A (Sled) Dog's Life
Because of global harming the official start of the Iditarod race is being moved north from the town of Wasilla, according to recent reports. The problem is that lately they haven't been having enough snow. It's ridiculous that the debate continues about whether or not man bears a significant responsiblity for the planet's precipitous rise in temperature. It's now a given. The real question is how we can reverse it, and I say that it can't be done. Mankind is going to go on warming houses, fueling transportation, manufacturing stuff, and all the other things that existence demands. Sure, it can be done more efficiently, but it can't be eliminated, so even though the warming can be slowed it can't be stopped. What we need to do is start figuring out what to do about it. Cities are going to be inundated? Move to higher ground. No more ice? Drink scotch neat. And put wheels on sleds.
posted by John M Crowther @ 7:55 AM
11 Comments:
It might not be so bleak afterall John... there is also the aerosol effect which is being studied by scientists as a possible (unnatural) antidote to global warming. These microscopic aerosol particles from industrial processes increase the brightness of clouds, resulting in greater reflection of sunlight and (you guessed it)cooling of the Earth's climate! Currently we are cooling at a greater rate than we are warming... but the aerosol effect is transient and the particles precipitate out of the earth's atmosphere after a week... so the long term effects of this see-saw action on the planet are as yet unknown.
Basically... we've opened a Pandora's Box... whichever way you look at it... it's as you say "global harming"... but just which way the scales will tip is anyone's guess! Aren't we humans just a bunch of blithering idiots?
I don't know what to believe regarding global warming or cooling. I do remember reading last year that it was warmer than usual because of some happening on the sun sending out mass flame flares??? in our direction. There have been very major changes in the earth since it was created and I expect there will be many more.
I don't really think of it as bleak, Jean. It's true, as anonymous says, that there have been changes on earth since it was created. One of those changes is the explosive increase in human population with all the attendant changes that humans have contributed to the changes caused by floods, forest fires, volcanos, tornados, earthquakes, meteors, planetary wobble, and so on. But there can be no question that man's contribution to the change is huge. The cause and effect is easily measurable and to question whether it's happening is like putting a pot of water on the stove and refusing to believe the thermometer that shows it's getting hotter. My point is that over time mankind is simply going to have to adjust to the changes and learn to live with them. The Sahara was once verdant. When it became endless sand dunes some inhabitants moved elsewhere and others became desert nomads. Some folks are going to have to give up their beachfront cottages, while others will have ocean views where once there were fields of clover.
P.S., Jean, it may be instructive for us to remember that Pandora was condemned by the gods to always tell the truth and never be believed.
I thought I had signed my name to the anomymous note. Sorry.
Have to agree that people love the big gas gulping cars and certainly don't seem to care how much gas it takes. One thing that I admired Jimmy Carter for was his stand to lower the speed limit and suggesting buying smaller cars that ate less gas. It actually worked for a number of years. Then again the public went back to even larger cars using more gas. It must be their "status symbol" to keep up with the neighbors with complete lack of interest that it does harm to our earth.
Here in Florida people with ocean front property expect the government to pick up the bill for the damage done by hurricanes that wash away their beach property and the state does it and pays for it with millions of dollars to pump in more sand to rebuilt, only to have it happen again a couple of years later. It's time for man to take more responsibility for the damage he is doing.
Katherine
Hey John... I was agreeing with you! :-) But also thought I'd throw one more red herring into the mix by reporting another effect which has been caused by man's blatant disregard for the planet.
I wasn't meaning that we should deny global warming... but rather that scientists are discovering that we now have even more to worry about! Hey you can't shoot the messenger... I'm on your side! (((LOL)))
“Some folks are going to have to give up their beachfront cottages, while others will have ocean views where once there were fields of clover.”
I applaud John’s optimism about man’s ability and willingness to change. But when the penthouse apartment becomes the ground-floor lobby with instant access to the waterfront, will the other tenants in the building –-those whose expensive apartments now are underwater—move on willingly or will they have risen in a mass, murdered the landlord, and overthrown their government? Yes, mankind has and must change but only after duress and often with bloodshed. Should the effects of global warming come about as predicted, we are going to see a major upheaval in the way our citizens behave, and it will not come quietly. I hate to be the voice of doom, particularly as I will probably not be around when it happens, but Pollyanna and Pandora may be related.
Jean, I knew we were on the same page, and certainly didn't want to sound like I was taking issue with anything you said. Au contraire. As for the high-rise building, the waters will rise slowly enough so that only one floor at a time will have to vacate. Those on the as yet unaffected floors will be denying that the waters will rise any further, while those from the innundated floors will be long gone. Getting to work will be a problem, though.
(((chuckles)))
“Those on the as yet unaffected floors will be denying that the waters will rise any further, while those from the innundated floors will be long gone. Getting to work will be a problem, though.”
There are those who look at a glass and consider it to be half-empty; we call them pessimists. Optomists, however, as said to be those who see the glass half-full. And then there are those who live in an upstairs apartment as their downstairs neighbor’s flat slowly sinks into the ocean, but go out and buy themselves a yacht to get to work. We call those people Republicans.
Still(((chuckling)))Anon!
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