Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Climate Change - 3 Easy Pieces

Rather than bang my head against the wall any further, lol, may I offer three simple steps to making sense of the "global warming" aka "climate change" debate. I actually have a B.S. in this subject from the 1970's so this isn't my first rodeo on this subject.

1. Yes, the climate is changing all on it's own, as it has throughout earth's history. It is undergoing a warming trend all on it's own. The natural point of view is that this is related to solar cycles and their effect on earth, while the religious point of view is that God gave the thermostat a little tap. So those who have been fighting human caused global warming by pointing out that climate change is not caused by humans but is a natural cycle can pat themselves on the back. OK, stop patting, that was enough because here is point number 2.

2. Humankind is overlaying on top of the natural climate change an unsustainable and very dangerous amount of human caused climate change. The oceans are already topped out in the amount of carbon dioxide it can handle (there are recent articles on this.) Furthermore, it's not just the carbon dioxide, it's all emissions that are human created, because they all interact in a way to change climate. Worst of all it's the timetable. When climate changes naturally, plants and animals have time to evolve. Even "drastic die offs" take place over millions of years. So the fact that the earth has gone through "drastic" climate changes in the past should not be a comfort to humans today, because it's happening over a period of mere years.

3. The Holy Father has stated the Church's position that climate change (and overall stewardship of the earth and it's creatures) is of the utmost concern and clearly consistent with scriptures that humankind must be proactive in preserving their role as good stewards of the earth.

2 comments:

Russ Rentler, M.D. said...

Us Pro life folks often don't realize the whole spectrum of pro life, which includes stewardship of the "garden." (As the Holy Father says)

MMajor Fan said...

That's so true! Did you notice that the most widespread view of motherhood last year was the live cam of the Washington National and San Diego zoo pandas? I saw more people get in touch with their parenthood sides by watching the National zoo panda birth and raising. So the garden still has a lot to teach humans about life! ;-) And needs to be protected and stewarded in return.