“From an Antarctic research base to the Great Pyramids of Egypt and beyond, the world switched off the lights on Saturday for the second Earth Hour, dimming skyscrapers, city streets and some of the world's most recognizable monuments for 60 minutes to highlight the threat of climate change.”
Thus begins a Yahoo news story on “Earth Hour” – an hour of time (specifically, 8:30 to 9:30 tonight) when everyone dims their lights in an effort to save the planet.
Sigh.
Look, I don’t hate the planet. I don’t hate the environment. I don’t like seeing clouds of smog hanging over cities or cars burning oil and spewing black smoke. I love recycling. I love the IDEA of finding cleaner sources of fuel (whether or not it’s feasible is another story). I love organic foods and organic clothing and organic cosmetics. I HATE seeing someone throw trash or cigarette butts from a moving car. I love clean water and clean air and animals and national parks.
But here’s the deal – the climate is going to change. The climate IS going to change. We KNOW the climate on this planet changes, because it already HAS many times before. And long before human beings swooped in with their fossil fuels and chlorofluorocarbons. In fact, science has shown us that the planet tends to warm during periods of increased solar activity and it cools during periods of lesser solar activity. This last year or so we’ve been in one of those “lesser solar activity” periods, and as a result, we’ve had one of the COLDEST years on record. The evidence, again and again, seems to point to the SUN as the main culprit in our global warming/cooling cycles, and yet we’re constantly fed this alarmist propaganda about how the ice caps are melting and the sea is rising and the polar bears are dying and New York City is practically underwater and the only way we can stop it is by caving in to the demands of extreme environmentalists. And apparently, by turning off our lights for an hour tonight.
The ironic thing is that this global COOLING that we’re experiencing now is WORSE than global warming. This is what Daily Tech has to say about the recent lack of solar activity:
“Let's hope those factors stop fast. Cold is more damaging than heat. The mean temperature of the planet is about 54 degrees. Humans -- and most of the crops and animals we depend on -- prefer a temperature closer to 70.
Historically, the warm periods such as the Medieval Climate Optimum were beneficial for civilization. Corresponding cooling events such as the Little Ice Age, though, were uniformly bad news.”
So global warming has been good for our planet, whereas global cooling has been bad. And I always wonder, as I read and listen to the grim warnings about “climate change,” what makes anyone so certain that THIS climate we have now is the ONLY climate we should ever have? Who’s to say a climate change would ultimately be a BAD thing? The human race adapts and survives – life goes on. Perhaps even a BETTER life. The earth has been around for a long time – it has cycled through warm and cold many, many times, and it WILL in the future. Whether we try to stop it or not.
5 comments:
I didn't even really know about "Earth Hour" until about two days before hand.
Didn't matter much to me then, and it certainly didn't matter much to me yesterday.
Gotta love the spooks like Al Gore and the other intellectually challenged people (aka Chicken Little) in the psuedo scientific world today.
Lisa, I've always liked you.
Now I know I really really REALLY like you!!!
Hey, maybe they'll have a Global let's not ride in our lear jets day. Or let's not let our limos idle outside the house of Congress today!
Totally agree with you. I participated in Earth Hour but not because of Global warming. Global warming is nothing but a myth created by Mr. Gore and his "important men in lab coats". I did it because of the pollution, clean environment and to save a little energy. Climate will always change and we can't do anything about it, but pollution we can. I sure would love to go out in the city and breath fresh air instead of smog.
Take care, Julie
G -- yep, all "Earth Hour" turned out to be was a "symbolic" gesture. It did NOTHING to actually "save" the planet. (That is, if, in fact, as the "Chicken Littles" of the world would have us believe, the planet actually NEEDS "saving.")
Jannie -- awww, thanks! :) It's funny, isn't it, how the politicians always seem to be exempt from these little "sacrifices" the rest of us are expected to make? By the way, I heard (not sure if it's true or not, but wouldn't be surprised) that Al Gore did NOT turn off the lights in his giant, energy-wasting house for "Earth Hour". :)
Julie -- Yes, I agree -- it's a great idea to cut down on pollution and to save energy. In fact, I usually DO make a point to turn off lights in the rooms I'm not using, turn off my computer when I'm not using it, etc. But that's what I'VE decided to do for my OWN life -- I don't need the government telling me to turn off my lights, you know? And I hate it when people just fall in line and follow a "trend" because it's what everyone ELSE is doing. I think we should be focusing more on the "pollution" aspect rather than so-called "global climate change." Because I think EVERYONE can agree that clean air and clean water is better than smog and toxic chemicals. :) Thanks for stopping by my blog!
He did not turn off his lights? What a surprise. (Rolls eyes, in all-knowing all-seeing manner.)
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