Article

2005-04-03 -Short Attention Span Theater-

Experts Warn Ecosystem Changes Will Continue to Worsen, Putting Global Development Goals At Risk

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Posted by God Save The World 2005-04-03 04:45|| || Front Page|| [3 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 No one ever reports what is the 'baseline' for the world environment. The world has never been nor will be static. Its been warmer in human history than now. Its been much colder. All without modern man-made industrial activity. Pre-human geological records show the same variations in environment. I'm still looking for all those automobiles and industrial plants that pre-historic man employed to end the last major ice age 20,000 years ago.
So what is the standard, the baseline?
If there isn't one, how can you determine what is good or bad change or just something different?
Ok, a big asteriod is bad, but that is extraterrestial.

Posted by Cleretle Glick2989 2005-04-03 10:39:49 AM|| 2005-04-03 10:39:49 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 check out Michael Chrichton's State of Fear - teh loonies and grant-givers and academia whores need a constant state of CATASTROPHE! looming, and due to human activities. They're willing to shave numbers, fabricate models and lie through their teeth for the almighty eco-dollar. Almost make tobacco execs look honest

Posted by Frank G 2005-04-03 11:13:29 AM|| 2005-04-03 11:13:29 AM|| Front Page Top

#3 And it all works on the simple preposition that people are always unhappy with the weather, no matter if it is rain or shine, hot, warm, cool, or cold.

Posted by Anonymoose 2005-04-03 11:33:28 AM|| 2005-04-03 11:33:28 AM|| Front Page Top

#4 Anyone here ever read The Screwtape Letters? The demon Screwtape was talking about such things in one of his letters to Wormwood, about making people never happy now, but giving them visions of an imminent heaven or hell on Earth, and making sure that unjustifiable measures are seen as essential to bringing about the heaven or averting the hell.

Posted by Korora 2005-04-03 12:04:51 PM|| [http://basementburrow.blogspot.com] 2005-04-03 12:04:51 PM|| Front Page Top

#5 It's unfortunate that so much bogus science is mixed in with the very important work of protecting the environment. The bottom line is, whether or not we accept the theory of Global warming, we need to keep toxic emissions out of the air and water, control exotics, and prevent soil erosion and deforestation.

The single biggest obstacle to the latter is the governments (or lack of them) in the countries that hold the rain forests. Charles Taylor sold zillions of dollars worth of Liberian hardwoods to the Japanese for gun money. Brazil'a rainforest destruction has less to do with Western consumption than stupid land use policies.

Someone recently posted an article about a man whose work in scientific farming methods prevented massive famines in the last century. Engineers Without Borders and other organizations are distributing cheap, low-tech items such as solar cookers to reduce the need for charcoal.

Where do I look to find what other progress we're making? How do we get the good news out? Good news apparently doesn't sell enough toothpaste on the MSM.

Posted by mom 2005-04-03 12:28:15 PM|| 2005-04-03 12:28:15 PM|| Front Page Top

#6 mom: Political environmentalists see the ecology as a means to a political end. They don't really give two hoots about science, practicality, economy, or effect, as long as they get power. For them, "enviornmentalism" means getting others to agree on their terminology and politics. If they accomplish this control then the "environment" will be just fine, from their point of view. Practical environmentalists are a different kettle of fish. They does things like seek out and repair the most critical and influential parts of the ecology. For example, a team of about 1 dozen scuba divers radically improved the coastal environment of the west coast of the US by hand-seeding kelp beds for a few dollars. The kelp beds caused an explosion in life up and down the coast. The "arable ocean" is the most critical part of the ocean, so the impact was enormous. And these men needed no government help, financing, or other encouragement. But they will never have political power.

Posted by Anonymoose 2005-04-03 2:22:04 PM|| 2005-04-03 2:22:04 PM|| Front Page Top

#7 The headline decodes to - Poor People Make a Mess of Their Environment

Posted by phil_b 2005-04-03 3:51:53 PM|| 2005-04-03 3:51:53 PM|| Front Page Top

#8 goodness! another eco-convention to attend in my private jet, along with my chauffered SUV limo

Posted by Terayza KH 2005-04-03 4:00:50 PM|| 2005-04-03 4:00:50 PM|| Front Page Top

#9 A recent article in Scientific American said humans started global climate change 8,000 years ago, and may have headed off an ice age! How's that for a baseline?

Posted by Bobby 2005-04-03 4:24:54 PM|| 2005-04-03 4:24:54 PM|| Front Page Top

#10 phil_b's just a meanie. :)

Posted by Shipman 2005-04-03 5:37:46 PM|| 2005-04-03 5:37:46 PM|| Front Page Top

#11 Jonah Goldberg had an article in Friday's NRO about there being more forested land in North America today than at any time since the landing of the first colonists. Research shows there's a strong link between environmentally unsafe practices and poverty. There's also a strong link between poor government and poverty. Watch Chavez destroy Venezuela over the next few years, and see how true that is.

Posted by Old Patriot 2005-04-03 5:56:24 PM|| [http://oldpatriot.blogspot.com/] 2005-04-03 5:56:24 PM|| Front Page Top

#12 Whitey did it

Posted by Bob Mugabe 2005-04-03 6:15:35 PM|| 2005-04-03 6:15:35 PM|| Front Page Top

#13 "I'm still looking for all those automobiles and industrial plants that pre-historic man employed to end the last major ice age 20,000 years ago"

Prehistoric man drove in foot powered cars and employed dinosaurs and wise cracking birds for mechanical purposes.

I saw a program on TV about it once.

Posted by JDB 2005-04-03 11:07:58 PM|| 2005-04-03 11:07:58 PM|| Front Page Top

23:35 phil_b
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