Environmentalists fail to prove their case

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hikerduane
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Post by hikerduane »

My memory is short term most of the time, but wasn't there something out recently about ice samples from thousands of years ago showing CO2 levels are higher now then they were then? Meaning there is global warming from the story. I was doubting the global warming thing but have some doubts now after that. Anyone else put a spin or further interpretation on the story?
Piece of cake.
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Post by AldeFarte »

Like I said. True believers..... Wonder how life goes on outside of park boundaries. If a little is good, then a lot is better. That is my fear about the conflict between the enviro's frog excuse and fishing in the sierra's as we know it today. That is just one more way to get us out of the backcountry and thereby "saving" the place for them. How sad so many have such a separate reality. Oh well, time to deal with my reality. Shovel snow . jls
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Buck Forester
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Post by Buck Forester »

JM21760, you make some good points, but I'm a little lost on your "Cat" analogy in some respects. The Cat too eats animals and often kills for "sport", if you will. Even if they are not hungry they will kill a rodent or a bird, just because they like to do so. It just seems you are blaming humans for this trait when in fact many predatory animals do so. I'm not a hunter myself, but I'm not anti-hunting and I certainly eat meat, but I prefer to turn a blind eye to how my hamburger patty got on my plate. I love fishing (although I rarely keep the fish I catch). I love stalking big trout and fooling them with a fly, there is something inherently exciting about this to man, whether it be stalking a trout or an elk. From my Christian perspective, God did make humans differently. We are the only creatures made in "His Image", which means we can reason and plan and manage and create and know right from wrong. So we are in essence above the Cat. But that said, God gave us a big (and wonderful) responsibility to take care of His creation, both animals and their habitat, including ours. If we weren't "above" the Cat in the first place, then we couldn't care for them, we would merely compete with them and place no value or concern on their well-being. I don't think a Cat cares about the survival of other species, it just does what it does. We can and should care about the Cat, we have the capacity to do so, although we don't always do a very good job at it.

As for global warming, I read both sides and I respect the science from both sides and I do believe there is a warming trend, but I am not convinced (nor am I not NOT convinced, ha ha!) that it is caused by humankind. It's a passionate subject, no doubt, so I think much of it goes beyond science. When I worked at REI I spoke at great length with a climatologist from UC Davis, and he definitely falls into the camp of a more liberal, environmentalist worldview, and he studies this extensively (both historically and current) and he was completely convinced this global warming is a natural cycle, which really surprised me coming from him. I just don't know what to make of it. I feel if we are to err, when it comes to the environment, we should perhaps err in favor of the environment rather than err on the side of business. A good example of this was the big fish kill in the Klamath River a few years ago... there was good science saying we needed higher releases to ensure survival of the Chinook run, while there was good science from the NAS saying the releases sought by the Bush Adm. was adequate. Well, a worst case scenario occurred and the low releases favoring the farmers, along with hot weather and not much rainfall, is what triggered the huge fish kill. No one wanted the fish to die like that, not even the farmers nor the Bush Adm., but they errored on the side of taking their chances with low releases (with science backed by the respected NAS but opposed by many other science/gov organizations), which in most cases would have been fine, but it didn't work out. With global warming the consequences are much more severe than one river's fish kill. I guess there's consequences to be paid with either choice. I'm glad I don't have to make these decisions!
Last edited by Buck Forester on Sun Jan 22, 2006 3:22 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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BSquared
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Post by BSquared »

Very nicely put, Buck. When we're playing with things like our own atmosphere, best to err on the side of caution, I agree.

As to "true believers:" I'm not a true believer, I'm a scientist ;) "Back off, man, I'm a scientist!" :unibrow:
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caddis
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Post by caddis »

Makes you wonder what used to go on around the forests 200 years ago, before the Native Americans had chainsaws, fire arms, and the concept of money, and their "Home Range" was stolen from them.
I had a hard time understanding where the rest of your post comes into play in this topic so I’ll only respond to this


The native’s would burn the forest in order to bring more game this seems a lot more wasteful then scientifically managing the resources... So much for living in “harmony.” Regardless, it’s not a fair comparison when you talk about the natives crudely using vast resources compared to 300 million people using those same resources in a much more advanced society

As for having their home range stolen….ah well…it’s what they did to each other long before the white man showed up.

But there's also no doubt that environmentalism, generally, has had real, positive effects on the world we live in, from preserving wetlands to bringing back the osprey, eagle, and pelican, to --as George so succinctly put it -- protecting the very lands we love to hike in and write about on High-Sierra Topix.
I think it should also be noted that environmentalism is not the same as being an environmentalist.

I would say I am in favor of doing what is best and reasonable for the environment but I don’t subscribe to certain doomsday-environmentalist theories


Lastly: Global warming is still nothing but a theory and a poorly understood one at that. Weather is dynamic and global weather over that last 100 million years is even more so; From Ice ages to tropical environments. Computer models have not even been close to accurately predicting the “rise” of global temperatures. If the temps are increasing globally then how does that account for those areas that have decreased in temperature?


Just my 2 cents
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BSquared
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Post by BSquared »

Well, this has gone on long enough, and I've certainly said enough. :lol: But for those who want the best information on global warming (there is no serious controversy about the ozone hole) I have a URL to recommend, despite my advice to read books instead of web pages: http://www4.nationalacademies.org/onpi/ ... enDocument. This is a National Academy of Sciences' global-warming website, and I think it provides a very good overview of the entire problem, particularly how certain or uncertain we are about various aspects of global warming.
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Buck Forester
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Post by Buck Forester »

BSquared, I don't necessarily disagree with your views or those of the NAS you linked to, but remember it was also the National Academy of Sciences recommendations that Bush based his Klamath River releases that devestated the chinook run on the Klamath that year. So, although I respect scientific study and conclusions, I also take some of it with a grain of salt too, because it is ever-changing and not always accurate. And I have also noticed that many sciences also have an "agenda" as well, they are not as neutral as we are led to believe. You can get science to pretty much back any conclusion you want, even if they are contradictory to each other. Even in legal juries the defense and prosecutors call on scientists to prove their differing points and come to different conclusions based on the same data. I do try and listen to all sides, whether it's politics or science or philosophy, etc., and on some things I make up my own mind, on others I just don't know who to believe. Global warming is one of those things I really don't know what the true causes are, or whether we could control it or not, and there is good science on both sides. But again, if it were me, I'd err on the side of being a good steward of God's creation.
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ERIC
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Post by ERIC »

I was probably a bit premature in locking this thread (my bad), so I've decided to re-open it. It's a sticky subject, so just be extra careful to avoid personal attacks and name-calling and I'll keep the thread open. :-#
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mountaineer
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Post by mountaineer »

Eric,

How do you get that little spy gysmo in your signature to work? I want to do that! :D

P.S. Anybody who disagrees with me on the environmentalist wacko subject is a left wing, tree-hugging, moronic, loser. :D
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ERIC
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Post by ERIC »

mountaineer wrote:How do you get that little spy gysmo in your signature to work? I want to do that! :D
http://www.danasoft.com/customsig.php \:D/
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