http://wastedenergy.net/2010/03/01/sustainability-is-the-most-abused-word-in-the-english-language/

Sorry EJ, I think we got sidetracked by the sideburns – blame Ray!

No, I don’t see any reason to refute your 3 points. I don’t think that many people have a clue about how “models” work. They think that a computer model tells the “truth”. How can a computer model lie? It’s a machine. Most people seem to forget that people create the models and people put the data into the models – computers are not rational, objective things – we are not yet in the world of The Terminator – and those computers weren’t rational, objective things – they were “right some jesus pissed off” (excuse my Maritimes roots).

Generally speaking, people are so in awe of the Academy, that they never question the scientists (or other academics). There is data, then there is the interpretation of data, which is where most of the problem lies. Then of course, there is the deliberate falsification and deliberate misinterpretation of data.

“One only needs to take differential equations to see that computer models can’t see a century into the future.

One only needs to realize that spending trillions trying to change 3 parts per every 100,000 parts of our atmosphere is fruitless, when a forest fire will do the same thing. When a volcano will do thousands of times more.

One only needs to demand hard data. If you do, many of your favorite environmental myths will evaporate.”

We are thus agreed on these assertions?

Dale – the end of the quote “but fools seldom differ” just in case you forgot

I had one of those nice government jobs once upon a time – things just didn’t quite work out. Life does get in the way.

As for Africans that come here voluntarily, that was not any part of the point that I was making. I was talking about environmental adaptation vis-a-vis sickle cell anemia. The fact that there is less and less of it among the African American population in the United States is partly due to the fact that it is deadly when its adaptive function (survival in malaria-infested areas) is not part of the environment.

STEVE: You see Donovan, there is this thing we like to call evolution. This means to adapt to the climate as it changes. Evolution occurs in hostile environments – mostly you can see it happening in the world of the virus right now because at that level the climate is still quite hostile. Evolution implies by it’s very existence that the Earth is a hostile and changing place – survival of the fittest doesn’t just apply to a lion chasing a gazelle – it also applies to those that can adapt fast enough to endure the next change in their environment.

No need to resort to threats of violence – as I proved above, we should be friends!

But seriously, the dendrochronological studies are a big deal – if the medieval warm period was warmer that it was today, and Phil Jones admitted as much just a week or two ago –
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2010/02/14/phil-jones-momentous-qa-with-bbc-reopens-the-science-is-settled-issues/
it means that every “problem” that you describing has happened before, and it all worked out just fine – after all we are all here aren’t we? So are the moths and bears and pine beetles. So what exactly is the “Problem”?
I think the problem is that the environmental movements basic philosophy is “Four legs good, two legs bad”. And therefore absolutely anything Humans do is by its very nature a negative impact on the planet – that is why they want less of us.
So moving on, why don’t you refute some of points instead using threats and insults?
Best regards
Your Friend,
Redmond

Good Redmond. I’m about to shove a tree ring up your ass.

SteveH and Dale: those were some good points you made except for one thing: they weren’t. But at least you made them without calling anyone a habitual jerk-off.
Bravo.

This notion of “survival of the fittest” is a social construct that should not be used to describe how humans adapt to their environments. Humans adapt because of their ability to be technologically innovative. Opposable thumbs, bipedalism, cranial development, for example, were all evolutionary “errors” that made homo sapiens the creatures we are today. And our ability to think, create and change our environment have made it the case that survival is possible for the weakest of our species. This is particularly true of medical advancements. We adapt because we can think beyond the present – we can envision different possibilities. Our history is one of constant change, of meeting new challenges.

To take this to the issue of the blog, the creation of “moral panics” around the environment shows an extreme lack of faith in humans’ ability to find solutions to problems that may be occurring in the world around us. Misanthropy is a good phrase to describe them. I just wish that these people who spend so much time “defending the earth” would give as some thought to fixing poverty and violence towards other human beings. Those are problems that desperately need solutions and they are created by humans – “mother nature” has shown a remarkable ability to take care of itself.

As for what animals and plants will do in the face of the “problem” of global warming, my guess is that will do what they have always done – adapt. Much like humans. In fact humans are very succesful at adaptation. We are so succesuful that we have extended our presence into every concievable part of this earth and into the cold darkness of outer space.  

Let’s say that the inanimate and chaotic features of our earth such as warming, cooling, tectonic plates shifting, volcanoes, etc is the problem, then life itself is the solution to the problem. Life has been confronted with the problem of surviving every since it appeared on this earth. Life solves this problem through adapting via evolution. Humans are the product of this evolution, and so by extension everything we do is natural, and part of life. You might say that humans are the pinnacle of this evolution for we are the rational animal. We have the capacity for rational thought, and can weigh our options and make decisions. We place value on life. No other animal does this. Given that the problem is survival, humans therefore are the best chance that life has to survive in this universe. As far as we know, this planet holds the only life in the universe, and it could be snuffed out in an instant by something such as a planet killing asteroid. Humans are the only animal that would be capable of defending life from oblivion.

About pine beetles: a horrific natural infliction. We stayed up near Winter Park a couple years ago, and were appalled by the enormous amount of beetle kill forest. A man in Grand Lake explained how the lodge pole pine cone will not open and disgorge its seeds unless it has been exposed to extreme heat. In other words, the forest grows, beetles kill it, it burns, which release the lodge pole seeds, and the forest is renewed. The natural cycle.

If the beetles are spreading, it is likely as much due to humans trying to prevent the [natural] burn cycle. Another example of good intentions having negative results? I wonder how much CO2 was released in the last cycle, especially compared to us normal humans (i.e. excluding Mr. Billowing-Cloud Gore).

I suppose this is progress. We got a specific anecdote rather than another attack on Beck, as if he has anything to do with this. Unfortunately, we can’t have real teamwork until liberal supporters accept the fact that AGW, IPCC, Al Gore, Cap and Trade, etc. are frauds and liars that cannot be trusted, and should be held accountable for their contributions to a criminal hoax (oh yes, we would be hurt by their actions – Cap and Trade – and that is crime). What we need to see is vitriolic liberalism applied to the AGW perpetrators; something like hitting them over the head with a hockey stick. Oh, and quit using the environment as an excuse to create totalitarian government.