Other views on global warming

The problem is, some people hear "global warming" and think that means it's never going to snow again, or get cold, or what have you. Some, like old tony, post idiotic pictures of snow in New Orleans and accept that as definitive proof that global warming isn't real.

But it's not that simple, of course, and "warming" is only one part of the phenomenon. I admit I don't know much about it, either, but the basic idea is that the climate in many regions is becoming more volatile -- that means, colder colds, hotter hots, nastier natural disasters, more frequent storms and more frequent droughts, etc. Bascally, the weather conditions are getting more extreme.

It's a lot more complicated than just gauging the temperature.

 

Hondo, give it up. Even your party's presidential candidate knew this is happening. Not his uber-intellectual VP, though. Well, she did, but she didn't think it was important to know why.

 

According to whom? I keep seeing before-and-after pictures of ice shelves that seem to lose a chunk the size of Texas every time they're taken.

 

The biggest evidence of global warming comes from the USDA hardiness zone maps which are released every year. Compare 20-years ago to today. What you will see are plants that were once never able to survive in NYC growing in Central Park. Plants that could never survive in Michigan are being grown out windows of high rises.

Now, I get that there is some disagreement about the degree to which man is creating the problem. I look at it the same as two guys are standing in a room full of people and they fart. The room now stinks of their gas. Sure, the two guys can piss and moan about how much of the stink came from themselves but it doesn't change the fact that the room stinks and nobody else wants to be in the room with these two assholes.

To remedy this, we can say that we won't blame either guy and that the odor is coming from some mold growing behind the walls and it just so happened to become really pungent when the two gasbags decided to break wind. Or, we can say that it is entirely possible that the two gasbags played a roll and that they can look to remedy their flatulence in the future so that it won't possibly contribute further to the already stinky mold.

 

God is hugging us close, huh?

 

Just looking at some of the quotes...
Here is the first one:

Wow. That is quite damning?! It doesn’t sound like the guy is saying that it isn’t real. In fact there is a huge gap after the word “skeptic.” Is it possible that info is left out?

Seems to me that FB is right on the money here.

 

Couldn't that be chalked up to evolution?

 

Yeah, sell that one to Inhofe.

 

Kind of how iguanas and some snakes have thrived in Florida after being released into the wildlife?

 

Bill Clinton always talked a lot about - probably still does - in his speeches a concept he called "future preference." The vocabulary came from a speech one of his Georgetown professors gave.

Anyway, the concept is that mankind develops and advances when it puts more emphasis on the future than the present. It is what separates, also, developed from underdeveloped worlds.

You can take this to a micro level. If you work out now, you'll be in better health later. If you study now, you're grades will be good and you'll be better off later.

This is a little bit counterintuitive, because we're told so often to "live in the moment" and that people worry too much about the future and don't appreciate the now. And that's true to an extent. But I'll chalk it up to cruel irony.

The fact is, when we try to deny global warming or preserve the concens of the present at the expense of the future, we're engaging in something that human history has shown never, ever works out.

 

No and you would know that if you decided to do an ounce of research on what a hardiness zone map is. As such, the simple explanation is that the map is of climate zones.

Plants are given a rating to survive in certain climates. If the climate shifts in an area then plants that couldn't grow before will be able to grow now. This has nothing to do with whether a plant evolves and is able to grow in an entirely different climate zone.

 

Any self respecting gardener knows about hardiness zone maps.