Chade on 19/2/2008 at 20:25

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Well, to be fair to the naysayers, it does look like some politicians and activists (a majority) pushing for reform are exaggerating the science says in order to get attention. Also, some environmentalists (a minority) seem to be backing reform, not so much out of concern for the atmosphere, but more because it gives them a soap-box from which they can make ill-informed social statements and put the boot into those evil capitalists ...

Witness the frantic attempts to blame the recent spate of weird weather on climate change. This may well be true, but AFAIK it isn't established yet. I think the activists are shooting themselves in the foot here in order to get short-term attention. What are they going to do if the weather calms down for a few years? For that matter, what are activists going to do in 30-40 years when their more drastic predictions fail to eventuate?

Distorting the science for immediate public attention may look attractive, and the media certainly laps it up, but I think it will backfire in the long-term, and discredit the climate change movement. Developing countries won't need much of an excuse to enjoy the same sort of advantages developed countries had when they were industrializing.

Some activists need to pull their head in, IMO.

a flower in hell on 20/2/2008 at 02:47

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Mostly fearmongering. There's a lot of truth to it, but whether it can be fixed or not is up to debate.

Honestly I get really angry every time environmental folks start throwing around, "WE CAN DESTROY THE PLANET OMG OMG OMG."

Let's face facts. This planet has survived and thrived under conditions billions of times harsher than anything we can hope to inflict upon it. This planet will not be destroyed by us. Life will not be destroyed by us; it's been trucking right along for over three billion years. We have a lot of gall to think that we're somehow powerful and mighty enough to wipe the slate clean.

However, we're sure as hell more than capable of destroying ourselves. This planet will continue to spin and rotate around the sun long after we've killed ourselves off.

Global warming, the fate of the planet, the future of life itself, etc isn't the real issue; the real issue is whether or not pumping billions of tons of unpleasant chemicals into the environment will hurt humans as a whole, and the answer is yes.

Edit for flamebait: The other question is, does it matter what we do? We'll eventually leave this planet anyway. It's not big enough to hold us all forever. Unless something drastic happens soon, global warming will likely not become a problem until after we'd already be spread across the stars anyway.

Edit again for more flamebait and a qualifier: Even if global warming turns out to be true, what do you gain by constantly living in fear of being smothered by the Mighty Carbon Dioxide Molecule? An ulcer maybe. Living in constant fear is far from healthy; it's more stress added onto an already stressful life, and you really don't need that much cortisol floating around in your bloodstream.

a flower in hell on 20/2/2008 at 03:11

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I'm just saying you shouldn't get so stressed about it and freak out all the time. It's not helpful or productive. If it does turn out that global warming is 100% caused by humans, then fine. Take steps to fix it. But stop with the goddamned scare tactics and fearmongering. It's sickening how well it works to control people.

Epos Nix on 20/2/2008 at 04:04

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I highly doubt anyone here really thinks global warming is going to somehow bring about the end of life as we know it. Actually, mankind (being the adaptable fellow he is) will likely rebound pretty well should the climate go wacky. Unfortunately not all species are as adaptable as we humans and they will be the primary victims of any unnatural climate changes. If anything, we have a lot of gall if we think we can irresponsibly destroy habitats because its too inconvenient for us to change our lifestyle.

ercles on 20/2/2008 at 08:47

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THAT DOES IT I'M BUYING A PRIUS