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]

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.

[naruvonwilkins.livejournal.com]

Absolutely it's not certainly human caused - I commented because of your original statement claiming it's certainly not. :)

[mortaine.livejournal.com]

Well, I was accurate. Global warming is not the same as pollution. It's a possible effect of pollution....

Meh. Anyway.

[naruvonwilkins.livejournal.com]

Warming is a type of pollution - just like noise pollution, light pollution, etc.

[conuly]

I don't think so. Pollution is an addition of something bad to a place by humans. Warming can be done by natural causes - we don't know yet. If it were caused by humans, you might have a case, but since we don't know, I don't think it's fair to say it is.

Even if it is caused by humans, I'd say it's the result of pollution, not pollution iself.

[naruvonwilkins.livejournal.com]

Increased temperature is certainly something human habitation is doing, with or without carbon dioxide. We're burning things, and a lot - and both the chemical pollution and the heat are (or may be) contributing to global warming.

I do agree that CO2 output wouldn't be considered warming on its own.

[conuly]

Contributing doesn't mean it's the sole cause.

And, again, I'm not sure that the warming can be called pollution.

[conuly]

What? Something of an idiot? If he doesn't realize that "temperature increase" is the same thing as "warming", something of an doesn't begin to describe it.