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some people’s stupidity is astounding: “Volcanoes put much more CO2 into the atmosphere than humans ever could.”

annual C02 emissions from volcanic sources: 200 million tonnes
2003 C02 emissions from fossil fuel emissions: 26.8 billion tonnes

Sources: Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center and the U.S. Geological Survey

And a billion is a thousand millions by the way. I actually wrote this up a few weeks ago so I forgot what the source of the inane comment is.

I know this blog has the been the object of some undeserved neglect lately, so expect some love later this week, or even today.

I’m really dreary and also a bit devastated, right now, because I can’t believe how many people still question the validity of global climate change. They still question the science behind it, despite the fact that the international community of climate scientists has warned us that anthropogenic climate change is happening. They’re so damn certain that it’s some kind of sinister scheme.

The most common argument I’ve seen lately, aside from “but climate change is natural!” is that global warming is all a ploy to get us poor victimized consumers to “buy green.” Who the shit ever said buying “green” products was the way to combat warming? Just don’t buy. Don’t waste. Quell your voracious appetite — the solution is not about replacing one type of consumption for another. But it’s so hard to get it past some people’s heads when this destructive mindset is what they’ve been indoctrinated with for so long. Gah, I really need to stay out of Facebook debates, where I’ve been seeing most of this corporatist sponsored trash. The best claim I’ve seen yet: “It’s not beyond human intellect for people to live on Venus.” First of all, fine by me if you go live on Venus, but leave me out. I like my Earth. Second, it may not be beyond human intellect to entertain such fantasies, but it is against physics. Effin’ kids.

I really wanted to go off about this whole topic at work today when someone started scoffing at the idea of warming, saying instead the earth was cooling, based on some new data that the temperature of the oceans is getting lower. But this isn’t the time or place for debate, and straining my relationship with my coworkers is probably not the wisest choice for an employee still on probation.

As for the data on ocean cooling — so what? Thousands of years ago, a sudden melting of glaciers cooled down the oceans, shut down thermohaline circulation and caused the Younger Dryas. Why did the glaciers melt? Warming. No shit? The Younger Dryas has been the go-to argument for climage change naysayers, but you can’t use it against warming yet deny the very same processes that put it into effect when the evidence becomes inconvenient.

So fuck you. Everyone who, in the face of all the facts and evidence and science, still refuses to accept reality. Just so you can justify your wasteful habits. Shame on you.

If you have a problem with anything I’m saying here, let me know. Then let’s meet in person and discuss the issue thoroughly, using facts and science, leaving politics out of it.

Today is Blog Action Day, and also my birthday. Yay. This year’s topic is the environment, and I only have a few things to say. First, it doesn’t matter whether you’re a conservative, moderate, or liberal; we only have one planet, with limited resources. Conservation is key and there’s no reason this issue should be politicized. It’s almost as if we’re arguing about whether belief in gravity is a Republican or Democratic stance. That being said, everyone can do their part to help reduce our impact on the environment. Recycle, reduce, reuse and close the loop, etc etc as the corny song goes. Turn off the lights when you’re not in the room. Turn off your power strip when you’re not using any of the appliances or electronic devices connected to it. Don’t leave the water running when you brush your teeth. There’s so much more. And of course, the single most effective thing a person can do, which I endorse most strongly, is to not eat meat. Gases resulting from meat production contribute a greater share of greenhouse gases than automobiles do. Demand for cheap meat has farmers in developing countries burning down massive areas of rainforest each day to support herds on land largely unsuitable for grazing. You don’t even have to make the complete switch (at least not right away). Just reduce your consumption. But then again I guess reducing consumption goes for everything and not just eating meat. So do it. Unless you hate breathing.

Do it for me: Eddy Asks Readers To Help.

Sometimes I lose sight of my passions, and this is when I’m happy that I have a blog. Here I am, slacking at work, reading through my old posts, some of them written with such conviction and intensity.

When I made the choice to go to law school, I wanted to go into one of two fields: environmental law or public service criminal law, i.e. prosecution or public defense. These are two very low-paying fields, but I don’t think I’d be happier anywhere else. (Tangent: If nothing else, I would’ve liked to have high grades to even get into a lower-ranked school as long as I got a scholarship, so I could take one of these public service jobs without debt). As I read over my apologetic rants on anthropogenic climate change, I gain back some perspective - if I can do that for anyone who happens upon this site, then my insignifcant mark on the internet is good for something other than my purgative ambitions. Tied down by work and classes this entire summer, I easily forgot the things I was ardent about. I’ve pissed away the diminutive free time I did have, excusing my ill-advised actions by telling myself I deserved the r&r. It’s time for a major change. I now have to put my ambitions and aspirations into overdrive, and make that final sprint to make something of my passions; I need to stop postponing my life the way I’m procrastinating with my philosophy paper at the moment.

With this reinvigorated perspective, the time has come for me to embrace diligence and enterprise. Finally.

It’s interesting how opponents of anthropogenic climate change (funny, isn’t it? it’d be ridiculous to say “opponents of gravity”) constantly point to the little ice age as evidence that fluctuations in global climate are natural and inevitable. There are just a few glaring problems with this so-called evidence.

