It's Gettin' Hot In Here...

Listening to many pundits and experts on the issue of Global Warming, one could assume that we are heading for disaster in the next fifty years if nothing is done to curb the effects. We are inundated with story after story of how humans are destroying this planet, and that it is our greed and laziness that is leading to this destruction. If only we will allow drastic governmental measures to thwart this threat, then we will all be saved. Yet, I have not seen any peer reviewed, scientific proof that there is such a thing as human caused global warming, and I am not exactly sure that there is anything we could right now to drastically thwart any warming trend if one exists. So, why all the hysteria? It makes great political theatre, and opens the door for Big Government proponents to intrude in our lives.

For example, in today's Agance France, there was an article that stipulated that if humans continue to eat hamburgers we will irrevocably destroy the earth, and contribute to global warming. Why? Because cows emit too much methane which is bad to the environment, and the more burgers we eat the more cows are needed to produce them. Really? Well, anyone whose every eaten at McDonald's knows that more cows is not necessarily what makes more burgers. (I digress) Large beasts have been on this planet much longer than humans, if you believe the evolutionists, and therefore have been emitting methane for a lot longer time. Fact is, cows have been crapping on this earth longer than us, and will probably be after us. That being said, I don't think a vegetarian diet (as suggested in the article) is what the doctor ordered. No, I think we should simply eat more cow, then we can keep the population down and have a tasty steak at the same time.

In reality, methane is actually not as harmful as the alarmist make out. Methane is a natural byproduct of decay. That means that even fallen trees emit methane, animals that die naturally in the wilderness emit methane, and rotting vegetables that go uneaten because of farm subsidies produce methane when they decay because no one bought them and consumed them. Perhaps, our friend who wrote this ill-researched paper should stop trying to control the rest of us, and focus more energy in researching his science.

On another note, the issue of global warming is a "red herring" used by individuals in the name of "altruism" to force government control on the people. In the AP today they released a story of former Astronaut Harrison Schmitt - who walked on the moon- resigning his position at The Planetary Society, a non-profit dedicated to space exploration, because they endorsed human-caused global warming. Dr. Schmitt was quoted as saying, "scientists are being intimidated if they disagree with the idea that burning fossil fuels has increased carbon dioxide levels, temperatures and sea levels." He was also quoted as saying that he believed, "global warming scare is being used as a political tool to increase government control over American lives, incomes and decision making."

Dr, Schmitt does not resist the claim that the climate is changing, only that it is not being propelled by human activity, and that the data actually stands behind his claim. Dr. Scmitt would be right in many cases. Global temperatures are not actually increasing, but are decreasing.

According to the leading meteorologists at the National Weather and Meteorological Society (NWMS)the average temperature for America has gone down 3 degrees fehrenheit over the last 150 years. globally, the temp has either remained constant or decreased from 1 to 3 degrees as well. According to many peer-reviewed journal pieces, the temperature on the plant has not been effected that greatly by the increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. According to the NWMS, if the atmosphere was the thickness of a football field, the total carbon dioxide build up over the last 150 years (since we started using fossil fuels) would be three to five inches. According to NWMS this is not enough to cause any irreversible effects. Matter of fact if the layer of CO2 were to increase at that rate consistently it would take 1000 years to reach critical mass. I believe 1000 years would be enough time for technology to catch up in the free market and curb any effects at all.

Overall, people who believe that government should take care of people, and that government should keep us from harming ourselves, are the ones who have a tendency in believing the hype behind the global warming craze. Global warming may or may not be occurring, but one thing is certain, it looks less and less likely that humans are causing it, and that we can do anything at all to stop it.