Is global warming for real? Maybe, but...

Not a day goes by without several news stories about global warming and the coming catastrophe. People repeat "facts" and express opinions about complex scientific ideas that are poorly understood and even disagreed upon by climatologists, geologists and other earth scientists. It seems that anyone who disagrees with the current cause de jour is dismissed as unenlightened or on the payroll of big business. While many people can agree upon certain facts regarding rising global temperatures, calving glaciers, potentially rising sea levels, etc., nobody can say with any degree of certainty if we (human beings) are the cause, or whether the changes are due to a natural cycle of the earth (or even the solar system). It is typically like us as a species to take credit or blame for everything that happens on earth.

Do we have a duty to stop pollution? Should we find cleaner, renewable resources to power our homes, cars and industries? Should we conserve our resources and protect our fellow inhabitants of this planet? Yes, of course, to all of the above. It is our duty to leave this place better than those that came before us.

It's ironic that our goals of ending hunger, disease and poverty, and raising the standard of living for 75% of the world's inhabitants is counter productive to the goals of creating less greenhouse gases and pollution.

Rather than alarmist cries of doom and catastrophe, perhaps we should look for solutions that are not mutually exclusive. We in developed countries have all of our goodies, but would deny the same amenities to developing countries. How kind of us!

For a discussion of other points of view on this issue, check out this website:

http://www.skepticism.net/faq/environment/global_warming/

Also, Michael Crichton wrote a terrific book titled, State of Fear. This is one of the few novels that I've ever read that is fully foot-noted and annotated.

I have a feeling that the real answers to global warming are much bigger than us. That should not stop us from from researching, inventing and striving to create a better world for all of it's inhabitants and our global environment.