When you see the title of this diary I can guess what the first thoughts that will pop into most people’s heads are going to be! Let me explain why I see the term " Global warming" as a myth, or at best a politically correct misnomer.
Global warming is a symptom, not the disease.
The real problem is rampant overpopulation, coupled with a bill of goods sold by the forces promoting globalization. Given the state of the technology available to us, it is not possible for a large percentage of the current world population to live as Americans did (and do) from the mid 1950s.
Something unusual is happening...
The something "a little out of the ordinary" that is going on consists of,
The Human population;
1 billion in 1804, 2 billion in 1927 (123 years later), 3 billion in 1960, 4 billion in 1974, 5 billion in 1987, 6 billion in 1999. I am not going to trouble to project this trend, or guess where it will end, but clearly the human population growth in the last 80 years is growing by leaps and accelerating.
Growth in the use of energy per capita is the source of global warming, particularly in nations that are industrially developed/developing, and in the U.S. it is historically astronomical and growing.
Malthus was right, he just didn’t see some technological changes - in which heat, not food, might be the limiting factor!
There seems to be something "a little unusual" going on in the oceans too, mainly in the most productive (from our standpoint) parts, there are not as many fish, as a matter of fact, in some places the fish have virtually disappeared. Are they hiding, have they evolved mechanisms to avoid fishermen, or is a whole ecology, that we understand very little of indeed, collapsing and we just haven't noticed it yet? You can bet that the folks that used to make their living fishing the Newfoundland banks are aware that there is a problem.
Of course, the extinction rate overall, while scientists vary widely in their estimates, with a consensus number of around 1000 times the pre-human "background level", might be seen by the unbiased observer as ... well, unusual.
Something will curb the human population numbers at some point, a pandemic, a war for the last of the resources, or perhaps the failure of some vital link like pollinators or some unknown bit of the biota we will only see too late. Of course we COULD do it ourselves in a rational and fair manner, saving ourselves and the other species that share this world with us.
This diary was brought to you by the actions of P. Wolfowitz, of the World Bank, which seems to be scaling back its support for family planning; the man has a real (and proven) talent for disaster!