how ’bout more agree’in and less argue’in?
I usually don’t do this, but I wanted my response to this comment more widely considered. It seems like a lot of blogs out there have simply become battlefields for conflicting ideologies rather than a search for common ground. It doesn’t have to be that way.
A recent comment:
Don’t get me wrong, I am in favour of reducing pollution, conserving resources et cetera, but keep in mind that humanity is only responsible for a small fraction of CO2 production. Termites, as a species, produce more CO2 than humans. CO2 comprises less than one half of one tenth of one percent of the atmosphere. The most abundant and the most potent greenhouse gas is water vapour - H2O mole per mole has a higher enthalpy than CO2 - yet hydrogen fueled automobiles are touted as a solution for global warming.
Just look up at the sun to see the real cause of global warming. Envirnmental alarmists who think that humanity causes climate change and humanity can change the same are an example of pure hubris. Besides I am rather enjoying the milder winters here in Canada.
My response:
Well, I’m not going to waste my time trying to convince you otherwise, but I don’t want to write you off either.
Many people and corporations are making a lot of money on keeping this a debatable issue and, according to your comment, it sounds like they’re doing a damn good job. So we obviously disagree with each other there.
But the recent and overwhelming focus on climate change, as real and as scary as it is, has detracted from the other environmental problems that continue to exist.
You mentioned pollution and resource depletion. Those are two problems that have turned hundreds of miles of sea into dead zones. If you see fish as resources, note that 90 percent of the large fish in the sea are gone. Consider mineral depletion, soil erosion, the fact that every single stream in the US contains carcinogens (and cancer is now the leading cause of death), or that dioxin and other deadly chemicals are commonly found in women’s breast milk….
There have been 5 major world-wide periods of mass-extinction of species during the earth’s recorded existence. We are in the middle of the sixth one. 150 species are lost every day. The primary reason is simply loss of habitat.
Nobody can argue that we’re not behind much of, if not all of these things.
I’m not an alarmist, I’m a realist, one of many who would rather not live under the threat of apocalypse than maintain an abusive, exploitive lifestyle that is not only killing us but isn’t even making us any happier.
Instead of visiting blog sites and trying to cut me down on things we obviously don’t agree on, why don’t you consider the things we DO agree on. I’m tired of simply “respectfully disagreeing” with people and then never talking to them again. My point is, we don’t have to agree on global warming, but align yourself somewhere. We can build from there.
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