Quote:
Originally posted by nostatic
wrt the science, my take is that a majority of the scientific community thinks that global warming is real, and is increased by green-house gasses. Of course there is dissent...that's the nature of science. There are researchers that argue that HIV doesn't cause AIDS too...that doesn't make them right.
The evidence seems to indicate that greenhouse gases have an effect. Further study might disprove the cause/effect. But until that time, I would think we'd want to try and minimize the impact, especially if it can be done without catastrophic results to the economy.
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I'm with you Nostatic. Yup, the world is getting warmer. Check - most everyone agrees. Yup, greenhouse gasses contribute to that warming. Check - most everyone agrees.
The place where I think the train comes off the tracks is: why? Gore and company are hammering hard on the idea that it's all mankind's doing and we need to adapt their agenda to save the world. There are a lot of other people who don't buy into the hubris of this notion. The world is a massive place, and there are many powerful and interrelated things that affect climate (as opposed to weather -- if you don't know the difference you most likely shouldn't be having this conversation). In the past, the world has been a lot warmer, and a lot colder. It has even changed temperature surprisingly quickly. To just presume that the recent changes are man-made is an awfully big presumption to make. Image the outcome if everyone buys in to Gore's thesis and he's wrong. So massive amounts of money are redistributed (including yours) - energy prices go up, economies are affected, peoples jobs are lost and created, and ...
... and Long Island and Florida still sink beneath the waves. Might the money and effort have been better spent relocating people in low lying areas instead? This is a gross simplification, but sometimes it seems that the urge to do
something overwhelms the need to do the right thing(s).