How can people make any argument saying global warming/ climate change doesn't exist?

I have a friend who refuses to listen to facts that all point to climate change and global warming. I have shown her an article from noaa pointing out how the amount of carbon in the air has increased by 30% in the past 100 years or so and she says that the government runs noaa and it does not count as a reliable source of info. If you have the same opinion as her, can you please explain to me your view, because she is just not making any sense.

2010-03-23T19:24:31Z

sorry, it was actually an increase of 22% over the past 50 years, so the growth rate is actually greater than I previously stated.

source: http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/

liberal_602010-03-23T20:04:19Z

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It's a peculiar mind set, but once you believe that there is a conspiracy to promote the idea of global warming, then no amount of evidence is sufficient to proving that global warming exists, because each source of information is just thought to be part of the conspiracy. So from their point of view every government agency, every university, every publication, and every scientist --all of them are biased and just part of the conspiracy and automatically discounted no matter what -- if they say anything that supports the idea of global warming.

Paradoxically, they will take email from unknown sources, political blogs, scientists who are known political hacks, graphs with unknown origins, and random posts on YA answers as true, so long they say anything critical about the idea of global warming.

john2010-03-23T20:52:08Z

Thirty years ago the coming ice age was the news. Caused by CO2. The same thing that global warming is being based on. Several of the proofs people use to "prove" global warming could, I say could, be explained by other factors.
But mainly it's because the people who are so adamant about it will NOT accept any view except their own.
During the middle ages there was a warm up so profound that grapes were grown in Great Britain. Greenland was so named because it was warm enough to be green,(As seen from the sea).
Colonists landed there and settled in, they raised cattle, sheep and built several villages. Then the little ice age hit.
Nobody has been able to explain those events. It is possible that the earth is gradually warming because it's time for it to.
We've been keeping records for less than two hundred years. The earth is billions of years old.
I'm skeptical. So are a lot of people.
This past winter is an example. It was abnormally cold, yet the global warming enthusiasts simply nodded and said. "It's global warming, that's the reason it's so cold."
Who do we believe?
For every expert who says it's real, there's one who says it isn't.
Well you might say . "Why would they lie about it?" Yet scientists have, for years, lied and falsified anything to make their pet theory look good.
Who do you believe?
Me personally, I think that any time a hollywood personality gets behind some idea, I tend to oppose it..
There's a lot of information out there, on both sides. Who do you believe?

Ottawa Mike2010-03-23T21:18:54Z

You need to reassess your "facts". The only fact is that CO2 is a gas that is capable of absorbing and radiating IR. The actual effect of increasing CO2 in the atmosphere is not a fact, it's a theory.

And in case you are not aware of the theory, I'll point it out to you. The theory states that a doubling of atmospheric CO2 will result in an increase in average global temperatures of about 3.5C. However, the error margin for this theory is +/-2C so the theory really states that a doubling of CO2 will likely cause a temperature rise of anywhere from 1C-5C (not linear).

That theory relies on several assumptions. The main assumption is that there won't be negative feedbacks (which would reduce the temperature rise). This is an assumption because we don't know enough about the effect of cloud cover and water vapor effects on climate.

If you were aware of this, then I apologize. If you weren't aware of this, then perhaps you need to investigate the science of climate a little more thoroughly.

You should note that the climate models predict various temperature increase scenarios using the above assumption. Given that it is an assumption, you should be aware that it may not be correct. As a matter of fact, some of the more knowledgeable climate skeptics feel this assumption is indeed incorrect and that cloud cover and water vapor create negative feedbacks which would put the doubling of CO2 more towards causing a 1C or even less temperature rise. If this is true, then reducing CO2 by 10, 20 or even 50% would not have a large effect on global temperatures.

Climate models cannot be used as fact since they need assumptions to do their predictions. If the assumptions are inaccurate, then so are the models. As a matter of fact, the models are likely inaccurate for many other reasons.

andy2010-03-24T04:14:31Z

Easy, that 30% increase in CO2 over 150 years comes from both natural and man made sources. A lot of us do believe that climate change exists but is not being driven by man. All man is doing is adding to it. Also, if you listen to the backers of man made climate change they want to destroy the economies of Europe and North America while allowing China, the #1 total emitter of green house gases, to continue it's increase. It makes no sense to have some people cut emissions when their reductions will be overshadowed with the increases of others such as India, Brazil, Russia, and China.

stephanie2010-03-23T19:53:04Z

ok, global warming is not real, it was a theory proposed in the 90's. scientists were funded by the government to prove or disprove this theory. it has recently been disproved. carbon dioxide, while it is a green house gas is not the main contributor to global warming. i know it is hard to imagine, but we dint put out enough to effect the climate. the government uses it as a scare tactic because the reality is that the oil reserves are damn near gone. If americans dont cut their use of oil by at least 30% it will be gone in 100 years. the sun is the main contributor to our climate. There is no more of a rise in carbon dioxide than there ever was in our earths history. (and for the "meteorologist" they didnt use technology 3 billion years ago, they simply go by the amount of carbon dioxide in 3 billion year old rocks. if he was really a man of science he would know thats just common sense!) this has been backed by scientific evidence. go to this sight, http://www.documentarytube.com/?p=114 there is a documentary called the great global warming swindle. it is very informative and easy to understand. and for all of you who are gonna give e a thumbs down, here is my advice for you..... dont listen to the media regarding scientific facts. listen to the geologists, and chemists that actually know what they are talking about. The media is simply hearsay. they hear a blurp of something interesting and put it out cause they know people will believe it. its all about money for them, not about whats real. as for the government, they want this to be true, they have dumped millions into funding the research, and they dont like being wrong. articles put out by government funded agencies are not true!!! please dont be a sheep. educate yourself, and dont believe what people say, find the scientific facts.


as a rebuttal for Lilyan's:
you can put up all the links you want, but all that proves is you believe whatever you read, which is why i say dont be a sheep. when have you actually gone out and done research for yourself? when was the last time you measured the C02 levels from an ancient rock.... or a modern rock for that matter? what is your scientific background? i can read articles and watch tv, i choose not to because it is misleading. the only way to form an educated opinion is to find the evidence for yourself. now you can say global warming is caused by man, or its a myth. but you cant deny that the ones who do the work are the ones who know what they are talking about. you are posting links from government websites, and wickipedia....???? and im sure most of the population will agree the government doesnt know what they are talking about ( that was a joke!) i have no conspiracy theories. i dont think our government wants to conspire against their people. my argument is simply that people believe what they hear instead of doing the actual work to discover the facts. i mean no disrespect to you or any other reader. i am simply trying to motivate people to educate themselves.

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