I just saw a fairly recent (February 2008) film showing a slide-show that Al Gore recently gave on climate change. Here’s a version of the video from Ted.com. It’s inline with the material presented in his film, An Inconvenient Truth, but includes recent data and observations.
I watched that video once earlier today, and once again the moment this posting went live. To be honest, while I think he makes amazing points, I have a hard time watching it, mostly because the frustration is so evident in his speech. As far as he is concerned (along with most of the scientists out there), everything he is stating in so amazingly obvious it’s hard to fathom how there hasn’t been a huge movement to correct these issues. And I completely agree.
Real change takes passion. It times time, energy, and sacrifice. But that does not automatically imply that real, meaningful change has to be hard, just that it takes determination.
To clarify that point, I want to make mention of a blog entry I did a few weeks ago where I talked about how Google was giving every homeless person in San Francisco a free phone number. I approached Google about helping pull that off in Vancouver, but I never got a reply. So instead of giving up, I gathered a group of people together in Vancouver and pitched the idea of doing it ourselves. With luck, next week that system will go live.
I mention that not to toot my own horn, but to show that not all change is hard to obtain. In this case, the system will hopefully help people in this city, give hope to those who need it the most, and will serve as a demonstration that not all big ideas take big effort. All it took was the collective efforts of a few people, and a little drive. That’s all most things ever take.
Last weekend I attended the Junos in Calgary, and went in the capacity as a photographer with the media. My blog, which doesn’t really ever get a lot of traffic, was on the front page of results on Google for the Junos, often above CTV and other mainstream news outlets. And who am I? I’m just a nobody — a computer dork that hacks away at PHP in my spare time, sets up blogs, watches movies, and sometimes treats myself to a helping of nachos. But that’s the point.
Our generation is really the first one that has the capacity to rise above politics, above media censorship, above lies, and have our voices heard whenever we want. Some of us have blogs, some of us get Facebook traffic, and others undoubtedly know someone that does. Some of you are writers, some painters, some singers, some photographers, all with a medium available to voice your frustrations with the world or inspire the change you want to see in it. And if you believe in something enough, whether it’s climate change or something else, there’s really nothing stopping you from making a difference or making yourself heard.
A single drop in a pond, no matter how small, will still cause a ripple.
It’s quite a shocking video and very well put together. I took some first year environmental courses this past year and An Inconveniant Truth was shown in both classes
In terms of how recent it is, i’m pretty sure it was made in early 2007
Thanks Duane – a great post and great reminder with Earth Day just a while off.
Kudos to you and your group for taking the bull by the horns. All those things, no matter how small and insignificant they seem, can help turn us in the right direction. I’m reminded of that saying about the way to eat an elephant – one bite at a time.
If I’m sllipping up I find my kids are pretty good at policing things –
DAD THAT GOES IN THE COMPOST NOT THE GARBAGE – GEEZ!!!!
Thank you for the inspiratioin.
Actually, I have a hard time believing that Global warming is effected THAT much by the human race. I do acknowledge that we are causing a speed up in the process, but at the same time, it’s a process that occurs naturally in our world. Not to mention in the sixties there was a big hubbub about how we were going into another ice age. Honestly, I believe that Mr. Gore is doing a service by bringing attention to the subject, but as he said so himself you have to stretch the facts to make people aware. Basically meaning that people won’t worry about something unless it sounds like it’s a very pressing issue.
I dunno.
“Some of you are writers, some painters, some singers, some photographers, all with a medium available to voice your frustrations with the world or inspire the change you want to see in it. And if you believe in something enough, whether it’s climate change or something else, there’s really nothing stopping you from making a difference or making yourself heard.”
thank you for the amazing words of wisdom Duane ^_^
Gore always inspires. Sara and I have been considering the different ways we can make changes for ourselves again, but as Gore advocates, I think we both need to consider ways we can become more active in our workplaces and communities to push for change.
One thing lots of people don’t really understand about this global warming thing is the rising to temperature one 1-2 degrees. Overall it is huge, I mean major and its only getting worse. Take for instance fish in the water. Every particular species of fish live in water that is a specific temperature, given the seasonal variations. If that temperature is slightly higher overall every bodily function about them changes and they can’t really adapt very well. Mating, eating, etc. are all diminished. 1-2 degrees yeah big deal!
