"Don't like the climate here? Try Mars. You would not survive. And yet both Earth and Mars are considered planets in the 'Cinderella Zone'."
The Earth is burning up. So say the panic merchants at the UN. And not only is it burning up, it is the fault of mankind. Mankind and their love affair with fossil fuels. How hot is the Earth getting? The five hottest years took place in the decade of the 2010's. The five hottest years of all time. Okay - that is not true. The five hottest years since 1914. That was the year weather history could be recorded - and relied on.
Here is the truth of the matter according to geologists. The Earth is constantly changing. With those changes, comes a change in the climate. Hello? Ice ages? Well this is going to drive the climate alarmists nuts, but it needs to be said. Our planet, since the get-go, has had five (5) major ice ages. Wow! Timing is everything! At least we are not living in one of those ice ages! Hold on - technically, we still are.
The last ice age began 2.6M years ago, and we are still in it. And how in the world do geologists know that? Because we still have ice sheets in the world. Greenland, the Arctic, Antarctica, and some minor glaciers right below the Arctic Circle. To really get in the weeds, the Earth is currently in a inter-glacial period of the current ice age. That means the Earth is warming for a while.
Now I am going to throw a bone to the "greenies". Do I think mankind has allowed too much carbon into our atmosphere? I do. But that is part of our history. The carbon comes from burning fossil fuels for the past century or so. Without those fossil fuels, our lives and lifestyles would have been significantly reduced.
But in the age of eons and epochs, a century is a mere blip of time. Mankind is already on to the next big thing - renewable energy and beyond. Our grandchildren will look back at these days and think we were nothing more than cavemen in the 20th century. The new energy sources will be abundant, clean and efficient. There will be minute or no externalities of production, like we have with our current coal and oil based economy.
What is the bottom line from this Bird's eye? This old planet is a tough old gal. It has been through a lot, and keeps on ticking. Asteroids, ice ages, volcanoes, massive earthquakes, you name it. Like a Timex watch, it takes a licking and keeps on ticking. As much as we would like to think of ourselves as change agents, we cannot destroy this planet. We can wound it, but it will recover.
Take heart Earthlings! All is not lost! We will survive this. Will things be different? Absolutely - they always are. A hundred years from now, will Minnesota look different than today? Probably. But chances are, we (humanity), will still be living in Minnesota as well as the other states. We will have adapted to the change - like mankind always has.
One more thought before I close this out. Don't like the climate here? Try Mars. You would not survive. And yet both Earth and Mars are considered planets in the "Cinderella Zone". No, we can bitch about climate change, but Earth is better than 99.999% than the rest of the universe. And - I kind of like it here.
I can't believe it!
ReplyDeleteThe Bird talking about Climate Change.
What next?
Trump talking about Marital Fidelity?
Will wonders never cease.
In the language of climate change, “adaptation” refers to ways to blunt the immediate effects of extreme weather, such as building seawalls, conserving drinking water, updating building codes, and helping more people get disaster insurance.
But some researchers are going further, calling for what some call the “deep adaptation agenda.”
That means not only rapid decarbonization and storm-resistant infrastructure, but also building water and communications systems that won’t fail if the power grid collapses and searching for ways to safeguard the food supply by protecting pollinating insects.
The evidence before us suggests that we are set for disruptive and uncontrollable levels of climate change, bringing starvation, destruction, migration, disease and war. We need to appreciate what kind of adaptation is possible.
Rather than simply asking people to water their lawns less often, for example, governments need to consider large-scale, decades-long infrastructure projects, such as transporting water to increasingly arid regions and moving cities away from the ocean.
Adapting to widespread disruption will require governments to avoid viewing climate change primarily as a security threat.
Instead, countries must find new ways to manage problems that cross borders—for example, by sharing increasingly scarce freshwater resources.
We can’t raise border walls high enough to prevent the effects of climate change,
We know that this administration is in denial, but this is a slow-motion disaster and future leaders, with more evidence in front of them will have to play catch up.
Paraphrasing my gay friends, It's near, it's here, get used to it!
'Twas always here.
DeleteGreat article, Bird!
ReplyDeleteBy "Cinderella Zone" you presumably mean the "Goldilocks Zone." Different tale.
ReplyDelete