Quote:
Originally Posted by diebitter
You have absolutely no idea of the entire knock-on effects of global warming on Germany. You have no idea of level of flooding, sea level rising etc.
Neither do you. Earths climate has changed many times over millions of years, from times much warmer than now to times much cooler. It is true that rapid climate change will most likely cause much of the mega flora and fauna in the world today to go extinct, because they wont be able to adapt/evolve in time. But because of technology this is less of a concern for humans, and we dont actually know it will result in the doomsday scenarios for humans climate scientists warn of.
Geologic history (and a high school level understanding of chemistry and biology) indicate higher CO2 and warmer temperatures will result in higher levels of rainfall and plant growth, all else being equal. There is a lot of evidence the Sahel/Sahara have actually been greening the last couple decades, for possibly this reason.
If your internal value system causes you to believe it is important there are lions and koalas and salamanders around in the wild in 100 years then this is a reason to support efforts to slow climate change. But it isn't some universal truth this is important, and if Lucium recognizes mass extinctions in the wild will probably happen if CO2 levels in the atmosphere continue to rapidly rise and doesn't think this is important that is valid.
It is true that human activity is causing environmental degradation. But it isn't obvious that continued burning of fossil fuels and releasing CO2 in the atmosphere, as has already occurred many times in earth's history, is that large a cause for concern.
And anyone who is absolutely certain it is, is operating off of faith and not science, IMO.
As far as Lucium's Germany example, my understanding is German's hold a lot of value in their forests, and it is likely a rapid increase in temperature would kill off the forests. So for that reason alone Germans might specifically be against global warming, even if it made winters more pleasant. Someone living in poverty on the borders of the Sahel that can now farm in areas they couldn't 20 years ago might have a different assessment. Like I said, it is a matter of what one values.