Those politicians in Washington don’t seem to care because its not profitable. Bill Clinton did a damn good job signing bills to protect the environment and that fucking monkey George Bush once he was elected every couple of weeks you would see him sign legislation to reverse those bills. WTF? I can’t sit on Capitol Hill everyday and lobby for the environment but I do my part at home and if I could afford it, nevermind I can’t afford to even miss a day of work.
[quote comment=”49620″]Actually, I have a hard time believing that Global warming is effected THAT much by the human race. I do acknowledge that we are causing a speed up in the process, but at the same time, it’s a process that occurs naturally in our world. Not to mention in the sixties there was a big hubbub about how we were going into another ice age. Honestly, I believe that Mr. Gore is doing a service by bringing attention to the subject, but as he said so himself you have to stretch the facts to make people aware. Basically meaning that people won’t worry about something unless it sounds like it’s a very pressing issue.
I dunno.[/quote]
I agree with you 100%.
I have encountered many a debate with those who say “the evidence is so obvious” and all I can say is “is it really?”.
Because there are too many factors, too many biases, too much politics, too much greed for funding, etc… to really be sure. We’re constantly improving our observation methods and our “models”, however, we cannot go back in time and use the same tools throughout the past 5million years and analyze things.
I have argued with my girlfriend about this. She sites books and I site pure science and that is, if you are looking for something to fit your belief, you will find it!
We are definitely changing the earth, look at urban sprawl, how much land have we modified to fit our homes, factories, to harvest our food, to remove natural resources from the ground which would not have normally been exposed to the surface, pollution in the water we drink, etc…
We are guilty of making a mess, but to say we’re 100% to blame, especially when the sun heats the earth 1000 times more than our CO2 blanket, it just does not make sense. There’s more than C02, as I mentioned above. It is just easier to pick one thing and focus on that I guess.
People are so afraid of the world changing, we’re apart of it, we will have to adapt! That’s just how it goes!
I don’t think it will be doom and gloom, but if you don’t say the, no one will believe you. Things will definitely change and in my life time, and we will adapt! If we don’t, we’ll perish! People are just too afraid of change. Animal species will die, as will entire regions of people, and new species will be born.
Was Al Gore traveling around in his SUV’s for this trip too? He should be using smart car’s and have his stuff shipped in conjunction with other shipments, so he can say “even my tours minimize my ‘environmental footprint’ “.
Perhaps if we focus less on trying to say “see see, I told you our models were accurate” and more energy into actually cleaning up the current mess and pollution, and employ the many existing technologies for cleaning up the mess, we’d do better! Stop bitching so much about C02 and cars/factories, try cleaning up your drinking water and recycle more, reuse your old computer instead of tossing it for the latest, stop eating 5x what you normally need, push and support local farms to minimize on trucking in or flying in food, push your politicians to stop wasting funds on useless projects and work with what we have, making it more efficient, start retrofitting existing factories and cars (oh dear, that would lower sales and thus profits, and we can’t have that, so toss the old cars so they rust and put a shit load of toxic chemicals into our drinking water, purchase new vehicles as their materials are stripped from the earth, digging even deeper and changing the surface further) etc…
We might actually make it through this mess!
I think it’s very telling that Gore chose not to run for president. it’s not that he’s still frustrated with the results of the last fiasco. it’s that he understands what a hypocrit that chair would make him. no one man has any power to do anything. as much as I think Bush an imbecile, I’m not daft enough to believe that his personal views have affected his office in any way; ok, maybe by coincidence. and it would become glaring once Gore took office. he would have a very hard time changing the world in ways that we all would like to see him do.
Im going to take great interest in watching the same phenonmena happen with Obama. it’s sad, but unfortunately, the way it is.
While we tend to agree that we are causing irreparable damage to our world, we are still lacking in leadership, and a centralized movement. We’re much too scattered.
