We’ve been hearing the warnings about global warming and climate crisis for quite some time now. Al Gore’s movie An Inconvenient Truth received an Academy Award and many schools all over the world are showing it to students as part of their curriculum. Leonardo DiCaprio also made a movie about this subject called The 11th Hour. The push is on to promote green living to help save the environment and stop some of the effects of global warming and for many this is good news. Others though, feel that climate crisis is nothing more than a hoax perpetrated to change the global economy and put new political powers into play.
Are climate crisis threats real or is this just political hype? The main issue of climate crisis is global warming, which refers to the temperature of the earth near surface air. It allows the earth to be habitable, as it absorbs some of the heat from the sun.
The problem is that greenhouse gases that have been released into the earth’s atmosphere are contributing to the rise in the surface air temperature. And this has an impact on global temperatures. Many reputable scientists show that the average temperature has risen in the last century.
It is alarming to me that so many climate crisis naysayers feel that this rise in temperature cannot possibly be caused by human activity. Yes there are other natural factors involved…water vapor, volcanic eruptions, etc. But the earth was designed (yes I believe it was designed) to handle this and keep things in balance. But I also believe that we began to throw that balance off with the coming of the industrial revolution and now we are just overwhelming the planet with our oil guzzling and energy vampirism. With the temperature already rising in reaction, scientists believe that temperatures will continue to rise at an even faster pace in the future.
Arctic ice is slowly disappearing over time. The warmer temperatures caused by the global warming effects are melting it. Polar bears, walruses, and penguins are feeling the effects of the melting ice as they find themselves stranded in the middle of the open sea. Ultimately, these animals are suffering and dying and I read a report recently that perhaps by 2050 polar bears will be no more. This REALLY bothers me…but what bothers me even more is the “so what” attitude I see so much of. I still hear people say that a little warming is a good thing.
Rising temperature is not the only issue. When we throw the earth’s balance out of wack you get extreme weather. Hurricanes get a boost in destructive power and intensity as if they were on speed as water temperature rises along with that of the atmosphere. Hurricanes will probably occur more often, be stronger and reach farther inland. Droughts and heat waves can also be linked to global warming, as can the rising of sea levels and flooding. Evaporation increases as temperatures warm and thus the amount of rainfall and snowfall is increasing too. The heavier rainfalls are driving people from their flooded homes. This is why so many scientists are trying to move away from the term global warming and refer to climate crisis instead.
The ecosystems are seeing hardships, too. Some species of animals are slowly moving northward for livable conditions, while other species are slowly dwindling in numbers and struggling to survive extinction. Insects are thriving in warmer temperatures and in places they never acclimated to before. They are becoming a nuisance, they are devastating forests when winter frosts are no longer cold enough to kill them off seasonally, and every year we hear about more diseases being spread by mosquitoes. Disease and illness in general thrive in warmer temperatures as well. Is that the world we want to pass on to our children and grandchildren?
The answer for me is no but sadly I find I am a minority in my own local community. I wish it were not so political and issue because as a blue girl living in a red state I get lambasted all the time for my dedication to environmental issues. Many in my community hesitate to take up any environmental cause because they feel it would betray the ideals of their party. Since when did the environment become an issue that only liberals can care about???? It truly baffles me. Of course so does the weird stuff coming out of the mouth of Republican poster child Ann Coulter:
God says, “Earth is yours. Take it. Rape it. It’s yours.”
Someone on a community forum recently asked if I would regret my passionate environmental stance if I found out definitively that climate crisis and global warming was a hoax. My answer is heck no! If (and that is a really big if) global warming was found to be a hoax in 10 years I would still support the ideals and goals behind the movement. Improved technology, more efficient products and transportation, less smog and pollution, more recycling, less affluenza, less stress on landfills and natural resources…are we supposed to somehow come to the conclusion that these are BAD things just because there is the potential that cleaning up our act, environmentally speaking, might be politically motivated for some?
The thought that green living enthusiasts might somehow regret their contribution to a better, cleaner, and more hospitable world is mind boggling. Almost as mind boggling as the concept that celebrities (ie Gore and DiCaprio) cannot possibly have anything of value to contribute and their celebrity status nullifies their work…but that is for another post I think.
