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If you haven't seen An Inconvenient Truth, you must.
It outlines, irrefutably, that we are doomed if we (not them, US) don't do something to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. While the documentary will scare the living daylights out of you, hang in there until the end. Then you'll see that there are very simple things we can do to reverse course and save South Carolina. If the trend continues, as shown in the film, Beaufort County, ALL of Beaufort County, will be underwater in our lifetime.
Does this sound too frightening to even consider? Absolutely. That's why so many people have been avoiding the issue. It makes us uncomfortable and scared. People hate to be uncomfortable and scared, me included. But thankfully, at the end of the two hour documentary, there is a simple solution.
If you are in doubt of the global warming issue, that's because you have been duped. Remember in the '60s when the surgeon general warned of the perils of smoking? The smoking industry in self-preservation come up with some brilliant counterattacks to poke doubt into very sound science. "Most doctors smoke x brand of cigarettes." The oil companies are doing the same to us now and unfortunately, some very intelligent people have fallen for it.
This is your wake up call. If you need more proof, read last week's Newsweek.
Inform yourself. Please.
- lallen's blog
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Lisa - the facts are clear- when the atmospheric CO2 reaches current levels we have an ice age within 250 years . . . .
I tend to look at facts - facts from the past - not fearmongering and assumptions which are for the most part at the extreme edge of reality.
If you look at ALL of the global warming models presently existing - Gore used the most extreme for each of the elements of his presentation. Every single chart, graph and graphic is the most extreme choice. Mother nature is not like that.
That being said - the Vostok Station [Antarctic Ice Record] clearly reveals ice ages follow warm periods. Here is a link to the graph - which is a fact record - not a projection or a opinion. I prefer real world facts.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Vostok_420ky_4curves_insolation.jpg
Is Global warming happening? Yes. It is. Are humans are fault? I do not believe so.
My basic position all along has been in order to 'trust' a global warming model relied upon by a proponent of massive change of the modern technological and transportation based lifestyle, that model MUST be able to be unwound. This means you need to be able to take the model BACK to 1900, add the CO2 KNOWN to have been added to the atmosphere, and predict what actually happened, and verify it that the prediction and the model agree. One does not need perfect match, but close enough for academic standards, say within 50%.
Well, minds smarter than I have done so:
http://www.warwickhughes.com/hoyt/scorecard.htm
also see: http://blogs.woodtv.com/?p=1997
Simply put, the models suck. They overstate the actually REALITY by in some cases, orders of magnitude [thats factors of ten for the statistically challenged.] If the overstate what we KNOW happened, then we know they will overstate the predictions of what WILL happen. Is that not logical?
Anyway, the models stink. Therefore the claims of doom and gloom are based on junk science. Decide for yourself.
Finally, Lisa, Look at the issue objectively and read some science instead of Moveon.org's global warming propaganda. Would YOU rather make the decision to use less energy because you feel it is the right thing to do, or would you rather be TOLD when and how to run your AC, by people who will NEVER suffer the consequences since they are wealthy enough to buy carbon credits to maintain their lifestyle, or because they are in the right group and never get questioned. If you want to 'Save the Whales,' the go save them; don't make me save them too.
Shadows asks ALL the right questions. WHO decides what the 'right' temp is? The right temp for Russia is probably a few degrees warmer than the 'right' temp for Nigeria. WHO decides? I want to decide for me - not some group beholden to a group of politicians or greens somewhere.
Them before we even get to the issue of whether global warming is 'good' or 'bad,' don't we first have to decide what the 'right' temperature is in order to tell if we are even 'warming?'
Lets not forget that for 4.8 BILLION years of the Earth's existence there WERE NO ICE AGES. Maybe it is too cold now, and the right temperature for the Earth is 5 of 10F WARMER than it is now. Perhaps the Ice Ages and snow and ice are an 'unnatural' phenomenon? They are if you look back in Earth's history. If you buy into the whole Gaia Earth mother thing, maybe MAN is Mother Natures reaction to the cold by creating a species to warm the planet back to where it SHOULD be? Sound silly? It is just as silly as the Greens insistence that the Earth is warming catastrophically and we are all doomed. They need to answer what the 'right' climate is before we can 'do everything we can to slow it down,' what ever that means.
