Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2011/04/30
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I am a cynic and pessimist on this issue. Money, particularly lots of it, corrupts. Universities have available massive government grants to do climate research. Older information (pre-massive funding) still makes me believe climate change has been influenced by mankind's activities since the 1970s or so but I am not sure whether research and government decisions will not be more influenced by where the money comes from than science at present and in the future. Anyway, it seems to me sensible to do something about it in any case. Being less wasteful of energy is sensible overall whatever the situation. As far as doing anything about it is concerned I am pessimistic. People who are "successful" in the normal use of the word tend to be amongst the most ruthless, greedy and selfish members of our species. They need to be to fight -their- way to the "top" either in politics or commerce. The idea that many people like this would take a long term view which may diminish their short term power/wealth/comfort is almost laughable yet they are the ones who will be making the decisions. To quote Roger Waters - This species has amused itself to death. Frank On 29 Apr, 2011, at 17:46, Jayanand Govindaraj wrote: > Ted, > I am not worried for myself, but my great grandchildren. I can see that > here > at least, the weather - heat/cold/rain - is getting more and more > unpredictable and weird every year. The world heating up wont be a pretty > sight, and it can happen in a blink of an eye in geological time (a century > or two). The rising oceans, from mountain/ice shelf melt off, will inundate > what we now think as coastal cities (including Chennai, where I live). The > next major war will not be over oil, it will be over drinking water - most > of the fresh water is held in the mountains and the ice shelves, as the > earth heats up , it will just melt and flow into the saline sea. There is > more than enough evidence that this is happening right now. I could go on > and on, but whats the point? Every person has to assess the scientific > evidence for themselves, or close their eyes and ears. Every individuals > choice. > Cheers