We need a leader for a global environmental movement. Gore is great at being a liaison between the science and the public, and being someone to put things in perspective, but I find with these kinds of expressions – Who Killed The Electric Car, general global warming information in our school systems, and information through the Internet, that people aren’t willing to take the next step in advocating the solution.
How many people who care about the environment take it to the extent of approaching their representatives in parliament, legislature, and municipalities. How many people are willing to inconvenience themselves by taking the bus, when they can afford a comfy car ride? How many people would choose a local vacation spot rather than a plane trip to a sunny paradise? Who turns the TV/PC for only an hour or two a day to conserve energy? Not many. Those who do, you have my total respect. I’m doing my best to emulate you.
We have the solutions – Carbon Tax, as Al Gore suggested. Better transit services, that would promote taking the bus over the car. People are already seeing a return on investing in solar panels for pool heating, since it takes only a few years for it to pay off. And believe me, there are more politicians than the Grits and the Tories, if you wish to elect someone who puts the environment near the top of their list of priorities.
We need leadership. Desperately. We need someone of Malcolm X, and John Lennon proportions for this.
what happened to acid rain?
and (are you in ontario?) zebra mussels?
Im not taking away from the GW debate at all. Im actually a former indifferent who was won over by Gore. but seriously. it’s just odd that these ‘planet altering’ disasters come in and go away so quickly. in all honesty, here’s to the same fate for global warming.
Dale: An excellent point about extending your influence into the workplace and beyond. To put things in perspective, I remembered today my first real job a long time ago – a labour relations meeting in an automotive facility where it was all men – and half of them had ashtrays on the table smoking – not that long ago really. When I look at the environmental initiatives in my current workplace vs. when I started as a wet-behind-the-ears kid out of university over 20 years ago -it’s amazing, but it illustrates how we are able to change and do it quickly despite our concerns to the contrary.
Jon: I agree that we need some leadership on one hand – but also think we shouldn’t wait for a messiah to lead us to the promised land – we are fortunate to have the knowledge in front of us with respect to what we must do – so we must certainly understand the “act globally” part of it – I think we just don’t need to wait for a bandleader to start acting locally.
Little things. We’re going to do the lights out thing every Friday night as a family function.
Why do we keep having to repeat this to intelligent people? There is a scientific consensus on climate change. OK, don’t listen to Al Gore. Read the reports of the International Panel on Climate Change. Read the Joint Science Academy’s Statement. Yes, there are natural processes contributing to climate change, but the degree to which we are accelerating the process must be dealt with, and pretty damn quickly.
Whether you believe we are causing climate change or not, this video may help you gain a better perspective on the issue:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zORv8wwiadQ
or watch the updated version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF_anaVcCXg
Great post, Duane. On a related note, Leonardo DiCaprio’s documentary The 11th Hour was released on DVD yesterday which I would also highly recommend for those who haven’t seen it yet.
http://wip.warnerbros.com/11thhour/
I was just having a conversation with someone involving climate change (well, cars and factory emissions) a few hours ago. I too have little understanding as to why we (or more specifically corporations and in particular car companies) are sucking up the last dwindling remains of non renewable resources, all the while screaming for energy conservation etc. We seem so apathetic.
If the car companies were serious about doing their part in regards to curbing climate change then we would see a prevalence in hybrid models as opposed to there being one, two, or in some cases, no hybrid option. Also, I find it illogical for car manufacturers to be so insistent upon charging so much for hybrid models in comparison to their petrol powered counterparts. Of course, they will have to take the costs not covered by the lower price, but just think what kind of profits will be lost when gasoline becomes obsolete to the average consumer (and it will eventually happen….maybe 30 yrs from now, but watch) , and they’re all sitting around with x amount of gas powered vehicles that no one can buy. For example, a base model 2008 Honda Civic Sedan costs $10,000 less than a 2008 Honda Civic Hybrid (MSRP :P)…to most of us, a rebate means shit when you fork over an additional $10,000 you don’t actually have. Point is: If they were seriously serious about doing their part then they would be approaching this with a lot more ferocity; before it’s too little too late (which it might already be).