Since c02 is the primary by-product of animal life breathing, perhaps we should stop or slow down that practice. Me, I'm just going to buy some inexpensive inland property and wait for the day that it becomes beachfront. If you're given lemons, find a way to make lemonade.
That's my point about watching An Inconvenient Truth and reading all you can from all sides. Decide for yourself. Unfortunately, people only hear the sound bites that it's "junk science." It isn't. But many people don't look further than that. It's junk science, they say, parroting what others say. Find out for yourself.
As for people telling others what to do, no, that's not always the best thing. However, if people aren't informed, they cannot make wise decisions and the fact of the matter is, few people bother to get informed beyond the surface. They listen to what they agree with and ignore the rest. In this world of extremely segmented niche media, they can do that. Therefore, government needs to assume that role. It IS for the great good. Is it so terrible that the government encourages companies to phase out harmful technologies that are reluctant to do so because there is a short term cost, long term benefit?
As for the major source of CO2 being breathing? Give me a break.
Lisa - chill. Topgun was being sarcastic. He often is. Part of his charm.
Don't challenge me on the junk science comment - what about:
1) Gore using the most extreme example to make his point; and,
2) what is the goal? What is the right temperature of the Earth?
Warmer is better for ALL humans. Durign this heat wave, 12 people have died - during cold waves hundreds die from the cold, from increased diseases, like flu and other ailments.
Also - answer me this - if we stop global warming, will not then need MORE CO2 to keep warm in the longer colder winters? You live in SC which has a mild temperate climate - what about those living in Canada and Europe? Will they not have to use MORE energy to keep warm? Even if all of it comes from electricity - how is the electricity generated? You know its not coming from 100% wind/nuke/solar.
EVERYTHING has unintended consequences and you need to think it through before we run off half-cocked to 'change the climate.' Once again, change it to what?
What is the climate goal? 1900AD? 1000BC? 1976? 1956? Give me a number and goal here.
As for my personal contribution I've used compact flourescent bulbs since 1996. I combine and plan trips by car. Why? It COSTS me less. THAT makes SENSE. You create a technology that costs people less and they'll use it. I do NOT want some holier than thou governmental agency telling me what my carbon footprint is this year. Allocating a resource by governmental fiat has and never will work.
Tell you what. What is YOUR thermostat turned up to at home? Mine is 80F from noon to 8pm when I'm here. Is yours off while at work? What have you done to get on a high horse and preach about the dangers of global warming.
yes the media hype is what is up. Might as well preach that the world will turn topsy turvy in 2050. Maybe we can say the ocean's will dry up in 2080 if the world continues wasting our water resources the way it is. Try this one, when the oceans dry up it will be easier for our enemies to attack because they can just march to us and will not have to even have a navy to destroy us.
The only thing we can do is be here. If we are not here we will not know, will we? To pontificate that we must do this or that is just wind. Hot air. Gore took a message, blew it out of porportion to draw all the free media he could and went to town with it.
We are but petty little animals who would die anyway. No one is important except in their very own tiny little brain and nothing I do or do not do will change my very own carbon footprint by very much at all. The lights that are so much better have mercury in them, thus disposal becomes the problem. One thing offsets the other and creates another set of problems after it supposedly solves only one problem. Do not tell me how to live when there is no RIGHT way to live.
The way this blog thing seems to work best is for all of you to feel big chested and mighty proud of yourselves while telling good lies about yourself and telling the crowd the presumed faults of everyone else. Simple is as simple does. You can go ahead and quote me on that.
A month ago someone was bragging how what we wrote here was read around the world by millions. I proved that wrong by simply asking the ten people on here where they lived.
Now there may be 15 people on here regularly and 3 of those just pick on others so they do nothing to contribute anything to our discussion. NOTHING. This is no important podium if you think you are doing good deeds by stretching your own truths.
Please do not read a book or watch a movie or hear a reporter and think you will change me or our world because now you have all the facts and have become the resident EXPERT in whatever you wish to take action on this week. You coulda had a V8 !!!
This world will self right itself as a foamed fill hull will if you tip it over. When the world becomes overpopulated, polluted and dying it will kill, starve and clean itself of the pests that we are. Nothing for us to do or nothing we can do to stop this self cleansing. When people build too close to the Ocean the Ocean kills them. When they build too close to the cliff, the cliff kills them. When they build where mudslides or an avalanche can kill them, that happens. Self cleansing earth. We do the earth wrong and as animals we die. Humans are just another animal. Get over it. Sim City in real time.
