We have all heard about climate change, and we all know the arguments, or at least think we know them, by now.
Some people don't, simply put. I still remember a coworker telling me, during a very nasty snowstorm, that "this sure beats the shit out of the global warming theory."
I responded by telling him that if he cared enough to actually be informed about what he was so readily dismissing, he would learn that global warming "theory" does not, as the name implies, simply mean the world gets warmer and warmer, without exception, every place in the world. By the logic, every day would be warmer than the previous one, and that is clearly untrue. After all, we have different seasons, and here in the northern hemisphere, as I write this, summer has just ended, and the temperatures will continue to grow colder as winter approaches.
His approach was very simplistic, and betrayed his ignorance. He was entitled to his opinion, but, I advised him to at least try and understand something when you want to blast an entire theory.
"It's not because its a cold day in Pomona, New York, that the entire global warming theory is discredit", I said, or something more or less like it. We were working in Pomona, New York, at the time.
Unfortunately, a lot of people who view themselves as skeptics of this "theory", tend not to bother with even acclimating themselves with this theory. It is as if their disbelief, or their desire for these nightmare scenarios to not be true, trumps all of the evidence that a vast majority of scientists believe points to global warming being more than merely a "theory". Facts do not matter so much, if you listen to political shock jocks of right wing extremism, who express only cynicism, and try to point out the personal failings of those who advocate such a theory, as if the theory is centered on only one or two people (usually politicians). I know someone who points out that Al Gore is, in his words, a "mad man", and a "lunatic", whenever global warming is mentioned, as if the theory revolves only around Al Gore, and if you discredit the man, you discredit the entire concept of global warming.
That a majority, even a vast majority, of scientists agree that global warming is real, and that human activities account for the speed and extremity of global warming, if beyond doubt. That does not mean people cannot express their own doubts, it just means that the experts in the field feel that most of the evidence does indeed point in that way. It is not that people disagree with this theory that bothers me, personally. What does bother me is that many of the people that I met, like that coworker, do not even bother trying to understand the theory before dismissing it. What bothers me is that many of those prominent voices against it try to discredit the person making the arguments for it via character assassination, rather than staying on topic and trying to counter this "theory" with facts that contradict it. What especially bothers me about the people who most vehemently express their cynicism about global warming is that they themselves have something to gain personally in their opposition, whether it be politicians or shock jock radio or television personalities prominently sponsored by corporations that would like to continue to exploit the world's natural resources unabated, or those corporations themselves.
The stakes cannot be higher, and we need to be reminded that, when it comes to serious issues like this, we need to approach it with intelligence and objectivity, and not simply get seduced by the entertainment value of the one speaking.
To that end, I have, once again, relied on the Bill Moyers and his website, "Moyers and Company", for an article that suggests that we are fast approaching the perilous tipping point, that infamous "point of no return", when the catastrophic consequences of global warming will be irreversible. If we do reach that point, and those who gamble that global warming is indeed merely a "theory" prove to be wrong, then the price for that particular gamble will be steep indeed. And, it will be the entire world, human and non-human alike, that will pay the hefty price of our present emphasis on greed. Pretty much all because of an attitude that emphasized not wanting to give up or pay more for our gas, or SUV's, or even try to develop real solutions with alternative energies.
“The IPCC warns of an alarming escalation of impacts but also shows that preventing climate chaos is still possible.”
~ Kumi Naidoo, Greenpeace International
The Fast-Approaching ‘Point of No Return’ for Climate Change September 27, 2013 by Karin Kamp and John Light
http://billmoyers.com/2013/09/27/action-urgently-needed-on-climate-change/
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