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The myth of Global Warming
Tuesday, 24 June 2008 — by Wayne Smallman
Much has been said about global warming. Some argue it’s the most pressing issue of our time, while others dismiss it as a contemporary myth. Whether global warming is fact or fiction, a change in our habits could be all that’s needed to change the world…
I won’t be delving into the minutia of global warming. I have neither the time nor the inclination. So if you expected this to be my take on the issues surrounding global warming, you’re in for a let down.
Instead, I want to look at the myth of global warming. No, that’s not me weighing in on the side of the nay-sayers, because that would be too easy. A modern day myth has built up around global warming simply because of how we all see the fingerprint of climate change in our own lifetimes.
Whether our interpretation of our weather is right or wrong, we all seem to have a view. And the consensus seems to be bleak. And I for one think that’s a good thing!
By studying tree rings (an area of research called dendrochronology) as well as mud and ice core samples, evidence indicates that we humans have changed the climate of the Earth.
However, it’s the amount and the rate of change that’s the forefront of so much political posturing and scientific debate.
Lies, damned lies and climatological statistics
People are scared, because in the absence of knowledge, rumour, hear-say and outright lies back fill the void. I say let that vacuum fill up with all the lies and deceitful nonsense people can think of!
Let’s scare the crap out of everyone and leave every single citizen on this Earth looking to whatever it is they believe in for salvation.
Now, you’re probably wondering why on Earth I’d want to spread so much fear, uncertainty and doubt. The answer is deceptively simple; people rarely do what’s right voluntarily. To focus people’s minds, you usually have to stand them right in front of their impending future like it was a freight train heading straight for them.
From where most people are standing, global warming is that future freight train, and it’s arriving soon.
We’re past incremental, government-sanctioned changes to emissions laws, tree planting policies, urban green belts, recycling targets and environmental awareness programs — we have to change almost everything we do in our daily lives right now, and that includes businesses, too.
A global warming problem halved is a problem solved — business and consumers unite
Too much legislation is being laid at the feet of the consumer, when businesses need to be made responsible for the vast amounts of packaging they produce for their goods:
“A lot of the time, the waste materials that the average household has to deal with is unreasonable; shrink-wrapped fruits and needlessly bulky double packaging of other food items are just two examples of the crap we walk out of our local supermarkets with.”
“Think of all those orphaned “wall wart” chargers for mobile phones and other devices. Why don’t the phone and gadget manufacturers get their heads together and standardize on just the one type of charger?
This holds true for a lot of things. There’s just no excuse for the continual re-invention of something when a standardized method means cost savings for everyone, alleviating the pressures on the environment into the bargain, also.”
As the leader of any major religion will doubtlessly attest, fear and ignorance are fantastically powerful motivators.
Let the politicians squabble like children. Let the scientists bury each other in a blizzard of paperwork. Let the bloggers spew forth factual inaccuracies, perpetuating the cycle of the Echo Chamber Effect, banging on the environmental catastrophe drum until their collective hands bleed.
We’re at a way point in our civilization, one that demands wholesale change by everyone. We must all make the same change, which means making the same sacrifices.
If we don’t change our ways, one day, there may be no doubt that global warming is real…
Recommended reading
- Build for a better tomorrow
- Why we shouldn’t save the planet
- The dirty business of waste packaging
- Alternative energy technologies of the future
- Serious Science: nanotechnology to kill the “upgrade cycle”?
- Top 10 energy-saving tips to help the environment
- When it comes to the environment, not in my back yard!
- Bin tagging and a small matter of the rubbish of big business…
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Finally! Someone that agrees with me that Global Warming is not happening because of anything we have done, it just is. Just like temperatures are rising, some scientists predict the same, but opposite events to come in hundreds of years time.