[quote]Duane wrote:
Our generation is really the first one that has the capacity to rise above politics, above media censorship, above lies, and have our voices heard whenever we want. Some of us have blogs, some of us get Facebook traffic, and others undoubtedly know someone that does. Some of you are writers, some painters, some singers, some photographers, all with a medium available to voice your frustrations with the world or inspire the change you want to see in it. And if you believe in something enough, whether it’s climate change or something else, there’s really nothing stopping you from making a difference or making yourself heard.
A single drop in a pond, no matter how small, will still cause a ripple.[/quote]
Here, here.
Basically, whether climate change is caused by us or not, the facts remain that they are a lot of forces beyond our own control that is leading us to climate change eventually.
It is also in our own best interest to globally recognize that change in environmental perspectives is necessary for our survival, whether now or later.
Should climate change be caused by us and we don’t do anything about it, than it’s a massive global mess. If we do something about climate change and it isn’t an issue, than we may have some economic issues, but the planet would benefit either way.
However, George Carlin would mock me and tell me, “the planet isn’t going anywhere – WE ARE.”
So I can see both views.
In all fairness I think that it’s important we recognize that regardless of outcome, it’s the right thing to do. When you look at the desensitization of the western culture and you break down our societal ethics, you have to wonder where all the intent behind this issue lies, and I think you find that once you take away all the attachments we have to these objects that help to perpetuate the problem – it’s unethical how we are consuming/using/ treating nature, the earth, the air, the sea, and the animals that take part in this cycle, even “us against them” in order to keep ourselves entertained.
At the same time, I have a hard time practicing my own argument, as I live through the computer right now and I don’t want to give it up. I also think I wouldn’t want to be on the computer as much if I didn’t get the majority of my social interaction through it. I’ve also always wondered if people weren’t always on their computers, ipods, videogames, or watching tv all the time, or if not everything you want to do costs money – would it be easier to leave these things behind to actually engage in some quality conversation or creation.
I guess there is no answer, only perspective. But, then sometimes, there’s just the bare naked truth of it.
I also second the “Here, Here,” to Duane.
Al Gore is the anti-christ…
“We need to stop this.”
Excellent. And you too, Duane. Thanks.
Ted Talks are amazing.
Duane you make a great point and you’re right. there is however a flaw we have as humans and that is the inability to see things before they happen– what I mean by that is that as a rule.. we generally don’t seem to act until it’s too late… take smokers for instance. .. smoking causes cancer, it’s proven- it kills you, but still most people don’t quit until they’ve had something go wrong with their health. It’s the same in this case.. people pretend they are aware and then everywhere you look they consume unnecissarily, they leave their lights on for hours on the outsides of their home for no reason… a lot of people can’t afford the newer appliances, there’s nothing in place to help them get more energy efficient windows.. except for that stupid $300 inspection and then you MIGHT get your money back… or the hybrids who can afford those? Yeah you get a couple thousand back but you still have to come up with the $30 to buy it… We can do what we want, we can start our ripple but the long and short of it is, we’re not being given the proper resources to do so..
“Only a crisis, real or perceived, causes real change.” – Milton Friedman
[quote comment=”49624″]I have argued with my girlfriend about this. She sites books and I site pure science and that is, if you are looking for something to fit your belief, you will find it![/quote]
How is that “pure science”? The scientific method is to observe a system and find an explanation which best predicts the behaviour. Often several explanations are plausible, but the argument always centres around which one fits the data the best, not the beliefs of the researchers.
[quote comment=”49624″]We are guilty of making a mess, but to say we’re 100% to blame, especially when the sun heats the earth 1000 times more than our CO2 blanket, it just does not make sense. There’s more than C02, as I mentioned above. It is just easier to pick one thing and focus on that I guess.[/quote]
Blame is useless. What we need is to take responsibility, and there is no such thing as taking 10% responsibility. We need to figure out how we contribute to the problem, and work to remedy that.
[quote comment=”49624″]Things will definitely change and in my life time, and we will adapt! If we don’t, we’ll perish! People are just too afraid of change. Animal species will die, as will entire regions of people, and new species will be born.[/quote]
For the past 100 years we’ve lived better than the richest kings of history. Now we find out that all this luxury might condemn our children to crop failures, ecosystem collapse, and scarce energy–and your response is “people are too afraid of change”? Don’t you feel any remorse whatsoever?
