Can we save our planet from global warming?
960968
It is estimated that the point of no return is about 10 years.\nOh yeah it's not "saving the planet" but keeping the climate stable for life as we have enjoyed  it for the past 100k years.
393419
these are some Mega threats that endanger the planet and some solutions\n\nover population,erosian,over pumping of carbon aquifiers(deep wells)\ndesertification,rising seas,land loss,deforrestation.excess carbon emissions,mass extinction of species and global warming.\n\nDEFORRESTATION if it continues ,is that we could end up looking like Mars.Without an atmosphere ,without water,without air,with out life\n\nthe forrests make most of the water that we can drink or use for plant growth(sweet water) \nsome is condensed from the sea but that reaches only the coastel aereas .\nthe bulk ,comes from the forests ,and the rivers come from the rainfall which comes from the trees ,\nand the trees with precipitation,feed the rivers when it is not raining and keep them running all year round.\n\nIf we kill all the trees,we kill the rivers .we kill the rain. we kill us.\nthe trees also absorb the heat in the day and heat up the place in the night ,so they keep the temperature confertable to live in.\n\nin the dessert the nights are freezing cold and during the days you burn up\n\nCARBON MONOXIDE\nthe trees absorb carbon emisions ,which is poison to us and they produce oxygen which we need to breathe.\n\nso in short the trees produce the air that we need to breathe.\nthey also produce wood which is usefull and a wide range of food such as fruits\n\ndeforestation must be stopped before desertification goes out of control and consumes the planet.\n\nDESERTIFICATION\nthe sahara is growing by 7 kilometres every day.\ntwo major desserts in northern china are growing together making one giant dessert and,causing dust storms so making thousands of people refugeese\n\nthe trees evaporate a mist which ,which protects us from the strong rays of the sun .\n\nthe planet is drying out at an alarming rate.\n\nin the days of the dinasaurs this planet was under an aquiferus manta ,a mist that covered the entire earth ,and there were no desserts .\nCount how many there are today,and all of them are as a result of mans actions.\nthe sahara used to be forrests\narabia ,irak ,iran used to be fertile lands in biblical times\nGhengas Kahn burned all the forrests here and filled the well with water and so turning vast lands into dessert.\n\nBad agricultural practises is turning vast teritories into desserts ,because of over grazing and the exessive pumping of carbon aquifiers ,the surface aquifiers already having been depleted.\nAnd the use of fertilisers and heavy machinery that compacts the ground which raises the salt in the soil.\nModern agriculture today is doing the same as ghengas kahn but in much bigger territories.\n\nAnd because agricultural lands are lost, farmers are forced to cultivate highly erodable lands, to keep up with the growing demand for food.an extra 70 million people each year and this is increasing\nthe world population has doubled in the last 50 years the fasted increase ever since the first homo sapian.\n\nEROSION\nsoil erosion is almost always as a result of human intervention.\nthe trees are cut down and these trees existed to provide a cover against the rays of the sun which now dries out the soil ,and the wind can than easily blow away the dust that is formed ,------this is wind erosian\n\nbecause the trees are no longer there, whose roots bound the soil together ,and because their canapies of foilidge no longer exist the rain now has easy acces to the unprotected ,now dry surface and the rain waters wash away the top soils ,------this is water erosian\n\nfarmers plow large plots of land to plant maize or wheat or what ever and as happened in the 20s in the USA,they plowed in straight lines.when the winds came they blew alonfg the straight lines and picking up speed removed millions of tons of top soil(wind erosian) turning vast teritories into dessert deprived of arable soil\n\ntoday the farmers plow in circles and curves to prevent this building up of speed by the wind,\n\nbut still vast sections of land are exposed to the sun whi
790594
Unfortunately, the solution is nontrivial. Scientists believe that climate change is largely due to the burning of fossil fuels for energy needs. These needs include transportation, heating and electricity production to name the big ones. Thus by reducing your reliance on a fossil-fuel solution to any one of these needs reduces CO2 emissions, thus slowing global warming. Simple solutions that any one of us can do as an individual might include:\n\n(1)  Living close to where you work -> to eliminate travel\n(2)  Making your house energy efficient, by adding insulation, southern facing windows in the northern latitudes to capture the winter sun. Making architecture encompass energy initiatives.\n(3)  Reducing your electricity consumption by installing fluorescent or LED lighting, pre-heating your hot water by flushing through a radiator on the roof to capture solar energy.\n(4)  Supporting (voting) for green initiatives, renewable energy, nuclear fusion research, hydroelectric.\n(5)  Living in smaller houses, driving smaller cars, buying less stuff.\n(6)  All in addition to the other items mentioned, IE recycling etc…\n\nThe only limit is human creativity.
206536
No it cannot be stopped.....at all. First of all it is a naturally occurring process and humans have actually just accelerated the process. Now as the polar caps melt they release natural carbons into the atmosphere which at the current rate is actually more substantial than all of the carbons mankind release every day and since we cannot stop the ice from melting there is no way to stop the current trend even if we reverted back to the 1800's.
