Weekend Reading

I’ve read quite a bit this week about people who would like to deny that climate change is a reality.  They’ve used this climategate story in an attempt to deny simple scientific facts by badmouthing good science that was done by good scientists.

You know, I’m really starting to get sick and tired of this nonsense about global warming /climate change being a farce.  I’m not directing this towards anyone specifically, but even people I know and respect have made me do a double take at some of the things they’ve said.  I’m not sure if this behavior is linked to partisan politics, the general love of being a cynic, or the inability to grasp the concept.

I equate the climate change argument in many ways to the “debate” between evolutionists and creationists.  On one side, the evolutionists have put forward a theory based on the scientific method, they have done scientific research, they have data.  On the other side, creationists have not used the scientific method and have no data, they look toward scripture and make circular arguments in an attempt to cast doubt on other’s arguments.  They say that god has fooled us into thinking the earth is older than it is by placing fake fossils in the ground and changing the atomic structure whenever we do carbon dating.  Look, I’m not bashing religion, I’ll do that another time, what I’m trying to get across here is the difference between making an argument based on the scientific method and making one otherwise.

If you would like to argue a point not based on the scientific method, be my guest, see how far it gets you.  When you take this rout, you are nothing more than an editorialist, and should be treated as one.  There is a rampant problem in this country, the reliance on opinions from people who have not done the research, who have a voice because it’s loud, not because it’s sensible.  This fits in largely with our “now” and “easy” culture of reading headlines and 30 second news clips.  The real scientific research gets no press, unless it has to do with how fat we all are, then you people listen.

Here are the facts.  The globe is warming, and it’s happening, in some part, because of greenhouse gases we are pumping into the atmosphere.  The real research, being done by real scientists, using the scientific method, proves this.  How much of an impact we as humans are having is up for debate.  It’s called GLOBAL warming and not local warming for a reason, your specific area of this earth may not be getting hotter, but the whole earth is, which is creating climate change.  Shut up already about having a cool summer, how many major snow storms have there been the last few years in NYC, I think I can fit them on one hand.

How you would like to approach solving this issue is up to you, we all have different priorities, you may like living 10 feet under water, it’s not my place to stop you.  You may believe that implementing a halt on carbon emissions is too costly for our economy, be my guest.  You may scream about other nations not following suit, and the fact that China will soon be the largest polluter in the world, go ahead.  Make all the arguments you want about how we can’t solve this issue, but please, shut up about it not being a real issue, I’m sick of it.

Here is your weekend reading:

Are we facing a uranium shortage? (Economist)

Algae may be the answer to both our energy and climate issues (Physorg)

Eric Schmidt sees the future of news media and I’m on board with him (WSJ)

The debt to income ratio for all American households has doubled in the past two decades (Fund My Fund)

Gates should know better than most that the Afghan troop surge isn’t gonna help; Hint:think 1980′s CIA (WSJ)

The bubble in hotels was so big and it still hasn’t collapsed, more pain to come (Reformed Broker)

More cracks in the Iranian government’s monopoly on the religious high ground (NYT)

The voice to legalize drugs in this country is getting louder, me thinks it takes one state default to push over the edge (Washington Post)

It’s no surprise why China isn’t willing to turn the clamps on Iran, think black and slimy (WSJ)

How much is Afghanistan going to cost us (Thomas Friedman)

This is how you attempt to answer the mysteries of the universe (Tech News World)

An interesting look at who lives where and from what income bracket in NYC (Envisioning Development)

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