environmental issues: how important are they?

Hi, I think people are actively being brainwashed by vested interests with an agenda as far as this "Global Warming" thing is concerned. True, it's really not very smart for humanity to be consuming all the world's forests and generally stuffing up the world's ecosystems and biomass. It's pretty plain to see that trees and forests actually attract rain - just ask any farmer worth his salt who's been observing things for a couple of decades. True, allthis pollution with and the toxic contamination of the environment really doesn't help anyone's quality of life or general lifespan. Ditto for the animals and plants. Again, that's an issue of hurting our living environment. And the urban lifestyles sure don't help any either. But let's get something plainly out in the open - Global Warming is NOT as the "consensus view" would have you believe. It's NOT humanity that is pulling all the strings on that particular phenomenon, and it's the height of pretentious arrogance to presume that we DO have so much influence on life, the universe and everything. It's funny how, the first time they ever bothered to look, the scientists discovered a "hole" in the ozone layer down south, and ever since then they've been squawking about how naughty mankind has caused a hole in the ozone layer! No-one actually stopped to think that maybe it was always there. Not that the ozone layer is directly relevant to the issue of "global warming", but it displays the same idiotic mindset that humanity is the be-all and end-all of everything on Earth. As regards "global warming", it might turn a few little light globes on in people's heads to consider that ALL of the planets that we are able to observe in the Solar System are currently experiencing their OWN versions of "global warming". Mars used to have a Northern Icecap. Now it's not there. Did some of those naughty cow-farts somehow transmute their way across space and into the Martian atmosphere? I think not! And that starts to put the lie to all this "global warming" nonsense. Yes, we should probably cut back on fossil fuel use if we can, and we definitely should stop chopping down what's left of the Earth's forests and even try to re-establish some of them. But none of that is going to make the slightest difference to the overall "global warming" effects that we see. Why? Because the PROBLEM is the Sun. It has actually been getting hotter since records were kept on the subject - for over a hundred years. Don't believe me - then do your own research. Or go ask some Martians what they think about it. And while everyone is running around in circles, pulling their hiar out and wasting time and energy trying to cut down emissions in a vain attempt to STOP this "global warming", apparently no-one is putting any serious effort into considering exactly how we are going to adjust to LIVE with the increasing temperature and it's effects on the world as the Sun continues to do whatever the hell it feels like doing for the next couple of hundred years.

The sad truth is, even if we were to stop all pollution tomorrow, we can't stop global warming. It would take hundreds of years for all the global warming emissions in the atmosphere to disappear. It seems too many people are thinking of the here and now and aren't willing to make a few sacrifices to save future generations from a lot of trouble, not to mention saving the planet..:(

This is the most important issue we face. Greenhouse gases are the big issue, so anything you can do that reduces your energy consumption will reduce your impact. Turn off electrical devices when you aren't using them. Get energy saver appliances. Turn down the thermostat in winter and up in summer. Get an energy audit on your home to see where you can save power. Insulate. Weather-strip your doors and windows. Get high-insulating glass on your windows. Take transit instead of a car whenever possible. Use a bicycle, roller blades or walk whenever you can. Vote. Write letters. Write more letters. Let elected officials know that this is *important* and you won't take no for an answer. Talk to companies about what they can do to reduce waste. Research your purchases and let companies know that you are making choices based on their environmental impact. If companies are getting hit in the wallet, they *will* change their practices. Recycle. Reduce your consumption where you can. Try to buy food that's grown locally. Find out if green energy is available where you live. Talk to other people. Every thing we do is a small difference, but it is a difference. They add up, every day.

Here's how we can contribute: First of all, we should stop going against nature like if we cut one tree for some purpose, plant 10 new plants. Stop wastage of water. Never leave taps on unneccessarily. There's a flush system for toilets which uses 10 litres of water to flush once & there are other type of flushes which use less water. Have the flush system in your toilet that uses less & suficient water. Always while going out, check that all the electric switches are off. Also when your work is over in one room, then don't forget to turn off lights, fans, etc. What's your idea of contributing?

The power is with the consumer. We need to lobby large busineses that continue to produce waste and refuse to buy their products until they listen and make changes. Also Bush, who refused to sign the Kyoto protocol even though America is the biggest polluter, with 36% of the worlds greenhouse emmissions and 25% of the worlds carbon dioxide emmissions. Are people willing to sacrifice their luxuries to make a change. This is the only way forward if governments refuse to help. I have made some changes such as low energy lightbulbs, taking more showers, recycling (although I found out my council were collecting the recycling and shipping it over to Indonnesia) I feel we will only take this seriously when we are actually living through the effects. Alot of people believe it isn't going to happen, I wish I had their optimism.

Proper waste segregation, energy conservation, recycling... are good contributions already, Have you champion this areas already, check if in your are there is already a consistent proper waste segregation, in your house hold, check if you practice and reduce energy consumption, do you consistently recycle? If you championed in this area, Ask me again what else we can do. Be merry and happy new year

We're having more violent storms (tsunamis, etc) and the temperature is rising as well. In Kansas, there is no snow for Christmas, I'm not sure of the temp outside, it's chilly but not freezing. This is very wierd. The last snow I think we had was 1991 or 2001, I'd have to check. The problem w/ environmental improvement is that people are either too lazy to contribute (recycling, water saving techniques, turning off all the lights in your house when you leave, etc) or they think the costs are too expensive (solar lighting panels, etc). Really what we need to do is take small steps to saving & recycling energy & resources. Some ways to do it (that I practice at home): 1.) Turn off all the lights & TV when you leave the house for the day. 2.) To save on water, when going to the bathroom, if it's #1 (urine) just close the lid and flush later (usually after 2 trips to the bathroom, we'll flush). I only do this when it's just my fiance and me at home. Every time you flush the toilet you are wasting TONS of water, so try to flush only when you really have to. 3.) RECYCLE. At least aluminum, paper and plastic. And try to avoid using styrofoam, that stuff never breaks down. Use tupperware and plastic bowls over again to put leftovers in.

lol, global warming is more dangerous than terrorism.

rains storm and volcanoes ,i guess little help we can share except early warnings but we can help as regards polutions and destruction of green life

It should really start from ourselves. I love nature! You've mentioned almost everything, also awareness among family members and friends, share what should be done to other people, by that most of us will be concerned to our environment.