“How is that “pure science”? The scientific method is to observe a system and find an explanation which best predicts the behaviour. Often several explanations are plausible, but the argument always centres around which one fits the data the best, not the beliefs of the researchers.”
WRONG! Data can be interpreted in many ways and it is one’s beliefs that affect how the interpretation is. There are many instances where the data is obvious, such as tumours all over your internal organs, that’s a clear sign. However, a mole on your body, is not a clear sign. Is it malignent? Is it benign? Further testing will tell, but that’s only because we have the science to actually test further.
The consensus is not as much of a consensus as the media or books would have you think. You need data to be interpreted and if that person has the belief that we’re heading for hell and it is all the fault of the rich nations, then their analysis of that data will reflect that.
Before reading just one side of something and forming an opinion, try seeing what the other side has to say. You can’t take only one side and assume that people are correct.
Need I remind you of the paradigm shifts with light? Is it a wave? Is it particles? The consensus shifted on that subject back and fourth until they finally learned the truth was right in the middle!
“Blame is useless. What we need is to take responsibility, and there is no such thing as taking 10% responsibility. We need to figure out how we contribute to the problem, and work to remedy that.”
You didn’t read the entire post did you? Because I already said several times that reinforcing a point is a waste of money and they should be trying to resolve the problem. We already DO KNOW that we contribute and no one would dispute that. So at what point to we keep trying to understand it and actually do something about what we do know how to fix?
[quote comment=”49624″]Things will definitely change and in my life time, and we will adapt! If we don’t, we’ll perish! People are just too afraid of change. Animal species will die, as will entire regions of people, and new species will be born.[/quote]
“For the past 100 years we’ve lived better than the richest kings of history. Now we find out that all this luxury might condemn our children to crop failures, ecosystem collapse, and scarce energy–and your response is “people are too afraid of change”? Don’t you feel any remorse whatsoever?”
For Christ sake, read the fucking post more carefully! What is wrong with you?
Do you see me digging in the ground and pouring liquid metal onto the surface? Do you see me buying an SUV and driving to a store that’s a 10 minute walk away? No you don’t!!!
The industrial revolution changed a lot of things but even before that, humans have influenced the earth, in both positive and negative ways.
People ARE afraid of change! That’s why they are not pushing harder to clean up the water, to cycle or walk or take public transit, to push their MP’s and thus their governments to do something about this, etc…
And you clearly do not understand climate change! It means a shift. What you see now is going to move around! Take a look at what the earth used to look like 10 000 years ago, 100 000 years ago, 5 million years ago! What we’ve known for the past 100 years is changing, at a rate much faster than if we were not here (and I don’t mean the past 100 years of people, I mean the past 5000 years – don’t think farming didn’t have anything to do with the environment!).
Re-read the entire post, process it and then reply! Some things with complicated topics cannot be processed by sentence. A premise does not have to be one sentence. An argument does not have to be one sentence. Books make arguments all the time. If you spend your time thinking about one line, you miss the context and you miss the argument and you miss the point!
So how about the North Pole being completely turned to water during the summer a few years ago? Is that a clear sign? Or maybe the disintegration of a major Antarctic ice shelf a few years ago. What about the levels of CO2, which we can measure thanks to ice cores (and also yield about 1 million years worth of data), which are clearly rising rapidly in our lifetimes?
There’s tons of physical evidence, and most researchers have tried to present the data as impartially as possible. But if it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, chances are it’s a duck – no amount of sorcery will make that thing a chicken.
If you want a fun homework assignment, go compare the latent heat of fusion with the heat capacity of water. Because that’s roughly how much faster the earth’s temperature will rise once the ice completely melts.
Duane, I’d love to research and prove against this and show that it has happened in the past, not in human lifetimes, but it has happened before and will happen again. That’s not a cop-out, that’s not a “I don’t believe this” and that is certainly NOT a “please, I’m a moron, give me some ‘clear signs’ from history”.
