It's been said (by yours truly and by others more eloquent and learned than I) that the real cause of Global Warming is the hot air generated by politicians, businessmen, and scientists on all sides of the issue. As I've written here before, I believe Global Warming is real, whether the cause is human activity (as the environmental lobby charges), natural fluctuations in the climate (favored by politicians and businesses, because it removes the need to take any potentially unpopular actions), or a combination of the two (Bilbo's theory).
I don't think you need to be a Nobel Laureate with a bunch of letters after your name to see that the climate is changing, no matter what the reason. And this leads to the obvious conclusion that it would be prudent to consider what actions we should take to ameliorate the effects of the change...such as altered growing seasons, rising sea levels, changing rainfall patterns, etc.
I thought about this the other day when I read a very interesting article in the German news magazine Spiegel Online titled Islanders Without an Island: What Will Become of Tuvalu's Climate Refugees?. The article posits the interesting question of what happens when a nation actually disappears...in this case, by being lost beneath rising ocean levels. If there's no more nation, what nationality are the citizens? Where do they go? It's a sobering question on many levels: moral, legal, practical, and scientific, and it really points out the questions we need to ask and the plans we have to make, regardless of why the climate is changing.
No matter where you stand on the issue, it's real. Sticking our heads into the proverbial sand won't solve the practical problems that are coming up. We need to get practical, rather than parochial.
Because I like spending time at the beach...but not when the beach is in West Virginia. Or Central Europe.
Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.
Bilbo
P.S. - Yesterday's post on awful songs led to a comment from The Mistress of the Dark, who said that "...any of the melodramatic oldies about boyfriends/girlfriends that were killed make the list. Not only are they depressing but they are bad." After reading that, I remembered (too late for my original post, naturally) a joke by a 1960's era comedian about such songs: he noted that the song "Tell Laura I Love Her," about the last words of a teenage idiot killed in a drag racing accident, had a sequel (there really was one) called "Tell Tommy I Miss Him." And the comic's idea was that the sequel to that one should have been, "Tell Laura Tommy Ain't Up Here." You've just gotta love it!
B.
4 comments:
Global warming definitely is a reality. I was under the impression that most Americans didn't believe it though...
The Australian Govt has just launched a $25M Climate Clever campaign with plenty of every day tips. Its basic stuff but we all need reminding about it. I definitely do :)
Oh god I remember that song. I would have loved to have heard the comedian tell that one.
'Leader Of The Pack' is another doomy one. Love that 1960's joke.
Climate change is a reality, sure, but we shouldn't kid ourselves that it hasn't always been. In the Middle Ages, Kent (in England) had the same climate as Bourdeaux does now, which allowed it to be one of the wine centres of Europe. Now you'll be lucky to get grapes to grow there.
I'm dubious about man-made climate change, because I know how much the media likes a good frenzy, and most of the stories stink of good, old fashioned hysteria. Lots of the concerns seem driven by journalists trying to sell newspapers; we'll see what happens in the next five years, I suppose.
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