Today, the San Francisco Chronicle had a spiffy editorial about how global warming needs to be the political priority of this next election candidates. In that article, they had sweet nuggets of wisdom like "If unchecked, it (global warming) will threaten our national security, stress our economy and degrade our quality of life in so many ways." They also conclude that "Our willingness to confront this unprecedented heating of the planet is a test of our moral obligation to our children and their children." Of course, it's not "unprecedented" but why quibble. Let's carry on.
So all of those running for office need to be enviro-warriors because "The world effectively lost eight years in the effort to apply a brake to climate change while the Bush administration slowly evolved from denial to foot dragging in response to a strong scientific consensus that human activity - namely, the consumption of fossil fuels - was putting life on Earth on a collision course with disaster."
That's right. I am, to some degree according to the editorial, the reason that we are all going to die. See, not only do I burn fossil fuels in my car but I work for an oil and gas company that finds the fossil fuels to burn in your cars. All of this is because I am failing to fulfill my "moral obligation to our children and their children."
Really, we're all little thugish eco-nazis with suvs. After all there is consensus. The scientist have consensus. WTF is our problem? Look at this.
Lonnie Thompson, geology professor from Ohio State, showed measurements and photos of shrinking glaciers around the globe to underscore the damage from greenhouse gases. The thawing that has exposed plants and an "iceman" carcass for the first time in 5,200 years is a clear indication that something is terribly amiss, he suggested.
Ben Santer, a physicist and atmospheric science at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, was ostracized by some members of Congress a decade ago for daring to contribute to the International Panel on Climate Change finding that human activity was probably an influence on global warming. Ten years later, a growing body of evidence has vindicated Santer, and he speaks without fear of political retribution.
"We are," he told the editors, "irrevocably changing the climate." The debate is no longer about whether the Earth is warming at a disturbing rate, but by how much. "We're spinning the wheel," Santer said. By 2100, the "most likely scenario" - a 1 in 4 chance - is that planet temperatures would increase by 2 to 2.5 degrees centigrade, he said.
Terry Root, a biologist at the Woods Institute for the Environment, said the planet already is "right at the edge of a mass extinction event." There is ample evidence of species changing migration habits and otherwise seeking new habitat because of climate change. If temperatures were to rise more than 4 degrees centigrade by century's end, she said, 40 percent of known species in the world would become extinct.
You know, I think at this point we just need to panic and thrash about. I'll lead.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
OK...
I feel better now.
Lets continue.
So why shouldn't we all go jump off a cliff? Seriously, let's just go get our kids toss them off high buildings and then jump right after them, right?
Well, I guess it's because in global warming they typically forget to tell the whole story. Half the story can be fun, don't get me wrong. In fact, in some Hollywood movies it might be preferable, but sometimes it helps to see the whole story. Sometimes.
For example, that "sea levels rising" thing... Yeah that happens. Look at earth history for a sec. It's called Transgression and Regression. Of course, it's not like the earth doesn't change anyway. Click on the picture and look at this.
It's a image of the planet of the last couple plus billion years. Take a good look and notice how much it's changed. Notice that there were times with glaciers and without glaciers. There were times with nearly no exposed land and times with a lot of exposed land. then think about this:
ALL OF THAT HAPPENED WITHOUT ANY HUMAN INTERFERENCE.
I know, freaky isn't it. It's like the planet has systems that function independent of us. It also shows us that just like we weren't in control back then, we aren't in control now and we probably won't be in control any time in the future.
Also, there is the fact that humans have been kicking around as homo sapiens for about 10,000 years. That's not a really long track record compared to something like the shark which has been around for about 360 million years. Likewise, scientists normally don't give you the info that 99% of all the species that have ever existed are now extinct. For perspective, let's play a game. I'm going to give you a list:
cats, dogs, pigs, chickens, cows, donkeys, spotted owls, whales, bald eagles, otters
iguanas, spiders, roaches, ants, carp, geckos, dolphins, meerkats, turtles, hamsters
canaries, wolves, salmon, seals, sea lions, manatees, falcons, sparrows, doves, mice
sharks, armadillos, geese, ducks, horses, beetles, snakes, worms, termites, rats
parrots, quail, humans, grasshoppers, caribou, lice, ticks, mites, crabs, scorpions
Ok, there is a list of fifty animals. Pick one type and imagine that all the other ones die. Over time, that's pretty much what happens. Either a life form evolves or it dies. Actually, I doubled the odds of survivorship because I got lazy and only listed 50 but The same thing goes for us. Hey, I'm a giver. Still, either we'll evolve or we'll die out.
I know that the whole story isn't as "sexy" and it won't get you on the news as often but these scientist should already know this. However, it's politically, egotistically and financially expedient to omit the whole story and the balance that it provides because it doesn't fit the politics of what the politicians want you to hear.
The message they are playing is the same "Pick me because your too stupid to stop this but we can by making rules for you, the stupid people." That might be the case, if what they were saying was totally true. However, it's not.
What's worse is that there are hundreds of other things that could wipe out life on this planet in a matter or days, but they don't platform on those because that would cause hysteria. Instead, we'll scare you about a process that takes hundreds of years to raise the ocean leve 7 inches in order to control your life today. A process that we can't stop and don't understand but will tell you that we can prevent despite the fact that stopping the process is totally physically, energetically, biologically, geologically and chemically impossible to control.
Pardon me, if I don't drink the kool aide on that one.
(BTW, for the creationist: Genesis 9:8-11 "8 Then God told Noah and his sons, 9 “I hereby confirm my covenant with you and your descendants, 10 and with all the animals that were on the boat with you—the birds, the livestock, and all the wild animals—every living creature on earth. 11 Yes, I am confirming my covenant with you. Never again will floodwaters kill all living creatures; never again will a flood destroy the earth.”)
So what to do?
Here's what you do: Accept that your going to die.
No really. I mean it. I can say for a fact that ALL OF YOU WILL DIE with 100% scientific accuracy.
Now decide how you want to try to live? If you want to live trying to hold on to the current climate, scared of change, bound in fear then by all means vote for these fear mongers. It won't work but maybe it will make you feel better. I doubt it but who knows. It's like putting a paper bag over your head, it might help.
Of course, the other option is to see that the things that we build and the stuff that we learn will probably be our best bet at an answer for how humans can take on the changes of a world that will change anyway and allow us to adapt. In that, we're better off if we understand that the car of today is the horse of yesterday and will probably become a novelty to whatever we develop tomorrow.
Or, there's always panic!!!!
Labels: birds, donkey, eco-terrorists, global warming, god, oil, parenting, pets, rats, religion, scary shit, science, technology |