I am fairly certain that after most of us bloggers die, the world will go to hell and probably self destruct in a very short time. After all, without us to tell everyone the way things should be, who could possibly do as good a job?
The present heat wave proves that Gore is right, if you choose to believe Gore. Very shortly it will become quite cold in places where it is now very hot. That should support the hypothesis that we are heading for another ice age, if you choose to believe it.
How about the drought, it leaves little doubt that we are running out of natural resources such as water. That's why they sell bottled water.....its an effort to conserve our natural resources...having little to do with profit. Bottled water will save us for a while after they turn off our taps, but I hate to think about the poor lawns and suffering due to fewer swimming pools. Can you imagine how much a scotch and water will cost? It will be a miserable time.
And then there are the floods, hurricanes, earthquakes and tornadoes..........are those money makers or what? Of course anyone concerned about the environment probably isn't interested in making money.....go green.
Lisa,
Joe is right, I was being my usual charmingly sarcastic self. But, I did not say "the major source". what I did say was that co2 is "the primary by-product" of breathing by animal life. The natural balance to this is plant life breathing co2 and converting it to oxygen. If we had more trees and stopped destroying those that we do have, our atmosphere would be healthier. I am in a business that deals with products that can have an adverse effect on the atmosphere, and we must work under tight controls. As a result, I have had to learn about such things. I certainly don't know everything, but I do know enough to know that the situation is not as desperate as Al Gore and others would have it. His movie was made with very good intentions, but it does exaggerate things a bit. I'm all for clean air and doing everything we can to preserve our planet. Global warming however is a natural process that would be occurring with or without our help. We have helped the process along, but not as much as some might think. Do some research and find out how much air polution is caused on a daily basis from flatulence by cattle....you will be amazed! And that is nature!
Now, back to my usual self: I hate snow anyway!
Joe and TopGun -
Have you watched An Inconvenient Truth? Yes or no.
Lisa,
Yes I have. I actually saw it before it was made famous at the Academy Awards.
Lisa, you have not lived until you watch Al and see his Girthiness in High Definition.
Sure I've watched it -I also checked the book out of the library and backchecked the main sources. It took about 3 hours one rainy afternoon sitting a chair watching a Red Sox road game, a paper list I made from the book and my trusty mac laptop hooked into my wifi network.
not only have I watched it I fact checked it. Everything Gore said is either his opinion, or cites an actual study whose creators even admit are extreme computations or projections of what will happen. That' ok -
Here's one that you big journalist users of lexis/nexis can find:
Nov. 2, 1922 edition of The Washington Post: "Arctic Ocean Getting Warm; Seals Vanish and Icebergs Melt."
Yeah, I watched Gore. He is an alarmist intentionally. If he does not know that he is being alarmist, then he is an idiot. Either way, his actions make me distrust both his motives and his intent if he cannot be intellectually honest enough to present his honest opinion, since, if he does believe his extremist climate consequences, there was a reason he got a gentleman's C in science classes in College.
. . . how about you answer mine?
What have YOU done personally in your home and lifestyle to reduce global warming?
A modern fuel efficient vehicle?
CFL?
temps to 80 or higher in the house during the heat wave? Maybe give up AC all together?
Planning and combining trips and not flying anymore to avoid wasteful commerical airliners?
Maybe you and Ian can share a car since you can use it while he works and on the night editor he can use it while you work?
Public transportation? Car pooling?
Putting grass on the roof to keep it cooler?
cold water showers?
I'm just asking. . . .
Joe,
Sorry. Didn't mean to be holding out on you.
I was the editor of a statewide environmental magazine in Michigan in the early 1990s. Since, I've recycled, composted, cleaned with natural ingredients (baking soda, lemon juice and salt), I drive only when I have to, otherwise I bicycle to the store.
I rarely use air conditioning in my car and keep it at 80 at home. CFLs, of course. I buy second-hand cars, furniture and some clothing. Don't water my lawn and am looking for a second-hand, non-motorized lawn mower. I trim my yard by hand, no weedwhacker.
I can go on, but you get the idea.
Having met you, Joe, I trust you did fact-check Gore's presentation. Good for you! I wish more people would do the same on critical issues. Many people are sheep. Thanks for the additional references, I will read them.
thats a great way to live lallen!
