So What's The Deal With Global Warming?

I am halfway through the book, State of Fear, by Michael Crichton. He presents the scenario that the global warming phenomena is not supported by the existing weather data and other relevant data. Crichton asserts that factions in the environmental community have convinced the public and leaders in government that the phenomena is real and poses an imminent threat to mankind. Michael Crichton has the habit of telling cautionary tales about the limitations and misjudgments of science and scientists. Generally he carefully researches his material before writing his books, so I am tempted to lend some credence to his allegations.



This week in Time Magazine, the cover story is about this
very threat and offers 51 things that you and I can do to
head off what are supposed to be the devastating effects of global warming (G.W.) With the huge success of the movie, Happy Feet, the penguin on the cover is sure to resonate with everyone these days. The popular press is fully on the bandwagon to sound the alarm and this particular issue of Time is just one example of this support for the notion that G.W. is, in fact, an unfortunate reality that most of us would really like to ignore if at all possible.

Frankly, at this point, I don't know what to believe. I know only enough about G.W. to be really dangerous. After having read a fair chunk Crichton's book, I am beginning to have my own doubts on the subject. I feel like I need to drop all the extraneous stuff I am doing and do some very serious research on G.W. Right! Like I actually have the time to do that these days when my life has started to accelerate, sometimes beyond my control.

Vice-President Al Gore's book, An Inconvenient Truth,
compounds my confusion. Although the book is heavily
graphic and uses very trendy page layouts, it still makes some pretty persuasive arguments for dangers that G.W. poses to the world. But then I don't have ready access to the data that supported the allegation of sweeping changes on this planet caused by global warming, so how do I know if even Al Gore's work is not a piece of slanted hype on the subject? Well... I don't. But this is important enough of an issue that I really feel that I need to get a better handle on what is true and what is just plain self-serving hogwash.

I am dismayed by this dilemma. It is important for me to know what is really happening out there on the planet Earth. So now, if I were suddenly to find myself in possession of a sweet amount of money so that I could support any one of the factions on either side of the arguments over G.W., I would probably hold off on doing that, at least for awhile.

So what do I think about global warming? I don't know. I still don't even have a clear sense which side is more right. It is evident that something is happening all over planet Earth that bodes badly for all of us. What is that something? It is a combination of a lot of things all happening at the same time. The forces that drive what is happening are a complex set of phenomena that mankind is only beginning to understand.

What am I going to do about this? I am going to educate myself about Global Warming. I need to know what is going on, because if I am going to start prepare myself and my family for the potentially devastating effects of global warming, I need to determine for myself that G.W. exists and that it poses a certifiable threat to all of us. Because I just don't know what is true and what isn't just yet, I am going to just go on living my life as best I can, become a bit more educated on the matter of our weather and if push comes to shove, head for the high ground when the waters start rising. However for the moment, you will find me going to work and doing the things that I have to do... and when I can squeeze out some time, I will be in the internet or at the library, trying to sort out fact from fiction when it comes to global warming.