We may never pass this way again… or will we?
Sunday, February 25th, 2007
photo courtesy Shaun Johnston Flickr
With all the beautiful monsoonal rain we are experiencing in the tropical North of Australia at this time of year, I can’t help but feel very blessed. But empathy soon follows for the rest of this great continent where the prolonged drought continues to wreak havoc for farmers and city dwellers alike. Severe water restrictions now make it impossible to wash the family car or water the garden in many places across the country… but a far greater problem is the drying up over the past 6 years of mighty river systems like the Murray Darling… which has brought agriculture in these areas to almost a complete standstill and made life in farming communities nigh on impossible.
In the media these days there is much speculative talk of global warming and the effects of climate change… and with the prolonged drought across this country… it isn’t too much of a “stretch” for most of us to suppose that climate change is responsible.
But is it really?
The current crisis could just as well be attributed to a simple aberration in the normal El Nino southern oscillation phenomenon that directly controls and cyclically affects weather patterns in the whole Pacific Region and beyond. The patterns of drought have always been cyclical in Australia… and in 1901 drought lasted for 12 long years… with no talk of global warming back then! *smile*
Don’t get me wrong… I’m not saying climate change and global warming aren’t happening… I’m just saying that variations in the earth’s weather patterns do occur from time to time… and it’s unhelpful (and perhaps even more than a tad dishonest) for the media, politicians, environmental groups, and doomsayers to jump on the “climate change” bandwagon for their own ends… in order to sell newspapers, win votes and gain grants.
It bothers me when political spin takes over from rational common sense and people start believing (without question) the stuff that paid researchers and politicians are peddling through the media to a gullible politically correct audience. Once the idea takes off… there is no stopping the phenomenon… as the fault for the earth’s current demise (rightly or wrongly) is laid squarely at our feet.
Reports claim that children interviewed in schools today say that global warming is their single most serious concern in today’s world… coupled with attendant feelings of hopelessness and depression at their inability to do anything substantial about it.
Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull flicks the switch - and US Vice President Cheney?… well he just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time!
FUZZY LOGIC: I’m sorry… but it seems crazy to me that incandescent light bulbs will be banned in Australia within 3 years… while heavy industry and commerce (here and across the world) continue to belch billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere daily while the fuel hungry transport industries of the world dominate the skies overhead and the roads beneath.
It seems like a bright idea on the surface… changing our incandescent lightbulbs will cut emissions by 800,000 tonnes per year… sounds impressive doesn’t it? Well consider this… Australia produces an estimated 603 MILLION tonnes of carbon emissions each year… so that’s really only a saving of around 0.13% annually. A mere drop in the rapidly rising ocean!
Like all politically motivated (and therefore “correct”) decisions… this one is out of our hands. It appears we don’t know what’s good for us so the decision will be made on our behalf. It seems it’s always the little guy… the man/woman in the street… who is always required to pay the price for any kind of change. But it is they who also have the most to lose! Fluorescent lighting is not without health hazards… and their disposal presents a whole new set of environmental concerns… but you don’t have to believe me… you can read more here.
Oh alright then… I guess if it makes us all feel warm and fuzzy inside… doing our bit and all that… you know… I guess it’s o-k-a-y… -sigh-
Hot air has been around for ages
Ice ages have come and gone over the millennia in response to variations in the earth’s orbit… (and with absolutely no consultation from the human race).
The good news is: Recent scientific findings have established that it is probable that the warming of the globe through human activity is playing a large part in (perhaps) staving off the next ice age! (Phew… at least we won’t freeze to death!)
The bad news is: We still have a problem with global warming and climate change. Just how big that problem will be and how far reaching the consequences are yet to be learned.
No-one (not even the scientists) can make a 100% accurate prediction of what will happen into the future.
Our world has never passed this way before… or has it?
My fervent hope for the future… is that there are scientists and researchers, devoid enough of self interest and party politics… out there somewhere… who will eventually find practical long term solutions we can all support.
While the experts from all camps are sorting it out… we can all help by remaining impartial (but never impassive)… listening with open hearts and open minds to all the relevant facts… sifting out the propaganda… and deciding for ourselves what’s really going on!
In short… we need to think for ourselves and not be afraid to have differing opinions and to draw different conclusions. We have a right to our own ideas! As Confucius say… “only the dead fish swim with the stream”! Political correctness (in my view) serves only to muzzle our right to free speech… and block the democratic process. It is a ruse used by Governments and other self interested groups to silence the populace into submission.
But what would a “flat earther” like me know? *laughing now*
What do you think? Comments always welcome…
