Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Climate Change: Part I

I have a lot of thoughts on climate change. Most of them are politically incorrect. This article neatly summarizes the main reason not to panic because average temperatures are getting a little warmer.

News Flash! - this isn't the first time this has happened. It isn't even the first time in recorded history. People have been dealing with climate change forever. Our generation is not unique or special in that regard. We're just arrogant enough to assume that everything we face is unprecedented and grave. We are also the first generation that can really cause some damage if our attempts to "correct" the climate fail.

Some people are talking about dumping iron in the ocean to fight global warming. That will probably cause more problems than it will solve. Instead of knee-jerk reactions, we should assess the possible impact of the warming, and then simply adapt. If the ancient Greeks could adapt, we should have no problems.

As the article points out, this history doesn't mean we aren't impacting the climate. It doesn't mean we shouldn't find ways to pollute less. But, it does mean that mankind has survived this before and to destroy our economy to try to stop what may be unstoppable is not the rational thing to do.

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