Re: Earth Day

On Wed, 22 Apr 2009 22:23:27 -0400, "Martin Riddle"
<martin_rid@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:



<bill.sloman@xxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1d2de3a6-c309-4605-ba3e-7be00cf9864f@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On Apr 22, 9:05 pm, Jim Thompson <To-Email-Use-The-Envelope-I...@My-
Web-Site.com> wrote:
CHARLTON HESTON (on Earth Day) reads (on Rush Limbaugh's show) the
foreword to "Jurassic Park"....

You think man can destroy the planet? What intoxicating vanity! Let
me
tell you about our planet. Earth is
four-and-a-half-billion-years-old.
There's been life on it for nearly that long, 3.8 billion years.
Bacteria first; later the first multicellular life, then the first
complex creatures in the sea, on the land. Then finally the great
sweeping ages of animals, the amphibians, the dinosaurs, at last the
mammals, each one enduring millions on millions of years, great
dynasties of creatures rising, flourishing, dying away -- all this
against a background of continuous and violent upheaval. Mountain
ranges thrust up, eroded away, cometary impacts, volcano eruptions,
oceans rising and falling, whole continents moving, an endless,
constant, violent change, colliding, buckling to make mountains over
millions of years. Earth has survived everything in its time.

It will certainly survive us. If all the nuclear weapons in the world
went off at once and all the plants, all the animals died and the
earth was sizzling hot for a hundred thousand years, life would
survive, somewhere: under the soil, frozen in arctic ice. Sooner or
later, when the planet was no longer inhospitable, life would spread
again. The evolutionary process would begin again. Might take a few
billion years for life to regain its present variety. Of course, it
would be very different from what it is now, but the earth would
survive our folly, only we would not. If the ozone layer gets
thinner,
ultraviolet radiation sears earth, so what? Ultraviolet radiation is
good for life. It's powerful energy. It promotes mutation, change.
Many forms of life will thrive with more UV radiation. Many others
will die out. You think this is the first time that's happened? Think
about oxygen. Necessary for life now, but oxygen is actually a
metabolic poison, a corrosive glass, like fluorine.

When oxygen was first produced as a waste product by certain plant
cells some three billion years ago, it created a crisis for all other
life on earth. Those plants were polluting the environment, exhaling
a
lethal gas. Earth eventually had an atmosphere incompatible with
life.
Nevertheless, life on earth took care of itself. In the thinking of
the human being a hundred years is a long time. Hundred years ago we
didn't have cars, airplanes, computers or vaccines. It was a whole
different world, but to the earth, a hundred years is nothing. A
million years is nothing. This planet lives and breathes on a much
vaster scale. We can't imagine its slow and powerful rhythms, and we
haven't got the humility to try. We've been residents here for the
blink of an eye. If we're gone tomorrow, the earth will not miss us.

All true, and perfectly irrelevant to anthropogenic global warming,
which may be nature's way of disposing of tool-using species who don't
have enough sense not to foul their nest.

There have been some five global extinctions so far, and Jim and his
denialist friends want us to continue digging up and burning fossil
carbon until we've engineered a sixth.

http://www.actionbioscience.org/newfrontiers/eldredge2.html

--
Bill Sloman, Nijmegen

Your part of the minority now......

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/04/18/only-34-of-usa-voters-now-blame-humans-for-global-warming/



Only 34% Of US Voters Now Blame Humans for Global Warming

18 Apr 2009



Note the reversal from just one year ago

On the day the EPA declares CO2 a "dangerous pollutant" we have the from
Rasmussen Reports



Just one-out-of-three voters (34%) now believe global warming is caused
by human activity,
the lowest finding yet in Rasmussen Reports national surveying. However,
a plurality (48%)
of the Political Class believes humans are to blame.



Forty-eight percent (48%) of all likely voters attribute climate change
to long-term
planetary trends, while seven percent (7%) blame some other reason.
Eleven percent (11%)
aren't sure.



These numbers reflect a reversal from a year ago when 47% blamed human
activity while 34%
said long-term planetary trends.



Most Democrats (51%) still say humans are to blame for global warming,
the position taken
by former Vice President Al Gore and other climate change activists. But
66% of
Republicans and 47% of adults not affiliated with either party disagree.



Sixty-two percent (62%) of all Americans believe global warming is at
least a somewhat
serious problem, with 33% who say it's Very Serious. Thirty-five percent
(35%) say it's a
not a serious problem. The overall numbers have remained largely the
same for several
months, but the number who say Very Serious has gone down.



Forty-eight percent (48%) of Democrats say global warming is a Very
Serious problem,
compared to 19% of Republicans and 25% of unaffiliateds.



President Obama has made global warming a priority for his
administration. Half (49%) of
Americans think the president believes climate change is caused
primarily by human
activity. This is the first time that belief has fallen below 50% since
the president took
office. Just 19% say Obama attributes global warming to long-term
planetary trends.



Forty-eight percent (48%) rate the president good or excellent on energy
issues.
Thirty-two percent (32%) give him poor grades in this area.



Sixty-three percent (63%) of adults now say finding new sources of
energy is more
important that reducing the amount of energy Americans currently
consume. However, 29% say
energy conservation is the priority.



A growing number of Americans (58%) say the United States needs to build
more nuclear
plants. This is up five points from last month and the highest finding
so far this year.
Twenty-five percent (25%) oppose the building of nuclear plants.



While the economy remains the top issue for most Americans, 40% believe
there is a
conflict between economic growth and environmental protection.
Thirty-one percent 31% see
no such conflict, while 29% are not sure.



Cheers





"Jim and his denialist friends" will still be around after Slowman has
his AGW-propaganda-induced stroke and deprives us of a clown to poke
fun at ;-)

...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona 85048 Skype: Contacts Only | |
| Voice:(480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

How severe can senility be? Just check out Slowman.
.

Relevant Pages

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