Facts or Beliefs?
This evening, NPR aired a report discussing the need to reduce our dependence on oil. One of the analyst's comments began, "Whether you believe in global warming or not, oil is unhealthy for humans and the environment." Those issues are too much for me to handle, but the way such topics are discussed is part of the reason they're so difficult to address. The analyst was implicitly stating that beliefs, or feelings, are what determine the reality/myth of global warming.
It is incredibly frustrating when beliefs, or even organized religion, become tangled up in politics and policy making. Scientists discovered and improved every single method we use to extract energy. Scientists determined how to measure global climate, simulate events and provide weather predictions. Their research indicates that human activities are resulting in climate change. I'm all for finding fault in their methods and results, but it's ignorant behavior to simply "not believe" their results.
One of the most fascinating examples I've encountered was filmed in the documentary Jesus Camp. A Christian mother is homeschooling her son using a science textbook from a Christian publisher. The textbook describes the false theory of global warming and details how to counter the arguments put forth in support of global warming. I can understand why some Christians feel the theory of evolution conflicts with their faith (although it's quite possible to reconcile the two), but I can't begin to imagine how global warming runs contrary to Christian teachings.
You frequently hear that there's too much religion in politics. I'm concerned that there's too much politics in religion.
Submitted by eliot on Fri, 2010-05-28 07:00
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Facts or Beliefs
I have also been puzzled why Christians feel a need to disbelieve global warming. I do not understand it.
On another note, I have just discovered your blog, Eliot. I don't know why I never saw the link on your "A New Look" page. So I am catching up on reading what you have written!
Some just want truth
There's a lot of HORRENDOUS wrong information out there pushing global warming. For one of my college entrance exams, I was only given a chart showing that record high temperatures kept increasing, then asked questions about the average temperatures. Since, "You gave me zero relevant information to draw a conclusion from wasn't an option," I suppose the expected conclusion was that climbing record high temperatures means the earth is getting hotter, as if record highs could do anything besides climb (and they wonder why our test scores are dropping). The didn't bother showing that record low temperatures keep dropping.
There was also a big scandal a couple of years ago (maybe less) about global weather data being falsified to prove global warming. Someone hacked into an email server to leak a bunch of emails to prove the crime. I think some of the source code used for computing the project was leaked to show it was full of errors as well. There was also a very wide spread pronouncement of the '90s as the hottest decade on record, which they had to admit was wrong (it was the '20s). Al Gore being a leading spokesperson on the issue doesn't help the cause. I actually heard him give an explanation that included Earth being one million miles from the sun.
I think the kicker is people vocalizing a conclusion that we're ruining the planet and earth would be better off without us. If we don't do a lot of drastic and expensive things for the profit of people pushing global warming (Al Gore and the carbon trading), soon the population growth rate will skyrocket (they missed the memo that the current growth dropped to about 0) and we will consume every resource on the planet until everything is dead. All plant and animal life (both would benefit from higher CO2 levels) will be choked my our carbon emissions!
The truth is that humans contribute 3.4% of the CO2 (not the same as carbon) and 0.28% to the greenhouse effect. While higher atmospheric CO2 concentrations can cause higher temperatures, higher temperatures release more CO2 from the oceans, placing more CO2 in the atmosphere. Our best information shows the earth's temperature has always traveled in cycles, even prior to our industrialization that is currently blamed, and that we're still recovering from the Little Ice Age of about 250 years ago. The measured temperature increase from 1860 to 2000 is 0.8 degrees Celsius, and I think it has since dropped. Scientists are being touted as champions of a movement when they mess up things I would expect elementary students to get correct, and we probably have better (at least less tainted) records that global warming is happening on other planets.
I've studied the issue about as much as I can without reading scientific journals or getting my own primary research. My conclusion is that there is scientific merit and concrete data to show temperatures have been rising. We should be careful how we use our resources, especially if we use a lot of them like Google (who has creatively pushed the envelope in efficiency). Squandering things is never a good idea, and people trashing the environment are selfish or lazy. Unfortunately outspoken individuals have started taking these ideas and pushing agendas to "save the environment" with campaigns that often drain us of our livelihood while being an all around detriment. If you want examples, Penn and Teller covered environmentalism in a show better than I can here. With almost any push for massive government action, there are some who are mis-informed and do it out of the goodness of their heart and others, usually in the shadows, who push it for their own selfish gain.
Despite our concrete data that temperatures have gone up and certain things cause them to rise, there are sufficient enough lies revolving around this issue of global warming to label what is pushed in the media as false. I'm hoping this is where the issue lies for the Christian homeschoolers. Though it doesn't have specifics for the second, Christian teaching instruct us to be wise in helping our neighbors and taking care of the environment.