Mon, 23. July 2012
Climate Change Facts
My good friend John and I are frequently debating climate change on Facebook. He is against taking action against climate change because thinks climate change is not happening, whilst I am in favour of taking action to reduce the effects of climate change because I accept what scientists tell us. It's good to debate these things and we have probably both increased our debating skills on climate change because of it.
He recently posted an article which started off:
"Australia is providing a case study in the self-destructive politics of green ideology, when believers of the religion of global warming gain political leverage."
He commented that this is true - but this is where a lot of climate change-deniers get it wrong. Science is not about beliefs, it is about facts. You cannot pick and choose which facts to believe like choosing which god you want to worship. The facts are still the facts, whether anyone "believes in them" or not! If I were to agree with John, then we would both be wrong!
So I responded as follows:
John, it is not true at all. When an article starts off with the fatuous statement: "believers of the religion of global warming," it is a sure indication that the whole article is going to be pure baloney.
Believers????????????????Religion????????????????
Like many others, I ACCEPT the SCIENCE of global warming. Just like I accept the science of astronomy. Question that acceptance if you must - but please don't make the mistake of comparing science to any religious belief system.Science is never a question of "belief" and its thought processes are aligned to establishing and verifying factual evidence by reason, rather than the religious method (which is to make extraordinary claims that cannot be backed up by any evidence and try to impose those claims on gullible people by means of fright, rather than by reason).Comparing what professional scientists have established, by scientific methods, to the absurdity of religion is disrespectful.It harks back to the days of Galileo, one of the first scientists of the enlightenment, who was forced by a science-denying Pope to recant scientific evidence that the Earth orbited the Sun, because it contravened the religious edict that the Sun was in orbit around the Earth.Now we have science deniers, who are just like that pathetic pope; but who obnoxiously parade themselves behind the name of Galileo (who spent the rest of his life in detention thanks to science deniers), to irreverently bolster their case. That is just deplorable.
What I do understand is that five years ago most of Australia was in favour of taking action to combat climate change. Then - after they found out that combating climate change came with a cost - they not only opposed the solution but began denying the science they previously accepted. If Labour has stuffed anything up, it is the climate change science debate. They've got half the population denying science in favour of 'belief by choice' and have fostered a dangerous mistrust in scientists - and by doing that they are heading down the same slippery slope that the USA is.