And remember, this is a VERY complicated control system! It will take a LONG time to fully understand it. Everything is interrelated. Did you read about the increase in temperature under the ice in Antarctica? Yeah, there’s volcanic activity there! They try to dismiss and say ‘but it is not close enough to affect the ice shelf’ is it? Did you measure? Do you have extensive data measuring the temperature from the volcanoes to the ice shelf to the sea? Not just one location but all the way?
And there are far too many examples in history where people have made assumptions based-off the “looks like a duck” mentality and royally screwed up!
The climate is not worth arguing over.
And the really frustrating part of this whole debate?
I actually care and do more and have more ideas than most who are flaming me in here!
Isn’t that ironic? I never once said “this is bullshit, the world is not going to change”. Not once!
In fact, I have stated several times that people need to get off their ass and do something instead of bitching or worrying. Clean up the pollution for starters!
And the point I have been trying to make, this is going to happen. Do you really think that if we all went back to the stone age over the course of a month and remained there things would revert back to what we believe is safe? No, it won’t! We must clean up, we must minimize our impact, and most of all, we must adapt!
Here’s a great idea and it should be implemented! But it won’t, unfortunately, because people care more about dollars than they do about their lives!
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/04/08/global-warming-cds.html
And maybe this could help make Nalgene bottles safer!
Satchboogieca – you always have good things to say, in my opinion. I got your point. A lot of people in this world would like to lay claim that they are fearless and that they are adaptable to change, but it would seem that the only things our humanity is adaptable to is culture and fashion trends. Now they even think that they are more spiritual, more all knowing than others, and soon the whole world will live in self-delusion. But hey, at least you know better.
However, that being said, I would also like to point out that regardless of anyone’s position on climate change, to watch a program filmed by the History Channel on Climate change about the release of frozen methane gas under the ocean and other areas, as well as it points out many other sources of climate change. It doesn’t pick sides, but shows how our impact, coupled with the natural cycle (timeline), will produce horrific results if left unchecked. I thought it was very informative and unbias to both sides of the issue.
Which is why in my earlier post I pointed out that whether we believe it’s us or not, the issue remains the same.
[quote comment=”49699″]Satchboogieca – you always have good things to say, in my opinion. I got your point. A lot of people in this world would like to lay claim that they are fearless and that they are adaptable to change, but it would seem that the only things our humanity is adaptable to is culture and fashion trends. Now they even think that they are more spiritual, more all knowing than others, and soon the whole world will live in self-delusion. But hey, at least you know better.
However, that being said, I would also like to point out that regardless of anyone’s position on climate change, to watch a program filmed by the History Channel on Climate change about the release of frozen methane gas under the ocean and other areas, as well as it points out many other sources of climate change. It doesn’t pick sides, but shows how our impact, coupled with the natural cycle (timeline), will produce horrific results if left unchecked. I thought it was very informative and unbias to both sides of the issue.
Which is why in my earlier post I pointed out that whether we believe it’s us or not, the issue remains the same.[/quote]
Yes I agree.
And I find DISC/TLC/HIST to be pretty good at appearing to be unbiased. Great way to spend time if you watch TV, which I don’t do anymore ( Don’t have a TV ).
It certainly will be a big change, but I find it difficult to believe it will be like: equator 2008 is say 45C in the summer, 2012, equator is 80C in the summer. That’s only a slight exaggeration.
I just struggle to imagine the earth in reality, not models which have a lot of assumptions, reacting so quickly. We are a big impact but we’re not that huge, if it were possible, we’d be in worse trouble than we are!
That being said, it is NOT the reason to slow down or efforts to avoid our impact, we need to kick it up a few notches and really try to clean up and establish policies but mostly, the social norm to care about our environment and respect it (and one another!!!).
You know there is great novel out there called “The Drowned World,” by J G Ballard. (You may know him also as the author of the movie “Crash.”)
It’s about the icecaps melting by solar radiation and the human race regresses back to the Triassic Age in certain parts of the world. Very interesting.
