I feel the need to talk about this subject, particularly now as in the northern US, we are thawing-out from a second, brutal winter. Many in the United States have a tendency to look at weather as a surface problem. But weather - or Earth's circulatory system actually - is NOT just a surface issue, but a deeply layered issue where cause and effect have serious ramifications.
I will of course, preface this by saying - I AM NOT A CLIMATE SCIENTIST. However, I have the ability to read; I have the ability to absorb the information that meteorologists convey to the public at large; and I have the ability to decipher and correlate the evidential information I receive and put it to practical use. This is the ability of the evolved, human brain. All of us with normal brain function can accomplish this task.
There are those in this country and world - in positions of power - who, while seemingly possessing similar brain power, either don't actually have it or are intentionally spewing calculated ignorance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TIOy7MZRR0
So the point of SENATOR Inhofe's graphic display, is in a nutshell, to say that global warming and 2014 being the hottest year on record is a simple lie ... because it snowed.
This is like saying America has no poverty because, Bill Gates is rich.
In both instances, two conditions CAN still exist together and yet be true.
No one said that 2014 was so goddamn hot that snow will cease to exist - only that the global temperature AVERAGE for the YEAR was HIGHER than it ever has been in RECORDED history.
So - now the debate becomes whether or not this heat will ruin our world as geologic history shows us that Earth has experienced periods of much warmer climates and much colder climates - NATURALLY.
Of course this implies that the warming, (which IS happening and I will post several links at the bottom to responsible studies by actual scientists), is man-made or natural.
BUT - I am going to propose a NEW (well not really new, but mostly overlooked) angle on the whole issue! Instead of arguing over who or what is to blame for the warming trend and the subsequent and very visual and measurable, world ice-melt ... why don't we instead start planning for the future?
There are two components that I feel are most relevant.
1) regardless of the melting power of fossil fuels - why not switch to clean energy for the reason that it tends to NOT POISON US and all other life on Earth?
2) enact plans to enable us to live in a world that contains a lot more surface water than we had previously planned.
We can debate the "why's" and the "who's to blames" until we're all blue in the face. Meanwhile - Florida will be under water. New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, DC, Houston, New Orleans will be under water - IF we do nothing.
In fact, the only way - in the future - to salvage these cities will be by great feats of engineering and mastery of flood control.
Also - maybe we should consider more radical plans such as cities built underwater or on the water - floating cities even.
Going back to that whole brain thing - we DO have the ability to combat most of what nature can throw at us and come out on top - like cockroaches. Though with them - it's just sheer numbers.
We can either sit around and deny and fight each other and weep when it's too late ... OR we can plan ahead, wisely like intelligent life forms should.
I'm going to tell you now - this government will not save you. "God" will not save you. Only we can save ourselves. It's all we've ever done to survive - it's what we must do to continue.
And that brings up a point - this future won't be a big deal for those of us at the helm now. This WILL be a problem for our kids' kids and beyond. But our prodigy has every right to life that we have. And if people can't see that - well they don't deserve what they have now. Our founders didn't do all they did to create this nation just for them - they did it for us. And we shouldn't just piss it away.
Elect leaders who make decisions based on facts. Not on how much money it earns them.
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/basics/
http://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJhbQIlu4mk
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/03/18/the-right-warms-up-to-climate-change.html
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2015/02/climate-change-economics/parker-text
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/mar/17/climate-change-demands-immense-economic-changes
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2015/mar/16/climate-change-in-the-arctic-is-messing-with-our-weather
https://www.climatecommunication.org/new/features/extreme-weather/overview/
Research it yourselves. Don't stick your head in the sand. This is not the end of our civilization. But we need to learn to adapt.
And if you refuse to believe the science because you don't trust scientists ... well I just can't help you there. Enjoy your new pool/living room.
No comments:
Post a Comment