Stay Fabulous!

 Misconception 6
" Antarctica's ice sheets are growing, so it must not be true that global warming is causing glaciers and sea ice to melt."

Some ice on Antarctica may be growing -- though other areas of the continent are clearly melting and a new 2006 study shows that overall the ice is shrinking in Antarctica.
Even if some of the ice is getting bigger, not shrinking, this doesn't change the fact that global warming is causing glaciers and sea ice to melt around the world.
Globally, more than 85% of glaciers are shrinking.
And in any case, localized impacts of climate change don't cancel out the global trends that scientists are observing.
Some people also mistakenly claim (in Michael Crichton's novel State of Fear, for instance) that Greenland's ice is growing.
In fact, recent satellite data from NASA shows that Greenland's ice cap is shrinking every year, causing sea levels to rise.
The loss of that ice doubled from 1996 to 2005.  Greenland lost 50 cubic kilometers of ice in 2005 alone.

誤解六
「南極的冰層在變厚耶，說不定全球暖化根本不會讓冰河和海冰融化。」

在南極的一些地區，冰層確實有增厚，但是南極大陸其他地區的冰層都很明顯地在融化，2006年最新的研究顯示，南極的冰層整體而言都在縮減。
就算有些冰層在成長，全球暖化造成冰河和海冰融化仍是事實，全球有超過85% 的冰河都在減退，局部地區的增加並沒有辦法抵銷科學家觀測到的全球性減少趨勢。
有些人（像是小說「恐懼之邦」）錯誤地宣稱格陵蘭的冰河在成長。
事實卻是，NASA近來的衛星資料都顯示格陵蘭的冰帽逐年縮小，造成海平面上升。
冰層消融的體積從1996年到2005年已經加倍，光2005年一年，格陵蘭地區就損失了50立方公里的冰。


Misconception 7
" Global warming is a good thing, because it will rid us of frigidwinters and make plants grow more quickly."

This myth just doesn't seem to die.  Because local impacts will vary, it's true that some specific places may experience more pleasant winter weather.
But the negative impact of climate change vastly outweighs any local benefits.
Take the oceans, for example.
Changes to the oceans caused by global warming are already causing massive die-offs of coral reefs, which are crucial sources of food and shelter for creatures at every stage of the ocean food chain, all the way up to us.
Melting ice sheets are causing sea levels to rise, and if big ice sheets melt into the ocean, many coastal cities around the world will flood and millions of people will become refugees.
There are just some of the consequences of global warming.
Other predicted impacts include prolonged periods of drought, more severe flooding, more intense storms, soil erosion, mass species extinction, and human health risks from new diseases.
The small number of people who experience better weather may be doing it in a landscape that is nearly unrecognizable.

誤解七
「暖化也很好呀，這樣冬天就不冷了，植物也長的比較快」

這個觀點常常被人提出。沒錯，因為氣候變化會因地而異，所以有些地方在暖化之後就不會再有嚴冬。
但是小區域得利並無法扭轉對整體的負面影響。
舉海洋為例，因為全球暖化，許多珊瑚礁大量死亡，珊瑚礁是海洋生物的重要食物來源與棲地，透過食物鏈環環相連，最後人類也會受影響。
冰層融化造成海平面上升，如果大量冰層融化進入海洋，所有臨海的城市將會被淹沒，上百萬人都會成為災民。
這只是全球暖化之後的其中一兩項惡果。
其他預測出現的災害包括長期乾旱、更嚴重的洪災氾濫、風暴增強、土壤侵蝕、物種滅絕、新型傳染病威脅公共衛生等等。
那一小撮能享受舒適天氣的人，也要看著熟悉的景物成為滄海桑田。


Misconception 8
" The warming scientists are recording is just the effect of cities trapping heat, rather than anything to do with green house gases."

People who want to deny global warming because it's easier than dealing with it try to argue that what scientists are really observing is just the "urban heat island" effect, meaning that cities tends to trap heat because of all the buildings and asphalt.
This is simply wrong.
Temperature measurements are generally taken in parks, which are actually cool areas within the urban heat islands.
And long-term temperature records showing just rural areas are nearly identical to long-term records that include both rural areas and cities.
Most scientific research shows that "urban heat islands" have a negligible effect on the overall warming of the planet.

誤解八
「科學家看到的暖化不過是來自都市累積的熱能，跟溫室氣體沒有關係。」

很多鴕鳥心態想否認全球暖化的人會用「都市熱島」來解釋科學家觀測到的資料，認為暖化是由於都市建築物與柏油路面散熱不佳。
這個想法是錯誤的。
氣溫通常是在公園綠地等都市熱島中較涼爽的地點進行量測，而且就算將「郊區」的長期溫度資料獨立出來看，變化與「郊區加都市」的資料幾乎相同。
大部份的科學研究也顯示「都市熱島」對全球的暖化影響微乎其微。


Misconception 9
" Global warming is the result of a meteor that crashed in Siberia in the early 20th century."

This may sound absurd to some of us, but it's real hypothesis suggested by a Russian scientist.
So what's wrong with it?  Basically, everything.
The impact of a meteor, much like a volcanic eruption, might have immediate effects on climate if it were large enough.
But there is no record of warming or cooling during the period after this meteor hit.
The effects that would have been produced by the meteor would have involved water vapor, which only stays in the upper atmosphere for a few years at the most.
Any effects would have been short-term, and could not be felt this far in the  future.

誤解九
「全球暖化是二十世紀初撞擊西伯利亞的隕石造成的。」

這個說法相信不少人覺得很詭異，這是一位俄國科學家提出的假說。
它的問題在哪裡呢？嗯，到處都是問題。
隕石撞擊的效應跟火山噴發很類似，如果規模夠大的話會讓氣候產生立即的改變。
但是在這顆隕石撞擊之後，並沒有紀錄到任何顯著的增溫或冷卻。
隕石的影響是會增加高層大氣的水氣，但是也只會維持幾年，這些短期變化不可能殘留到現在。


Misconception 10
" Temperatures in some areas aren't increasing, so global warming is a myth."

It is certainly true that the temperature is not rising at every point on the planet.
In Michael Crichton's novel The State of Fear, characters pass around graphs that show specific places around the world where temperatures are decreasing slightly or remaining the same.
The graphs represent real data from real scientists.
But while they may be fact, they don't prove the point. 
Global warming refers to the rise in the average temperature of the entire Earth's surface due to increased levels of greenhouse gases.
Because the climate is an incredibly complex system, the impacts of climate change will not be the same everywhere.
Some areas of the globe -- such as northern Europe -- might actually become colder. 
But this does not change the fact that overall, the surface temperature of the planet is rising, as are the temperatures of our oceans. 
The gains have been demonstrated by several types of measurements -- including satellite data -- that all show the same general results.

誤解十
「有很多地方氣溫並沒有增加，全球暖化是錯的。」

的確，不是地球上每個地方都在變暖。
在「恐懼之邦」裡就有描述角色們互相傳閱幾個地區溫度在降低或維持不變的資料圖表，而那些圖表都是真實世界裡科學家觀測到的紀錄。
這些都是事實，但也無法否定什麼。
「全球暖化」指的是「整個地球平均之後的地面溫度」受溫室氣體的增加而升高。
因為氣候是一個難以描述的複雜系統，每個地方感受到的氣候變化都不一樣。
有些地區，如歐洲北部，就很有可能會變冷。
但這不會改變全球平均地面溫度，還有海面溫度都在升高這個事實。
相似的結果在不同觀測方法得到的資料，包括衛星資料，都可以看到。


from An Inconvenient Truth written by Albert Gore, translated by waitingchen