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A majority of [Tampa Bay] readers are not convinced that enough evidence exists
to support claims that the earth's temperature is rising and dramatic
impacts will follow.
Global warming is "pure theory," said 138, or 35 percent of the 388
responses to the latest Business Pulse Survey, the newspaper's
nonscientific weekly online poll designed to provide a snapshot of what
readers are thinking.
Of the remaining respondents, nearly a third -- 113 votes, or 29
percent -- said that human impact is warming the plant while 64 voters
were "in between." Another 73 people chose an "other" category
suggesting that there is a vast range of opinion and understanding on
the issue.
One reader believes that some form of global warming may be taking
place, but the reader is not convinced that it's not just a cyclical,
natural occurrence.
"This planet has been through countless heating and cooling
periods, and I haven't been swayed into thinking that we're at fault
for the receding glaciers. I think the global warming crowd has helped
turn this movement into more of a religion than anything else," the
reader said. "The most hysterical result of this situation has to be
'carbon credits' for sale although you have to hand it to the person
who came up with it, and I feel the need to smack the people that are
actually purchasing them!"
Another reader believes the "true science community" is in
consensus about the issue and over the repercussions it will have. "The
pseudo scientific community funded by large corporations who do not see
a benefit from addressing global warming are the only ones denying that
the earth is heating up."
Another reader believes that in a contained system such as we have
on Earth (together with its atmosphere), one has to be almost "brain
dead" if they don't recognize the issue.
"The vast growth of the worldwide population and the concomitant
increase in the burning of fossil fuels and the release of
ever-increasing chemical vapors over time has a most definite effect on
the atmospheric environment contained within that closed system," the
reader said. "The willful pollution caused by billions of people
worldwide certainly has the potential to ruin the environment and,
ultimately, destroy the livability of the planet."
And for yet another reader, there's a good reason for choosing "other."
"I wanted to be clear in the opinion given. I do believe global
warming is a reality, but I do not believe that we are the cause. I
think it is cyclical and there is nothing we can do to stop it from
happening." Source
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