472817
I think it would help in your theory,due to more greenhouse gasses would be assimilated by more trees.\n\npart of the problem with global warming is that much of the planets eco systems are being destroyed without being replendished (south america tree harvesting)
1183701
Ten simple things you can do to help the "Earth": \n\n1) Recycle\n2) Purchase only "energy star" appliances\n3) shower outdoors with a solar-heated shower\n4) Use only recycled products\n5) Eat organic\n6) Be certain your insulation is properly installed\n7) Use public transportation\n8) Turn the water off when brushing your teeth\n9) Only wash full loads of dishes/laundry\n10) Air-dry your clothes rather than using a dryer
322703
well they say in 2050 about 3% of species will die from the global warming, and about the same with plant species. probably gas will cost 20.00 a gallon lol. and more and more cars and trucks will not be running off of gas. which i hope actually will be true! and ill be 40 around that time wow!
457897
No.  If the planet were on a cooling trend, and stayed that way for a while, it might be heading towards a periodic Ice Age, as it has done in the past.  We would consume a lot more of outr limited energy resources just to keep ourselves warm.  Also, don't worry so much about Global Warming.  As I said before, nature goes through these cycles of warming and cooling.  Yes. humans have an impact, but it is small.
464689
Possibly.\nEither by the sun dying out, thats billions of years away. Or the glaciers melting, thats possible in a million or two, given our pollution. \nA meteor hit can do it, like dinosaur wipe-out. Probability is one in a billion, but hey we have been around for that long or more.
931587
collect and condense all the extra carbon dioxide/ pollutants/emissons in the greenhouse gases layer in a gigantic oxygen tank, blast it to the moon for it to explode and release the gases. maybe it'll halt global warming?
1156242
Yes, Global warming is a reality.  Anyone who says otherwise is ignorant.   Yes, the earth goes throgh natural warming and cooling phases, we are currently trasistioning into a "hothouse" from an "icehouse" which means we are in an inter-glacial period.\n\nHowever, Humans are doing their part to screw up the atmosphere.  CO2 is a gas that traps heat  and is emmitted by cars, factories, and anything else that burns fuel to work.  All anyone needs to do is look at a graph of the average surface temperture for the earth superimposed on the CO2 level and they will find they are identical in shape.  And the CO2 level has increased exponentially since the industrial evolution.  While the earth's natural cycles have varied the CO2 levels from 150 to 280 parts per million in the last 600,000 years, we are currently at 390 parts per million and rising fast.  No that is not natural, it is caused by humans.\n\nWhat can you do?  Buy a Prius.  Recycle.  Use less - ride you bike more.  Run your AC less, Turn off your lights.  All those hippie things that save energy - they actually work.
1015823
In America, we've stabalized the polution.  The problem is that we can only control our own nation.  We can't stop nations like China and Mexico from polluting.\n\nThe other thing to look at is history.  The earth goes through natural warm and cool stages (you have the ice ages, then you have periods of warm weather, then you go back to the ice ages).  We are in a warm period now, and eventually (probably within 5,000 years) will go back to another ice age.
310413
i would get a team of the best scientists together to start an operation to stop global warming and repair the damage to the ozone layer.we need our earth and i know a few more countries would be inclined to aid in many other world matters
379475
I think we'll screw up the atmosphere, then choke to death.  1000 years later, the Earth will probably fix itself, sans us.
307818
Global warming and cooling, in nature, has cycles beyond our control. AS a species, we have vastly accelerated the warming by CO2 emissions from burning of fossil fuel. The CO2 is/has formed higly reflective shield around the globe that holds heat IN, yet allows sunlight to go through it. The heat builds up, but cannot escape fast enough to prevent warming of the planet. We have reached a critcal stage in this cycle. IF we do not greatly reduce CO2 emissions within the next 10 years, it will be too late for us to stop the cycle that has started. Ice caps will melt and the surface of the Earth will change drastically. Storms will intensify dramatically, having more and more heat to power them. WE are within just a few years of a catastrophe, and yet, no one seems willing to act upon it, in fact, no one seems to even acknowledge the pending disaster. Life as we know it will be very different than it is today. WE are, time wise, just around the corner from a life threatening climate which will be conducive to an instant ICE AGE. If you have any doubt, see the movie, "Day After Tomorrow." The premise of the movie is NOT sci fi...it is very real.
755743
I do not get Popular Science, but I have heard proposals to put a sunshade in space to reduce the solar energy reaching Earth and so solve the global warming problem. This would definitely work, but I think it is too soon to proceed. What if we cool the Earth too much? Who would be to blame? If NASA put up the shade and Finland or some other country had a bad winter, would the US have to pay damages? It would be a political nightmare. With great power comes great responsibility. If we can really control the weather, then if somebody doesn't like the weather is our fault. Do we want to take that responsibility? Yes we do if massive bad stuff has already happened that can be 100% blamed on global warming, but when was the last time the world agreed 100% on anything? Even if sea levels rise 100 feet and we put the shade in place, somebody in the world would sue us anyway, but if we put it up now, before sea levels rise at all, EVERYBODY will sue us!
906697
Humans have made huge impacts on the physical environment by logging, farming, building, and really just existing. The problem is the rate of change is accelerating as the population grows exponentially and people become industrialised and require more and more. The earth really cannot sustain this growth in all aspects of people greed and need. There is no easy way to slow it let alone stop it.\n\nAs a planet we are doomed! not tomorrow but before this century is out.