September 7, 2008

POSSIBLY IRRITATING ESSAY: The Scientific Myth of Man As The Cause Of Global Warming And Cooling

Humans did not cause global warming (or cooling), we’re just desperately wishing that we did.

In the same way, there is nothing we can do to STOP the climate from changing. (Note: I said nothing about resource depletion, air and water pollution or overpopulation. We can and should act to increase recycling, cease and desist TOXIC emissions and reduce population before the Gang of Four pays us a visit.)

Some facts:

1) Surface of Earth is 500,000,000 square kilometers

2) 29% of Earth’s surface is land (150,000,000 square kilometers)

3) Of that 29%, humans inhabit roughly 80% (118,000,000 square kilometers) – a bit over 1/5 of the Earth’s surface

4) “83 percent of the total land surface and 98 percent of the areas where it is possible to grow the world's three main crops—rice, wheat, and maize—is directly influenced by human activities.” (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/10/1025_021025_HumanFootprint.html)
5) “A UN forecast released last week reports that half of all humans will live in urban areas by the end of the year—and 70 percent by 2050—even though cities occupy only about 3 percent of Earth's land surface.” http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/03/080313-cities.html)

6) “Some argue that human interaction poses less of a threat to our atmosphere than do natural processes, like volcanic eruptions.” (http://www.geology.sdsu.edu/how_volcanoes_work/climate_effects.html)

7) "Ignoring anthropogenic and other possible sources of variation acting at frequencies higher than one cycle per 19,000 years, this model predicts that the long-term cooling trend which began some 6,000 years ago will continue for the next 23,000 years."[9] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milankovitch_cycles)

8) “Astronaut Andy Thomas wrote about what you can see from orbit while aboard the Russian space station Mir: "Evidence of human habitation is visible from low Earth orbit. Cities can be seen, although, surprisingly, they do not stand out readily. But we can make out their grid-like patterns of streets. In remote areas, certain roads and railway lines can be seen as faint lines across the Earth, such as the road through the rain forests of Brazil, and the long straight railway line crossing south western Australia, but generally these are too small to make out clearly. The fencing off of farm land into individual fields can also be made out, particularly in the Midwest of the U.S. and Canada. There is even one area in South America where they alternate their growing cycles on adjacent fields, giving rise to a very obvious checkerboard pattern. Of course, national boundaries do not stand out by themselves as on a map, but some national boundaries can be seen where there are different land usage policies in effect on each side of a border, giving rise to different surface texture or color. In this way, the southern border of Israel can be made out, as can part of the division between the U.S. and Canada. The stories about the Great Wall of China being visible from space may be true, but I have yet to see it." But from the Moon? No. Astronaut and moonwalker Alan Bean said "The only thing you can see from the moon is a beautiful sphere, mostly white (clouds), some blue (ocean), patches of yellow (deserts), and every once in a while some green vegetation. No man-made object is visible on this scale. In fact, when first leaving earth's orbit and only a few thousand miles away, no man-made object is visible at that point either."” (http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/4411/faq-c.htm)

My thought is that rational science seeks to remove Man from a place of importance in the universe. Theologians declare that God is dead. Psychotherapists determine him to be a either a coping mechanism (aka “a crutch”) or a figment of our collective unconscious imagination. Genetics tells us that each individual is an accident. Astronomers show us pictures proving that Sol is insignificant in the universe. Cosmologists create calendars that prove that human existence is unnoticeable on an intergalactic scale. Astronauts verify that nothing of humanity is evident from the Moon. Behaviorists show that without a doubt, we are nothing more than naked apes.

As there is no more God, He cannot love us and we are no longer His special creation. Therefore, Human existence is meaningless.

I think that this inevitable conclusion bugged scientists enough that they felt it necessary to create something like God. Thus was born the Scientific Myth of Man As The Cause Of Global Warming/Cooling. I have no trouble with the measurable fact of global warming and cooling. Global warming is part of a long cyclic process that will change direction in about 15,000 years. As a cycle that spans tens of thousands of years, it has neither been helped nor hindered by Humanity. However, the devout belief of Man As The Cause Of Global Warming/Cooling and it’s corollary: Man Can Stop Global Warming/Cooling seems like it should be significant. It is not. As any scientist who has questioned Global Warming/Cooling has discovered, the belief that we can “stop” Global Warming/Cooling is as elaborate and as useless a coping mechanism (or a figment of our collective unconscious) as the former Belief In A Loving Creator Who Sent His Son To Die For Our Sins.

Succinctly: I have seen and reviewed evidence of global warming and cooling and I agree that it is taking place. I do not believe in Global Warming/Cooling.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I liked that article! I was afraid it was going to be possibly irritating; but in the end I liked the way you supported your points - Douglas Fish

David Brin said...

Oh what garbage. You armwave a bunch of irrelevant "gosh wow" yelps about how BIG the Earth is, without doing even the slightest analysis or even remotely bothering to get educated on the actual subject at-hand.

What arrogance! Men and women who study and actually grasp atmospheric science might possibly know a little more than you do, about it. 99% of them have concluded that human -cause is likely, and we'd best act as if it is true, out of simple prudence.

Faced with people who have studied, experimented, learned God's Equations in the language that He used to make our cosmos, the reaction that is both rational and humble would be to respect them!

But no, guys like you resent the fact that scientists speak God's language, so you make up stories in your head to denigrate them and to dismiss the sacredness of their work.

Dig it, you are mired in a "side" that hates science, hates knowledge, calls "elitist" people who actually know stuff, excuses the rise of a greedy kleptocratic aristocracy, and makes excuses for the oil companies to bleed our nation dry, while poisoning our planet. Yours is the side that is wrong about everything... except loving God.

And then you spoil even that, by insisting that God would damn sincere people for uttering different incantations than you do.

Well I have read and grasped his math. Like everybody else who has done so, I know He's bigger than the nasty, bitchy little revenge fantasy you call "Revelations." The God who wrote Maxwell's Equations is much, much bigger than that.

What arrogance.

Anonymous said...

"99% of them have concluded that human -cause is likely, and we'd best act as if it is true, out of simple prudence." We may add to that..Out of prudence we should all stay inside our homes and be safe from Cars rain shopping carts etc. Cause is Likely is a Guess not science. "Men and women who study and actually grasp atmospheric science" really who may those be? Al Gore? Or a Bunch of Paranoid Silicone filled Bimbos from Hollywood? Please say J Hansen! I would love to tear that one apart.
Emotional idiotic statements are not science. 99% of them? What an Arrogant misleading figure. Re read what you post and smell the arrogance.

Anonymous said...

Guy:

As always, interesting. I am having a great deal of difficulty with your vague leap of logic with "God is dead" therefore we created the God of Human Catasrophe (which is what I take it as). When precisely did this happen? What factors led up to it? Where are the links between We Have No God and We Are The Gods of All Things Global?

I wonder if you would have done well to expand on that particular argument, since the rest of your essay revolves around it.

-Hoth

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