Monday, April 23, 2007
Concerned scientists: We're all gonna die!
"Our planet's prospects for environmental stability are bleaker than ever as the world celebrates Earth Day," reports Live Science.
"[An] international panel of scientists predicts the global average temperature could increase by 2 to 11 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100 and that sea levels could rise by up to 2 feet.
"Scientists have even speculated that a slight increase in Earth's rotation rate could result, along with other changes. Glaciers, already receding, will disappear. Epic floods will hit some areas while intense drought will strike others. Humans will face widespread water shortages. Famine and disease will increase. Earth’s landscape will transform radically, with a quarter of plants and animals at risk of extinction."
Let's not forget that many of these same scientists told us that a high number of powerful hurricanes would develop in the Caribbean and along the eastern coast of North America in 2006. In May 2006, Steve Miller of the Canadian Hurricane Centre predicted that the number of named storms for that year's hurricane season would be "double the average of the past 50 years." As it turned out, 2006 was the quietest hurricane year in over a decade.
That said, let's also not forget what "concerned" scientists were telling concerned citizens in the 1970s. Global cooling was the immanent disaster du jour in the Age of James Earl Carter; and concerned citizens were told to prepare for a new Ice Age, which would trigger a whole lot of "oh, the humanity" suffering.
We're still waiting for God-awful hurricane seasons and new ice ages to test the mettle of modern man.
When thirty years have passed and the plague and pestilence that's currently being predicted hasn't transpired, will the doom-and-gloomers say "We were wrong" ...? Of course not. First of all, being right is not as important as being concerned. Second, thirty years from now a new crop of scientists will've come up with a whole new batch of things about which earth's inhabitants should be aware, concerned, alarmed, all head up over, etc.
If you're scared now, just wait ... !
"[An] international panel of scientists predicts the global average temperature could increase by 2 to 11 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100 and that sea levels could rise by up to 2 feet.
"Scientists have even speculated that a slight increase in Earth's rotation rate could result, along with other changes. Glaciers, already receding, will disappear. Epic floods will hit some areas while intense drought will strike others. Humans will face widespread water shortages. Famine and disease will increase. Earth’s landscape will transform radically, with a quarter of plants and animals at risk of extinction."
Let's not forget that many of these same scientists told us that a high number of powerful hurricanes would develop in the Caribbean and along the eastern coast of North America in 2006. In May 2006, Steve Miller of the Canadian Hurricane Centre predicted that the number of named storms for that year's hurricane season would be "double the average of the past 50 years." As it turned out, 2006 was the quietest hurricane year in over a decade.
That said, let's also not forget what "concerned" scientists were telling concerned citizens in the 1970s. Global cooling was the immanent disaster du jour in the Age of James Earl Carter; and concerned citizens were told to prepare for a new Ice Age, which would trigger a whole lot of "oh, the humanity" suffering.
We're still waiting for God-awful hurricane seasons and new ice ages to test the mettle of modern man.
When thirty years have passed and the plague and pestilence that's currently being predicted hasn't transpired, will the doom-and-gloomers say "We were wrong" ...? Of course not. First of all, being right is not as important as being concerned. Second, thirty years from now a new crop of scientists will've come up with a whole new batch of things about which earth's inhabitants should be aware, concerned, alarmed, all head up over, etc.
If you're scared now, just wait ... !
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Monday, April 23, 2007 