Anyways you may be interested at having a gander.
gore inspires? he delivers a great message. however, his home burns an average of as much fossil fuels as a hundered canadian homes, and ahh not to metion… that jet he’s got.
alright… if anyone wants to stop or help stop climate change there has to be a some sort of financial incentive. for the cities… say, less garbage in the landfill…. every apartment has to be equipped with a recycling bin. this bin includes… cardboard, shredded paper, plastic, cans and glass. there is a tariff on garbage bags… a dollar a piece (marked by stickers). the tenants are each given a number of stickers at the start of every month to mark there bags, more may be purchased from the landlord upon request. i have witnessed this programs success in smaller communities, every city, community, appartment and person should adopt.
The sun has been more active in recent times. I’m fully for cleaning up pollution and going green, but the man-made global warming myth really has gotten out of hand. I’m sure our SUVs have heated up all the other planets in our system as well.
Research the Maunder Minimum. 350 year ice age triggered by lower than normal sunspot activity. We now have higher than normal sunspot activity. I do admit that It’s a good thing that man-made global warming is the popular theory at the moment. People may not be going green based off of the proper information, but its certainly more motivational than the alternative theories.
Unless you believe that the warming of Jupiter, Pluto, Mars and Titon, and more, all at the same time, is coincidental, I think we may want to give more respect to that big yellow thingy in the sky. 😛
Another great novel on the topic; State of Fear by Michael Crichton. He did quite a bit of research on the topic, wrote his novel (while its fiction, his characters quote data for which he gives his sources etc), at the end of the book, wrote an interesting essay on the topic, and also testified before congress on the topic (or a congressional comittee). His findings on the topic are interesting and are worth a look…
Al Gore, as I said, is the anti-Christ. I cannot stand the man, nor his canadian counterpart, David Suzuki. They are hypocritical shameless self-promoters. Suzuki, for Christs sakes, wants to incarcerate elected officials who wont act on the “issue”. So, by his mentality, if I do not agree with him, I should be in jail….that sounds a lot like taking society back into the dark ages….
Ah yes, the last refuge of the denialists. They’re not going to win the climate change debate, so they cite a couple of random dissenting sources contradicting the consensus view among independent climatologists, and engage in personal attacks.
Stephen K:
I agree. I was talking with an old friend a few days ago about climate change, which he attributed it to being a means to promote globalization. There’s a new counter-theory everyday… none of which are backed up by anything of course.
Humans are creatures of habit, and we are afraid to change.
Hehehe…oh my, denialist? Thats rich. Its not that Im afraid of change. I just think there are a few more important things we should be putting billions of dollars into. Like fighting famine and AIDS in Africa to name one. I just find it such a humanistic notion that we can “fix” the enviroment. I’m sorry, last time I checked we cant even accurately predict the weather past 2 weeks; so excuse me if I remain skeptical when a few scientists raise there alarm because their “models” predict catastrophe. The climate is a system too complex for us to completely understand, and because we do not completely understand it then it is folly for us to try and influence it, or “fix” it. When you find yourself at Chapters, look for Crichtons book and just read the essay he wrote in the back on the topic. Like I said he raises some very important questions that made me rethink my whole position on the subject. Another problem I have with this issue; anytime you try to even raise an argument against global warming or question the validity of some of the statements/popular beliefs on global warming you instantly get labelled and ridiculed. The whole point of science is to constantly be asking questions and testing theories so its somewhat worrying and rather unscientific to automatically start slandering anyone with contradicting views on the subject.
One other thing about David Suzuki; he is not even a climatologist, so how is he credibly able to comment on climate issues such as global warming???
http://www.canadafreepress.com/2007/global-warming020507.htm
Read that….and please tell me why I shouldnt be questioning people like Al Gore for their statements…
[quote comment=”50124″]http://www.canadafreepress.com/2007/global-warming020507.htm
Read that….and please tell me why I shouldnt be questioning people like Al Gore for their statements…[/quote]
Because kanji, there is not one actual fact contained in the article with regards to his assertion that Global Warming is not happening.
Read it. He states many things, and discredits and attacks others, hypocritically, yet does not provide evidence himself to back up his claims.