Yesterday while I was in town I had the chance to talk a bit with an old associate I bumped into who knows nature better than most of us will ever know electronics and I got some of his opinions and understandings for what he had gathered from what he does and from the people in the know he works with (the ones who dont get paid to "find specific things".) and what they seem to think.
I figured he would beat me down for my stand on this subject but he rather surprised me with what he said.
Global climate change is bad unless you live in a place that is unaffected or improves from it.
CO2 is bad unless your a plant or use use plants in one or more levels of your food supply chain or live on this planet then it is absolutely essential in one way or another.
CO2 levels are rising everywhere that sensors calibrated to find rising CO2 levels have been placed. Everywhere else we just dont know and there is a lot of everywhere else. There are many things that will benefit from it, people may just not be one of them.
People are bad for the environment unless they are not doing something bad or are doing positive things that are beneficial to the environment.
Temperatures are rising everywhere that has not stayed the same or has cooled down.
Glaciers are melting everywhere that they are not staying the same or growing.
Those who scream the loudest about having proof usually have the least proof of all.
The people who want the most change usually want others to do the most work and sacrificing for it.
People that say they dont know probably have far more information and reasons to be unsure than the person who thinks they know. Well informed people usually have more questions than answers.
Anyone who has to take the environment out of the equation to make their environmental equation work or thinks that all things in nature can or must be classified as only good or bad is no scientist or honest and true naturalist. They probably have bad motives or are at least dangerously stupid.
He sees that most people are doing things within their personal capacity to try and make things better. But unfortunately many are in situations where they have no choice but to live the way they do. He feels that we do need to change our ways far more and become much more educated as to what our actions do affect but it will take time.
The climate changes for what ever reasons it needs to and most people will learn and adjust to it, some will gain and some wont. Its how life works.
Some day I may have to track him down and take him to dinner and pick his mind about what all he knows about this stuff as seen from a true environmentalist/conservationist/nature person.
As an old battle scarred hippie who has lived a life time of working first hand with the environment I take his wisdom and words far more seriously than anyone else's on these subjects. So far he didn't seem to be too overly worried. Its just more government politics and games as far as he is concerned. (Unless he is just getting soft in his old age.)
