Posted on 01/05/2005 10:59:52 AM PST by CHARLITE
After the horrific loss of life in the Indian Ocean region from the record earthquake and resulting tsunami last week, I was struck by the immensity of what had happened. While scientists continue to argue over whether we can even measure mankind's influence on weather or climate in the face of naturally occurring hurricanes, tornadoes, heat waves, cold waves, blizzards, and floods, Mother Nature shows us that she still rules the day.
There is no question that the Earth knows that humans live here -- six billion people are going to have some effect on the environment, no matter how much we recycle or cut back on energy use. But while some chronic worriers continued to wring their hands over a possible rise of sea level of an inch or so every ten years due to global warming, an earthquake at the bottom of the ocean produced a wave of destruction as much as 30 feet high in a matter of minutes.
Of additional concern was the fact that this event was bigger than anything in recorded history for the region. This reminds us that nature isn't constrained by what humans happen to remember over the last few hundred years. A once-in-a-thousand-years event -- or even once in ten thousand years -- is not out of the question. Some places, at some time, are going to experience natural disasters bigger than anything in recorded history for that region. (Sorry, that just the way statistics works.)
So after the extent of the tsunami disaster became known, my biggest reaction was, now maybe global warming activists will be silenced for a time by the absurd disparity between what had just happened, and what they are predicting to happen from global warming. After all, if someone living within 30 feet of sea level has to contend with the possibility of a giant wave suddenly destroying his house and drowning his family, how much will he worry about an inch of sea level rise every ten years due to global warming?
But to my astonishment, some environmentalists reacted to the tsunami by claiming that this is the kind of disaster we will have to face with global warming, even hinting that the tsunami was caused by humans! (I will assume that the readership here does not need to be persuaded that mankind has no influence over magnitude 9.0 earthquakes at the bottom of the ocean.)
So I've been trying to understand how some environmentalists could reach such a conclusion, and I think I might have figured it out. You see, those who are most worried about our effect on nature also tend to believe that nature is very fragile. Thus, the tectonic strain at the bottom of the ocean that caused the great quake might have remained unreleased if only mankind had not meddled and pushed the Earth "over the edge". I'm being serious here, by the way. This point of view actually has a measure of support from science. It's the "butterfly effect" of chaos theory: the flap of a butterfly's wing in Japan could mean the difference between a massive blizzard in the U.S. occurring or not. But it's infinitely more likely that an extra trillion kilowatt-hours of sunlight over the eastern U.S. from a temporary decrease in cloudiness would be the real culprit.
So given that natural disasters are going to occur, even without any help from humans, what can we do to cope with them? Well, countries that have adopted free-market principles have built the knowledge base, wealth, infrastructure, and warning systems to greatly reduce damage due to earthquakes, hurricanes, etc. People who choose to live (or are in effect forced to live through government policies) close to sea level will continue to be at risk, unless they follow the lead of the more developed countries and try to reduce that risk. Many nations are now helping by putting a temporary cash-bandage on the hurt, but in the long run governments of countries at risk of natural disasters need to invest resources to deal with the whims of Mother Nature -- while she is taking a breather before her next big surprise.
I can't wait until Greenpeace explains how SUV's make tectonic plates shift.
So, we should bring back DDT! Kill all the butterflies!
The thing to remember about eco-freaks is that any climate effect is grist for their mill. Doesn't matter if it's global warming, a new ice age, or even a tsunami. The threats they claim to fear change with the seasons, but the solution they propose is always the same. That's what they actually care about; that's where attention should be directed.
I will assume that the readership here does not need to be
persuaded that mankind has no influence over magnitude 9.0
earthquakes at the bottom of the ocean.
=======
Obviously you have never met or heard of Al Gore, eh??? ;-))
Conclusion:
It's all Goerge Bush's fault.
Has so-called "global warming" and the so-called "sea-level" rising killed anyone?
From the article: "There is no question that the Earth knows that humans live here -- six billion people are going to have some effect on the environment, no matter how much we recycle or cut back on energy use."
Uhhh...there is NO QUESTION that the Earth KNOWS that humans live here?
And how does the Earth "know" this?
Does the flow of magma around the mantle function like blood in the brain, keeping alive the nerve cells by which the Earth maintains this cognitive process?
Mmmmhmmmm.
Not only does the Earth "know" these things, but obviously there is "no question" that the Earth has moods too.
Is the Earth happy today?
Jeez.
To date, the death toll from global warming and rising sea levels is zero.
"I can't wait until Greenpeace explains how SUV's make tectonic plates shift."
Here, let me explain. It's like this: the Earth is protected from cosmic rays by its magnetic field, without which we would all be cooked by the sun. The magnetic field of the earth is weakening.
No doubt this is entirely due to all of the iron we have pulled out of the Earth, upsetting the delicate, tenuous, faberge-egg fragility of the planet. All that iron moving around powered by internal combustion engines causes the center of magnetism to shift slightly, which brings successively more and less solar pressure onto the planet as the magnetic field fluctuates because of what we are doing. Also, all of those cars moving around at rush hour in coastal cities, where most people live, actually moves the center of balance of the Earth slightly, since all of that iron was pulled out of central hills but then is concentrated in big, heavy cities on coastline.
Are you following this? (There will be a short quiz next period.)
Now, this means that the metal-based society of cars not only subtly shifts the magnetic field of the Earth, causing the Earth to heat up, and shifts the center of gravity of continents toward the sea, but the regular rhythm of rush hours causes a periodicity to be set up, further exaggerating the man-made negative influences to the stability of the planet.
