The Deer, or the Boy
A deer in the headlights…
Or the boy that cried wolf…
How do you begin to make sense of the rhetoric surrounding the issue of global warming?
There are no simple answers. It’s natural for non-scientists to become overwhelmed by the shouting and contradictions. It’s easy to bury your head in the sand with thoughts of, “I like warm weather anyway”.
Being a non-scientist does not necessarily mean being uninformed – or misinformed. Between these simplistic opposing views is a more realistic and constructive outlook toward global climate change.
Controversy does exist; this is natural for such a complex science. Science evolves; it is, and should be, open to debate. The debate in climatology is leading to a consensus that tells a tale of a world already experiencing the first signals of global warming.
This is a primer for fellow lay people. Presented here is a picture of our climate. How it was, how it is, and how it may be in the near future.
This picture is grounded in the basics of climatology.
Now is the time to abandon the paralyzing rhetoric based in misinformation and incrimination – on both sides of the issue.
Wouldn’t it be grand if we could leave to future generations a thriving economy, and a healthy and stable environment? The two do not need to be mutually exclusive.
The Greenhouse Effect
The greenhouse effect is a naturally occurring phenomenon of Earth’s environment, and is essential to the climate on Earth as we know it. With the natural greenhouse effect the average temperature on Earth is 15 degrees Celsius (59 degrees Fahrenheit). Without it, the average temperature would be about minus 18 degrees Celsius (or 0 degrees Fahrenheit).