Perspective: On Global Warming

In ancient days phenomena that occurred naturally that was not understood, such as thunder and lightening, were believed to be the gods’ expressing their anger at something mankind had caused, and the god’s had to be assuaged. The priests of the day would naturally decide what the gods’ required, and that normally would be a sacrifice. In the very early days that required a human sacrifice. Thus, the Mayans would select a virgin girl, and the Israelites would demand the first born son. Later the gods’ were believed to be satisfied with animals. Gradually it dawned on humans that no matter what they sacrificed, the gods were not satisfied. Still later it dawned on humans that thunder and lightening and such were natural occurrences with the gods having nothing to do with day-to-day interference, and the sacrifices were terminated.

In our modern twenty first century amazingly the ancient practice continues, only this time it is alleged that manmade Global Warming is making the gods angry. And just like in the dark ages, the new priests, e.g., environmentalists, and Nobel Prize winner Al Gore, also believe that sacrifices must be made. These take the form of converting food to fuel, artificially increasing the price of energy via “cap and trade” and subsidizing $ 60,000 automobiles that will need their batteries recharged for eight hours every 100 miles.

Now, long before man came into being upon this planet, there have been periods of intermittent global warming and global cooling. This has been recorded in the rocks and ice formations including major glaziers that formed the Great Lakes. But this neither fazes nor diverts the attention of the new priests. All the proof that is needed to blame mankind for global warming is that we started to burn fossil fuels, other than trees, about 150 years ago. And mankind must be punished! Moreover, the only way the environmentalist gods will be satisfied is if we all go back to the halcyon days of the horse and buggy, the outdoors toilet and grow our own food for a vegan diet.

So, what are we talking about regarding global warming? The idea is that gases in the atmosphere act as glass does in a greenhouse. The sun’s rays pass through the glass in the green house and are essentially reflected back into the greenhouse, thus heating it up. Likewise, atmospheric gasses performing as the glass, allow the rays to pass through, and then “trap” the rays thus heating up the earth.

The main atmospheric gases are water vapor (clouds), methane and carbon dioxide. All are naturally occurring gases. Water vapor comes from water evaporating from rivers, lakes and oceans. Methane comes from anything that is composted and from cattle’s cud and flatulation. It is also trapped in the ocean at great depths and in rock formations deep inside the earth. Carbon dioxide comes from any carbon substance that is incinerated or decomposes. Carbon dioxide is created by burning or composting anything that contains carbon. The main sources include wood, coal, oil, methane, vegetation and animal carcasses. Moreover, it is particularly interesting to note that of the three main gases, carbon dioxide is the least effective greenhouse gas. Methane and water have as much as ten times the impact as that of carbon dioxide. In truth, we really have no idea how many variables impact the environment on this planet. The sun’s effect itself remains a mystery. With a situation so complex it is amazing that we would leap from the myriad of hypotheses possible to the theory that the warming is man made.

Finally, we are told over and over that the amount of fossil fuels that are available will only last about 100 years at the current rate of global consumption, but we are not told how long it will take for the global warming to make the planet uninhabitable for humans and animals. I am going to take a wild guess and say that it is between one thousand and one million years. So, what are we worried about? It would appear that in the subsequent centuries after depletion of fossil fuel reserves, natural forces, e.g. vegetation via photosynthesis, will be able to absorb any excess carbon dioxide that man has created.

When you consider the real and immediate problems that mankind faces on this planet such as the digital explosion replacing jobs at mach speed, economic globalization gobbling up natural resources, inadequate food supplies looming as well as worldwide terrorism, why are we devoting any time at all trying to deal with the theory of manmade global warming?

What is so especially galling is that these new “priests” have our present Administration hamstrung. At a time when we desperately need an energy policy that will provide low cost and long lasting supplies of energy for our industries and our citizens, this Administration saddles developers of our indigenous energy supplies with excessive regulations and bureaucratic red tape. Meanwhile we are sitting on the world’s largest supply of fossil fuels with the best technology for minimizing the environmental impact of their use. Instead we import oil from our enemies and weaken the dollar. Most despicable, this is a policy the President could unilaterally reverse now!