CO2 into oxygen.
An increase in CO2 means the greenhouse effect is strengthened and the world keeps heating up gradually. There'll be more volcanic activity, and an increase in disease too. Then the ice caps start to melt, and we'll end up flooding low-lying continents, and at the same time cause droughts in other areas.
Then, there's a thing (very scientific, don't really understand) called the 'ocean conveyor belt' will be disrupted because of the increase in fresh water due to the melting of the poles. If this thing fucks up, we actually go into another Ice Age! Ummm, then, we're pretty much fucked.

So yeah...

 

[Lost To Apathy]

@Salamurhaaja: I am in the north. But I'm talking about Luleå/Kiruna and around Norrbotten. It's usually really cold up there. It's been the same weather here, like you said.

 

[Hiljainen]

well, i live in northern italy, which is sahara compared to sweden, but when i was a kid i remember we got snow every winter, and it used to last on the ground, when i was very little we had to clean up the way to go out with the car. in the last years it barely snows anymore, it's warmer and when it gets very cold it's sunny.
when i was born (1985) there was about 50cm, an event like that is impossible now.

 

[Dark idea]

Well it is really something to check, because with all the illegal rainforest cutting and the surpopulation of cars and all, its something that will affect us quite soon....apperently in 40 years or so...the planet will have gained 1 degree...northen territorys will be affected by this..and that will directly affect us with big floodings and all

 

[Hiljainen]

i think a big problem is the abuse of heating/cooling systems, they produce a LOT of warmth that goes in the air and are, opposed to cars and factories, unnecessary (the abuse, not the use).

 

[Dafne]

well, i live in northern italy

non sapevo che fossi italiano/a!!! pensavo che venissi dalla scandinavia!
e io che ti ho fatto gli auguri di buon compleanno in inglese!

well, apart from being really surprised that Hil was Italian -i thought he/she was from scandinavia - i dunno really what to say about this problem, IF it's a problem...i mean, scientists mostly say that a greenhouse effect exists,but some others just say that the climate undergoes a periodical change,so...i always try to be positive and think it's the 2nd case!
seriously, i've heard stories from old ppl and they say smth like 70 yrs ago there was here in Sardinia a particular year with a terrible hot weather,for example...so...
btw,here snow is very very rare,if it comes every 5 yrs or so suddenly turns into white mud
and this autumn has been pretty warm!yesterday it was the first day of what we call cold:12 C. i guess you're laughing a lot for our idea of "cold"

 

[Hiljainen]

non sapevo che fossi italiano/a!!! pensavo che venissi dalla scandinavia!
e io che ti ho fatto gli auguri di buon compleanno in inglese!

sono italiana, solo il mio nickname non lo è

 

[Dafne]

anch'io sono una ragazza ma credo che si fosse capito dal nick!

 

[Arch]

Not too much. I think our environment has slightly improved a bit compared to 20 years ago, where there were no environmental concerns. Long time residents of Los Angeles can remember times when downtown L.A. was completely smogged and the air was hazardous to breathe. The air quality is a lot better than before and improving little by little. But I can't say that for the rest of the world. China, for instance, doesn't have strick environmental concerns, but they're improving as well.

 

[Crimson Velvet]

Worrying about it? More like counting on it... Damn snow...

 

[Miolo]

non sapevo che fossi italiano/a!!! pensavo che venissi dalla scandinavia!
e io che ti ho fatto gli auguri di buon compleanno in inglese!

heh, io non sapevo che tu fossi italiana. dovremmo metterci una bandierina nell'avatar.

about the greenhouse effect, i'm not really worried by it. i think the climate changing the world is going through is mostly a natural and normal thing.

 

[emjayhaych]

about the greenhouse effect, i'm not really worried by it. i think the climate changing the world is going through is mostly a natural and normal thing.

Bollocks. Unless you call our interference 'natural'. We've been forcing the climate to change since the beginning of agriculture.

 

[Miolo]

Bollocks. Unless you call our interference 'natural'. We've been forcing the climate to change since the beginning of agriculture.

that's why i said 'mostly'. i agree that we've always had a part in the changing of climate, but you can't really say how big that part is. climate changed naturally many times before the first civilizations were seen.

 

[Taliesin]

Of course the first fires lit by shepards and farmers, thousands of years ago were an unnatural interference with the climate, but to a much smaller extent than burning gas and oil by the millions of gallons per week

Of course I worry about the greenhouse effect, but it's one of those worries I cant do much about, so I push it aside, like I do with everything I cant change

 

[Pessimism]

do you guys know how much carbon we dump into the air?
mt saint helens released ~400 million tons of carbon when it erupted. it would take mt saint helens erupting 12 times a day for a year to equal the amount of carbon we produce with cars alone!
this shit does worry me, especially since i want to visit europe and norway with a friend within the next two years or so.

 

[Dafne]

heh, io non sapevo che tu fossi italiana. dovremmo metterci una bandierina nell'avatar.

anche tu?!dal nick pensavo che fossi francese!

 

[Child of Time]

Yes, the greenhouse effect scares me. I read an debate article the other day where the director general for the Swedish environmental protection agency stated that the climate zones are moving with between 0.5 to 1 meter per hour. (Link here in Swedish.) That makes 5 to 9 kilometers per year. The nature will change so much during our lifetime that I doubt there ever have been anything close to it. These changes in climate should take hundreds of years, but now we will be able to notice them ourselves as we grow older.

The greenhouse effect is what scares me most, more than terrorisms or nuclear war. And exactly like nuclear war and terrorism, this is something that we humans have created, and it's also something we can change again, although it might be too late for that.