It also baffles that me that when I ask people (and I ask this often) what there is too gain from perpetuating a climate crisis hoax I get no reasonable or logical answers. I have heard that it is a movement to make the US relinquish its sovereignty over the rest of the world (insert rolling eyes emoticon here). I have heard that carbon credits are just a scam…but I can’t believe anyone seriously thinks that thousands of people the world over are all perpetuating a hoax of this magnitude to make a buck on carbon credits. And of course recently I had someone admit that yes there really isn’t a lot to gain if it were hoax and the goals ARE good goals but he still can’t accept global warming or environmentalism because “If Al Gore had his way we would all be living in caves and eating raw vegetables while he flies around in private jets and lives in a mansion.” When I hear things like this it is obvious they have NO idea what the heck they are talking about. Or perhaps I missed the fact that Al Gore says we really should live in caves. :)
So what do you think? Is climate crisis fact or fiction? And does it even matter?
More information on why global warming skeptics can’t be trusted…
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Wow! That’s a great, well written post. I agree with you. Even if it were a hoax, which it’s not, green living has improved the quality of my life and is something worth doing.
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I heard once that 25% of the population believes we never put a man on the moon. So, the fact that some don’t want to accept that our synthetic chemical fossil fuel dependent lifestyle is making us and the earth sick makes sense (to them). To accept what we are saying means that they have to make some big changes, something most people don’t like to do.
Truth is, we don’t need everyone to believe in order to make big changes to improve our situation. I guess the only thing we can do is lead by example. Each of us who practices green living feels better making those choices, so that positive energy has an impact regardless of the naysayers.
Great post.
I agree with you on many different points – however I am one of those few Republicans (on most things) who DOES believe that we are killing ourselves and our earth. I recently came across a blog (can’t remember what it was though!) that stated that Christians can’t be environmentalists and that notion blew me away. Being a Christian Republican Mother, I think that we have an obligation as the stewards of this planet to take better care of it. Will I ever regret trying to teach my kids to recycle? To avoid overly processed foods? T eat a healthy, well-balanced diet? To get outside and play, go hiking, camping, and enjoy the beautiful earth that God created? NO! I have an obligation to them to show them the beauty of our world before it is all destroyed by our society that thinks that everything has to taste like crap to be “good” and make them sick besides.
Thank you for writing such a well-worded post.
Jennifer
ps – it is equally hard to be a red living in a blue state… especially when you are more of an independent b/c the reds don’t exactly agree with you either!
Wow well put. How people can’t see this is not the same earth our grandparents lived on is beyond me. I just know we do our part and when others ask I am sure to comment.
Great comments Jennifer! I have met many of those Christians that feel that they can’t be environmentalists either….ahem…my brother. As I always tell him there is a scripture that says God will bring to ruin those ruining the earth directly stating that yes…the earth can be ruined….perhaps not destroyed completely but we can certainly make it inhospitable AND we have in many places. I think I might be slowly bringing him around. In my mind God would want us to be a part of keeping the earth beautiful.
I am happy to see my comments didn’t upset you…I didn’t want to attack conservatives in the post so I hope that I did okay in that respect.
Great post! I have often wondered how much “truth” there is to that Al Gore doc and how much is really politics. It has also crossed my mind that it is rather ego-centric for us to say we single handedly caused this distruction and we can single handedly reverse it.
Of course any one that knows me thinks I’m a tree-hugger so I am always looking for ways to reduce my footprint anyway. So I definitely dont’ have a “who cares” attitude.
I am a Christian and rather conservative on many social issues, but when it come to the environment I think we need stricter standards. To Ann Coulter’s comment I say READ GENESIS! God gave us the Earth and it’s creatures so we could be their guardians. We are to be good stewards of all of God’s blessings and that doesn’t involve “rape” or irresponsible misuse of those resources.
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Thanks. I just wrote a satirical piece about this over at my blog, Advice From God. Yes, God can appreciate satire as much as the next deity.
I think that there’s quite an unfortunate correlation between people claiming to speak for God and people messing things up.
I guess I should state up front that I cannot be trusted…I am a “global warming skeptic.”