In the Little Ice Age, temperatures dropped about 1 degree Celsius from the Medieval Warm Period over a span of 600-800 years. Since the end the Little Ice Age, temperatures have accordingly gone up 1 degree Celsius and continue to rise quickly. So compare: 1 degree over 600-800 years vs. 1 degree over 150 years. There’s quite a difference there. Even conservative (not in a political sense) estimates have temperatures rising a few degrees over the next century. It’s not fair to point to a 1 degree drop over 600 years and consider it a huge event just so you can say that large changes are normal. A 1 degree change over a century and a half is not normal. In fact, there’s a reason why the temperature specifically started warming at the time it did. Mid-1800s? Industrialization, anyone?

This is not to say natural climate change does not occur. Oh yeah it does. But the little ice age shouldn’t be ammunition against the problems anthropogenic climate change brings.

Ignorance can be forgiven, for lacking knowledge is not a crime. Stupidity, on the other hand, carries the connotation it does for a reason. Stupid people have all the information in front of them and choose not to believe it or understand it. Today’s “celebrity” Yahoo! answers question is a depressing look at the widespread stupidity of people across the United States.

Nancy Pelosi asked what kind of legislation should be passed to help fight global warming. Anyone and everyone who responded with a constructive comment on reducing carbon emission and fighting urban sprawl was given overwhelmingly negative ratings, effectively hiding their answer from being shown to the public. The only answers given positive ratings are ones in which people respond with a personal agenda, saying something to the effect of, “I don’t want to change my over-consuming lifestyle and conveniently enough, I don’t believe in global warming.”

I mean first off, they are attacking people who are trying to create positive change, and instead are encouraging “answers” of the above nature, with people complaining about higher taxes and not wanting to subscribe to “fake science.” I guess they don’t realize that the idea of anthropogenic global warming is supported by a vast majority of the scientific community. Ironically enough, through their STUPIDITY, they’re rejecting the real data and believing what the oil companies want them to believe. Sure, keep consuming oil, there’s plenty of it. And all the while we’ll keep taking your money.

There are even international comments from people in countries like Korea and Germany who have already learned to live without massive amounts of waste like the U.S. does. Instead of heeding their advice, people have resorted to giving these answers extremely low ratings and angrily posting that other countries want the U.S. to adhere to the kyoto protocol and environmental standards because they’re jealous of American prosperity and want Americans to have a low standard of living like everyone else.

This is just another revealing look at people who believe they know everything there is to know about public policy and logic but fail to understand the premises upon which they’re arguing. No, you don’t know about the truth behind climate science because you’ve probably never studied it. Just because your party tells you so does’t mean it’s right. Well, maybe it’s right, but it’s not correct Even if anthropogenic global warming does somehow turn out not to be true, this doesn’t mean we should continue consuming fossil fuels at such an alarming pace. But I’m sure these same idiots will argue that peak oil is a myth - oh wait, even Bush and Cheney admit this! Maybe the stupid hordes will believe this one after all.

I’m aware that Bruin Republicans showed a propaganda film… I mean documentary “debunking” the “myth” of global warming. One of the points made in the film is that carbon dioxide doesn’t cause warming temperatures, but that it works the other way around, with rising temperatures increasing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Sure. Why not. Except for the fact that carbon dioxide levels rise the most in the winter when trees die and release their carbon. Nevermind that.

I do understand that people will respond in unreasonable ways when a persona with a political leaning asks a question. To respond favorably would seem like agreement. I don’t understand why science has to be politicized. I realize that science affects policy. But when it’s this big a problem, we should be able to put those differences aside. If you told the masses nowadays that we need to enact clean air policies because people are dying of lung cancer, then it wouldn’t be a controversy. Of COURSE we should act to prevent this from happening. Although I’m sure that 30-40 years ago people might have refused because of potential taxes and fines on pollution and more stringent specifications for auto production. The same is happening now with the climate change issue. How will we look upon this 100 years from now when millions in Bangladesh are dead or displaced because of rising sea levels? When New York City floods regularly? When large portions of Florida are underwater?

To make it easy for those who don’t agree with scientific opinion, even if this warming is due to natural circumstances, isn’t it our responsibility not to amplify its effects by adding more CO2 to the atmosphere? If you believe that CO2 does not raise temperatures, then you go ahead and live on a planet without an atmosphere and get back to me on that.

It’s not enough to show people the evidence. They have to want to believe the truth.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Arctic ice cap is melting much faster than expected and is now about 30 years ahead of predictions made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a U.S. ice expert said on Tuesday.

This means the ocean at the top of the world could be free or nearly free of summer ice by 2020, three decades sooner than the global panel’s gloomiest forecast of 2050.

People are still skeptical when I try and admonish them…

Planet Earth is the most amazing documentary, no, TV show. ever. It’s also the best planet hah! I can’t believe this took 5 years to film…

Yahoo!’s seasonal banner modifications blow Google’s out of the water. I’m a Yahoo! faithful, though I do give Google huge props for a better e-mail and video service, ha! Still, as far as Earth Day goes, I appreciate that people come out and make an effort to raise awareness about environmental issues. But it bothers me to no end that some people act like they’re so holy for making a single effort one day out of the year. I also don’t like it when advertisers pretend like they’re the saviors of the world by “making an effort to go green.” I admit I’m not perfect when it comes to being environmentally conscious. Regardless, I do try. I never throw my plastic bottles into the trash, I recycle everything I can, I don’t have a car (and when I do, will get one that gives me good mileage rather than a good image), and my vegetarianism is primarily for environmental reasons.

None of us is perfect. But we shouldn’t limit our environmental consciousness to one day or one week out of the year. Every little bit counts. Every little bit makes a difference. As much I dislike some of these commercials, one I saw today had such a simple but poignant message: This is the only planet we’ll ever have.

So let’s take care of it.