Global Warming Thoughts

I have never got that wrought up over Global Warming. Perhaps because it is hard to see the effects of it, perhaps it is just my interior selfishness, or more likely it is because most of the folks most concerned about global warming are so annoying that they reduce the effectiveness of their message.

A good friend of mine, who is a Conservative, always said that he did not dispute Global Warming, but he thought that perhaps the science of stating that man was solely responsible and even able to effect a reduction was perhaps wrong.

I have just read a book called Why Geography Matters. Well I should say I am in the process of reading it but Chapter 3 which talks about the Earth's Era's, Ice Ages, Extinctions and such is quite revelatory.

Look outside your window. Did you know that we are in an Ice Age. It is true. One of the things that becomes very apparent if you do any research in this subject is you cannot really trust the news media on either side of the issue, most of the talking heads either have an agenda or are too dumb to even interpret the basic facts in a cogent way.

Just as in winter when we gets lots of snow and people scoff at global warming, today with it above 100 degrees in the Midwest few would agree that we are in an Ice Age. Both are true. They are however relative statements.

Over the last 120 thousand years we have been in the most recent Ice Age. Against popular opinion however Ice Ages are not all cold. They are periods of approximately 10,000 years of glaciation, when ice spreads lower toward the equator, and interglacials, periods of about 10,000 years where the Earth warms and the ice recedes. Now the first thing we need to know is Mother Nature does not operate on an exact schedule so all numbers are estimates but what becomes quickly apparent is this.

Yes we are in a warming period. This has been predictable for the whole time of man's existence on Earth. The difference is that in this most recent interglacial Man has come out of caveman days and accomplished all that we see today. Thus, with our great accomplishments we think that we have caused global warming and that we can stop it. Nothing could be further from the truth.

A couple things are true or at least likely. Man and fossil fuels have most likely added to the warming that is happening, perhaps we have accelerated the rate. We must know however that inevitable is the progression to whatever the peak warming is, and inevitable is the next reversal that will lead to a cooling climate.

As the author notes global warming will cause drought, starvation, changing ocean levels and much calamity. That however will be a fraction of the changes to all life on the planet when the next period of glaciation begins. Should we worry about that? No, there is no sense, it will not be in our lifetimes and likely not in anyone in our direct lines. Global warming will effect us sooner than the next cooling.

What we should all keep in mind however is how little we matter to the cycles of the Earth. We just need to get a little humility. We are just not that important to the planet we live on. It has come through much greater calamities than we have ever placed or will place on it.

If possible should we attempt to be better stewards of the Earth. Of course. After all doing what is right is always the right thing to do. However when those on the left say that if we reduce emissions we can eventually stop global warming from increasing, it is just a falsehood. Global warming is part of a never ending cycle.

This is an example of how the real truth is available for anyone who wants to spend time finding it. The truth is rarely on The Fox or MSNBC.

Global Warming exists. It will affect the quality of life on Earth. It is however not reversible. And man's influence on the cycle as a whole is so minute as to be unimportant in the big picture.