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Metaphors & SoundbitesSkepticism & CredibilitySkepticism/Denial - GeneralSkeptical of climate change? So am I!
Metaphors & SoundbitesSkepticism & CredibilitySkepticism/Denial - GeneralSkeptical of climate change? So am I!Skeptical of climate change? So am I!
I am skeptical we can keep burning fossil fuels with a business as usual mentality without harming the planet.
notes: I am skeptical that we can keep emitting around 33.4 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide a year, according to the Global Carbon Project, without it having a negative impact on the planet.
I am skeptical that that the climate that has been fairly stable for the past 8000 years will persist going forward by throwing this much carbon dioxide pollution into our atmosphere. All this carbon dioxide is thrown into our atmosphere by burning mass qualities of coal, oil, and natural gas. I am skeptical of people who do not believe this will cause the planetary life support system to negatively change.
Unfortunately, there are many true believers who do not see human caused climate change as a problem. In a sense critics of global warming are the believers, they believe it will not change. On the other hand, I do not believe. My dedication to sustainability is based on science.
Critics of climate change like to say the science is uncertain. However, if they want certainty, it is called mathematics. Science is uncertain, it never knows the final answer. That is its gift. This is why we keep making new discoveries, discoveries that have probably saved many lives in any room. We still do not fully understand the physics of gravity—much uncertainty there—but that doesn't mean we jump out of skyscrapers.
source: inspired by author Paul Hawken
Rating
2 votes
Com (2)
byLarryL
February 5, 2012
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
Nearly all the quotes from Hawkins are great and this is no exception
byTom Smerling
February 5, 2012
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
This is a good introduction to pointing out that true skeptics don't wear blinkers -- they cast a cold, skeptical eye on assertions from any side, and insist on seeing the evidence -- all the evidence.
Many who question climate science are not really skeptics at all. They are just one-sided ideologues who scrutinize scientific to find the tiniest error, then proclaim the whole body of decades of research invalid. Yet the same critics will accept even the most outlandish claims from fossil fuel enthusiasts and denialists -- e.g. 'don't worry, geo-engineering can save us' -- at face value. Hearing an argument that supports their pre-determined view, these 'one-eyed skeptics' suddenly become squishy soft and gullible, accepting glib generalizations and unsupported assertions with no questions asked.
When was the last time you ever heard a climate 'skeptic' demand to see the evidence from a somebody who argues that global warming isn't happening?
Many who question climate science are not really skeptics at all. They are just one-sided ideologues who scrutinize scientific to find the tiniest error, then proclaim the whole body of decades of research invalid. Yet the same critics will accept even the most outlandish claims from fossil fuel enthusiasts and denialists -- e.g. 'don't worry, geo-engineering can save us' -- at face value. Hearing an argument that supports their pre-determined view, these 'one-eyed skeptics' suddenly become squishy soft and gullible, accepting glib generalizations and unsupported assertions with no questions asked.
When was the last time you ever heard a climate 'skeptic' demand to see the evidence from a somebody who argues that global warming isn't happening?