Let’s Not Talk About the Climate

Al Gore is not making billions of dollars off of Global Climate Change. You’re being lied to. In fact, early on he invested a large portion of his own fortune into legitimate scientific research and has since invested a great deal in green technologies. And so what if he’s making money from those investments now? It’s called the Free Market. Why would a conservative be angry at Al Gore for making money through capitalism? Yes, he has made a sizable fortune [hardly billions] from speaking engagements. But so have Donald Trump, Anne Coulter, Wayne laPierre, George W Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld.

Another thing that Al Gore has in common with all those people is that they have all made significant investments in climate change study and green technologies — ALL OF THEM — and many, many other rich conservatives have too.

Why? Because, according to 96 to 97% of the earth’s scientific community, these are undisputed facts: 1} Global Climate Change is real; 2] Global Climate Change is caused by human activity; and 3] Global Climate Change is worse than we originally thought.

Meanwhile, the fossil energy industry makes hundreds of billions of dollars from the process of burning oil and coal and gas. They have an extremely large financial incentive to keep you unsure about Climate Change. If you want to be angry at someone for actually making money off of spreading falsehoods and half-truths about your environment, it makes a lot more sense to be angry at them. After all, it’s their bottom fucking line.

Now about carbon dioxide. Prepare to learn something extremely valuable for the next time you venture into this argument with someone. The levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have changed measurably in recent years. What science tells us is that new carbon is being released into the atmosphere at an unnaturally fast rate and this is changing the earth’s climate.

Where does this “new carbon” come from? See. for millions and millions of years lots and lots and lots of carbon, in the form of dinosaurs and vegetation, have been trapped under the earth’s surface. This vastly lowered our atmosphere’s net total of carbon by sequestering it away in a process that occurred over many, many millions of years.

Today, the burning of the fossil fuels made from that sequestered carbon releases [this is important] NEW carbon into the atmosphere. In the burning process this carbon combines with oxygen that was already in the atmosphere, to create more carbon dioxide than was present before [not to mention, reducing the amount of pure oxygen in the air]. Every second of every minute of every hour of every day on earth, more carbon in being added to the atmosphere. And it’s happening far faster than the process of sequestration did.

So you see, burning fossil fuels releases new carbon into the atmosphere, changes the balance of gases in the atmosphere, and is changing our climate far faster than an ice age would. When a cow eats grass and farts CO2, they’ve taken carbon that was already in our environment [in the grass] and put it in the air [out the ass]. This makes absolutely no change in the atmosphere, other than the smell. When you drive your car you’re taking carbon pulled from deep within the earth, where it was not part of our environment, and ADDING it to the atmosphere. That’s a huge difference. And when there’s more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere it traps more of the radiant heat provided by the sun — and makes that heat harder to get rid of.

These aren”t opinions or just my thoughts on the subject. These are all scientifically proven facts.

Here’s something to think about. Where are you getting your facts from? It’s important to know your sources. The majority of data I’m familiar with comes from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [NOAA]. These are science geniuses who’s job it is to know the difference between weather [“It’s been hot this summer!”] and climate [“Trends show that over the past 50 years the average summer temperature has risen by 2 degrees!”] They’re the people who have used science to save lives and property by accurately predicting weather events like hurricanes, floods, arctic blasts, etc. They know what they’re talking about. And they are a part of the scientific community that has proven the Climate Change is happening.

Here’s an interesting thought experiment: In the Bible, Noah said it was going to rain for 40 days and nights. No one believed him, so they died in rising waters provided by God because humans had become greedy, wasteful and filthy. What if millions of people die because they don’t believe what NOAA is saying? What if our greed, wastefulness and pollution causes this? Wouldn’t that be a nasty bit of irony?

I don’t expect to change your mind on this. And that’s OK. But, I want to encourage you to diversify your sources of information on this issue. I have, and it’s helped me strengthen my thoughts on things. I’ve read articles and books from strong believers like Al Gore, unbiased thinkers from the science communities like NOAA, MIT and many others, and plenty of articles by skeptics, too. I’ve listened to Public Radio stories on it and watched FOX News reports on it as well. Don’t be afraid to read an article or two at the NOAA website. Or poke around the Popular Science and National Geographic sites and see what they have to say. Those are independent sources that can be trusted to be thorough and even-handed.

And think about this. Coastal communities around the world — including in Virginia — are seeing ocean levels rising today and are enacting long-range plans to deal with this reality. The temperature of the Chesapeake Bay is actually rising which is killing off oyster beds. Beaches along the coast are eroding away. Our civic leaders and corporations are working together already — now, today — to combat this. Meanwhile, government agencies in every industrialized nation on earth are developing plans and policies to cope with the migration crises that will result from changing agriculture, and food and water shortages. Farmers around the world are adapting their crops to changing climates, just in order to stay financially viable. Militaries across the globe — including ours — are developing extensive strategies to help maintain law, order and civility among populations when things start getting sketchy. These are facts. What does that tell you?

© 2015 Chris Henson

[this is a work in progress]