I've pointed out numerous times the fallacious logic of the current carbon emissions crowd, that the planet is not about to die, just that humans may be impacted. Unfortunately, it's hard to get a word of rational logic heard over the shouting of the generational obsessives who think that global warming==carbon emissions. Now comes news that the planet has already gone through cycles much warmer than this one.
During a warm period some 3.5 million years ago, for instance, the ice sheet may have disappeared completely for around 200,000 years, raising sea levels globally by up to 10 metres.For the first time, the ANDRILL cores show exactly how ice retreated rapidly and quickly in Antarctica. “That happened at a time when it was three to four degrees warmer than today, owing to atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, which we will very likely reach again soon,” says Tim Naish, a project leader at the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences in Lower Hutt, New Zealand.
This quote is really quite interesting to me, and also rather damning of the alarmists. There is a natural cycle to the planet, which is consistent with evolutionary theory. It's just plain sad and ridiculous when politicians and extremists begin obsessing over short-term "trends" that really make no difference whatsoever in the overall grand scheme of things. I mean, think about it: if the planet is 6+ billion years old, then how could you ever conclude that this current short-term warming trend is going to have catastrophic effects for the planet? Answer: it won't. The effect may be challenging for humans, but that's not the reason that's given for all the hype and hysteria.
I'm reminded of Ecclesiastes 1: 2-11 (NIV version here):
2 "Meaningless! Meaningless!"
says the Teacher.
"Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless." 3 What does man gain from all his labor
at which he toils under the sun? 4 Generations come and generations go,
but the earth remains forever. 5 The sun rises and the sun sets,
and hurries back to where it rises. 6 The wind blows to the south
and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
ever returning on its course. 7 All streams flow into the sea,
yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
there they return again. 8 All things are wearisome,
more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,
nor the ear its fill of hearing. 9 What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun. 10 Is there anything of which one can say,
"Look! This is something new"?
It was here already, long ago;
it was here before our time. 11 There is no remembrance of men of old,
and even those who are yet to come
will not be remembered
by those who follow.
You don't have to be religious to understand and appreciate the wisdom of this passage. You just need to open your minds, extend your vision beyond your nose, and think in terms of centuries and epochs, not in minutes, hours, and days. None of which is to say that reducing carbon emissions is bad. We should be working to reduce our use of fossil fuels, and we should be working to reduce our burden on the electric grid, and really on all of society. However, we should be doing it because it's the best thing for humanity, not because of some false FUD about destroying the planet. That's just science fiction fantasy.
