What's Really Important We Ignore Global Warming At Our Own Risk
The people who dismiss the serious potential consequences of Global Warming are no doubt of the same mentality that presently bring us Intelligent Design, and in the past blessed us with the Flat Earth and Sun Revolving Around the Earth theories.
Of course global warming is natural, and occurs in a cyclical manner. If it did not, Earth would be an iceberg. After all, it is a small sphere traveling through the darkness of frigid space in the middle of nowhere. Sure, volcanoes, forest fires and other natural phenomenon have always contributed to the greenhouse gases creating this warming. That’s the way it’s supposed to be.
The dots that all too many can't seem to connect are that since the advent of the industrial revolution, mankind has been increasingly adding to the dynamics of that equation. We, as a race, presently spew billions of metric tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere each and every day. Methane from herds of cattle and other food stock also contribute, but who exactly created those herds? We did.
As for it being hot in some places, and cold in other places, that is the way global warming effects the planet. It is not so much about temperature as it is about the "effect" of temperature on a very delicate ecosystem. Ice ages are sometimes triggered by global warming, as are droughts, heat waves, flooding and every perceivably bad turn of the climate. Enough said. Those that get it, will, and those that can't may not want to.
As for the spawn of the petroleum industry and the present administration, no doubt they believe they can take their money with them when the earth is no longer suitable for the survival of Homo sapiens. (Please don't tell them I said that. They will probably think I'm referring to homophobia.)
As for phoney-balogna-uninformed-wannabe-expert-nincompoops that consistently mimic the talking points and sound bytes of those industrial lobbyists, corporate and political leaders, and scientists hired by the oil industry who are determined to keep the realities of global warming from the public for short term economic gain I say shame on you. Mediocrity and greed are no substitute for the truth.
Global warming is not, and should never have become a political issue. The only people I've seen refer to it as one are those not wanting to spend a little more money now to insure that we might have a habitable planet in the future. And if it turned out that global warming was not as serious as projected by the vast majority of reputable and objective climatologists on the planet, God forbid we might have to just settle for cleaning up the atmosphere instead!
Comments
Being in denial of global warming and that humans are culpable is similar to people denying the holocaust ever happened. Both are so horrific and frightening, that it seems that if one just screams loud enough that it's not really happening (or happened) louder and with more venom then you're right. It really has nothing to do with scientific evidence. More an emotional immaturity, small thinking, frustration, fear. It helps to blame another group, to have an 'other' to project onto. Then you are a member of a club of Magical thinking, similar to the world's major religions, and you can proceed with impunity.
It's as if humans just can't or will not own up to our collective effect on our planet and each other, and more essential, how our individual efforts are the key to that collective effect. I think the earth will survive, she has all the time in the world.
Humans though, may be another story. For all our lip service to the value of human life, (let's not even discuss other life forms on this planet) it's really only our own small egos that we find precious.
Posted by: beanie | February 16, 2007 04:34 PM
Stephen,
First let me say, I'm so glad you have made another post to the blog. And what an excellent subject. I agree with you wholeheartedly, I am constantly amazed at the stupidity and bury-your-head-in-the-sand mentality over global warming.
I remember well when Bush refused to sign the Kyoto Agreement, it would cost the American people too much money! How about saving the planet so that the American people have a place to live. I recently seen a news story on CNN with Anderson Cooper on the Rainforest of Brazil. It is desimated. Don't people realize how this also affects the hot house gasses?
When do the people of this planet plan on doing something serious about this crises our entire planet is facing? The U.S. should lead the way in getting off fossil fuels and doing some real incentives offering to get companies and everyone else on alternative fuels. Here in New Mexico, we could go with solar and wind power with as many sunny and windy days we get here. We have to be willing to make some sacrifices and spend some money to make these changes. It's not a question of when we do it or how much it will cost anymore, we HAVE TO DO IT, and now.
