Most of us would reject the proposition that recent extreme weather events in Australia were
initiated by God in retaliation for (then Australian prime minister) Kevin Rudd advising Israel to sign the Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty or any similar self-serving nonsense. However, scientists predict that such events will become more frequent and more extreme as climate change accelerates weather systems, so it may be time to really take notice of what science is telling us.
Tropical cyclone Yasi was spawned in the Pacific when the Coral Sea registered its highest water temperature ever, as did the Gulf of Mexico before Katrina hit New Orleans. Here, eminent Australian scientist
Professor Frank Fenner, who helped to wipe out smallpox, predicts humans will probably be extinct within 100 years, because of overpopulation, environmental destruction and climate change.
Now, even if we think Frank may be a bit off with his timing, and some would argue that it could happen sooner, with many thousands of nuclear warheads waiting for someone to become paranoid enough to launch a few, a peaceful transition to lower populations, nil carbon economies and world peace is certainly not assured.
Now I take you back to Danny and his delusion. (If you took the link, thank you) Danny can be dismissed as a schizophrenic who went off his medication, but far more dangerous are the less extreme who put their faith in a middle-of-the-road religion, simply believing God is taking care of it when 'He' clearly isn't. Then there are those who quote Biblical accounts of creation, origin of man and his fellow creatures and who tell us 'God will destroy the universe by fire and climate change is the start'.
That prediction, cherry picked from hundreds made and failed, certainly fits a simplistic interpretation of climate change. However, the truth is that climate change or even a nuclear holocaust will not destroy the world nor will it have any substantial effect on the universe. As soon as Man is gone, the biosphere will adjust, life will go on and the survivors will evolve to fit the new paradigm. But what will be missing (among many others) is Mankind.
Comfortable untruth, embraced in our youth
Myths, stories, ritual, exempt from proof,
Once thought reliable,
No longer viable.
Time to admit the uncomfortable truth.
So my plea is to all people of good will, and that includes people of any of the thousands of belief systems humans have created over a hundred millennia, please consider the evidence, check the credibility and motivation of your sources then push for change. This is a unique and beutiful planet. Let's not totally stuff it up for ourselves.
Picture of Cyclone Yasi borrowed from
here.