Furthermore, all of those internal combustion engines cause global warming, which causes the icecaps to melt, which causes the oceans to get heavier. And in places where cars are setting up that rhythmic rush hour motion, this causes tectonic plates to shift and earthquakes.
So, if we don't abandon all automobiles and the internal combustion engine (which the great Internet pioneer Al Gore himself called "the greatest threat to mankind"), we will not only have greater earthquakes, but we will actually cause the magnetic field of the Earth to be irreparably damaged, causing the atmosphere to be boiled away by the sun.
The automobile will kill us all, therefore. SUVs will speed up the process, because they are made of more metal.
Of course, we cannot go back to horse and buggy, first because enslaving all of those Equine Americans to chattel service is immoral and wrong, as PETA will tell you, but moreover, because horses, like cows and all ruminants, have gas. Anyone will tell you that cow and horse farts contribute to greenhouse gasses.
Really, there is nothing to do for the good of the planet other than for us all to go gay, so that we cease to spread our filthy human bodies across mother Earth, and abort all babies, restricting children to only those who are appropriately caring and compassionate and experts at composting.
Just one more question before your next dose of medication: how is it that only internal combustion engines manufactured or operated in cultures which are capitalist and Christian based cause this environmental damage?
I bet Daylight Savings Time affects it somehow. Ban daylight savings. It is a human creation!
Widen your thinking a bit. The Earth is more than a hunk of rock...and "knows" can be a description of more than just the way we "know" things. Geese can "know" winter is coming without actually understanding axial tilts and planetary rotation or even the future. (Similarly, we can "read" emotions from others, but it doesn't mean we're looking at words.)
Without even being a believer in a Strong Gaia hypothesis, surely you can see that a system can react to stimuli. The Earth as a system of systems can react in ways that mimic our type of homeostasis or intellect. I didn't see it say the earth has "moods," but I suppose you could try to convince me of it, depending on the definition.
What is really important, though, is that we realize that the envirowackos might try to say we caused tectonic shifts or something, but there *is* validity in the idea that we have something to do with the damaged caused. If we didn't all vacation at the beach, or if we listened in Earth Science class so we recognized tsunamis when they were occurring (and knew how to react rather than sipping our orange juice and videotaping) and knew of the risks when building, the amount of damage would be different. So even if we don't control the triggering event, we CAN impact severity of results. And we also shouldn't let the left tie the two together, else they will suggest we all live in caves and worship whatever the PC version of Poseidon is...perhaps Sagan or Schneider?
LOL!
On a more serious note, the way SUVs tie in is not that they make the plates shift...but... they claim that SUVs are contributing to the changes we are observing in the climate. As we see more extremes of climate and more violence in the weather, the effects of tsunamis and other such events will be magnified (sea-level rise, etc.)
I'm not convinced that it's caused by the SUV, but more and more it's becoming clear the climate is changing. Of course, that's normal for this earth...it was actually in an abnormally cold period, so warming would be getting back to normal...but whether we triggered or cause it is debatable, IMHO.
The scary thing is that the very words of "it's a big earth and we can have little effect on it" are not very encouraging if the climate change is NOT caused by humans--since we will have a very expensive (and painful) time fighting it. It's always extremely expensive to fight Mother Nature, and usually spectacularly ineffective. Our puny human time scales are too short to appreciate the time required for soil creation processes, etc.
Oh, very clearly, because the Earth "knows" what is going on and hates Christians for pretending that there is another world.
Also, the Earth is very angry with capitalists in the West for having started to dig all of this iron out of the ground that will, doubtless, cause the atmosphere to boil away.
And since, by definition, native peoples outside of the Christian West are always oppressed and cannot in fact harm Gaia, it is not surprising that the Earth would not choose to clobber them, until recently, given that the earthquake and tsunami were all in the Third World.
Hope that clears everything up.
The 'butterfly effect' is only science fiction, not science -- from a short story by Bradbury IIRC.
Btw, the "butterfly effect" is an illustration from chaos theory. A small change in one part of a chaotic system can make a big change elsewhere: the butterfly in HK is the classic statement. While it is theoretically true about the butterfly, in actual practice there are lots of butterflies flapping their wings, besides other critters doing other things (such as driving SUV's), all of which contribute to the system, and any of which might (MIGHT!) have something to do with the Atlantic hurricane in the fable.
Chaos theory allows that the butterfly might affect the hurricane with a wing flap, but it does not allow anyone to predict WHICH wing flap will have the effect, if it has any at all. That could only be determined after the fact, and that only with a lot more information than you would find on WeatherUnderground.com.
Or, as I have heard, "In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice; but in practice, there is."
HTH. HAND.
As far as I am aware, there is no actual scientific chaos theory, i.e., analysis of any realistic chaotic system, which results in such a tiny stimulus having such a large effect. If you know of one, give me the reference. There is only popular media pseudo-science hype, which you are repeating, and the piece of science-fiction I referred to.
Re: Global warming causing Tsunami - Imagine the earth is a big rubber ball, or a balloon, with roughly equal pressure (gravity) all the way around keeping it's shape relatively stable. Now imagine changing the thickness, stiffness, or character of a part of the surface of the ball. The pressure would now cause the surface of the ball to assume a slightly different shape until it reaches an equilibrium. Removing ice from the Earth's poles and adding it to the oceans will change the character of the surface, changing the relative pressure on the surface, and potentially creating a situation where the Earth's plates must adjust. So I can pretty easily imagine how global warming could be blamed for the Tsunami. The Earth is a system, change one aspect and others are sure to change.
You guys will blame "global warming" for anything - hot weather, cold weather, storms, and now tsunamis. It's the new religion - all it takes is Faith.
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