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Environmental Issues

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the original JULES
Demolition Lover
the original JULES
Age: -
Gender: Female
Posts: 19598
January 22nd, 2007 at 05:45am
I know there's a topic on Global Warming, however, I think there should be one for the environment in general.
After all, it's us that are its inhabitants.

So global warming is a main issue when it comes to this topic, but if you wish to discuss that, do so in its appropriate thread.
This is talk about small or big environmental issues:
-Litter
-Fossil fuels, eg: petrol, oil (substances extracted from the earth)
-Climate change
-Nuclear power
-Water resources (Australians would have a VERY suffice understanding of the problems of water here)
-Trees, and the carbon dioxide/oxygen factor
-Greenhouse gases
-Ozone Layer

Obviously, there are many more issues that I haven't included, and there may be some issues that are more important in YOUR country than another.
As in any other thread, please respect all opinions, and everyone that participates in the discussion.
Matthew Sanders.
Always Born a Crime
Matthew Sanders.
Age: 42
Gender: Male
Posts: 5160
January 22nd, 2007 at 03:11pm
I think no expense should be spared on using renewable energy sources to save the earth from global warming, pollution ect. But then you could argue that the government don't have enough dosh... i'm not really that clued up on politics
Hell Yeah Georgie
Really Not Okay
Hell Yeah Georgie
Age: 32
Gender: Female
Posts: 727
January 22nd, 2007 at 03:38pm
[spam] I thought you meant it's the US (as in the USA) that inhabits the world....but then I realised it was us. Ha [/spam]

I think drastic times call for drastic measures. The world's governments need to start FORCING people to do something about the state of the Earth. They've tried persuading people with campaigns etc but now the situation has not improved much so local councils need to devise plans to really start making a difference.

These could include:
Compulsory recycling (I think this is in place in some areas)
Heating & power from fossil fuels limited to X amount per person per household. So perhpas this would make people purchase solar/wind/water panels/turbines.

I don't know, it's a tricky one. But something needs to be done. Perhaps car usage could be tackled.
chesneira
Killjoy
chesneira
Age: 34
Gender: Female
Posts: 91
February 3rd, 2007 at 08:52am
So many people talk about 'saving the earth' and that we should do this and that...But seriously,how many between 6.5 billion people in this world actually take action?...I know there's a lot but I think there's a lot more who have the 'let other people handle it' attitude...
Disney.
Salute You in Your Grave
Disney.
Age: 33
Gender: Female
Posts: 4630
February 7th, 2007 at 08:49pm
well i'm a part of the environmental club in my school and we do things with recycling, making our town better, lectures on current environmental problems and i try to get people to help out because the more people who help, the bigger impact the club could do yet as the person said above me, people have an attitude of "other people will do it"
nobody cares about the environment in my school Crying or Very sad
Beautiful_kaos
Killjoy
Beautiful_kaos
Age: 46
Gender: Female
Posts: 7
February 8th, 2007 at 10:23am
lovexinxstereo:
well i'm a part of the environmental club in my school and we do things with recycling, making our town better, lectures on current environmental problems and i try to get people to help out because the more people who help, the bigger impact the club could do yet as the person said above me, people have an attitude of "other people will do it"
nobody cares about the environment in my school Crying or Very sad


That's true. But I think it's important to continue to do our part even if it seems pointless sometimes. Eventually people will catch on. The thing is that up until recently, it hadn't affected people in an adverse way yet (in north America I mean). Not in a way that was tangible anyway. People seem to think that the planet is huge when in fact it's very small. It's like they believe that what happens in Asia won't happen to us.

Only recently "thanks" to Katrina and now tornadoes in Florida, are people starting to see the big picture.

There is also the problem of education. Education is sorely lacking in our countries. And there is no real emphasis on science and ecology. It's really basic stuff that they teach you.

