Northrop HS & Al's Oscar Winning Movie

[Garr]

On a personal level, I tend to believe in global warming. Just thought I should get that out of the way first.

On the issue at hand - the teacher needs to provide his students with both sides of the debate. More importantly (as far as classroom ethics go) he needs to provide an extra credit opportunity for the students who disagree with the films views. It'd be great if those students were able to present their own (researched) views to the class.

Frankly, the showing of the film is lazy teaching. The film does present the topic and make its point in a concise and (marginally) entertaining manner. However, the students probably zoned out through most of it (I always did during movies). It would have been far more productive to have the class split into two teams and debate the issue in class. It's a simple project, and one that allows for far greater retention of the knowledge.

I have to say that I think the concept of global warming is a valid one. But really, it's not a philosophy or a religion. It's science. It's not as simple as "I believe in it." This is the kind of thing that requires some proof. It reminds me of the Y2K bullsh*t. Humans have inhabited this planet for a couple hundred thousand years. The planet has been here for an estimated 4.5 BILLION years. . .and we've only been heavily industrious for what, 60 years? sh*t.

Who is to say that this is not a regular trend in the happenings of the world? I can't even agree that there is a trend. Have we been setting high temperature records? After this winter, I doubt it. Show me some evidence, and maybe I'll believe it's our fault. Otherwise, this could be a natural and regular alteration of the climate and atmosphere brought on by nothing other than chance.

On the other hand, I totally concur with your other statements. . .as they nearly mirror my own.

[traumaqueen]

i didn't read past the first 3 responses.
so i will make this easy.
the fair way to go is for this teacher to give three choices:
side with gore/his film and sign the petition, give your 3 top supporting ideas.
side away from gore, don't sign petition, give your 3 top supporting ideas.
take another stance. give your 3 top supporting ideas.
all are worth extra credit for making the effort.
how is this a debate?

[Garr]

I agree with that.

Anything that has more than one perspective can be debated. In fact, we could debate whether or not it could be a debate. Get it?

[bassjones]

The only thing that can be shown is that life forms on the planet cannot survive in the new paradigm that humans have created with industry.

You really can't even prove that.

You're kidding, right? Core samples, run-off basins, toxicity levels found in animals due to waste being stored underground or pumped into rivers. There is hardcore, empirical, scientific data that prove human interference has caused the animal and plant populations to dwindle or straight out disappear. The destruction of wetlands and rain forests have caused the endangerment and extinction of countless species that would have gone uninjured if not for the destruction of their own habitat or the ecology that supports their food supply.

That's a pretty bold statement you make up there.

Maybe global warming can't be linked to humanity, but the destruction of inhabitable ecosystems is like our biggest merit badge yet. . .

Some can't survive, some are thriving. Prior to industrialization, some species of plants and animals died off... naturally. That's life. It happens. Besides, we're putting far less toxins into the air and water than we were even 20 years ago. Nature has a funny way of cleaning itself up - ocean tides do wonders, volcanic eruptions do wonders, etc...

[=^-..-^=]

STOP GLOBAL WARMING – DRIVE MORE DIESELS!

[Garr]

You really can't even prove that.

You're kidding, right? Core samples, run-off basins, toxicity levels found in animals due to waste being stored underground or pumped into rivers. There is hardcore, empirical, scientific data that prove human interference has caused the animal and plant populations to dwindle or straight out disappear. The destruction of wetlands and rain forests have caused the endangerment and extinction of countless species that would have gone uninjured if not for the destruction of their own habitat or the ecology that supports their food supply.

That's a pretty bold statement you make up there.

Maybe global warming can't be linked to humanity, but the destruction of inhabitable ecosystems is like our biggest merit badge yet. . .

Some can't survive, some are thriving. Prior to industrialization, some species of plants and animals died off... naturally. That's life. It happens. Besides, we're putting far less toxins into the air and water than we were even 20 years ago. Nature has a funny way of cleaning itself up - ocean tides do wonders, volcanic eruptions do wonders, etc...

