averygoodun42 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
averygoodun42) wrote2014-01-06 11:55 am
averygoodun42) wrote2014-01-06 11:55 am
In which I, Miss Ranty McRantypants, am controversial amongst the liberals.
"Global warming" is a term that needs to die a swift and very public death. It is at best misleading, and at worst diverting.
The Arctic is warming. Climates are changing. Those are irrefutable facts. Another fact is that weather records only go back a couple hundred years, which is approximately a nanosecond (and I'm being generous) in terms of a global timescale. Hell, it's only a nanosecond in terms of ice-age cycles!
Yes, the ice samples taken from Antarctica give evidence that there hasn't been a drastic warming like this seen, well, ever. But, well, they also recently uncovered evidence that, under approximately a mile of ice, there's a MONSTER canyon in Greenland that was formed by river erosion, like the Grand Canyon, rather than by glaciers. And that points to the arctic going through occasional severe warming periods.
Basically, the global climate is an amazingly complex interweaving of regional climates (with each regional climate being an amazingly complex interweaving of millions of factors) that we have only started to assess in any meaningful way. Kinda like studying biology in the early 1800's.
That said, the main reason I HATE, LOATHE and DESPISE the term "Global Warming" is because it is so easily dismissed.
"Oh yeah, global warming is a real serious issue," the chucklehead jokes as they put on their warmest coats to go shovel the last two feet of snow dumped on them.
But, well, climate change did bring in the cold and the unusual snowfalls. It is a serious issue that's going to continue impacting billions of people.
Is climate change coming from greenhouse gasses we're pumping into the air? Perhaps. Perhaps not. Correlation does not equal causation. If it did, then there would be a case against vaccinations due to their link with autism (which is purely correlative; they have definitely disproved the purported causation link).
That said, should we work hard to severely limit future greenhouse gasses pumped into the air? HELL YES!!! Not only because they could be causing climate change, but because they have been proven, over and over and over again, to be bad for us individually and collectively!!!
But let's lead that charge with hyping up "Climate Change" rather than "Global Warming"! Because only the most stubborn, obtuse or money-grubbing will deny that the climate is changing.
(Though really, how about we lead the charge with something that's closer to home/more relatable? Like, oh, the pandemic spread of asthma and other bronchial diseases; the increase in cancers and immune disorders; the dying fishing industries worldwide; etc.)
The Arctic is warming. Climates are changing. Those are irrefutable facts. Another fact is that weather records only go back a couple hundred years, which is approximately a nanosecond (and I'm being generous) in terms of a global timescale. Hell, it's only a nanosecond in terms of ice-age cycles!
Yes, the ice samples taken from Antarctica give evidence that there hasn't been a drastic warming like this seen, well, ever. But, well, they also recently uncovered evidence that, under approximately a mile of ice, there's a MONSTER canyon in Greenland that was formed by river erosion, like the Grand Canyon, rather than by glaciers. And that points to the arctic going through occasional severe warming periods.
Basically, the global climate is an amazingly complex interweaving of regional climates (with each regional climate being an amazingly complex interweaving of millions of factors) that we have only started to assess in any meaningful way. Kinda like studying biology in the early 1800's.
That said, the main reason I HATE, LOATHE and DESPISE the term "Global Warming" is because it is so easily dismissed.
"Oh yeah, global warming is a real serious issue," the chucklehead jokes as they put on their warmest coats to go shovel the last two feet of snow dumped on them.
But, well, climate change did bring in the cold and the unusual snowfalls. It is a serious issue that's going to continue impacting billions of people.
Is climate change coming from greenhouse gasses we're pumping into the air? Perhaps. Perhaps not. Correlation does not equal causation. If it did, then there would be a case against vaccinations due to their link with autism (which is purely correlative; they have definitely disproved the purported causation link).
That said, should we work hard to severely limit future greenhouse gasses pumped into the air? HELL YES!!! Not only because they could be causing climate change, but because they have been proven, over and over and over again, to be bad for us individually and collectively!!!
But let's lead that charge with hyping up "Climate Change" rather than "Global Warming"! Because only the most stubborn, obtuse or money-grubbing will deny that the climate is changing.
(Though really, how about we lead the charge with something that's closer to home/more relatable? Like, oh, the pandemic spread of asthma and other bronchial diseases; the increase in cancers and immune disorders; the dying fishing industries worldwide; etc.)