I have kids, well, young adults really, and I love those kids. My kids will probably have their own kids someday and I am certain I will love them too. Right now, I just want to do as many things as I can to ensure my kids and my future grand kids have a chance to live a good life.
Why am I focusing so much on the obvious? Because I want to keep it simple. I could spend my life searching for my own answers to what exactly is going on with the climate but I’m choosing to depend on the professionals.
There should not be anything called a “climate debate” in our society. Science has settled this question. However, if you’ve had the unfortunate occasion to read the back and forth between climate skeptics and anyone else, you know it gets complicated very quickly. Climate deniers can throw all kinds of “facts” at you with great confidence. These facts are not based in any sort mainstream science.
Yes, I threw in the qualifier “mainstream” but I do it proudly. The mainstream should not be a dirty word like it is, in say, the phrase, “the mainstream media.” The doctor analogy is overused so I will use a mechanic instead. If your car is making horrible noises when you apply your brakes and 9 out of 10 mechanics tell you your brake pads are shot, the nine are the mainstream. The advice of the mainstream, in this case, could save your life.
If you don’t have the time, money, capacity or desire to get your PhD or if you are a PhD and have better things to do than experiments on the climate, what are you to do?
Let’s break it down.
Science (not Democrats or liberals) tell us that we have burned so much carbon-based fuels that it is causing our planet to heat up and bad things are starting to occur and those things will get worse. I see it as my duty as a dad to respond and that is what I am doing.
It is NOT my duty to take up a position in an extreme minority or to try and see conspiracies around every corner. Science tells us lots of things and yes, sometimes science is wrong or incomplete but we usually find this out fairly quickly. Science is why we fly in airplanes and step into elevators or take medicine. Science is why we cross bridges in our cars and it is why we are living longer than ever.
I will once again repeat the often heard statistic that has been checked again and again and again and…There are thousands of scientists that do nothing else but study the climate and 97% of them agree that our climate is warming and it is our actions that is causing it.
You, Mr. or Ms. Skeptic, you did not find something that all of them missed. Sorry, that makes no sense. Also, while we’re at it, there no conspiracy to make up some story to secure funding because it is not possible for that many people to keep a secret. Is it possible, however, for a few people, say the heads of corporations with an incredible financial stake in burning fossil fuels to keep such a secret? Yes, but even that secret will be leaked eventually, as we have seen.
Bottom line: These is no time to waste with skeptics who have no ground to stand on. I’m going with the scientists. We’ve got too much work to do.