Is it Getting Warm in Here, or is it Just Me?

So what’s with all the fuss over global warming these days? It seems like it has become a major political issue of the past several years. The liberal politicians will tell you that it’s the greatest problem to ever face humanity and the conservatives tell you that it doesn’t even exist. Why has it even become such an issue?

The fact is that the general consensus among scientists is that the world has warmed a measurable amount in the past 100 years. That’s the basic, over-simplified bottom line. The world is warmer on average now than it was in the past. Most scientists who study the climate and climate changes will also tell you that it appears as though the world will continue to get generally warmer for the foreseeable future. A couple degrees on average in the next 100 years is even possible.

So why is there all this controversy? The data I’ve seen seems pretty solid. In fact it even seems to me that winter was longer and colder twenty years ago than it is now. Of course the scientists could be wrong, there’s always that possibility, but I don’t think that they are. So apparently the world is warming up. What’s the problem? Why are some politicians so adamant that it’s not happening? It’s probably because their counterparts are so certain that it’s a bad thing.

The liberal Politicians would have you believe that global warming is the worst catastrophe to ever face humanity. They would also have you believe that humans are the sole cause of it and that we must act immediately to stop it. They’re employing basic scare tactics, but what’s the point? I mean even if we could stop global warming, and the odds are that all we could possibly and practically do is slow down the inevitable, why would we want to? Think about it. Shorter winters, lower heating costs, longer growing seasons for farmers, and new lands open to agriculture and settlement.

Global warming is only bad if you live in Florida or along the Gulf Coast. For the rest of the country, it’s a bit of a blessing. Of course the skiing season might be a bit shorter, but we’ll adjust.

Even if we knew that Al Gore’s worst fears were absolute certainty, could we really do anything to stop it? We can’t control the whole world and there’s not likely to be a worldwide agreement on the subject. If we could shut down all of the factories in this country and park every vehicle would that even be enough to reverse global warming? I doubt it. Would you want to live without electricity and automobiles?

If the world really is warming up, we’re not going to be able to stop it. So maybe we should just focus on being prepared for it. Now might not be the time to buy that condo in Florida, but farms in Alaska may be the future.

Date Added: 01-06-2006