xenogere

Several cool and one really bad

Posted on Oct 17, 2005 by jason

In reference to this from Apostropher:

Very cool about the marijuana chemical.  No surprises there.  Just one more reason…

The avian flu outbreak has spread into Europe.  With the findings in Turkey through which many of that area's birds migrate, can anyone really be shocked?  I really do think this warrants attention.

I'm terribly, deathly allergic to ants, but that's still fascinating.  I just won't be rushing off to observe this behavior myself.

37 million years?  Wow!  Our history as a planet keeps getting more interesting.

I can see it now: get your own flea-inspired basketball shoes.  It'll change the game forever.

On that polar ice cap thing…

It is interesting that the ice caps have continued to shrink.  It is interesting in that we're witnessing a process which, historically speaking, has happened on its own many times.  Using the phrase "record low" is a bit deceptive.  Our records are quite shallow with regard to the history of the planet.  Earth is about 4.5 billion years old, so our environmental records only cover about four-millionths of one percent of that time.  That's a very small data set to suddenly assume we can make predictions on those records.  When speaking geologically, a few hundred years of records are meaningless.

From Apostopher: "While many different processes may be at work, there can no longer be any doubt that burning fossil fuels is contributing to the loss."

That statement is scientifically inaccurate from the information available, and it is also a wee bit offensive from a logical point of view.  Despite what you may think, there is still significant doubt regarding any causal relationship.  In fact, there's nothing more than anecdotal evidence to even indicate man, in his minute industrious existence, could have had any impact on the planet in such a short time — a task which is almost absurd while not attaining impossibility.

I'm surprised that anyone would use this as evidence to make that claim.  It's false.  It seems to demonstrate a complete misunderstanding of our place in history.  We have clear and irrefutable evidence that indicates the planet, over billions of years, has gone through cataclysmic and cyclic environmental changes.  It heats up; it cools down; it kills off most life and starts over.  If we're the obvious cause of global warming, or at least a clear and identifiable suspect, then what has caused ice ages in the past?  What has caused global warming in the past?  Do we understand those natural processes well enough to venture a guess on the minimal human impact that has occurred over the last few hundred years?  Anyone?  Don't be shy.

While the evidence suggests fossil fuels could play a role in weather changes, it is far from definitive.  Saying otherwise seems horrifyingly irresponsible.

I guess I'm disappointed.

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