Where Went Evolution When Global Warming Came?
I’m absolutely amazed by all the apocalyptic predictions that countless species will perish as the climates warm up. What happened to adaptation and evolutionary processes? We know that micro-climates and macro-climates are always changing. Always have.
The tribes of Indians living in the temperate paradise of our American Southwest, building the magnificent cliff dwellings were driven out by desertification just a few centuries ago. California Indians came in and developed rich cultures as California filled with acorn-producing oak parklands, after their ancestors skirted the glaciers to chase the Woolly Mammoth, and moved into the Great Plains when the glaciers disappeared almost entirely to make way for the buffalo, etc., etc. Just a 150 years ago England and Europe marveled at a minor ice age that turned their rivers into ice rinks. We don’t have to look far to see adaptation and migration of not just humans, but all the flora and fauna.
Oh, I know, that calming bit of insight ruins the apocalyptic visions of politicians and industrialists and scientists hoping to build their careers on their ‘chicken little” acts. But that is the truth.
When we are told the coasts are going to be submerged in 50 or 100 years, why don’t we just stop building on them, and in floodplains, and start a sensible withdrawal and redrawing our cities’ boundaries on higher ground? Why do we even rebuild New Orleans beneath the sea levels of today’s ocean?
When we are told the birds and butterflies, and flowers and snails we are accustomed to cannot survive … well, sit back and watch them slowly drift northward, and take your next vacation to places south and see the birds and butterflies and flowers and snails your grandchildren will get to experience and feed in their bird feeders in the backyard. Don’t panic! Maybe, in fact, the birds and butterflies you like the most will do exactly what scientists have been preaching at us for the past 100 years: adapt; evolve; learn to eat the new seeds, drink the nectar of warmer-clime flowers, pounce on the mice that like warmer weather! Or move north to stay with your favorites.
Farmers can grow regular wheat instead of winter wheat. Northern Californians can grow the rice their central Californians grow now.
Change is a vital part of our earth and in the creation of all the life if we are to believe the theories of evolution. And our earth is always changing. Often very rapidly, and to some serious extremes. So why the sudden failure of the natural processes? Like evolution. Why the sudden inability for OUR society to adapt and adjust to new foodstuffs and migrate a few miles back from the coasts in the next century – IF the global-warming alarmists are right?
Maybe there’s a clue in something I heard just today: our ex-VP, Al Gore has increased his personal fortunes from $2 million, to over $100 million, in the past eight years! And all the while, as the media keep showing, not giving up his huge mansion, or private jets, or big cars, like he tells us we must if we want to survive the next decade!
October 2nd, 2009 at 2:37 pm
Though there is a lot of evidence that “Global Warming” was a short term thing (remember, 30 years ago it was all about the coming Global Winter, a new ice age), since the last 10 years have been a steady decline in temps, overall, with but one warm year, and what we are seeing is more “Change” than trend, the bigger thing is to remember this earth is ALWAYS changing, often dramatically, and the bigger question is why do you assume WE are the cause? That seems like the height of arrogance! The earth, and universe, is a hell of a lot bigger than us! Many scientists think the climate is much more tied into sun/sunspot activity. And it’s jst been shown that sunspots have been very unusual for the past 30 plus years, and the next (11 year) cycle is very likely to be at a super low … equal to the 70 year “mini ice age” of the 1700’s - 1800s.
Tho I have no problem with working toward renewable energy, and minmizing dependence on fossil fuels (but at a speed & path that will not impoverish ourselves and the world’s economies) we would be better advised to ADAPT. Like, why rebuild New Orleans where it is already under sea level and sinking inches every year? Why not move back from coasts and get a buffer between sea level and tsunamis etc? EVOLVE out of danger, not try to control the climate! We are at best able to influence that only a small %! And finally, species die out at a rate of hundreds (and more) every year. Always have. THAT is the engine of evolution. So if we lose one butterfly to warmer (or colder) times, a new one will replace it (if evolution is true!).
November 4th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
- We should be more concerned about Global Warming and Climate Change because Typhoons are getting much stronger and there are greater incidence of Flooding. take for example the recent Typhoon Ketsana which devastated some countries in South East Asia.
January 3rd, 2010 at 3:43 am
Global warming is becoming such an obvious problem that someone somewhere other than the US President needs to step up to help drive a massive campaign which aims to reduce Global Warming.
February 14th, 2010 at 10:41 pm
Global Warming and Climate Change is the biggest environmental issue that we face these days. the long term effects of these environmental changes to a nations economy is quite damaging. there would be a shortage in food supply as well as on water supply too.
February 15th, 2010 at 4:13 pm
Global Climate change is a big deal, but its almost all natural. Even the scientists who have “joined the bandwagon” (that’s where the big money and best political advantages for a climatologist’s career is) and are supporting the various UN, US, EU, etc., proposals to cut our human-activities contribution, really (if you look at their figures) think we could only eliminate some 13 - 20% of the warming. If we stopped everything creating CO2, including energy, transportstion, farming, eating meat.
You pick a good day, Alicia, to submit this comment. Just today the news is that Phil Jones, head of UAEA Climate Research Agency (he’s the one who caused the “climategate” scandal just the past month or so, after his own and fellow scientists’ emails revealed they were doctoring the data and science and squelching opponents’ publications) has gone on the BBC and admitted that (1) this is the third warming episode since 1860, (2) there has been no statistically significant warming since 1995, (3)there’s actually been cooling since 2002, (4) there really is no so-called consensus on the science. I wrote a couple years ago (been writing for years on this topic … I will soon post some archived writings) about a group of 7000 scientists signing a “petition” objecting to the “consensus” claim.