I just got July 2008 edition of Popular Science. Normally I look forward to receiving that publication and Popular Mechanics as well. Both used to help keep me abreast of developments in a wide range of interests but, sadly, that trend appears to have died.
A while back the previous editor retired and someone newer and younger took his place. Almost immediately the tone of the publication shifted more to the left. Since the headquarters for Popular Science (and most other monthly publications) is New York City it's a given that liberalism runs rampant.
Still... even a liberal should be able to take an unbiased objective view when it comes to things of a technological nature. In the past there was only the slightest hint of a political overtone in this publication. Certain contributing writers had a slant that they just couldn't help interjecting into and otherwise objective piece.... and one just learned to deal with those situations.
Now... it seems that the inmates have taken over the asylum. The cover this month reads: "ECO-TROPOLIS a blueprint for fresh air + pristine water + cheap energy PLUS 48 Audacious ideas to save the planet!" My God I think I'm going to HURL!
Before you read any further take a moment to listen to the little 3 minute and 15 second sound bite here. It's Charlton Heston reading from the introduction of the book Jurassic Park. It may help you get a grip on all this "Climate Change" hysteria.
Did anyone manage to grasp the profound implications of that less than 4 minute dissertation? Save the Planet? The planet can get along just dandy without us. It's been going through cyclical changes since it cooled. The ONLY difference is that we just happen to be around to witness one of those cyclical changes this time. I suppose there is a second difference too. A faction of the population is both vain enough and arrogant enough to actually think we're capable to affecting the climate in any meaningful way at all.
To help you get a better grasp on things here is another dandy little link to follow. Since the earth exists on a time scale vastly larger than our own it's necessary to put things into a perspective that we humans can more easily relate to. What this link does is take the entire history of the planet earth and condense it down into one single calendar year. Earth is formed on January 1st and then the progression of history since then is calculated out to other months, days, hours, minutes and seconds. I think you'll find it rather interesting!
The very first primitive life popped up in march. So life (in general) has been hanging around for roughly 9 months. What about humans? What kind of "time footprint" have we managed to leave? It's rather difficult to pin down with a high degree of accuracy but.... we occupy the last 4 minutes and 45 seconds of the year. Keep in mind that for us to even be that significant we're including Neanderthal man as the starting point of "human"
activity.
Please understand that I'm not arguing that we're just supposed to do what ever we want and not be responsible stewards of our spaceship earth. It is, after all, our life support system as we go whizzing through space, roughly 3/4 the way out on one of the spiral arms of the milky way galaxy, at a breathtaking 447,000 mph! (And yes.. I do have another link if you want to check out that number!) http://en.allexperts.com/q/Astronomy-1360/speed-1.htm
History, brief as it is for the human race, has proven over and over again the wonderful "law of unintended consequences." Simply stated, we humans tend to get too focused on trying to "fix" things and fail to grasp the implications and ramifications of our actions. We know what we want to accomplish but we fail to see beyond that goal.
For example, several decades ago wolves were getting to be a "problem" in Yellowstone National Park. (Humans decided they were a problem... NOT nature) To "solve" this problem hunters "thinned" the population. Unintended consequence? Well... without the natural predators out there in the correct numbers deer, elk, moose and other range mammals had a population explosion. Competition for the dwindling food supply (now technically smaller because the same amount of range land had to support a greater number of feeders) meant that a greater number of animals were malnourished. Sickness and disease spread and the herds were now in danger of vanishing entirely. The "cure" for that problem..... the reintroduction of wolves into the habitat.
What we have to remember is that climate change happens. We didn't cause it this time just like we didn't cause it the millions of times it's happened before. Our job is to adapt! If we try to "fix" something that nature has been doing for millions of years all that's going to happen is that we're going to waste untold trillions of dollars and that law of unintended consequences is going to jump up and bite us in the butt for it.
A parting thought from America's foremost good stewards of mother earth.... the Native American Indian. Their wisdom: "We do not inherit the earth from our forefathers... we borrow it from our children."
