--- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], Doug Pensinger <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > So are you suggesting that, as it becomes more and more clear that > we _do_ have a very serious problem, that we should hold off on > doing anything about it while we research the idea that it's part > of a larger phenomenon? Please keep in mind that now that we know > that the Arctic (including Greenland) http://tinyurl.com/g7mxc and > Antarctic ice http://tinyurl.com/kewgu is melting much faster than > previously thought and that the time we have to take effective > action (if the warming is due to our actions) is limited.
A couple points: 1) Dan has given a good explanation of just what the evidence of increased polar melting means. Granted, we definitely do know that melting is occurring faster than previously thought. You then connect this, however, to implying that [we now know that...] "and that the time we have to take effective action is limited." I'm not sure why this follows from the increased evidence of polar melting. Moreover, I wonder what are those limits on our action. Is the limit a time period of 10 years or 100 years? 2) I find the phrase "we shouldn't do anything" to be somewhat loaded. In fact, there are a wide range of possible actions, ranging from targeting various slowings in the rate of growth of carbon emissions, all the way to reducing the current level of emissions. The problem is that the current debate is pretty much established as being either "adopt Kyoto to the letter" or else "do nothing." Unfortuantely, that push to extremes has resulted in the status quo. I'd rather focus on such questions as "what is the optimal level of global warming?" - which while naturally cause many environmentalists to blanche, at least establishes the basic recognition that reducing global warming carries a cost, and at some point, that cost might outweigh the benefits. Unfortunately, I see that question being hardly asked, if ever. I personally advocate some modest steps to reduce the growth of carbon emissions, but I fear that all too often those steps get described as "not doing anything"... JDG _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
