Do you think that "global warming" detracts from other environmental concerns?

Such as water pollution, soil erosion, pollution from factory farms, the amount of chemicals in the ocean, use of pesticides and horomones on farms, etc. It seems that so many people are caught up in global warming (which the jury IS still out on, despite what Al Gore tells you) that they forget about other environmental concerns, the effects of which we are living with every day. I have read several answers in the green living section to the effect of "If it doesn't contribute to global warming it's not a problem."Do you think that "global warming" detracts from other environmental concerns?Absolutely.



It certainly draws money away from the problems. The US, who environmentalists say are the most indifferent to global warming in the world spends 10s of billions of dollars on GW research. Finding unknown solutions for a yet unknown problem. Meanwhile we have multiple KNOWN problems that could have benefited greatly from this money.



My "pet" concern is the overfishing of our seas and how this throws a delicate and extremely valuable ecosystem out of balance. But there are many problems as you point out; I just wish we could think through and properly prioritize the problems facing us.



There are other ways it detracts:



encouraging crack-pot ideas to change the climate, almost all of which purposefully screw with natural processes ( like dumping thousands of tons of iron powder into the oceans to seed it)



carbon credits and trading schemes which tend to just spread around the problem to some other place - kinda like the child who doesn't want to eat his vegetables, so he just spreads them out all over his plate. Doesn't get rid of anything EXCEPT the appearance. These schemes will hurt more ethical entities while letting aggressive and amoral traders take everybody else to the cleaners. (Why was Enron one of the biggest supporters of Kyoto?)



finally, the backlash. When people find out they have been deceived, they will not trust ANY environmentalists and will be more reluctant to contribute time or money to very worthy environmental causes.Do you think that "global warming" detracts from other environmental concerns?
Interesting question. I definitely think it is so in the medias but I think we've gotten to the point where we realize that all is connected. The leakage of pesticides from farms is affected by GW. The solubility of substances in the water are also effected by the rising temperatures. New plankton takes over, after the old ones, as temperature rises. Other components change as well. Soil erosion is greatly effected by increased evaporation, and droughts. GW is well established. A less established theory, but still with a huge consensus, is the question of man made GW.Do you think that "global warming" detracts from other environmental concerns?Global Warming seems to have become the catch all Universal Environmental Problem, in which previous environmental issues are now being rolled up together.



For example, "good ozone" depletion used to be bad because it allows ultraviolet radiation in and increses skin cancer. Now its bad because people think its let more heat into the atmosphere that can't get out.



And eating red meat used to be bad because of the hormones and antibiotics given to cows that stay in the meat. Now its bad because the cow stayed healthy enough to fart out a greenhouse gas, unlike wild animals who eat the same thing as cows but never fart.



And the internal combustion engine used to be bad because if it wasn't tuned right, it released unburned hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide which create "bad ozone" during the summer that aggravates people with asthma. Now its bad because no matter how well its tuned it creates CO2.



And finally, destruction of the rain forest used to be bad because it destroyed the habitats of certain animal species and reduced the availability of exotic treebark used to develop wonder drugs. Now its just plain bad because the trees can't absorb CO2 any more.Do you think that "global warming" detracts from other environmental concerns?
Not really. The things we need to do about global warming will have many environmental benefits. And if we do nothing, when global warming hits hard it's going to make all the little problems seem pretty silly.Do you think that "global warming" detracts from other environmental concerns?The real problem is global cooling. Solar scientists predict that, by 2020, the sun will be starting into its weakest Schwabe solar cycle of the past two centuries, likely leading to unusually cool conditions on Earth.



Beginning to plan for adaptation to such a cool period, one which may continue well beyond one 11-year cycle, as did the Little Ice Age, should be a priority for governments. It is global cooling, not warming, that is the major climate threat to the world, especially Canada. As a country at the northern limit to agriculture in the world, it would take very little cooling to destroy Canadian food crops.
global warming is a natural cycle of the earth and CANNOT BE AVOIDED! but all of those problems you listed feed into it and will damage us but it is much more likely that instead of warming this damage will be in the form of freezing as we pollute our atmosphere so much that the sun does not penetrate as much....the greenhouse effect that is talked about so much in global warming will actually cool the planet instead of warming it....the warming is a temporary effect which will lead to cooling...Do you think that "global warming" detracts from other environmental concerns?
What you say its true, polution of our fresh water reservoirs and oceans matter much more than the Climate change, as our influence on the climatic shift is much less important than for the rest of the overall polutions. We polute our water and ground and then we don't consider that we may eat the end results of such polution, by eating contaminate fishes, plants and on...



We are quite arrogant to think that polution in general are not of our concern, unless its related to "global warming" (which I believe is a natural cycle of the planet...). Its just quite pathetic and not sure that its was not the real intentions of our leaders to increase the public awareness when even our scientists cannot agree on it... From my experience in the scientific field, hypothesis can be taken in account when they are backed by hard fact, but those are just predictions made on wronged computer models... No fact there... So not sure that we really understand the whole process and even less sure that we can do something to avoid it. So it leaves me thinking that this is part of a misinformation program... But for which purpose, I can't tell right now...



Still I guess it will increase our own awareness on what influences we can get on our environment and think that it could be a good thing in the medium term...
NO....



What global warming is for me is a simple term for everything that we are doing wrong and is actually doing more for raising the question ,, how can we all live better and in a better balance with what we got IE a self contained ball.Do you think that "global warming" detracts from other environmental concerns?
very good point, I think of it in a sense that i can help out in ways that help. actually help. not buying carbon credits or "reducing my carbon footprint" I don't follow band wagons, but I still like to help make the place a better place:)
In recent years, environmental problems on a global scale that seriously affect the very existence of humankind - global warming, the depletion of the ozone layer, the diminution of tropical forests, and so on - have increased in magnitude. It is generally recognized that the problems are such that mankind must tackle these problems with all its wisdom.



Global environmental disruptions are set apart from conventional ones in that in a global case, a country that generates pollution is not always the country that suffers from the pollution; pollution can cross borders inflicting damage on a wide area. Environmental damage progresses so gradually over a long period of time that it may be too late to take action by the time the damage becomes apparent. Such being the case, effective preventive measures should be devised.



Such are the characteristics of the global environmental problem that its solution requires the efforts of all countries of the world, and international arrangements to address the issue have been launched in recent years.
i think global warming is the worst environment problem
The environmental problems you mentioned are huge and demand attention. Global warming will turn into the joke of the 21st century.
Yes. There is a group of Democratic PAC memebers who keeps asking for donation. They spent alot of time argueing that global warming is a lie. I told them even if its true, we need to reduce our use for fossil fuel. I live in LA and told them if we reduce fossil fuel, smog would be rduced. They have no reply to that. Certain pollution is a fact, but those who want to keep on pollluting like to argue global warming to distract from the pollution that can not be argued.
!!y3s it do3s n it dsnt r3@lly m@tt3r 2 m3!!cuz i 4got w@t it m3ant(gl0b@l w@rming)!!
What is happening is that to prevent CO2 emissions and to get carbon credits, businesses in third world countries are encouraged to pump hydrofluorocarbon-23 into the atmosphere. Now hydrofluorocarbon-23 is not only toxic to life, but one ton of it is the equivalent of 11,700 tons of carbon dioxide.