• Question: do you think climate change is happening naturaly or caused by manmade activites ?

    Asked by courtneymullane to Ben, Dave, Ed, Sam, Susana on 19 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Benjamin Hall

      Benjamin Hall answered on 19 Jun 2013:

      I think we may be in a natural warming cycle but to say humans aren’t contributing to it is stupidity.

    • Photo: David Briggs

      David Briggs answered on 19 Jun 2013:

      Man made. There is very little doubt in my mind or in the minds of scientists in general.

      IF anyone tells you that it is all natural, I would be suspicious. All the evidence points to it being in some way down to our actions.

    • Photo: Sam Horrell

      Sam Horrell answered on 20 Jun 2013:

      Although there is evidence we do go through warm and cold cycles the contribution of pollutants since the industrial revolution is quite easy to see. The rise in Co2 in the amosphere corresponds pretty convincingly with the increase in temeperature and the melting of the ice caps.

    • Photo: Susana Teixeira

      Susana Teixeira answered on 20 Jun 2013:

      Thank you for your question, I am very happy you asked!

      It is clear that man made activities have a strong impact on our planet, and it would be foolish to ignore our responsibilities. Only good things can come from using our resources more wisely and trying to correct past mistakes. So in a way it is not so bad that we feel like global warming is all our fault. UNLESS this throws us into bad decisions regarding what fuel sources we go for, what products we buy, who makes the most money with it, and where we invest money for Science for example…

      My feeling is that debates on this issue have been strongly biased and there have been serious jumping into conclusions based on data that has margin for error and has not been available for long enough. There are other possible explanations and I feel I have not heard enough about them. If you read M. Crichton’s book (State of Fear) you may find that you get even more confused, but I do recommend it because I think skepticism is healthy.

      Still, till we make up pour minds or have a clearer picture, we have to assume the worst. But with our eyes open…

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