Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Global Warming?

November 30th and there is not a flake of snow on the ground. We had some snow this November, but the warm weather and rain came and washed it all away. Many people are alarmed by this and point to the disastrous impact of humans on our planet, and throw around the ever popular term 'global warming'. It seems the general public has jumped on board the global warming train. And like a train it moves so fast that people on board can't make any sense of the scenery - in fact, they don't even try. We leave research to the scientists.

Spoon feeding is for babies.

Now, I am not saying that global warming is not something to be concerned about, but then again I'm not saying that it is something to be concerned about. I am going to use the term 'climate change' as it does not carry the same negative assumptions as 'global warming'. The fact of the matter remains that climate changes. As far as I can tell from my limited research, science cannot even agree if the climate is indeed warming or if it is cooling. The research in this area is based on models that are not agreed upon and predictions are still less than adequate:



"This question is not at all settled. It can only be settled by actual measurements, data. And the data are ambiguous. For example, the data show that the climate warmed between 1900 and 1940, long before humanity used much energy. But then the climate cooled between 1940 and 1975. Then it warmed again for a very short period of time, for about five years. But since 1979, our best measurements show that the climate has been cooling just slightly. Certainly, it has not been warming."

-Dr. S. Fred Singer


Nowadays, science is presented as fact. This is dangerous. Science, like most things, is always evolving, always changing, always building off old ideas. Much of past science is now obsolete - though it can still be used to further present research, much of the findings have been disproved. Further, scientists manipulate data to comply with their own biases, and much research is funded by persons and corporations with their own interests at heart, rather than the pursuit of truth and knowledge. Money talks, science listens.

Climate changes.

... this is about all we know for sure.

It may seem like I have picked one side of the fence on the issue of 'global warming' and it may seem like I am lonely here on that side of the fence, looking through at the majority of the rest of the world. I assure you I am still sitting on top of the fence analyzing both sides. I guess from here, the only thing I can do is look down on everyone else...

Take the spoon, feed yourself.

Start here: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/warming/debate/



Waking up

It's a fresh start. Like waking up after a restful sleep. Every day is full of new possibilities and every day brings with it new challenges and new oppurtunities. It is up to you to make something of it.

What will you do with your dreams today?