Do You "Believe" in Global Warming?

07.04.11

Ever been asked that question? I think it's a strange question, but maybe that's just me. The phrase "believe in" equating scientific rigour with the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus or Rip Van Winkle (all interesting characters, by the way).

There is the wording of the question as a whole; it doesn't really ask anything, unless you take the implicit social and political context of the times we live in. What is really being asked is whether or not you believe that human activity is affecting our climate, resulting in increased temperatures. Well, the most convincing evidence to date suggests that it is.

Perhaps most concerning though, is the mainstream media's (and sceptic's) almost myopic focus on this single aspect of human interaction with the environment. Scepticism is good, because it keeps scientists honest. In the case of climate change though, we moved beyond scepticism a long time ago, and we're now dealing with out-and-out fear. That is, the fear of people to face what is happening and deal with it. The arguments I hear cranked out by Sydney's AM Radio hacks are the same arguments we've been hearing for years (which have all been emphatically refuted, by the way). However, why let the truth get in the way of a good story.

Most unproductively however, it takes the focus away from several other key issues (mostly interrelated) that must be urgently addressed, and address them we must if we are to prosper as a species. Just for example, deforestation, the salination of our freshwater supplies, the use of chemicals in our farms and the resulting run-off in to our water, the ongoing degradation of our food-producing soils and the collapse or near-collapse of our natural food sources (over 60% of the worlds fisheries need to be rebuilt, with a significant number that either have collapsed, or are dangerously close to doing so).

The time for fear and denial has passed and the time for action has well and truly arrived.