If we manage to start some climatic effect (warming, cooling, or whatever) that screws things up for everyone, of how much benefit will it be to say, "Well, my country was not the worst offender."
Fires as sources of atmospheric carbon have been around for a lot longer than human beings. Permitting that the vegetation is allowed to regrow, it is a natural part of the system, and it recaptures from the atmosphere what it temporarily placed there.
To the extent that the fires are man-made, and they are used to replace the forests with concrete or vegetation that is not as effecient at removing carbon from the atmosphere, this is a problem that must be addressed as well. Some other parts of the world, as you note, are far worse offenders that America, in this regard.
What is not a natural part of the system, is mining for subsurface carbon (oil, gas, coal) and moving it to the atmosphere at as rapid a rate as possible. America is currently -- by far -- the worst offender on the consumption side of this part of the problem.
Current Events » in reply to Responsibility.
It doesn't matter who is to blame.
The whole thread (29 posts)
- Global Warming - a scientific fact?
- Skeptical environmentalist
- Re: scientific fact?
- Gore's (and everybody else's) confused energy policies
- Re: Global Warming - a scientific fact?
- Massive dumping of carbon into our atmosphere is a scientific fact.
- More than one question here