?G l o b a l W a r m i n g
"Many people believe that there is plenty of time to act. They reason that there is little evidence of warming so far, and less that it is harmful. Why take costly action today for uncertain benefits tomorrow? Instead they say: "It is better to wait and see, if warming turns out to be greater and more harmful than expected, policies to mitigate it can then be implemented."
Often people don't understand the long time delays between actions and their effects,
as in the climate system it is perhaps not so surprising that so many support a potentially disastrous "wait and see" policy.
The Earth has faced at least two catastrophes caused by global warming in the distant past according to recent scientific research. An Oxford University team led by Dr Stephen Hesselbo has shown that the first of these two events happened some 180 million years ago, when dinosaurs dominated the continents. A second global warming event has been recognised by Professor Steve Norris of Columbia University and Dr Ursula Rohl of Bremen University. This occurred around 55 million years ago, 10 million years after the extinction of the dinosaurs.
* The temperature at the earth's surface is determined by the balance of energy that comes in from the sun and the energy that is radiated back out to space.
"Many people believe that there is plenty of time to act. They reason that there is little evidence of warming so far, and less that it is harmful. Why take costly action today for uncertain benefits tomorrow? Instead they say: "It is better to wait and see, if warming turns out to be greater and more harmful than expected, policies to mitigate it can then be implemented."
Often people don't understand the long time delays between actions and their effects,
as in the climate system it is perhaps not so surprising that so many support a potentially disastrous "wait and see" policy.
The Earth has faced at least two catastrophes caused by global warming in the distant past according to recent scientific research. An Oxford University team led by Dr Stephen Hesselbo has shown that the first of these two events happened some 180 million years ago, when dinosaurs dominated the continents. A second global warming event has been recognised by Professor Steve Norris of Columbia University and Dr Ursula Rohl of Bremen University. This occurred around 55 million years ago, 10 million years after the extinction of the dinosaurs.
* The temperature at the earth's surface is determined by the balance of energy that comes in from the sun and the energy that is radiated back out to space.