Friday, February 3, 2006

Local climate change

I nearly bought hamburgers to grill today, only I remembered it is February and not grilling season. 65 degrees - short sleeve temps. This winter has been incredibly warm, and mild is not the word for it. I am sitting outside on the porch at 7pm with short sleeves drinking a beer and wondering what is wrong with the world (and wishing I had purchased those burgers, as the glorious smell of charcoal and lighter fluid fills the February spring air.)

Honestly, I have to laugh when rightwingers say there is no global warming, and sensible rightwingers should laugh, too, for they know that global warming is occurring. The debate is not its existence, but how much humans are contributing to it. The Earth has undergone climate change many times in its long history, an undisputable fact, but human beings have never had such a capacity to accelerate it as they do now.

Maybe we aren't contibuting as much as some people say. Does this mean we should stop all science and let corporations pollute the hell out of the air because it might not matter? That would be foolish passivity akin to letting Iran produce nuclear weapons or appeasing ruthless dictators. The truth is, we don't know the extent of human impingement on the change, so why should we take the risk in doing nothing? Followers of the Market god, however, are not inclined to look into the future, as they believe in one narrow concept - quarterly Growth. All is right in the world if there is Growth. Enough! There will be no Growth when humans are struggling just to survive on a planet that is too hot or too cold to live on.

As Dan Quayle so wisely said, "It isn't pollution that is harming our environment, it's the impurities in our air and water that's doing it."

Global climate change - it ain't just a myth, folks.

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