the good news cafe

Global Warming Facts (Relax, It's All Good!)

You’d have to have been living on a deserted island for some time not to have heard about global warming facts and all the supposed dangers!  As I mentioned before, reading headlines about this issue and the subsequent predictions really had me feeling gloomy many days…that is until I delved into the topic more thoroughly!

I first heard an opposing view from my brother who has a Masters in environmental engineering from Georgia Tech.  I figured if he wasn’t convinced, maybe I shouldn't be either! I then came across a book by Chris Horner called:  

This book looks at global warming facts from a fresh, often-ignored- by-the-media perspective! The biggest thing that struck me in this book was the history of many predictions for certain calamity ahead that turned out to be false alarms!  This is not a fact that is ever mentioned by the media!  “By the way, though we’re reporting these disturbing forecasts for mankind’s future, keep in mind, we’ve done this many times before, and it turned out we were wrong!!”  Wouldn’t want the public to keep things in perspective, now, would they?!  The topics are not always about global climate in these doomsday predictions, but climate has indeed been addressed.  Horner relates in his book, that as recently as the 1970’s, there were dire predictions about global cooling:

     “The threat of a new ice age must now stand alongside nuclear war as a likely source of wholesale death and misery for mankind.” 

          Nigel Calder, International Wildlife, June 1975 (p. 55)

     And, not surprisingly, humans were to blame for this cooling period!      

     “The rapid cooling of the earth since World War II is also in accord with the increased air pollution associated with industrialization and an exploding population.”

        Reid Bryson, “Environmental Roulette,” 1971 (p. 55)  

Reading of actual instances in which fears and predictions that were publicized proved false, really opened my eyes!  No longer do I blindly believe whatever the headlines declare—especially with regards to projections about the future. Their global warming facts and scenarios are not to be taken at face value. I’m not saying the media is to be completely ignored.  I’m just saying that it is prudent and in your own best interest not to take everything you read to heart without first looking into it more fully.

To be honest, understanding the motivation behind such scare tactics, is not an inspiring study!  The human side of it—why anyone would promote such a scenario—reminds me of the Billy Joel song, 

That is to say, history is full of human blunders, but, as I like to note, we survive the mistakes and seem to slowly move forward!  

Back to the issue of global warming, the significant thing to note here—the good news- is that global warming is nothing like it is portrayed in the media. First the question of whether or not the earth is warming bears another look.  And, if indeed it is warming, just as happened in the earth’s past, such an event is generally beneficial overall and not something catastrophic!

Specific Issues in the Debate--Another Point of View

Let’s take a look at some of the issues in the global warming facts debate: greenhouse gases, melting ice glaciers, temperature records, rising sea levels, and “wild” weather.

**as an added bonus, check out the last link to news articles  supporting the idea that global warming is not what mainstream media would have us believe!