We use citrus products to clean our house, car and other things needing cleaning.
I'd compost here in SC if I was here all the time. SC has truly horrible recycling mandates - even a 5 cent bottle tax on water/soda/alcohol would encourage recycling and give the boy / girl scouts a revenue source. We have a Jeep 4WD at our CT house out of necessity, but I only drive it full time from December - April - the rest of the year ALL of our vehicles get 24-28mpg.
What Gore represents in his presentation are all reports from legitimate scientists. I have no quarrel with his falsifying or not being accurate in his use of his sources - my issue is the ones he picked to use - with no disclosure of the less alarmist examples which ***is*** the consensus among climate scientists as to what can be expected.
As for the Newsweek article - what can you expect from energy companies, nay ANY company what makes a living from energy or a potentially polluting use? These companies simply use their money to prevent having to lose profits from environmental regulation. So long as you can be critical of EVERYONE's position who has an axe to grind, then you can come to some happy medium as to what is really going on. The 'environmentalists' have the SAME bias in their own favor when they present arguments over their side. Most people though see the environment propaganda as fact, instead of the position of the particular group, using the facts which help them the most.
I try to strike a balance between concern for the environment and family health and safety. Thus, choices of vehicles, lighting, cleaning supplies, temp setting in the house, etc etc etc. The environmentalist lobby loves a world where humans have no impact - kill us all, and they'd be really happy. Corporations want NO regulation, which is of course not in the best interest of everyone. People need to work and eat, and if the environmental movement would spend its time educating people instead of trying to control them, people would respond better. If you show me clean options for everything, that do not pollute the planet, you know, maybe I'd use it. Instead the movement browbeats me with how evil my lifestyle is, tries to control my life, intends to cost me more money, and tries to make me fearful of everything I do, buy and use. And you wonder why the average American is disdainful of the movement. Americans viscerally do not trust Exxon any more than they trust the Center for Science in the Public Interest, but at least they understand Exxon's bias. High Horse off.
Bicycling to the store in Beaufort can be really dangerous . . .
I know, I know. You are saying too yourself, but Joebob, You are so the perfect person what could you possibly have left to change. It is true. I had to change too. All of us have things that are not truly perfect you know. Yes, even I needed to change.
I have done some serious thinking on all of this conservation and green stuff yep.
1. I have quit using my toilets in the house and built me a new Outhouse away from the house. This way I can save the energy it takes to convert and clean the waste at the wasted water plant.
2. I also invented a new kind of pad for the ladies to use instead of all that paper and plastic they use when they have their unmentionable time of the month. It is a washable cloth. No longer will landfills be loaded with all of that waste. Simply use and wash and reuse. My grandmother and her mother did this before the invent of todays modern energy and material wasting equivalent.
3. No more abundance of womens shoes and handbags going to the landfills either. Every woman should be limited to maybe say three of each. Think of the energy saved just on making all of these extras....
4. I think that a lot of energy is wasted on cosmetics, wrinkle removers, lipstick, blush, false eylashes etc. This should save us billions of dollars a year.
5. I think that if all the Hair chemicals, dyes, bleaches and stiffeners, straighteners, and curlers should be done away with this will save a lot of energy.
I know these are but small steps to take but with the millions of females in the world this will quickly reduce harmful emissions in producting, use and disposal of all of these products. Not to mention the energy savings. Talk about going green.
There are hundreds of millions of 'females' around the world I would not EVER want to see without cosmetics Joebob. Give me a break here. Thats more than I can take. . . think of the quadrillions of BTU's saved if we limited men to only 3 beers a week - all those fat men who would lose weight, meaning we could then make the house a little warmer in summer since the blubber is not insulating them so well . . .
your point. I don't drink beer but I like my blubber buddy.
Hahaha You don't really only want 3 beers do you?
Lisa, it appears that I may owe you an apology. A couple of times I have referred to "Lisa" when I actually meant Lisa2, not realizing that your name was also Lisa. Sorry for the mistake, especially since Lisa2 does very little to contribute besides cutting and pasting what others have said.
I've been confused with far worse.
yes, please inform yourself on all sides. I mean, c'mon, .07 degrees celsius? Wake me up when we hit at least 1 degree celsius, in another 100 years or so...