Hey Kossacks. I'm a PhD student in geophysics. Naturally, one issue that I care about deeply is human-induced climate change.
I've wanted to write a diary about this subject for a while now. Although I'm sure this diary will be short on substance, reading an article over at the Huff Post has prompted me to say something...somewhere.
Since the office is a little scarce, I've decided to post to Daily Kos.
The basic premise of this diary is this:
Climate Change threatens humans, not the planet. The Planet is not dying. We do not need to 'save our planet'. We need to save ourselves.
I don't know if I can make this point clear enough. The planet has seen worse atmospheric conditions and will see worse in the future. It is the ability of humans to live comfortable on this planet that is in peril, not the planet itself. More below the fold...
So, I was doing my normal internet surfing while trying to avoid writing on my dissertation and read this passage on the Huff Post by Laurie David in a piece where she was complaining about the lack of climate change questions at the debate last night while the show was sponsored by Coal companies (note, she uses global warming, which is a phrase I despise...I prefer climate change)...
Huff Post Link
When will CNN and other debate hosts ask the tough questions -- or any questions -- about the biggest threat to the planet?
(emphasis mine)
No, no, no, no, no, no....
Our freaking planet is not being threatened. We, human society is being threatened.
As someone who has a B.S. in Geology and will at the end of the year a PhD in Geophysics, I can assure you that times are easy on the planet. There have been many periods of time (literally millions of years) where the climate and atmosphere were far more severe than now. There were times were there was so much volcanic activity that the atmosphere at much higher concentrations of Co2. There were times when foriegn objects hit the Earth and filled the atmosphere with all sorts of nasty stuff and killed off much of the living life. There have been so many different times of mass extinctions throughout the 4.6 Billion year life of the Earth. And guess what? Many of those extinctions were caused by catostrophic events that made the atmosphere and oceans inhospitable to certain organisisms.
But you know what?
The Earth kept on ticking.
The Earth is a magnificent object. It can withstand the largest of punches and keep on ticking. It could be 50 degrees hotter, or 50 degrees colder and the Earth will be just fine.
The point is...
We need to quit saying 'Save our Planet' and start saying 'Save Human Society.
I'm an environmentalist. I eat organic. I try to drive as less as possible. I buy stuff local. I recycle. I try to do my part.
But I cringe when I hear people saying how bad it is that new species are migrating to Alaska because of warmer temperatures. Guess what? All throughout Earth's history organisms have migrated due to climate change.
Let me stop and say, climate change right now is due to human activity. I agree and are even part of the research that shows that humans are causing the climate change.
But we need to stop with the save the polar bear crap. We need to save ourselves.
If the temperatures continue to raise, ice will melt and sea levels will rise, causing billions of people to lose their homes and cities. Billions of dollars of human society infrastructure will be lost. Imagine it. The Billions, no Trillions of dollars spent on building NYC and LA will be gone. We will have to rebuild these cities inland. That will be a disaster for the economy and humans. The Earth will be fine. Sea levels have risen and fallen thousands, if not millions of times in the last 4.6 Billion years. The Earth doesn't care if sea level rises 2 meters, humans do!
If climate continues to change, where and how we farm will change. That will be costly in terms of money and lives for the whole planet. But the Earth doesn't care where wheat can be grown. The Earth will be fine. Humans won't!!!!
The Earth doesn't care if there are bees or not. The Earth doesn't care about the species living on it's soil. New species will evolve and adapt to the ever changing climate.
We need to limit greenhouse gases so that we slow down climate change enough so society can properly react to the changes to the Earth that are as inevitable as night/day.
It is unreasonable and illogical to think that we can keep every species exactly where/how they are now and that we can keep sea level from rising and climate patterns from changing. We can not. Those things change naturally and they change because of our influence. We need to learn to deal with it better. How is society going to react to the changing farming conditions? How is society going to react to the changing sea level? How is society going to react to the loss of drinking water?
So, when discussing this important issue, please don't say 'Save our Planet', say save ourselves. The Earth will be fine, humans won't!!!!