For the second time this week, terrific storms have hit the mid, central and south eastern states of the US. People in South East Europe are still reeling from the worst droughts in their histories. The Sahara is growing at an accelerating pace. Burma (damn you Condi) Myanmar has a million people displaced, unable to even bury their 50-100,000 dead.
At the same time, the goon squad known as the Whirled Nut Daily was pushing a Fred Singer study which claimed 500 scientists decried any global warming. Luckily, real scientists were on the ball.
http://www.skepticalscience.com/...
Some people claim to support Al Gore, some have seen his presentations, some even saw his video and read parts of his books. Still, most of his critics attack him and his friends, claiming he is full of hot air.
Hmmm.
The problem is in the meme that has been framed around this issue. Unfortunately, we are stuck with that label, as bad as it is. It reminds me of the GRID label used for AIDS. For those who do not recall, originally, the syndrome was called, for the lack of a better term, Gay Related Immune Deficiency. Once transmission was confirmed that did NOT involve homosexual sexual contact, they reluctantly changed the name to Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.
It is not GLOBAL WARMING so much as the interruption of historical patterns, due to man's industrial interference. Yes, a segment of that involves CO2 increases from fossil fuel use, as well as other man made activities. But as important is the impact of other industrial activities. Road building, concrete and tar parking lots, plastic bag-based dead zones in the pacific, polluted waters, other particulate pollution, the death of bee swarms, - every aspect of our lives and health (and the health of this planet) are affected. It is so obvious, that one can only shake one's head at the opposition brought forward by Big Oil, the White wHores House, and way too many congresscritters and senatwhores.
I turned 51 a few days ago. I used to love storms, watching lightning, listening to thunder, and seeing mommy nature get a bit hot under her apron. While I still get that same earthy, primal thrill from storms, and delight in huge piles of snow, and wish to walk barefoot during floods, my own experience tells me that these storms are more frequent, more serious, more deadly, and more unpredictable. And THAT was precisely the idea that Al Gore has been trying to get across.
I suggest that we pick a new meme, frame the issue in a new, more accurate way. We need to erase GLOBAL WARMING from the lexicon, replace it with something just as pithy, but more accurate, and hopefully, more scary.
what do you think?