My point exactly. Thanks for making it better than I could.

[Grindspine]

And I was hoping that you meant Al Q was getting something for a movie!
------------------------
I'm not worrying about global warming 'til I have to turn my air conditioner on.

People should recycle aluminum because it is more cost effective than mining and refining the raw ore. Glass, on the other hand, should not be recycled since it costs more (and pollutes more, by using more fossil fuel) to drive trucks around collecting glass for recycling than it does to make glass from raw sand.

Batteries, light bulbs, computer components and toxic chemicals should be disposed of properly so that they do not leak into ground water.

There are things we can do to keep our environment around us cleaner.

But I still think "global warming" is not as big of a deal as some chicken littles make of it. In the geologic and archaeologic history of this world, there is evidence that climate changes occur. Those include rise and fall of temperatures, changes in CO2 levels and even increases in ocean salinity.

I believe that people should clean up after themselves (that goes for whether they're in my apartment, out in public or in an unpopulated part of nature). And, we should be careful with fossil fuels since we are using them more quickly than they replenish. But, at this point, CO2 emissions will eventually be absorbed by the plant life on land and the algae in the oceans.

It is in my educated opinion that polution-caused global warming is greatly exaggerated.

[bassjones]

How about that. Grindspine, Garr and I all in agreement on a topic...

And I agree we should do everything we can to pollute less, but this really is all about political posturing and an attempt at global socialism.

Also, one more interesting thing I found yesterday. Climatologists have discovered that it appears that warming causes increased CO2 levels, not the other way around...

[WBOB]

How about that. Grindspine, Garr and I all in agreement on a topic...

And I agree we should do everything we can to pollute less, but this really is all about political posturing and an attempt at global socialism.

Also, one more interesting thing I found yesterday. Climatologists have discovered that it appears that warming causes increased CO2 levels, not the other way around...

add me to the agreement list,... thank you Grindspine,... TOTAL COMMON SENSE!

a sidenote,.. I've heard they've recently discovered that the surface temps
of Mars very recently are also on the rise. It's been suggested that possibly solar activity is causing this. HMMM... I wonder......

[bassjones]

we're probably to blame for that too....

[=^-..-^=]

we're probably to blame for that too....

Well, NASA did send a little car to drive around there and take pictures. . . .

[Grindspine]

How about that. Grindspine, Garr and I all in agreement on a topic...

And I agree we should do everything we can to pollute less, but this really is all about political posturing and an attempt at global socialism.

Also, one more interesting thing I found yesterday. Climatologists have discovered that it appears that warming causes increased CO2 levels, not the other way around...

I'm glad we're seeing from a similar angle for once.

WBOB got a source for the Mars temp increase thing? And Jones, got a source for the CO2 warming relation? I can definitely understand greenhouse theory that increased CO2 can retain more infrared radiation in the atmosphere. I can't quite wrap my head around the relationship being causal in the other direction though.

[Garr]

we're probably to blame for that too....

Since we don't turn the sun off at night, it's all our fault!

[WBOB]

I'm glad we're seeing from a similar angle for once.

WBOB got a source for the Mars temp increase thing? And Jones, got a source for the CO2 warming relation? I can definitely understand greenhouse theory that increased CO2 can retain more infrared radiation in the atmosphere. I can't quite wrap my head around the relationship being causal in the other direction though.

This is the theory I was refering to....

A study by Swiss and German scientists suggests that increasing radiation from the sun is responsible for recent global climate changes.

Dr Sami Solanki, the director of the renowned Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Gottingen, Germany, who led the research, said: "The Sun has been at its strongest over the past 60 years and may now be affecting global temperatures.

Here's just one of many studies that come up with the same theory.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... wstop.html

To this lowly average joe, this seems to make logical sense!

[bassjones]

trying to find it. one of the institutes think tank places... can't remember off hand and I just refreshed my browser. I'll find it...