Umm… Northwest passage open for the first time in history, and northern nations fighting for rights to the new sea lanes? That bit of news doesn’t ring a bell? Rapid retreat of glaciers around the world, including at Glacier N.P.? Nothing? Highest average temperatures in recorded history? Even the climate change naysayers are generally acknowledging that the average temperature of the planet is climbing; they simply challenge the assertion that the action of mankind are accelerating the change. The thing is, nobody can say with absolute certainty whether the temperature increases are mankind’s fault. So if you’re going to bet and bet wrong, in which scenario do you stand to lose the most? If you bet that global warming is real and is caused by man, then you spend countless billions on improving technology and reducing pollution, and make some small sacrifices like reducing auto use, eating less meat, being aware of energy consumption, etc. That money, however, is not flushed down the toilet – it goes toward jobs manufacturing all of that new technology. And we’ll be more energy independent, will have reductions in other types of pollution, etc. On the other hand, if you bet that global warming is not real or is not caused by man and bet wrong, then you risk having the climate change dramatically across the entire planet. Most places will be much warmer, while some could actually be cooler (if ocean warming causes the North Atlantic Current to shift, Europe could become much cooler, as Paris is farther north than Quebec); some places will be dryer, while others will be wetter (hotter temperatures mean more evaporation and more rain) – there will be change, and that change may be too rapid for native flora and fauna to adapt. Meanwhile, many coastal areas will be underwater or more prone to flooding from storms, a devastating notion given that coastal areas tend to be heavily populated. The costs could be astronomical, and those losses will be money essentially flushed down the toilet. And as far as “vested interests” trying to sell the “hoax” of global warming, has anybody noticed that Exxon has reported earnings of over $100 million PER DAY this year? The value of companies whose bottom line would be impacted by carbon cuts is in the trillions of dollars – could it possibly be that they might have some interest in spreading some misinformation? Perhaps global warming is not something that we need to worry about – I certainly hope that that’s the case, since we’re certainly not going to actually take any meaningful actions to combat it – but if we’re going to bet, I vote that we bet on the side of taking action to reduce carbon emissions.
Umm… Northwest passage open for the first time in history, and northern nations fighting for rights to the new sea lanes? That bit of news doesn’t ring a bell? Rapid retreat of glaciers around the world, including at Glacier N.P.? Nothing? Highest average temperatures in recorded history? Even the climate change naysayers are generally acknowledging that the average temperature of the planet is climbing; they simply challenge the assertion that the action of mankind are accelerating the change. The thing is, nobody can say with absolute certainty whether the temperature increases are mankind’s fault. So if you’re going to bet and bet wrong, in which scenario do you stand to lose the most? If you bet that global warming is real and is caused by man, then you spend countless billions on improving technology and reducing pollution, and make some small sacrifices like reducing auto use, eating less meat, being aware of energy consumption, etc. That money, however, is not flushed down the toilet – it goes toward jobs manufacturing all of that new technology. And we’ll be more energy independent, will have reductions in other types of pollution, etc. On the other hand, if you bet that global warming is not real or is not caused by man and bet wrong, then you risk having the climate change dramatically across the entire planet. Most places will be much warmer, while some could actually be cooler (if ocean warming causes the North Atlantic Current to shift, Europe could become much cooler, as Paris is farther north than Quebec); some places will be dryer, while others will be wetter (hotter temperatures mean more evaporation and more rain) – there will be change, and that change may be too rapid for native flora and fauna to adapt. Meanwhile, many coastal areas will be underwater or more prone to flooding from storms, a devastating notion given that coastal areas tend to be heavily populated. The costs could be astronomical, and those losses will be money essentially flushed down the toilet. And as far as “vested interests” trying to sell the “hoax” of global warming, has anybody noticed that Exxon has reported earnings of over $100 million PER DAY this year? The value of companies whose bottom line would be impacted by carbon cuts is in the trillions of dollars – could it possibly be that they might have some interest in spreading some misinformation? Perhaps global warming is not something that we need to worry about – I certainly hope that that’s the case, since we’re certainly not going to actually take any meaningful actions to combat it – but if we’re going to bet, I vote that we bet on the side of taking action to reduce carbon emissions.