You can’t use a band-aid to stop the bleeding from a wound that needs stiches.

My complaint about the current hysteria is that is focuses on the wrong things. CO2 is, honestly, one of the least of our worries. I get so annoyed when I see things like “Global Warming is Killing Tropical Fish”. Oh, so a minor adjustment in temperature is to blame and not the non-sustainable way we harvest our food. SHEESH people. It’s not like temperature change is new. Really. I’m serious. Do some research. Species have adapted before. The difference is that now the changes are accompanied by human depredation at historically high levels and the system is compromised by the toxins we have been spewing into the giant sewer we call an ocean for a millennia or so.

“Global warming” has become the scapegoat of all our bad behavior and the GW cultists would have you believe that we can just say a few “Hail Marys” in the form of buying new fuel efficient cars and turning off lights and everything is going to be okay.

NO, IT IS NOT! We need to make huge changes in our behavior and rethink the design of our communities and our consumption and our race to fill the planet with more people. We need to de-centralize, producing more of our food locally to protect against the most severe consequences of climate change and to assist in cutting back all pollution, not just CO2. We need denser housing, fewer cars, less commuting, and tons and tons less consumption.

Bah! I don’t know why I bother. Been saying the same thing for decades and no one has listened yet.

1. No such thing as over population. Thats just Nazi Propaganda like the rest of this environmental nonsense.

2. Global Warming stopped 10 years ago.

3. The best thing that you can do for the Environment is burn more carbon because it is good for the Environment. CO2 and Nitrogen Oxides are plant fertilizers, all animals either eat plants or animals that eat plants. Increasing CO2, causes increased plant growth which causes more food supply, which is the reason that while the Worlds population is at an all time, we are fatter than ever.

Quit being a dumbass environmentalist nazi and just look at the facts, jack.

Thanks for the citation, even if it wasn’t exactly complimentary. But you’re right: the route to calling someone with whom you disagree a Nazi or a fascist is getting shorter all the time. Same goes for likening someone who disagrees with you to a Holocaust denier (see the UK’s George Monbiot and the US’s Ellen Goodman–on this issue alone).

I find your conclusions at the end of this piece entirely reasonable. What critics on both sides of the issue are dong is envisioning scenarios, not guaranteeing outcomes. The science is hardly settled either way–given the complexity of the various processes involved, I don’t see how it could be.

Where we are in complete agreement is in the belief (and I chose that word intentionally) that we can, eventually, ultimately, sort this out. Whether through giant fly-swatters (or is that lye-swatters?), or by discovering there is no problem at all (remember the fairly recent dire predictions of an impending ice age?).

Where we may disagree is on how “apologetic” mankind needs to feel. I think zero-population growth is a terrible idea, at least for now. Never mind who’s going to fetch our tea when you and I are in our dotage, who’s going to be around to fund your National Health or our Social Security? Will mankind truly be better off if the West stops breeding, while other parts of the world go forth and multiply? And why is it a “sin” to fly on an airplane, Chris? The real sin is the quality of the service for the price charged. Anyhow, if sin it be, Al Gore will be consigned to the lowest circle of Hell, like Inconvenient Führer he really is.

But there I go again.

Bloodthirsty Liberal

1 – Overpopulation.

We’ve all been worrying about this since Thomas Malthus brought the issue to the limelight in 1798 and geographers have been studying the issue in depth since. Unfortunately, if we look at the bigger picture it looks as if we are helpless, hower several interesting trends are taking place: most notably the fact that in developed countries, growth is taking place at an incredibly slow rate – in Italy it’s 0%. The population is geared towards getting a good career, living a comfortable lifestyle (kids are expensive etc). On the other side of the equation, the alarmists claim that a killer disease such the bubonic plague will strike and that’ll be Mother Nature’s way of control, or maybe it could even be global warming, which leads me on to your next question.

2. I think saying that global warming is mostly man’s fault is not correct, as you hinted. The earth is a complex ecosystem. Everything from volcanoes to cows farting have an impact. I’m no scientist – I could explain what I know and what I don’t but I don’t think I have the authority to dictate. I’ve wanted to find out more about the issues surrounding the environment and global warming and it’s partly why I set up Environmental Graffiti. With regards to this, I’d say two things – the IPCC reports are great if you want to find out about proof of man-made global warming. Secondly, I think it’s useful to look at it with a common sense approach: burning all that fossil fuel, 350 billion tonnes since 1751 cannot be good for the environment, neither can it be good for air quality.

3 – Thirdly, I do lots of things for the environment, including founding this blog! eating locally sourced food, recycling etc. My only sin is that I do take plane flights a couple of times a year. I believe that it is better to try at least some things, than stand around and be alarmist. However, it is also important to listen to other people’s arguments and scientific facts – that way it’s pretty hard to go wrong!

2nd, can you provide scientific proof that global warming is mostly Man’s fault, as opposed to what has happened over the past 4 billion years?

3rd, if you think Man is the cause, what are you yourself doing to stop contributing to the greenhouse effect?