I am an active member of an environmental website which discussess issues such as these on a daily basis. Look at my profile for more information and a direct link to the site. We discuss the following topics: Solar and wind power Fossil fuels Pollution Alternative energy Self sufficiency Energy conservation And much more. Hope this gives some good information.

This part of the global issues our unstoppable by human but it can be only stopped to a extent to not a complete stop.So Enviromental awarness program must be conducted

It is downright scary what is going on with our world. Some things we can try to do to slow some of the disasters down. I saw Ex Vice President Gore on TV about global warming and he made some great points on what to do. Although mankind can never stop Mother Nature we can do the best we can to avoid the worst.

environmental issues are more important as ther eoccurs more tthan our imagination the changes took place

first of all i do not think that global warming is happening at least not in the way that people think.of course if we had fewer industries polluting the atmosphere then we will all be better off.that said please read michael crichton's latest book "the state of fear".it will open your eyes and throw a whole new light on the issue of global warming.so do read that book without fail and you may get a whole new perspective on enviorment. http://www.michaelcrichton.net/ http://www.amazon.com/State-Fear-Michael-Crichton/dp/0066214130 http://www.realclimate.org/index.php?p=74

We can only make small contributions to the welfare of our environment...and that to me is still better than none! Sadly the money people of this world have stitched the system up so that it makes substancial improvements to difficult to instigate from a personal level! We can't do without cars...as an example...and back in the mid 80's a design for an engine that performed equal to a petrol engine but run on water was purchased by the "money people" still patented but the design is shreaded! Infomation swept under the carpet! We are in for a rough ride in the future and it is becoming harder for the "money people" to cover it up!

I think Global Warming is a true problem. Unfortunately not enough people are paying attention as it doesn't really affect them *right now*. It will affect our kids and their kids though. Also big companies and corporations are playing down their part in the environmental impact. I think we need to do our part in recycling and conserving energy where we can. We also need to seriously look at alternative energy sources on a broader scale like solar energy. There are alternatives to running our vehicles on gas, but we need to embrace that and push the corporations to that end. They want to sell cars and will do what the consumer wants. In the meantime, I do the best I can on recycling, limiting the number of trips in my vehicle and am trying to educate myself on all this. Each one of us CAN make a difference if we do this!

Hi,I think people are actively being brainwashed by vested interests with an agenda as far as this "Global Warming" thing is concerned. True, it's really not very smart for humanity to be consuming all the world's forests and generally stuffing up the world's ecosystems and biomass. It's pretty plain to see that trees and forests actually attract rain - just ask any farmer worth his salt who's been observing things for a couple of decades. True, all this pollution and toxic contamination of the environment really doesn't help anyone's quality of life or general lifespan. Ditto for the animals and plants. Again, that's an issue of hurting our living environment. And the urban lifestyles sure don't help any either. But let's get something plainly out in the open - Global Warming is NOT as the "consensus view" would have you believe. It's NOT humanity that is pulling all the strings on that particular phenomenon, and it's the height of pretentious arrogance to presume that we DO have so much influence on life, the universe and everything. It's funny how, the first time they ever bothered to look, the scientists discovered a "hole" in the ozone layer down south, and ever since then they've been squawking about how naughty mankind has caused a hole in the ozone layer! No-one actually stopped to think that maybe it was always there. Not that the ozone layer is directly relevant to the issue of "global warming", but it displays the same idiotic mindset that humanity is the be-all and end-all of everything on Earth. As regards "global warming", it might turn a few little light globes on in people's heads to consider that ALL of the planets that we are able to observe in the Solar System are currently experiencing their OWN versions of "global warming". Mars used to have a Northern Icecap. Now it's not there. Did some of those naughty cow-farts somehow transmute their way across space and into the Martian atmosphere? I think not! And that starts to put the lie to all this "global warming" nonsense. Yes, we should probably cut back on fossil fuels if we can, and we definitely should stop chopping down what's left of the Earth's forests and even try to re-establish some of them. But none of that is going to make the slightest difference to the overall "global warming" effects that we see. Why?Because the PROBLEM is the Sun. It has actually been getting hotter since records were kept on the subject - for over a hundred years. Don't believe me - then do your own research. Or go ask some Martians what they think about it. And while everyone is running around in circles, pulling their hair out and wasting time and energy trying to cut down emissions in a vain attempt to STOP this "global warming", apparently no-one is putting any serious effort into considering exactly how we are going to adjust to LIVE with the increasing temperature and it's effects on the world as the Sun continues to do whatever the hell it feels like doing for the next couple of hundred years.

All always we can contribute so that the global event does not happen, however nobody makes this. If each one of us made its part does not estariamos living what it happens today.remembering that to separate the garbage and to recycle it would be a good start.

Save environment save life.