Hurricane Ike, climate change and drilling

Because too many people are still not convinced there is a problem. If it is brought up that Hurricane Ike is a direct result of global warming a lot of people will just bring up the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 (the deadliest natural disaster in America) as their proof. For them the case is closed.

Strong hurricanes are not new. You can't judge an apocalyptic change in the basic structure and dynamic of Earth's ecosystem based solely on anecdotal evidence of hurricanes that have popped up since Al Gore made his movie.

I have no doubt that someone could come in here, be Alec Baldwin, and take me to acting school about Global warming. I'm not debating climate change, or human influence, or anything of that nature. I'm not. I'm not saying Global warming isn't real. I'm not. But Ike doesn't prove shit.

Renn is right. This isn't climate, this is weather. If you want to look at climate change, you have to look at huge sample sizes of years and years, not one hurricane. There's too much variance. If we went a while without any big hurricanes, would you stop believing in climate change? Of course not.

Of course people should be discussing climate change but there are several variables that gives deniers ammunition. The previously mentioned Hurricane of 1900. In my city our winters are harsh so people essentially have the attitude of "global warming my ass". Unless the vast majority of deniers see a change they are not going to bother with having a discussion about it let alone get better educated by doing research, etc.

What happens as a result of this is people like me have no one to talk about this with except like minded people - which essentially is "yeah, I agree" type discussions.

I just don't see it as being ignored. I hear about it constantly. There are commercials*, on major networks and cable stations alike, that demand that 'industry' fix "our energy crisis" and "save us from climate crisis."

I heard it framed constantly as an issue, questions about the topic, etc. on CNN when I spent 6 months watching that all the time. The blogosphere discusses it relentlessly. Major companies, like Apple and more, continue to introduce Green-initiatives. My own school, the largest art school in the United States (tallest midget, I know) is going through a major green change-over. Both candidates mention the topic, if not incessantly, with regularity. Al Gore made a movie that grossed 50 mil, and got exposure through an oscar for the song. Then he won a nobel prize for bring attention to the topic, fell into good graces again, and was even genuinely suggested as running-mate to whoever would become the democratic candidate back in the primaries (again, a topic I heard CNN mention many times). All of this on the back of discussing Global Warming. I can't seem to escape it, with climate change often being associated with things that it has nothing to do with.

More, it is always discussed with the hubris of sensationalism. We are ending the planet for all time, right fucking now. Right now, during this very news cycle. It's a problem, but there seems to be a blind, vague goal-oriented attitude towards it, as if there aren't a hundred thousand elements involved. Eileen mentioned earlier the people that get cold in the winter and say "global warming my ass." I absolutely believe her. By that same token though, people who watch An Inconvenient Truth walk outside, start to sweat from a hot day and say "Holy Shit! He's right!" Hurricanes get pointed at with the same finger of narrow perspective, as if global warming has come to a head in the last four years and we are seeing the catastrophic results right now.

Hurricanes haven't changed that much from all we can tell. We haven't understood them long enough, or observed them long enough to have any true ability to judge what influences them. Same with the weather in general. To look at the world with such gloom-and-doom eyes and shake our heads at what we've done, is to look around with the same shallow narrow perspective that lets people believe the earth may only be 10,000 years old. We're talking about a planetary system whose forces, habits, and changes exist on a colossal level, that it is pure hubris to suggest we actually, honest-to-god, understand it.

Please don't take this as a Ostrich-like denial of the issue. My intention is not to dismiss the subject, just to frame it with some perspective, and to tone down the histrionics. It would be equally ludicrous for me to deny any human influence in the affairs of this planet.

Back to the main subject: A volcanic industry has developed around "going green." It's everywhere.

Could more be done? Sure, absolutely. But to suggest that it's some sort of hush-hush topic that only the enlightened speak of or acknowledge is kinda pushing it. There is most definitely a culture shift. However, these sorts of things move slow, and not everyone is going to drop everything and go completely carbon-neutral overnight- especially when they have bigger fish to fry. But it's in the discourse, and it's here to stay. (Until the planet's shifts it's monumental but fickle tendencies and we start being told we're heading towards an ice age again.)

I'm not trying to be confrontational, and please appreciate that these words were written while I was very tired. Please ignore any snark or careless tone, as it was written with respectful intentions.

*Anecdotal but, I know for a fact that specific commercial played at least a half dozen times on Comedy Central today, and I've been seeing it and ones like it for weeks. Same on CNN. (those are the only two stations I ever watch, so I can only speak for those).