I met one of there mad scientists physicists at Maker Faire, I believe his name was @jared. You could also check out https://glowforge.com/about-us and see all the people they currently have on the team.
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Man, Iām not offended, I love discussions like this, I tend to learn a lot, but at the same time I donāt want to digress into what has become a political hot topic. I enjoy these forums too much to lead them astray 
besides, if I only talk with those I agree with what chance do I have to grow? And like Insaid, I donāt doubt things are changing and I have no doubt we (humans) are screwing it up, I just donāt know (personally) that weāve yet nailed down all the culprits. Like I think Marion mentioned, I think what weāre doing to the oceans (all water really) may be one of the biggest problems of all. I as much as anyone want to find cleaner energy, sustainable energy and practices just in general 
Iām thinking Glowforge has to be the answer to something !
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This would actually be an argument for cooling of the planet, as the surface would be reflecting the energy instead of absorbing it. Its the greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere that keep the reflected energy from leaving our atmosphere the same way it came in.
My take on climate change is that harvesting fossil fuels (fracking etc) is horribly damaging the current state of our planet, our health, and the health of all the other organisms here regardless of whether its really causing warming. There really isnt any reason not to move away from fossil fuels as quickly as possible.
As far as warming, we know its happening whether its our fault or not, you can see the ice melting, so we know its going to be an issue effecting the way everyone lives. If moving away from fossil fuels actually helps lessen this, then by all means, lets do what we can to better ourselves and our planet at the same time.
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Completely agree. Living in the middle of the fracking world (I still think of battlestar Galactica every time I say that 
) when big oil says fracking isnāt doing any damage and certainly isnāt causing the earthquakes that didnāt hit the area till after fracking started makes me more than a little livid. My family has been on the blue collar side of oil and gas for a long time.
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hey, thatās me! We do indeed have (mad) science staff here hard at work answering tough questions and solving hard problems along with the rest of the glowtrotters 
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Iām all for using alternative energy sources any time it is a viable alternative. But I know that you will never supply the electricity we need in this country without natural gas and coal. I am a hard line extremist when it comes to illegal dumping of trash and chemicals and anything that causes damage to our wildlife and water supply. I just donāt believe cars and coal cause global warming. I am willing to admit this isnāt my area of expertise and am willing to listen to anyone that can talk facts and not feelings.
I have to say this conversation has gone WAY better on here than any other time I have seen it discussed. I usually avoid it like the plague but everyone on here seems so genuine and not easily provoked. Once again I am extremely impressed with the people on these forums.
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Do you believe that using cars and coal creates CO2?
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FTW! 
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I guess itās a Catch-22. We either trust those whose entire career it is to collect and interpret available data or we go with the answer we all want. The fact that no sane scientist would want human caused climate change to be true strongly suggests that I should listen.
I tend to believe that scientists are a little more ethical than politicians. But thatās just me.
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Of course it does, but I also know that coal burns naturally if you donāt mine it. At a much faster rate than man burns it. Underground coal fires burn for decades at a time. also natural gas will escape from the ground if it isnāt mined and contained. Most natural gas discoveries are because of a natural escape. I also know that the carbon footprint of an electric car is higher than my full size dodge truck.
One large volcanic eruption also puts out more co2 than man has since the industrial revolution. I donāt argue that we donāt put off āgreenhouseā gas I just donāt believe it has the impact that is stated. Maybe if we hadnāt āhealedā the ozone hole we wouldnāt be trapping so much āgreenhouseā gas. That last line was just for fun lol
But seriously right now we donāt have the ability or technology to offset fossil fuel use, if we ever do then great. I know we just started measuring co2 in 1958 and that is my main argument for the disbelief of itās validity. And I may be completely wrong but science has a history of overstating everything when they first start studying it. Heck I remember when the monkey was my brother and not my cousin! That hurt to lose such a close relationship
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Iām skeptical about that statement. I wonāt hammer you to produce evidence, but that gives me something to research.
One thing we must bear in mind is that misinformation travels just as fast. Anybody can publish anything, which puts many YouTube āproofsā in the same category as the message you see spray painted on an overpass.
A lie can make halfway at around the world before the truth can get its shoes on - Twain
And then the Feynman quote.
What gets me is how those who are sure of their information refuse to examine any new evidence. A conscious choice to stop learning.
āScience - if you are not making mistakes youāre doing it wrong.
If you donāt correct your mistakes youāre doing it really wrong.
If you donāt believe in the possibility that you could be mistaken, youāre not doing it at all.ā
Actually we are all scientists, from our earliest age.
You reach out to touch the pretty flame and get burned. Your model is that fire - hot!
Later you touch a hot surface without a flame and get burned again, so you modify your model to include the new evidenceā¦ Incremental acquisition of Understandingā¦
Science.
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Do you believe the created CO2 goes into the atmosphere?
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Not hard to prove, itās been researched pretty heavily. After you take into count the battery, wiring, car body, frame,charging products (cable and plug) and then the freight liner they use to transport all of the products and the trucks to ship car to the dealer it works out to be larger cause bin footprint. But I agree you can take the same info and spin it either way so itās not worth arguing over but I do enjoy discussing t with you all. Who knows I might get an epiphany and change my views on it, Iām always open to that. The majority of the problem occurs on the battery and freight liner transporting them overseas. Solve that problem and it would be a great alternative.
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You missed the point again. The point is that for over 40 years scientists have seen man made changes to our enviroment and we should clean up after ourselves.
We CAN keep things pretty clean, but it costs the corporations money which is why it is a political hot topic.
Is it safe to say we can all agree we should be as clean as we can as humans even if people think the changing climate is natural?
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I just am not sold on co2 being the primary cause of global warming, not arguing that we donāt produce it by burning fossil fuels. I also believe that nature produces way more co2 then man could ever imagine. We havenāt studied it long enough to know the effects much less the cause. Right now most of the predictions are based on assumption of co2 levels and the life of the molecule. They estimate 600 years I believe but I donāt see how you could possibly know that after studying it for 59 years. In 20 years if it is still a āsettledā science then I might be convinced. I just know how most of the time they jump the gun on what they believe causes any problem. Also it usually takes 20 years for scientist to change projections or the cause of the problem anyways.
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Exactly this!!
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Letās do the math.
Volcanoes add approximately 0.6 Giga-tons of Carbon (GtC) to the atmosphere each year, while human activities add approximately 24 GtC annually (and climbing).
Industrial Revolution began about 250 years ago, so in that time Volcanoes have added ~150GtC. (~250 x 0.6 = 150)
150 / 24 = 6.25, so in just over 6 years, humanity adds more Carbon to the atmosphere than all the volcanic eruptions in the past 150 years.
Itās not even close.
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Actually
Carbon dioxide is released when magma rises from the depths of the Earth on its way to the surface. Our studies here at Kilauea show that the eruption discharges between 8,000 and 30,000 metric tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere each day. Actively erupting volcanoes release much more CO2 than sleeping ones do.
Iāll link to website when I get home
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I need a drop mic emoji, that is only one vocano
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