GLOBAL WARMING AND THE CRIME OF DENIAL

I have very limited patience with those who deny human responsibility for upper-atmosphere pollution and ozone depletion, or deny their impact on the geothermal dynamics of our planet, or the potentially disastrous consequences of the resultant climate instability on Earth’s ecosystems. To me there is no intellectual difference between the Lomborgians who steadfastly refuse to accept the overwhelming evidence of human-caused global warming from scientists of unquestioned reputation, and the neo-Nazi holocaust denyers of Ernst Zundel’s ilk. Unfortunately, the Lomborgians are heavily financed in their campaign of misinformation by Big Oil and other corporate oligopolies, who bear a disproportionate responsibility for global warming. Sooner or later they will, like Big Tobacco, be called to account financially and criminally for their negligent actions and fraudulent misrepresentations. In the meantime it has been expedient for George Bush, who received a huge proportion of his campaign moneys from these liars, to reward their thinly-disguised bribes by undoing almost all of the US environmental regulations and enforcement instituted by previous governments to try to limit atmospheric damage, and to exercise political muscle to prevent the ratification of the Kyoto Accord. By the time these regulatory reversals and delays are rectified, it may be too late for our planet.
global warming chart

Should you have to deal with these dangerous idiots, here is a short list of resources that you can call upon to understand and/or dispense with their ludicrous arguments quickly:

US NOAA synopsis of US scientists’ consensus on the causes and consequences of global warming
Bill McKibben’s article in the UK journal Granta explaining the psychology, and cynical political expediency, of denial
NASA’s studies of urban microclimates and how they contribute to local climate change and instability
Union of Concerned Scientists’ consensus on global warming and warning on the Bush regime’s distortion of scientific research to forward its own political agenda
Fortune Magazine’s article on the possibility and chilling implications of global warming producing sudden drastic climate shifts
Blogger Carpe Datum’s brief but thorough explanation of the science behind global warming, and the reasoning behind scientists’ connecting it to human activity and worrying about the risks of resultant instability (it includes the charts above)

Each of the above sources have links and references to further studies.