It's not enough to say that there the globe is warming up. They should explain why that''s a terrible thing. Because until they do people (especially those like me who live in Canada where it can reach 40 below with the wind chill-milder winters can seem like a welcome change) how can people understand.
Gutterflower
Always Born a Crime
Gutterflower
Age: 32
Gender: Female
Posts: 6030
February 8th, 2007 at 02:55pm
I think something needs to be done to sort out our environment. We all seem to be willingly destroying the planet, only thinking about the here and now, and completely ruining everything for our kids. My family have started recycling and walking places instead of using the car, which would make a massive difference if everyone did it. I feel that we need to stop using fossil fules so rapidly, they're ruinning out and we're not gonna get any more for millions of years, once it's gone, it's gone. Nuclear power is obviously the alternative but I think that there are some severe environmental issues going on there too. For example, dumping radioactive waste in massive concrete blocks in the ocean? Sounds kinda dangerous...and dare I say it, unnatural? And then there are the problems of mutations from radioactive leaks which are also kinda nasty. I think it has to be a compromise, everyone has to do their bit to save energy or they'll be no world left.
DeWitt.
Crash Queen
DeWitt.
Age: 31
Gender: -
Posts: 31119
February 10th, 2007 at 07:13pm
I'm from Newfoundland, Canada, and it's evident that there's an extreme situation involving Global warming is unfolding. Normally, by the middle of December for expamle, we have at least 40-50cm of snow. The temperature is normally hovering around -15 degrees celsius. But, this year in decamber, we had no snow and the temperature was around -5 degrees celsius to +5 degrees celsius. It's really frightening to be seeing such a durastic change in the run of a year. This shows how much in-attention is being payed to the hole in the Ozone layer, the amount of greenhouse gas emmissions are being relased into the earths atmosphere and how rapidly the polar ice caps are melting
Mr.Armstrong
Awake and Unafraid
Mr.Armstrong
Age: 36
Gender: Female
Posts: 12135
February 10th, 2007 at 09:30pm
i think ppl should really take care of the enviroment!i mean the world isnt getting any better cause of globle warming! ppl should understand that they only have one world so take care of that world!its not that easy to stop this but atleast try to take care of the world!trying is better then not doing it at all!your still puting your time and hard work to save your world!so ppl should really think of the enviromnet there living in and how to take better care of it!!
OMG.
Salute You in Your Grave
OMG.
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Posts: 2491
February 12th, 2007 at 07:57pm
I think it's sad that poeple are truly aware of global warming and don't do a think about it. As a native/ algonquin, I grew up being learned how important it is to my culture. How much it could provide and how badly we have damaged it from not caring about it.
I was happy to see canada is finaly going to take away houses heated by oil and gas.
Beeblebrox
Really Not Okay
Beeblebrox
Age: 44
Gender: Female
Posts: 688
February 26th, 2007 at 02:00pm
When our car broke down last summer, we were faced with the decision of coughing up $4000 to fix it (and have it likely break down again) or bite the bullet and buy something new. We decided to go for broke and buy a new car, something neither of us had ever done and we bought a hybrid. It's amazing, it uses half the gas of regular cars, has zero pollution emissions and is great for the environment. I'm so glad we made the choice. We take everyone for a drive so that they can see what it's like, how futuristic it is (it runs off a computer) and how great it drives. So far, we've convinced two of our friends to buy a hybrid, which makes me feel like I'm actually making a difference.
karah
Killjoy
karah
Age: 33
Gender: Female
Posts: 14
February 28th, 2007 at 08:17pm
okay first: yay for buying a hybrid! =]

its little choices that can make a huge difference, but ppl don't seem to want to make them. i'm not saying a tiny bit of effort from everyone will fix all the problems, but it will be a huge step.
princeiona
Fabulous Killjoy
princeiona
Age: 33
Gender: Female
Posts: 126
March 1st, 2007 at 01:53pm
Fishnets and Malice:
I'm from Newfoundland, Canada, and it's evident that there's an extreme situation involving Global warming is unfolding. Normally, by the middle of December for expamle, we have at least 40-50cm of snow. The temperature is normally hovering around -15 degrees celsius. But, this year in decamber, we had no snow and the temperature was around -5 degrees celsius to +5 degrees celsius. It's really frightening to be seeing such a durastic change in the run of a year. This shows how much in-attention is being payed to the hole in the Ozone layer, the amount of greenhouse gas emmissions are being relased into the earths atmosphere and how rapidly the polar ice caps are melting

It may well be a warm winter this year but that in no way proves that global warming is occuring or that the changing climate can be blamed on greenhouse gases. To get a true view of the world climate it is necessary to look at a number of years. It is completely normal for the temperature to rise one year and then to fall the next. The average world temperature also rises and falls over the course of 100s of years and so although we may be in the middle of a warm curve at the moment that can again be explained as something natural and not related to human behaviour.

