Funnily enough, there are a lot of big misconceptions about global warming. It's definitely happening, but there are many facts about it that the media totally ignores because it's against the public mood. And scientists are afraid to go forward with them because they would lose funding if they did. It's gotten to the point where most people, even experts, are rejecting the real facts in favor of shock-and-awe doomsday scenarios. Here are some lesser-known facts about the heating of the planet.
1. CO2 is not the primary greenhouse gas; methane is much stronger, and water vapor even more so. In fact, throughout most of Earth's history, there was much, much more CO2 in the atmosphere than there is now. Also, more CO2 means plants will require less water and grow faster. The real problem with it is not how much there is, but how fast it's growing.
2. Even though the ice caps are definitely melting, that's not what's making the oceans rise. The oceans are rising as the result of thermal expansion...in other words, the water expanding as it gets warmer.
3. Although the oceans have risen 465 feet since the end of the last ice age, most of that occurred directly after the ice age ended. In the past century, the oceans only rose eight inches. At that rate, then in the year 2100, the oceans will only be about as high as they are today when the tide comes in...noticeable, but far from catastrophic.
4. There is significant evidence that heavy particulate pollution actualls COOLS the Earth by dimming the sun. Obviously these pollutants are bad for many other reasons, but this means that by removing them from the atmosphere we are actually accelerating global warming!
5. There have been many cases in Earth's past in which greenhouse gases skyrocketed, just like we fear will happen soon. It caused problems, but it wasn't the Apocalypse, and it always went back to normal on its own.
6. While reducing carbon consumption is good for conservation, it won't do a thing to solve global warming, or even to lessen it that much. First, much of the rising CO2 levels are not caused by human activity. Second, even if we could stop all carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere, we cannot remove what is already there, which would hang around for centuries and trap heat all the while (though not that efficiently--see my first point).
Personally, I am a supporter of geoengineering...the science of modifying Earth's processes through human ingenuity. Sound reckless? Not if we devote enough funding to it to do loads of research and calculate the exact consequences before actually trying anything. New studies have shown that there are lots of radical geoengineering solutions that will reverse global warming, do little else to the environment, and be pretty easy to reverse should something go wrong. Lots of them are really cheap, too...it would be easy for a moderately wealthy nation to implement them unilaterally. They include the controlled release of tiny amounts of sulfur dioxide into the upper atmosphere, the launching of satellites that feature reflective "sails" to block sunlight, and a fleet of boats which kick up ocean spray into the lower atmosphere and form more clouds. They need more research and testing, but it looks as though they could be the answer.
