opinion@dailylobo.com
In rebuttal to those who have lamely attempted to flame me and others for our columns discussing the consequences and implications of continuing to pump carbon into the atmosphere, I offer the following.
If you are interested in gaining awareness of the issues involved and find yourself on a trip to Boulder, Colo., then you can visit the National Center for Atmospheric Research at the foot of the majestic Rocky Mountains. There is a nice, little museum there, informing visitors about the state of climate and weather research. The exhibits include a film addressing the current research on global warming.
The National Center for Atmospheric Research has an excellent website, ncar.ucar.edu, which describes the center’s programs and the technological resources at its disposal. The center offers courses for running the latest and greatest climate-modeling software and lists job opportunities. So if you possess or obtain a scientific background and can contribute to our understanding of the earth’s climate, I’m sure the center would love to see your résumé. At the very least, you could learn to do your own research in an effort to support your hypotheses and to disprove the misconceptions of all those experts who disagree with you. How about it?
If you are driving from here to Boulder, you will see the power plant just outside of Pueblo, Colo., and its long trail of smoke rising into the atmosphere. Our pollution issues in New Mexico are caused in large part by emissions from plants that provide electricity for our businesses and our homes. And, of course, by all the vehicles we drive and many other human contrivances which combine to define our modern lifestyle. The smokestacks in Farmington, N.M., blanket the Four Corners region in smog, while pollution from China drifts across the Pacific, adding to the haze we create from our own sources. UNM offers physics and Earth sciences courses, including climatology, in which you can learn the fundamentals and gain access to a number of avenues for relevant research.
A cultural source of information is the new documentary film “Chasing Ice.” James Balog, scientist and renowned National Geographic wildlife photographer, used absolutely stunning, revolutionary time-lapse photography to capture the cataclysmic retreat of glacial ice in a number of locations — including the Arctic, Iceland and Greenland — over the period of several years.
I had the opportunity to view the film in the very cool, historic Boulder Theater where Balog, a Boulder resident, was present. He has provided the most convincing visual evidence available that we now face the greatest threat to mankind or, as he called it, the greatest event in human history. The film is a magnificent accomplishment, a wonderful gift to mankind and one of the most depressing and distressing films you will ever see.
There is ample information coming out daily that demonstrates we are actively perpetrating climate change on a level that dwarfs all other natural causes. One excellent link for current articles that often deal with this topic is guardian.co.uk/environment/series/guardian-environment-network.
While governors in low-lying coastal regions struggle to keep their states afloat economically and warming, swelling oceans flood cities and bring in massive storms — which wreak havoc on communication, transportation, work production and human lives — the number of bigshot skeptics and climate change deniers is quietly shrinking.
There are plenty of highly regarded books accessible to the general public and numerous websites that address climate change from a vast array of angles and perspectives. But it is important to note the distinction between reputable, scientific sources and propaganda designed purely to confuse the general public and support the thinly veiled agenda sponsored by “dark money” to maintain our dependence on fossil fuels.
The scientific community has established that there is a direct correlation between atmospheric carbon content and global average temperature. We know the levels that have caused changes in the climate system in the past, and we know we are reaching those levels now. The fact is, we can rebuild or restructure our economies and even repopulate the human race if we end up destroying most of ourselves through competition for dwindling resources as we overrun the planet, overburden the environment and overconsume. But we have reached a crossroads in civilization where there is one thing we will no longer be able to do: reverse the trend of the accelerating global warming we have triggered.
There are at least two sides to every story, but this is one that irrevocably leads in a catastrophic direction and there exists no rational, scientific argument to dispute that we are the cause.
The cost to humanity and most other forms of life will be devastating and there is nothing trivial, trite or amusing about the subject. It is not a competition to see who can devise the cleverest argument of denial, and there is nothing to gloat about for those who calmly evaluate all the available evidence and realize they are right — things really are this bad. The fact is, it is all rather horrible.
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If readers have ideas of how we can best deal with the impending consequences, mitigate the already disastrous repercussions and prevent making the situation much worse — that kind of input can be constructive.
But when people choose to just spout pure garbage, ignore all the facts, do zero research and offer no evidence whatsoever to support ridiculous assertions, they contribute nothing. Rather than labeling people as “Al Gore lovers,” parroting paid consultants from FOX News and writing drivel like “the Earth has actually been getting cooler since the 1950s,” I recommend following one of the above-mentioned paths to personal enlightenment.
Within a few years, even the clueless windbags will realize they were not so clever after all. Unfortunately, it is their kind of thinking, or lack thereof, that advocates support of delusion in place of truth and obstructs every effort to regulate the energy industry and decrease our toxic emissions.
History won’t bother remembering these fools or the Tea Party they support, and that is most unfortunate.
They could at least trouble themselves to learn the difference between weather and climate before they attempt to feed us any more of their B.S. After all, that’s the very first thing taught in any introductory course about climate.
