Hurricane #18!!!!!

[capri0mni]

Hold the phone -- we've got Tropical Storm Rita, now?

When they did the Hurricane Pam exercise for New Orleans, last year, I presume they picked the name because they were fairly certain we wouldn't get as far as "P" in the hurricane season.

And now, we've got Rita. Tell me again how global warming isn't real. Go on. I dare you.

I know that the Earth goes through natural warming and cooling cycles. I'm willing to concede that that we're in one of those epoch warming cycles, right now. "Greenhouse gasses" in the atmosphere still raise temperatures in local climates. That's been proven through repeatable scientific experiments, several times.

I also know that cholestorol levels are based, in part on a person's natural, genetic make-up. But if you're one of the folks who have a family history of high cholestorol levels, I doubt a responsible doctor would say: "Don't worry about your diet. Go ahead and eat all the cheese burgers and deep-fried pork rinds you want, 'cause having fat in your blood is natural for you."

But that's pretty much the argument the Bush cronies have been making, in order to excuse our industries from cutting back on greenhouse gasses, and to say that America doesn't need to sign onto the Kyoto protocols for global warming.

Head, meet desk.

Maybe a storm the size of Katrina would have happened anyway, if Gore had gotten into the White House in 2000, or if Kerry had gotten in last year. I mean, you can't turn back a 60-year trend overnight. But I'd certainly feel better if my government actually took the problem seriously, you know?

Comments

[snowgrouse.livejournal.com]

I know. Argh. So often these "but the Earth warms up and cools down naturally omg" arguments are used just to divert attention from all the crap PEOPLE are doing. Wah.

I want to go back to the cave.

[indefatigable42.livejournal.com]

Too many people are already still in the cave (with an SUV parked out front, mind)... they don't realise that science can (and should) actually be used for discovering reality, as opposed to just supporting a claim.

[snowgrouse.livejournal.com]

I saw science, omg. And it just strengthens my belief in the need for Caves, yes.

[indefatigable42.livejournal.com]

Bah. Science is just observation and data gathering. If it weren't for science we wouldn't actually know for certain that the Earth was warming.

We write down things like the number and strength of tropical storms every year, so that we can look at a large number of years (more than a person's lifetime) and tell whether or not there's really a trend or if we just imagined it. That's science.

Politicians and corporate types just dismiss the parts of the information that they don't like, because if they accepted it they'd make less money or have less power. But the mere ability to record and think about reality isn't evil.

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

We can still do science in caves. Why not?

All it means is paying attention, dammit!