There is something extraordinary going on today, and unfortunately, because of the Internet and the media, society appears to be descending into chaos and hysteria. For most of us in the baby boomer generation who grew up learning about the Age of Enlightenment and the scientific method, we see that the younger generation today is subjected to disturbing material. I can recall scanning through one of my granddaughter’s books, who was in grade two at the time. Even at this early age, there was an emphasis on the destructive effects of global warming.
Part of the hysteria is that climate change is an existential threat to humanity. We can think of other things that are a more significant threat to our existence, such as an asteroid hitting our planet, or if a nuclear war ever broke out.
The belief of global warming or climate change is not a science. While there may be a consensus by a majority, science is not a consensus. It is only a predictive model. Many don’t subscribe both to the data and the dire warnings. Dr Patrick Michaels, Dr Richard Lindzen and Dr Joe Bastardi are just a few who dispute the calamitous predictions.
Predictions made some 20 years ago have not come to fruition; they were false. Bangladesh is not underwater. The polar ice caps did not melt by 2014 as predicted by Al Gore. Did anyone confront him about it? No, they gave him a Nobel Prize on the assumption that he was an “expert”.
What is troubling are the number of people who are seeking the elimination of all fossil fuels. In other words, the astonishing fuel, which gave us the industrial revolution and the highest standard of living in history is suddenly a demon. Cleaner energy is to be lauded. However, we cannot live without oil, gas and all their derivatives. Fossil fuels are necessary for the manufacture of steel, plastics, medical devices and automotive products. Thanks to the petrochemical industry, we have all the modern conveniences that we expect.
Climate change extremism has a number of its proponents promoting the elimination of meat consumption. Others are recommending aborting all pregnancies in the name of population control, and one Swedish scientist has suggested cannibalism to cull the human population. The inhumanity of some of these suggestions is astounding.
Humanity has been lifted out of poverty with increasing longevity, thanks to energy. Those seeking to eliminate fossil fuels within ten years are irrational. It’s not going to happen without impoverishing us, and for Third World countries, it would result in the tearing down of forests to burn wood for fuel. How much pollution will that cause?
We all want clean air and water. Today in the Western World, we have in place a cleaner environment thanks to environmental protection and having the wealth to enact such policies. I can remember passing through Gary, Indiana and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the 1960s. You could barely breathe in those days. That has all changed.
It’s hard to believe that rational and critical thinking has been thrown out the window. People claim a hurricane or tornado is due to climate change. People who should know better confuse climate with weather. By the way, in the last 100 years, there has been no increase in the frequency of hurricanes or tornadoes, despite a slight rise in global temperature.
Even if temperatures rise, is that such a bad thing? Many people omit the benefits of a warmer planet. The journal, Lancet on May 18, 2015, published a study of 13 countries between 1985 and 2012, and what it found was that cold kills 20 times more people than heat.
Having grown up learning the scientific method, we need to stop demonizing things like carbon or C02, which are both essential to living things. Carbon is not a pollutant. It is a necessary element of proteins, carbohydrates and DNA.
Let’s stop with the hysteria.
Adele and Ely have had a combined 80 years of experience in the health field as both Medical Doctor and Chiropractor. So they have had first hand experience in dealing with the health issues of seniors and retirees.
Over the past 30 years they have travelled extensively to 38 countries in the Americas, Europe and Asia, including 43 U.S. states. This has given them insights and experience in counselling others regarding their travel needs. Their book, Travel Secrets For Seniors, is the result.
