Biggest Environmental Problems Facing the World Today?

[ruffilb]

All this hubub about global warming makes me wonder what, if anything, is messed up with our environment.

Global warming seems like a threat, but it's hard to really asses what it's going to do to our world. Rising waterlines and reloacation, as well as a loss of land, sounds like crap, but is there anything we can even begin to do about it?

Air Pollution, meh, not so hot a topic anymore, and there's evidence that it actually helps reduce global warming.

Dwindling biodiversity could eventually be a problem, but it seems as if, right now, it's not too large of an issue. It's hard to say what's going to happen if our biodiversity drops too low... fortunately, we'll probably keep everything we really need to survive.

What problem do you think is the absolute worst?

 

[CanOWorms]

Originally posted by: ruffilb

Air Pollution, meh, not so hot a topic anymore, and there's evidence that it actually helps reduce global warming.

Even if air pollution doesn't affect global catastrophe climate problems, it still causes medical problems.

 

[Strk]

Originally posted by: ruffilb
Air Pollution, meh, not so hot a topic anymore, and there's evidence that it actually helps reduce global warming.

I've never heard of that evidence. And like CanOWorms said, there are plenty of health concerns from it.

 

[CanOWorms]

Originally posted by: Strk

Originally posted by: ruffilb
Air Pollution, meh, not so hot a topic anymore, and there's evidence that it actually helps reduce global warming.

I've never heard of that evidence. And like CanOWorms said, there are plenty of health concerns from it.

It was published in Science a few months ago. Particles in the air reflect or block sunlight. I believe that they called it global dimming.

 

[UglyCasanova]

Originally posted by: CanOWorms

Originally posted by: Strk

Originally posted by: ruffilb
Air Pollution, meh, not so hot a topic anymore, and there's evidence that it actually helps reduce global warming.

I've never heard of that evidence. And like CanOWorms said, there are plenty of health concerns from it.

It was published in Science a few months ago. Particles in the air reflect or block sunlight. I believe that they called it global dimming.

I've read that (and there is a good Nova episode about it as well), but from what I gather global dimming is only masking the growing problem global warming, and it will eventually catch up to us.

 

[ruffilb]

Originally posted by: UglyCasanova

Originally posted by: CanOWorms

Originally posted by: Strk

Originally posted by: ruffilb
Air Pollution, meh, not so hot a topic anymore, and there's evidence that it actually helps reduce global warming.

I've never heard of that evidence. And like CanOWorms said, there are plenty of health concerns from it.

It was published in Science a few months ago. Particles in the air reflect or block sunlight. I believe that they called it global dimming.

I've read that (and there is a good Nova episode about it as well), but from what I gather global dimming is only masking the growing problem global warming, and it will eventually catch up to us.

Yea, it's obvious that it'll catch up to us eventually... especially since we need/want clean air anyway.

I know there are health concerns for air pollution, but I feel like they don't stack up to the massive changes that will happen due to global warming.

 

[ruffilb]

Anyone know of any environmentally oriented bills currently going through congress?

 

[Jaskalas]

Originally posted by: ruffilb
Air Pollution, meh, not so hot a topic anymore, and there's evidence that it actually helps reduce global warming.

There should be a warning label for being born.

"Warning, breathing causes cancer!"

I wonder how many of you have seen the pollution from the solid hundred miles of the LA basin? Typical joke that we need to chew our air.

 

[ruffilb]

I guess I'm a tad biased, I do live in a small virginian college town.

 

[Moonbeam]

Young men are trained to think that concern and worry are effeminate so all the guys here are really tough and unconcerned.

What, me worry. Hell, no way!

 

[sezerb]

I was reading somewhere a while back that there is more chance that an ice age will cause major damage than global warming

 

[JEDIYoda]

nah the biggest environmentqal problem today is cow flatulation!!

 

[Sheik Yerbouti]

Glad you all think this is so funny. It probably won't happen in any of our lifetimes, but there are serious changes taking place. I notice it every night I drive home, the horizon is more hazy than when I was a kid. I don't live near a big city, so that's out of the picture. It's a visible problem, but until it interrupts american idol or something of a similarly important nature, nothing will be done.
We'll keep clear cutting rain forests and allow morons in the white house to chip away at federal parks, that's all ok, I can still sit on my ass and call in and say that billy joe jim bob rules on idol!

 

[GTaudiophile]

Stupidity of the herd.

 

[Rainsford]

Originally posted by: Moonbeam
Young men are trained to think that concern and worry are effeminate so all the guys here are really tough and unconcerned.

What, me worry. Hell, no way!

Originally posted by: JEDIYoda
nah the biggest environmentqal problem today is cow flatulation!!

Hehe

 

[CaptnKirk]

Originally posted by: ruffilb


Air Pollution, meh, not so hot a topic anymore, and there's evidence that it actually helps reduce global warming.

The only way that Air Pollution is going to be the world's salvation is if it kills off the entire Human race from the planet -
so by wiping the slate clean, the Earth can start over, and a new speices becomes the dominant life form.

I certainly hope that whatever that life form is, it appreciates the styrofoam & plastics that will linger for thousands of years.

 

[Red Dawn]

Over Population...of people in the Middle East. Of course Bush is doing his part to rectify it.

 

[Todd33]

Originally posted by: ruffilb
I guess I'm a tad biased, I do live in a small virginian college town.

Where you have acid rain and polluted ground water? Some of the worse offenses to the environment are in rural areas, like pig farms and coal burning power plants.

 

[Whoozyerdaddy]

Me... After a six pack and Pizza Hut.

 

[Skanderberg]

Here's a good book for you: The Skeptical Environmentalist.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/052101...1/102-5383052-2532132?%5Fencoding=UTF8

I won't try to recite the whole book here. In a nutshell, Dr. Lomborg presents a thesis that Global Warming is occurring but it will not have such a negative effect on humanity. For the $ trillions that the Kyoto accords would cost, we (human society) can attempt to solve problems that affect the quality of life for humans...starvation, malaria, AIDS, pollution, etc. We can adapt to a gradually warming environment.

 

[ebaycj]

The New Republican Party (TM)

 

[BBond]

george w. bush

 

[Circlenaut]

Originally posted by: Red Dawn
Over Population...of people in the Middle East. Of course Bush is doing his part to rectify it.

Over population is the cause of today's environmental problem. First thing we learnred in AP environmental science.

 

[BoomerD]

Originally posted by: BBond
george w. bush

FTW!!


George "Dubya" Bush's policies have undone a lot of environmental laws so his friends in big business (oil, coal energy) can make more money...He has done more environmental damage than can be undone in our children's children's lives...
All for the almighty dollar...

http://www.bushgreenwatch.org/back_issues.php

http://www.environment2004.org/documents.php

 

[ruffilb]

Yea, but it's hard to attribute all the problems to just Bush... I mean, most of these things were problems long before bush entered office, and he's just failing to do anything about them... but with not very many viable solutions, it's hard to come up with an effective policy.

Still, I agree that he's not doing a good job.