Thursday, May 31, 2007
Climate change questions
It is probably generally agreed that we are in a warmish period globally, if not in every nook and cranny on earth. That being granted, however, there are two fundamental questions that follow, and only one is being publicly asked and pursued. That question is what has caused the warming and is it man-made or not? Those who believe the warming is man-made assert that warming is the result of our excess use of hydrofluorocarbons and other chemicals, bad tree clearing, and so forth. But suppose (just for the sake of argument) that they are wrong and that warming is not caused by man. Suppose it is cyclical, as some scientists assert. And if that's the case, then there's a huge second question: if we effect all the "fixes" that are proposed to lessen global warming (supposing, of course, that any man-made behavior actually changes the atmosphere anyway), do we not run the risk of dangerously impacting the atmosphere in an attempt to fix things that were not broken?
P.S. Don Surber reports on several snow storms in Germany, Argentina and South Africa - yes, it's May - and asks "What the hell has happened? Is global warming a lie? Or did we just beat it by Al Gore planting all those Guilt Trees in Kenya?" He points out that "[w] did end Global Cooling in the 1970s by switching from Right Guard spray-on to a roll-on." So I guess we're already on the way.
P.S. Don Surber reports on several snow storms in Germany, Argentina and South Africa - yes, it's May - and asks "What the hell has happened? Is global warming a lie? Or did we just beat it by Al Gore planting all those Guilt Trees in Kenya?" He points out that "[w] did end Global Cooling in the 1970s by switching from Right Guard spray-on to a roll-on." So I guess we're already on the way.
Labels: good ideas
Permalink | 
| posted by jau at 9:02 AM
jau — at 6:23 PM, May 31, 2007:
Thinking In Vain — at 9:43 AM, June 01, 2007:
| posted by jau at 9:02 AM
3 more:
jau — at 6:23 PM, May 31, 2007:
That's an interesting idea that it's a combination. On the other hand, I find it hard to believe that the jump from agrarian to industrial -- think Pittsburgh and London, among other things -- had less effect than hairspray. Do you remember the title of the book you read? I'd love to read something that doesn't come with a political agenda!
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Thinking In Vain — at 9:43 AM, June 01, 2007:
Welllllll... I have an interest in alternative archeology, so it was actually a book(s) on the possibility of advanced ancient civilizations.
BUT he sighted these newer studies (say the last 10 years) on how the last ice age wasn't as slow and constant as we're lead to believe. That the warm up could've been quite rapid and horrific and how these things may cycle.
The book was "Fingerprints of the Gods" by Graham Hancock.
He's also got a book called "Message of the Sphinx". While it's mostly geometry and architecture and things I have a hard time wrapping my brain around, it also goes into the precession of the equinoxes and how that might have an effect.
So, well... it does have an agenda, he says so, but not the regular global warming agenda. He's out to prove ancient civilizations and he just happens to cite evidence that is interesting if you look at it in terms of global warming.
Like I said, it's not that I don't think humans have made a huge impact, we have. I just think there could be other things adding to this.
Hell, I just read somewhere that Mars is getting hotter too.
BUT he sighted these newer studies (say the last 10 years) on how the last ice age wasn't as slow and constant as we're lead to believe. That the warm up could've been quite rapid and horrific and how these things may cycle.
The book was "Fingerprints of the Gods" by Graham Hancock.
He's also got a book called "Message of the Sphinx". While it's mostly geometry and architecture and things I have a hard time wrapping my brain around, it also goes into the precession of the equinoxes and how that might have an effect.
So, well... it does have an agenda, he says so, but not the regular global warming agenda. He's out to prove ancient civilizations and he just happens to cite evidence that is interesting if you look at it in terms of global warming.
Like I said, it's not that I don't think humans have made a huge impact, we have. I just think there could be other things adding to this.
Hell, I just read somewhere that Mars is getting hotter too.
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I would personally vote for a combination of the two myself.
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