Two major hurricanes in a month? Less?

[conuly]

I know it's hurricane season, but damn.

In the wake of Katrina, several people chalked up the severity of the storm to global warming, and blamed it on Bush.

While I'm willing to go along with "we're getting bad storms because of global temperature changes", I don't think it's fair to blame Bush for this. That's like blaming him for a lack of gays in the military. Sure, he's not helping the problem, but the problem started long before he came around.

Additionally, here's the sad (or not so sad, depending on your view) reality of the situation: We don't know for sure what's causing global warming. We know that pollution is a problem, we know that it *can* change the average temperature of the world - but we also know that, historically and earlier, the earth has gone through numerous warm and cold periods. Some of them were fairly short, while others were decently long. And within cold or warm cycles, there have been miniature cycles that were colder and warmer than the prevailing temperatures of the period - anybody remember the Little Ice Age?

I don't know what causes these changes. I don't know if the current temperature changes are natural or not. I *do* know that, whatever the cause, the planet can survive a warm period. It can even survive a mass extinction - this is the sixth one, meaning we've gone through five before. Indeed, I wouldn't be too surprised if humans can survive, unless the future is far more apocalyptic than I'd previously imagined.

Kinda sucks for the individuals in the way of the storms, though.

Comments

[mortaine.livejournal.com]

I find it absurd that people deny the possibility of global warming, or that global warming could cause hurricanes.

Global warming != human-caused pollution!

Dorks.

[naruvonwilkins.livejournal.com]

Global warming may indeed be human-caused. There's certainly no evidence out there to rule it out.

[mortaine.livejournal.com]

Yes, but it is not *necessarily* human-caused.

Yesterday, I heard a scientist adamantly deny that the global temperature increase was caused by global warming.

I consider that "scientist" to be something of an idiot. In his zeal to avoid sounding like he at all, in any way, shape or form, did not wholeheartedly approve of the rape of our environment, he basically spouted utter idiocy on national television.

[the-cynic.livejournal.com]

I don't necessarily think its global warming or climate change. My theory is the 'Book of Jonah' theory. Anyone remember? The Lord was angered by Jonah, who tried to escape the Lord's wrath by hitching a ride on a boat away from Nineveh. The Lord sent a storm to toss the poor ship around until the crew determined that it was Jonah who had displeased the Lord and threw him overboard. Immediately the storm subsided [and a whale ate Jonah, but that's not germane here].

Clearly, somebody in New Orleans who has now been relocated to Houston has really pissed off the Lord. If only we knew who.....

[conuly]

Maybe he was aiming for Bush? Figured that anything in the general area would do?

[mortaine.livejournal.com]

PS: This isn't a die-off. Or if it is, it's an untimely one. We're not due for another 60 million years. We're in the completely wrong part of the galaxy for a mass extinction.

[conuly]

Okay, granted, granted - but I don't think we could honestly say we're not going through a major extinction, nor that we can't survive it. That doesn't make it a good thing, of course, just... a bit predictable...?

[mortaine.livejournal.com]

It's not predictable, though, and that's the point. We are halfway through the period of time in which we should expect a die-off (roughly every 120 million years). We are as far from the forces that (I think) cause mass extinctions.

Therefore, if we are enbarking on one, I personally believe it must be man-made, and not an inherently natural part of our planet's cycle.

Humans were nearly wiped out a hundred thousand years ago, by a force that remains unknown, but may have been a climate shift. We were reduced to a population that was just barely above the number needed in a gene pool in order to survive. And yet, we did. I think humans are immensely adaptable, but we're also tremendously fragile. We could survive a mass extinction. Or not. It would depend heavily on the forces causing the extinction.

For instance, we could not survive if the level of oxygen in our planet dropped below a certain percent (I believe it's about 15, but I could be wrong). We would have to die or evolve into a new, slightly different species, one with a different lung configuration, perhaps. However, we *could* easily survive a die-off of all the large land mammals, so long as that die-off was not caused by lowering oxygen levels, but instead by something else, like temperature change. This, of course, presumes that oxygen levels and temperature have nothing to do with each other, which is a pretty bold assumption and pretty much untrue.

[ladyshrew.livejournal.com]

Thanks for being the voice of reason, yet again.

[xiggaroo.livejournal.com]

If you were wondering, Angel was able to evacuate today. Don't know where to, I got the info second hand, as I wasn't able to get ahold of her by phone. I'm going to try and call her again tomorrow, but at least we know she's out of Galveston.

[conuly]

Good. *huggles all*

[deathchibi.livejournal.com]

Personally, I have a few family members coming in from Galveston, but I'm not sure if I want to go home because they can probably use my bedroom for space...

[mortaine.livejournal.com]

I find it absurd that people deny the possibility of global warming, or that global warming could cause hurricanes.

Global warming != human-caused pollution!

Dorks.

[naruvonwilkins.livejournal.com]

Global warming may indeed be human-caused. There's certainly no evidence out there to rule it out.

[mortaine.livejournal.com]

Yes, but it is not *necessarily* human-caused.

Yesterday, I heard a scientist adamantly deny that the global temperature increase was caused by global warming.

I consider that "scientist" to be something of an idiot. In his zeal to avoid sounding like he at all, in any way, shape or form, did not wholeheartedly approve of the rape of our environment, he basically spouted utter idiocy on national television.

[the-cynic.livejournal.com]

I don't necessarily think its global warming or climate change. My theory is the 'Book of Jonah' theory. Anyone remember? The Lord was angered by Jonah, who tried to escape the Lord's wrath by hitching a ride on a boat away from Nineveh. The Lord sent a storm to toss the poor ship around until the crew determined that it was Jonah who had displeased the Lord and threw him overboard. Immediately the storm subsided [and a whale ate Jonah, but that's not germane here].

Clearly, somebody in New Orleans who has now been relocated to Houston has really pissed off the Lord. If only we knew who.....

[conuly]

Maybe he was aiming for Bush? Figured that anything in the general area would do?

[mortaine.livejournal.com]

PS: This isn't a die-off. Or if it is, it's an untimely one. We're not due for another 60 million years. We're in the completely wrong part of the galaxy for a mass extinction.

[conuly]

Okay, granted, granted - but I don't think we could honestly say we're not going through a major extinction, nor that we can't survive it. That doesn't make it a good thing, of course, just... a bit predictable...?

[ladyshrew.livejournal.com]

Thanks for being the voice of reason, yet again.

[xiggaroo.livejournal.com]

If you were wondering, Angel was able to evacuate today. Don't know where to, I got the info second hand, as I wasn't able to get ahold of her by phone. I'm going to try and call her again tomorrow, but at least we know she's out of Galveston.

[conuly]

Good. *huggles all*

[deathchibi.livejournal.com]

Personally, I have a few family members coming in from Galveston, but I'm not sure if I want to go home because they can probably use my bedroom for space...