Various recent news headlines claim that this has been the world's warmest winter on record. Yeah. So warm that an Artic trek ended prematurely due to frostbite. And yeah, a religious environmental organization had to brave a storm on their climate change trek in March. Even a Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality hearing called "Climate Change: Are Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Human Activities Contributing to a "Warming of the Planet?" had to be postponed due to inclement weather. That last bit was the most ironic of all the recent stories.
Last night I caught the tail end of ABC's broadcast called The Last Days on Earth on The History Channel. Of the seven apocalyptic scenarios presented, one is caused, you guessed it, by global warming. With melting ice caps sea level will rise 40 feet, it was claimed. The scientists featured in the program all concur that global warming is caused by human activity and that it is imperative we, with the leadership of our politicians, reduce CO2 emissions now.
"There is no meaningful correlation between CO2 levels and Earth's temperature over this [geologic] time frame. In fact, when CO2 levels were over ten times higher than they are now, about 450 million years ago, the planet was in the depths of the absolute coldest period in the last half billion years," testified Professor Tim Patterson, paleoclimatologist ofCarleton University, before the Commons Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development last year.
As I watched the global warming scenario of The Last Days on Earth program last night, there was no mention of past warming/cooling climate cycles, and neither was there any data mentioned, even in passing, of what C02 levels were liked in the previous ice ages. Context was sadly lacking.
That is why a recent documentary by UK's Channel 4 called The Great Global Warming Swindle is so timely. We have been bombarded by hysterical claims of global warming from mainstream media and it is easy to fall into the doom and gloom crowd. Here is a documentary filled with scientific data and quotes from experts on climate science to counter the alarmist environmentalist propaganda that is so widespread in the media.
According to this documentary, CO2 emissions caused by human activity is very small compared to those caused by animals, dead leaves and the sea itself. The data provided in this documentary shows that CO2 levels follow temperature not the other way around.
The idea that man can control the level of CO2 in the atmosphere is simply preposterous to me. Moreover, CO2 is a necessary gas for life on this planet and for anyone to call it a pollutant simply shows his/her ignorance.
It is always interesting to follow the global warming debate. It is very much like a debate on the merits of the different religions. It can get downright dirty! Michael Crichton, well-known author, even suggested that Environmentalism has become a religion for the urban aethiests. Facts are becoming unnecessary in the global warming debate because like religion it has to do with one's faith and beliefs.
Be informed and not fall prey to the global warming alarmists.
What I do know is that humans do cause Earth damage, be it warming, or some way or another, but I doubt it will be just warming alone. Humans are by their nature pesky and selfish, causing destruction deliberate almost as if they are not supposed to belong on Earth.
ReplyDeleteHowever, since Earth is about 4 billion years old, and nothing in the Universe is constant (possible exception maybe speed of light) then from there we can deduce that change is always present on Earth. Humans just happen to be in the way. Slight temperature increases or sudden weather change and some people will run about yelling the sky is falling.
A bit of amendment to above - what I wanted to say was; Earth is 4 billion +++ years old, humans have only been here less than a million, and our understanding of weather patterns (scientifically) on Earth is only about at best, 100 years. What makes us think that we understand the changes? But then again, any contribution on our part to speed this up (even if it's 0.0001%) is still a contribution to our own demise.
ReplyDeleteI think there is a saying some where "the more you know, the less you know". For each scientific question that they manage to answer, there are going to be some questions over the answers.
ReplyDeleteTherefore, as long as human be rational in the usage of raw materials of the earth and not over use it (which i think it has already happended)...things should be ok.
Any trees that are cut, replant them. Preserve some forest for rehabilitating the animals and plants.
Cut down on defence spending.
Ian,
ReplyDeleteI agree that humans tend to deal badly with their environment. It is easier for developed countries to enact and enforce policies that preserve the environment but harder for countries that are right now trying to develop. In the Channel 4 documentary one of the people featured there was an African who claims that any laws to reduce CO2 emissions (re Kyoto) will have negative impact on countries such as those in Africa that are trying to develop. In essence, he is saying that such countries are paying the heavier price for a world trying to reduce green house gases.
I agree that we can't fully understand what is going on with our planet and our solar system. After the Last Days on Earth program, the next program that came on was called Siberian Apocalypse (a thousand times the strength of the Hiroshima bomb). That was the first I'd heard of such an event, and it made me think that we humans can only do so much to control our environment, but there are many more natural things that can happen that we cannot control (eg tsunami, volcanic eruptions, fireballs from the sky) .. like that still mysterious event that happened in Siberia in 1908. If such an event were to happen in a big city in America, the effects would be devastating.
Anyway, you can tell that global warming is a topic dear to my heart ... heheh, because there is so much hype and ignorance that come with it. The comments posted by viewers of global warming videos, or readers of news articles really tell you the extreme sides of people's opinions on this topic. Like I said, similar to the comments that ensue on topics about religion.
Nightwing, I know that expression. I am not against good laws to ensure a safer and cleaner environment but I cannot agree with laws that intrude on the use of our personal property. I live in California, and the environmental laws here can be draconian.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteHa, Ha, HA.
Are you still listening to Rush 24/7 ? Well, in a macro/global scale it is really hard for me to ascertain how much we are damaging the environment.But looking at very confine polluted area in Malaysia as well as here I can tell human can really do a lot of damages. Can the earth goes on healing itself without our help ?
Cheers
Hi Nung,
ReplyDeleteBeen a while since you last visited my blog!
Yes, I still listen to Rush .. he's my favorite radio personality! Let's just say I listen to a lot of conservative radio!
You and I, living in California, know what preserving the environment cost us .. higher gas prices, regulations on what we can and cannot do to our personal property ...
But these things can be taken into extremes .. a lot of the forest fires in California are a result of forests being left alone and not allowed to be cleared. Logging can be done sensibly, and the forests will be better protected as a result.
Sure, we can need to do our part in keeping our environment clean. I still have my doubts though on how much we can really reduce global warming .. there are too many variables in play here and man's role in causing the warming trend is only a very small part.
Like I said previously, cooling and warming have been part of this planet's past. And those cycles were not caused by anything man ever did.
Thanks for the tip regarding the law thingy. Do u think Terminator is doing a good job there?
ReplyDeleteI hope ur area is not near where the forest fires usually occur.
The Governator is doing a decent enough job. Though thru a conservative's perspective he has compromised too much with the liberal Democrats. He says compromise is the only way to get things done in a predominantly Democrat state like Calfifornia. He says he is Governor to everyone not just the Republicans.
ReplyDeleteHe is right there, but like what Rush Limbaugh said on his radio show with Arnold today, one need not compromise core principles so as to get along with fellow politicians.
No, we don't live in an area where there is danger with forest fire. Our property used to be farmland, so there is no forest to talk about here.