Posted by: Katerina | February 16, 2007 07:04 PM
you are right on the money. Earth does have its natural changes which have and will occur throughout time; but we are at such an accelerated rate of polluting the air and water now that we are interfering with this natual process me thinks. I feel it is almost too late to help us now. Shameful to say its is on a large part because of the big business control of our government on environmental issues. Now WE ARE AT THE POINT WHERE THE WHOLE WORLD IS IN A WATER CRISIS. The next big conflict will be over Water. Ths USA has been extremely lucky thusfar; not so with the rest of the world. China,middle east etc. are in dire straights with lack of water- China is rapidly turning into a desert in the west. Just think of all the polution we put in the air over all the years of industialization; now the third world is doing the same thing at a faster pace. Normally txhe earth has a way of replemishing itself but noW ITS GONNA BE NASTY. i ENJOY YOUR SITE and views very much. Keep it up my friend. Nice to hear views without bashing ad name calling lol. Peace to us all----Ray
Posted by: Ray | February 20, 2007 04:10 PM
I am constantly amazed at the naysaying regarding global warming. At the very least, one has to ask what benefit there is to dismissing it as simply a natural cycle on which humans have no effect. It is one thing for large corporations to throw their weight around so they don't have to spend any money on environmentally sound practices, or, God forbid, lose a couple of million dollars. But the average person on the street who spits out corporate sound bites is a real puzzle to me. Turning the issue of global warming into a political issue because one doesn't like Al Gore is immature at best.
Posted by: Renee | February 22, 2007 08:46 AM
Oddly enough, I was thinking about just this problem - global warming - earlier this week. Here's my rough train of thought, on the off chance it's of interest:
First, I mulled over a definition of "global warming", and came up with this: "global warming" = "more energy retained in the atmosphere, less energy re-radiated into space".
"So OK," my brain said to me, "there you have a quantative description of global warming: you define it as a percent increase in heat retained instead of re-radiated. That defines how big the problem becomes."
At that point, it occurred to me that if we were talking about some small change, maybe there was a simplistic solution to managing global warming. You do something that causes energy to radiate back into space more efficiently. I could picture things like "require all roofs to be reflective", or converting the state of New Mexico into a giant mirror, something like that. It might not take all that much.
The idea turned out to not be so far-fetched. In admittedly limited research so far, I've found one reference to research that concludes we would need to reflect 3% more energy back than occurs in the current atmosphere in order to maintain a constant temperature. (For example, 3% is cited in an article on the BBC's website at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/6354759.stm, which contemplated a novel machine to generate clouds in order to reflect light back into space).
Maybe there's no need to panic. If we work to level off and then decrease carbon emissions, come up with ways to soak more carbon out of the atmosphere, and (if necessary) artificially reflect more energy off the planet, we might get by without major disruptions. Maybe 3% is small enough that a minority of do-gooders can outweigh an army of SUVs that are so large, they generate their own gravity fields...
Posted by: Nadrew | February 24, 2007 08:13 PM
I have reasearched the this topic on both sides of this topic and became very confused as there are so many opinions and the scientists all seem to have gotten different facts I eventuly looked at a timeline of tempuraters. After studing those I decided that yes we should all do our part to keep our contry clea n the best we could but looking at the ice ages and such it seems that we are almost going over the top about somthing that isnt that drastic! but thats just my opinion!
Posted by: chelle3 | August 7, 2007 03:17 PM
chelle3, the world we live on relies on delicate balance to be a place that supports life as we know it. There has always been global warming; if there was not, our planet, that is in the middle of frigid space, would not support the life we so enjoy.
Ice ages have come and gone. Periods of warming have come and gone, but within these extremes there has always been a continual balance. In the last couple of hundred years, and due to the industrial revolution, for the first time in our recorded history, mankind has been able to effect the environment in a big way.
Every day, billions of metric tons of greenhouse gases are spewed into the atmosphere as industrial waste. It is not just the natural processes of the planet at work any longer. As the level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere increase in exponential fashion, so does the temperature. Already the ice at both poles is beginning to melt at a startling pace. As more fresh water hits the oceans, and changes the salinity, the way in which heat is distributed throughout the world is changing. As that changes, so will the climate. That is what we have to fear. And, this does not even make note of the tens of millions of people that will be displaced by rising sea levels around the world.
Posted by: Stephen | August 7, 2007 05:45 PM