Since we are voicing opinions, I'll voice mine.
I believe we have an affect, though I can not say to say what amount.
We certainly leave our mark on the land, and there are a bunch less trees and green spaces around here than there was even 10 years ago.
Every time I look, folks are moving further and further away from where other people are. This reduces green space, increases energy use (commuting), and puts strains on local governments which now have to supply services that these folks demand.
We travel by air much more than we used to. A trip (for example) from Madison to Denver uses 10K lbs worth of fuel and puts polutants in the upper atmosphere.
In the last 3 decades, we have sent up more rockets into the upper reaches of our atmoshere to measure the ozone layer. Yet, as anyone can tell you, you can not measure something without affecting it. We have also sent rockets beyond our atmosphere and what about the plasma generated on re-entry?
I don't know the answer or whether "Global Warming" is something to get all tripped about. I just know that I hate seeing needles on a pine tree which is near the road, all brown and dead. I hate it that though we make cars less poluting than they were, we have put more on the road to take their place. I hate the crowding. I hate the polution and the waste. I hate going into the woods and finding a familiar wheeling spot all trashed up with sofas, or car parts or cans, or all of it.
Most of all, I hate being torn between my love of Motorsports and being a Conservationist at heart, and being at "war" with folks who just want the things I want, the outdoors, stoping urban sprawl, clean air and water.
I just wish there was a middle ground.
