It's Getting Hot in Here: The Global Warming Debate

Geologic issues have often come up as topics of discussion in this blog because of my interdisciplinary background, but nothing gets me warmed up quite as much as the debate over global warming. The word debate strikes me funny because, fact of the matter is, there should be NO debate. Recently, the Kyoto Treaty has been re-surfacing in the news. Dive into the protocol if you so desire.

Cutting emissions will hurt our economy? Ignorance. I'm with Bill Clinton on this one.

Humans are the most adaptive creatures in the world, at least that's what Dr. Jeffrey McKee told me in my Human Ecological Adaptations course. It's why we keep on surviving in this finite world.

But Dr. McKee is a self-proclaimed optimist, just read his book called Sparing Nature. I however, am a pessimist when I read articles about how our own world leaders won't step up and look at scientific evidence and the destruction of the planet.

Do you mean to tell me that cutting carbon emissions will hurt our economy? (Which, by the way, last time I checked, it wasn't doing so well in the first place.) What about when the sea level begins transgressing toward our coastal resorts? What will that do to our economy? Perhaps the same thing Hurricanes Katrina and Rita did.

Well, let's look at this article, that was also out today with the Clinton story. Oh, imagine that! Greenland glaciers to disappear and polar ice caps melting??? NO WAY!

"It's quite a staggering rate of increase," Hamilton said at the American Geophysical Union annual meeting. If that quote doesn't scare you, then I don't know what will. AGU was held over this past week, many of my OSU friends that went are coming back today. Global warming was just one of the topics discussed.

I wonder if our President has heard of Lonnie Thompson. You know, the world leader in paleoclimatology and glaciology... ?? Well, if he hasn't perhaps he will now if he picks up a copy of the latest issue of Rolling Stone Magazine. If you are not familiar with Lonnie and his work, follow those links. His fire and passion is the same I carry within myself.

But, perhaps I should just stick to archaeology and not get fired up so much... You know, leave the problem to another world leader or our kids. Yeah, our kids can handle it! Brilliant. Yes, archaeology is a much more healthy discipline for me. It will spare me stress and heart disease. Well, just you wait until my next post.

That's right. The Octagon Liberation Movement is coming to my professional blog. This could be risky, but I'm ready.

Stay tuned.