Friday, April 25, 2008

Get a Grip People

Good grief. All together now...take a DEEEEEEEP breath. Exhale slowly.

Now repeat... "The world is not ending. The world is not ending." "I do not need to hoard rice. I do not need to hoard rice."

Feel better now? No? Take another breath and get a GRIP.

I'm not an eternal optimist who can't see hardships and reality. But neither am I a 'world is ending' pessimist. This world and everything in it is complex and truly beyond our full understanding. If science were the be all and end all for explaining everything we'd never be surprised by a snow storm in April again.

Worried about Global Warming? Relax. Buy some sunglasses. Remember that the scientists can't even predict your local weather. I highly doubt that the so called claims of a global disaster is truly eminent.

Worried about the coming ice age? Buy a sled. And relax. Time Magazine predicted an ice age back in 1974.
However widely the weather varies from place to place and time to time, when meteorologists take an average of temperatures around the globe they find that the atmosphere has been growing gradually cooler for the past three decades. The trend shows no indication of reversing. Climatological Cassandras are becoming increasingly apprehensive, for the weather aberrations they are studying may be the harbinger of another ice age. Telltale signs are everywhere —from the unexpected persistence and thickness of pack ice in the waters around Iceland to the southward migration of a warmth-loving creature like the armadillo from the Midwest. Since the 1940s the mean global temperature has dropped about 2.7° F.
This is hilarious to me! Why should we listen to scientists today? Follow the money - many of these alarmists are looking for government handouts for their research. No one is handing out money to prove that our global climate is complex and hard to predict. You get money for claiming a crisis. And blaming man is nothing new either...
Man, too, may be somewhat responsible for the cooling trend. The University of Wisconsin's Reid A. Bryson and other climatologists suggest that dust and other particles released into the atmosphere as a result of farming and fuel burning may be blocking more and more sunlight from reaching and heating the surface of the earth. Climatic Balance. Some scientists like Donald Oilman, chief of the National Weather Service's long-range- prediction group, think that the cooling trend may be only temporary.
While I do think that mankind can have a significant influence on the local environment through pollution I do not think that we have the kind of power we imagine to affect the ENTIRE planetary climate. Volcanoes do more damage than we puny humans.

These ridiculous rice hoarders are creating a self fulfilling prophesy. Buy up all the rice and create a shortage. But it's an artificial shortage. Are grocery prices going up? Yes. But the end of the world is not coming!!!

Now, I do think people should have enough food and supplies on hand to last at least one month in case of an actual emergency. Note the word ACTUAL. Like an earthquake, volcanic eruption, terrorist attack. You know. REAL emergencies. Not made up political ones.

So go into the weekend with a light heart. Enjoy the day. Look at all the beauty that surrounds you. Take joy in small things...a flower blooming. A child's laugh. A beautiful photo. Life isn't that bad.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm with you. I'm not hoarding anything. I've definitely become a shopper of sale items rather than full priced items over the last year and I stopped buying anything frivolous over a year ago but I can't hoard rice or anything else. With my luck, all the extra rice would attract mice to my house or something.

jennsquared said...

I agree. 'Nuff Said.

Marie-Michèle Lanthier said...

I so agree with you about hoarding. But I must correct you on one thing: scientists never pretended to be able to predict local weather (but yeah, they do so on TV cuz it pleases people)... They study and make *models* with all the data they have accumlated up to now. One of the most powerful computer on Earth serves just this purpose! And then, some people take their research papers and read them wrong : *they* are the source for the generalized panic. This happens everywhere, in any subject... Take the case of ethanol, it was the same thing.
From what I know, I must add that in the US, generally speaking, it may not be as easy to hear both sides of a 'problem' as here in Canada. Lobbies are powerful, and when they want their ideas out, they're the only ones people get to hear. Don't get me wrong, it's not perfect here either ;)
So please don't be mad at scientists; most of them do their job right, but as in any kind of job, a couple truly are crazy and looking for their 5 minutes of spotlight. Sadly.
a fellow scientist :) (though not in environment science ;)

ps. my Facebook 'bumper sticker' reads "Stop Global Whining"... I love this one :)

MomOnTheEdge said...

While I do think we should do our part to conserve our natural resources, I do agree that people like to make a big deal out of things that aren't.

Marie-michele - I agree with your statement on scientists. I honestly think that most are trying to do their part to make the world a better place, but sometimes data gets skewed and analysis is done improperly.

Bunny B said...

Yup. Don't hoard.