Thanks, Shiraz, for directing me to this excellent interview with Patrick Moore -- one of the founders of Greenpeace.
Particular highlights:
We're in an interglacial, but we're in a longer-term Ice Age. If we look at local temperatures, we're still in an Ice Age. It's 14.5°C , peak 12°C, but in the greenhouse period ice ages are short and sharp; Greenhouse Ages are long and steady and last 10 million or 100 million years. The Earth's averaged 22°C in these periods. So when people say global temperature is going to go up 2°C, and we're going to die, I just laugh. We're a tropical species. We haven't adapted to cold and ice, except we have fires.
...
For example, the latest scare is ocean acidification – it's totally made-up and ridiculous. Tomato growers inject CO2 to make the tomatoes grow; salt water aquarists inject CO2 to increase photosynthesis; and yet with coral we're told the opposite is true.
Apocalyptic scenarios are just that – our fear of death. When you add self-loathing, and you have the apocalypse being externalised, this is what you get. We have to stop this self-defeating approach: that – "we're going to die and we're to blame". That is enough to make you sick to your stomach. Much of this is collective neurosis. We should celebrate life.
Particular highlights:
We're in an interglacial, but we're in a longer-term Ice Age. If we look at local temperatures, we're still in an Ice Age. It's 14.5°C , peak 12°C, but in the greenhouse period ice ages are short and sharp; Greenhouse Ages are long and steady and last 10 million or 100 million years. The Earth's averaged 22°C in these periods. So when people say global temperature is going to go up 2°C, and we're going to die, I just laugh. We're a tropical species. We haven't adapted to cold and ice, except we have fires.
...
Apocalyptic scenarios are just that – our fear of death. When you add self-loathing, and you have the apocalypse being externalised, this is what you get. We have to stop this self-defeating approach: that – "we're going to die and we're to blame". That is enough to make you sick to your stomach. Much of this is collective neurosis. We should celebrate life.
6 comments:
i'm definitely a tropical species - fucking hate the cold weather in this miserable country (so did richard the lionheart as it happens, so he stayed mostly in france, which waasn't much of an improvement).
Interesting that he shares that dislike of the man-made apocolypse doom saying that we seem to love and live by asa nation.
Did you watch Human Planet Mr Asher? I doubt very much if the peoples featured think so little of their lives and lifestyles.
Facebooked that link.
Me too, Jebel. My feeling is that the natural state of dress for a human being is sawn-off denim shorts.
It's the self-hatred that gets me, Graeme - people having comfortable wealthy lives and therefore feeling the need for some guilt. Regarding human planet. I'm afraid I don't watch any science on TV anymore because global warming is always inserted like turd in the punch bowl.
"global warming is always inserted like turd in the punch bowl"
I am so stealing that quote :)
Never mind all that indignation about Global Warming. It's been fascinating to see how many millions of peoples live in the most extreme environments, with such little technology.
Mongols, that climb cliffs to capture new born eagles to hunt with, Inuits who tunnel under sea ice at ultra low tides to gather mussels, desert dwellers, etc etc.
And then there's us. Blogging, Tweeting, Facebook and Youtubing like a bunch of whinging poms.
We just don't know how easy we have it. I just wonder how many of the worlds billions, don't even know there's been a global recession, and wouldn't know what you were talking about if you told them, or likewise tried to explain Climate change one way or the other.
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