With
the pending Canadian Federal election the environment and specifically the
fight against global warming and climate change started off being a major plank
in the platform of at least two of the parties vying for our votes: the
Liberals and the Greens. I freely admit that I am skeptical that this is the
danger to humanity and the world at large that it is being painted as, but it
is not because of lack of careful thought and research!
Many
years ago I made, for me, an epiphany in how I digested what I was told by
“experts” and others who I had assumed knew what they were talking about. The
water shed moment came during university when I was confronted by conflicting
statements from two of my professors. It was then that I no longer accepted
blindly what I was told without question, but instead began to carefully weigh
what I was hearing against the many fundamental “facts” I had been accumulating
since I was a young child.
A
case in point deals with the supposed rising carbon-dioxide levels within the
atmosphere. I remember from High School biology that plants, through
photosynthesis, take atmospheric CO2 and convert it into oxygen, which is then
released back to the atmosphere, and the carbon is then used by the plant to
construct plant cells. Thus atmospheric CO2 is the foundation of plant life.
While at university studying Geology, I discovered that the Carboniferous
period (from 359 to 299 million years ago) was one where plant life
exploded due to the much warmer temperatures we now have and the higher levels
of atmospheric CO2. But high levels of atmospheric CO2 are also buffered by
being absorbed into water and through various actions will form limestone as
this dissolved gas combines with dissolved calcium, either through the action
of little critters such as coral polyps or by chemical action. In other words
nature is actively removing CO2 and putting it in long term storage. These and
other tidbits are the basic foundation of my skepticism. By the way, have you
ever seen a green house that was not rich in vibrant plant life?
Another
lesson I have learned is to not jump to conclusions: just because you know some
of the facts doesn't mean you can see the whole picture. For that reason I love
the fact we have easy access to the internet, or as I like to refer to it, the
repository of all knowledge! And so I
have searched and read many diverse sources of comment and opinion on this
topic. An interesting feature became obvious very early on. Many sites that
supported the idea of global warming, rather than using the weight of fact to
support their arguments instead would try and call into question the
qualifications of those presenting the opposite view. To me that in itself is a
red flag that the reason no solid facts are being put forward is because there
aren't any!
An
easy test for this is to review comments from the other side and compare how
they present their case. Do they resort to the same tactics or do they stick to
“the facts and nothing but the facts”. Obviously from my tone that is indeed what
I found – those that questioned global warming do so by sound argument. Another
strike against the proponents of global warming. All of this is tempered by the
fact I am old enough to remember when the experts of the day (the 1970's) were
warning we were on the verge of another ice age!
Regardless
of which position you favour the message that is being delivered, and will be
leveraged to the fullest by politicians right across the political spectrum, is
that global warming is bad for us and the world at large. Much of Canada is
“blessed” with something called winter where it is cold enough that rather than
rain we get snow. Having less winter can't be all that bad, can it? Our heating
bills would be less. The growing season would be longer thus making us more
self-reliant for food. We would spend more time outdoors without having to be
bundled up in parkas, or sitting in front of the television “cocooning” until
it gets warm again and in doing so creating our own vitamin D without the need
of manufactured supplements. Sounds good to me!
Well,
what about the flip side? What if the scientist's of the '70's were right after
all? I don't really think I have to expand on that as it is so obvious. I find
winter too long as it is without imagining it being even longer! Of course the
extreme is that the continental glaciers do return and we would have to abandon
completely this country we call home. Now that's scary!
So
it boils down to this: if there is a country that could benefit from global
warming is it not Canada? And some people want to prevent that by doing stupid
things like buying "carbon credits". You know, where you give money
to another country for nothing but the emperor's new clothes!
Personally,
summers are too short so if there really is "global warming" bring it
on!