“How can that be?” you ask. “How can you ignore the evidence that the Earth is warming and we are at fault?” Well, first, it’s pretty obvious that the Earth is warming. You’d have to be pretty gutsy (or hammered) to disagree. The key for me is the cause.
If you’re interested in my thoughts, check these out: Why Global Warming Would Be Good For You and Take Your Blinders Off.
And, despite the fact that I disagree about what is causing the warming, my wife and I read your blog constantly. Just because a person doesn’t believe that global warming and climate change are caused by humans doesn’t mean they’re oblivious to pollution and destruction. Conservation, green living, biofuel, and “creation care” is a good idea, and would be even if the earth were getting cooler.
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I think the whole global warming thing is a big hoax, backed up by research by unqualified scientists that is based on unreliable data.
Have a look at this 4 part video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOLkze-9GcI
Don’t get me wrong, I do think that we are messing up our planet and humanity has to change drastically to keep this little planet habitable in the future, but the problem is not global warming, but rather pollution!
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Hi Charles,
I should clarify that when I refer to skeptics I meant those in the post I linked to. Public figures, politicians, scientists, etc that create doubt about climate crisis…not the avergae Joe who has a hard time believing.
We cannot ignore the fact that skeptics are 95% of the time on the payroll of big oil or they work for a lobbyist firm hired to create doubt. The issue is not so much that their studies are overlooked or discarded by peer review journals, as it is that they don’t even bother with that step as their true goal is merely to divide the public and create dissent. The “science” is a mute point for them. When this goes on…I really do feel that they cannot be trusted.
I have no blinders on…I have read, watched etc, most of the countering evidence and it does not hold up in any sense of the word. People will not be asked to buy an expensive Prius or have nothing at all. Auto makers will be forced to develop the same technology for prices comparable to the current market or another manufacturer will. We have no worries as far as the economy is concerned. That is another conservative scare tactic. And I am not buying into their hysteria.
Tiffany,
I don’t think we should ignore that those lobbyists and researchers are funded by energy companies, but I don’t think that should automatically discount them, either. If they want to do the research they need money, and they should take it when they can, as long as they’re doing legit work. I think we should examine the method and results, not the motives of the researcher. If the method is bad, throw out the results, otherwise it deserves a look.
I also don’t think everyone will be “asked to buy an expensive Prius or have nothing at all.” When the market pushes automakers, they’ll cave, as they’ve already started to do. The American companies have already started to break under the pressure producing more hybrids (which are just a band-aid, as far as I’m concerned) and tiny things like the Aveo and pushing E85. They’ve got a long way to go, and I’m sure they’ll get there. Hopefully they’ll hop on the biodiesel train. And hopefully one day soon we’ll be able to run cars on switchgrass (I’m kind of excited about that one). Whatever happened to the idea of running cars on garbage like in Back to the Future?
Lastly, while you consider economic concerns to be a “conservative scare tactic”, I consider predictions of a 6 ft. rise in ocean levels in the next 30 years or of superactive hurricane seasons to be a “scare tactic” as well. Maybe fear isn’t the way to go.
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Carnival of the Liberals #53: Best Of 2007…
Apologies to all, this edition is much delayed. Finally though, here is the the "Best of the Best of 2007" as selected by Carnival of the Liberals own participants and myself. All the submissions for this edition can be found on the Carnival …
i had the neighbors who thought i was very odd, i gardened, made tye die t-shirts and cleaned green way ahead of my time – i also cooked, washed full loads of laundry and I walked. Yup I was a weirdo. I loved that I had ideals, that I was passionate about them and that I didn’t limit myself to what everyone else thought or was doing. Very proud to be different.
I can understand people who don’t believe that human activities are causing global temperature increases. Not that I agree with them, but I can understand the skepticism.
But, I don’t get people who don’t want to conserve the earth – from curbing pollution to using less to preserving species. Or who make environmentalism a political issue. Do they really want to explain to their children or grandchildren why they let the earth be polluted? Why they can’t swim in the streams, rivers, lakes or oceans? Why water is scarce? Or why elephants, gorillas, and countless other species have disappeared and only found in zoos?
It is so easy to consume less, use reusable bags, etc., why not?