I do actually support recycling/encouraging more energy efficient vehicles etc to benefit the environment. I just feel that people are too quick to blame perfectly natural occurances on global warming.
Ignore Alien Orders
Salute You in Your Grave
Ignore Alien Orders
Age: 34
Gender: Female
Posts: 2026
March 2nd, 2007 at 09:01am
yeah, it's el nino this year, that's why it's warmer around here than usual. global warming takes a lot longer--that's not to say it's not a huge problem, but that's what this is.

anyway i'm very interested in protecting the environment. i recycle as much as possible and reuse things a lot--i write grocery lists on the back of old homework, etc. i also try to buy organic, because pesticides are detrimental to the environment, and recycled products--i've found one sketchbook with recycled paper that i really like, for instance, so i buy that same product over and over.

i just think that with so many small things you can do, you don't have to be an extreme environmentalist to help out.
HaleyRevanssi
Thinking Happy Thoughts
HaleyRevanssi
Age: 30
Gender: Female
Posts: 432
March 2nd, 2007 at 09:24am
Ok, maybe some of you guys have watched the documentary, "An Inconvinient Truth", by Al Gore. I truly think this documentary is G R E A T. I 100% agree with it. Global warming is a serious issue, and withing like, 50 years, we could have about 11 million (I think thats what it said) dead, or squashed in with the rest ofthe world. People seriously need to start taking steps to stop global warming. I know Im doing somethings...Maybe I'll make an online petition that I could send to the president saying you NEED to do something about this NOW. Yea, Im going to do that.

Maybe I'll post it on here so you guys could sign it??
HaleyRevanssi
Thinking Happy Thoughts
HaleyRevanssi
Age: 30
Gender: Female
Posts: 432
March 2nd, 2007 at 09:30am
Ok. So I made the petition and here is the link:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/globalwarmingneedstobestoped/

Thanks. If you sign it!
Ignore Alien Orders
Salute You in Your Grave
Ignore Alien Orders
Age: 34
Gender: Female
Posts: 2026
March 2nd, 2007 at 08:21pm
i haven't seen that movie...but al gore is a total hypocrite. if i wasn't already concerned about global warming, it'd be hard for him to convince me to be, simply because he flies around in a private jet.

that's the thing, you can talk until you're blue in the face about global warming and recycling and water conservation, but if you're not practicing what you preach you're not doing much good.
aliss practice.
Shotgun Sinner
aliss practice.
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Posts: 8198
March 2nd, 2007 at 08:29pm
yes. jon is a god.:
I think it's sad that poeple are truly aware of global warming and don't do a think about it.



Exactly. Todays youth, and everybody else for that matter, is fueled by laziness.
A lot of people simply don't have respect for people and the planet anymore.
If we could be bothered, then maybe we could've prevented this.
We have successfully managed to slowly destroy our planet, but how can we put it all back together?
Will todays youth and popualtion react to the ideas the goverment put out?
Will people bother to make the effort to look after the planet?
Will anybody care?

This is one of those issues that will keep leaving more and more questions . . .
princeiona
Fabulous Killjoy
princeiona
Age: 33
Gender: Female
Posts: 126
March 3rd, 2007 at 12:22pm
Aliss Wants To Die.:
yes. jon is a god.:
I think it's sad that poeple are truly aware of global warming and don't do a think about it.



Exactly. Todays youth, and everybody else for that matter, is fueled by laziness.
A lot of people simply don't have respect for people and the planet anymore.
If we could be bothered, then maybe we could've prevented this.
We have successfully managed to slowly destroy our planet, but how can we put it all back together?
Will todays youth and popualtion react to the ideas the goverment put out?
Will people bother to make the effort to look after the planet?
Will anybody care?

This is one of those issues that will keep leaving more and more questions . . .


Like, is global warming real? Is it a bad thing? Will using energy efficient bulbs actually do anything? Do people actually care or is it just the in thing to think at the moment?

Also to the top quote: I don't think that people are truly aware of Global Warming. People may have heard of it and may think it is occuring but I doubt that many people actually know the science behind it or realise that it is only one view about what's going on in the word, other theories get little publicity and thus get overlooked.

People, please don't just accept things. Question everything!
Ignore Alien Orders
Salute You in Your Grave
Ignore Alien Orders
Age: 34
Gender: Female
Posts: 2026
March 3rd, 2007 at 07:29pm
yes, global warming is real. if you've been paying attention at all, people have been talking about it for years. i remember in fourth grade my teacher said something about it--this being long before it was the "thing to think".

whether it's real or not, think of all the things that are said to be causing it.

excessive use of fossil fuels: this is detrimental to the environment in other ways, and in any case we're going to run out sooner or later.

o-zone depletion: the chemicals we use that cause this are easily replaceable-don't use aerosols, etc. and uh...we need the o-zone layer.

looks like the things we could cut back on would improve the environment, global warming or not.