Science Forums 2

[Uncle Martin]

The weight of the empirical evidence must lead one to accept global warming as a real phenomenon. Earth's climate has varied greatly in the past, so what we must ask is , is this a natural event or one caused by Homo Sapiens? This is where the political agendas come in. The current U S administration will stop at nothing to pillage every last drop of natural wealth this planet contains. The failure of GWB to sign the Kyoto treaty is proof that he and his mega-wealthy cronies would rather risk our environment than chance lessening their net worth.

The bulk of the evidence points to the rise in mean temperature is linked to man's abuse of the planet. From deforestation to burning fossil fuels we are surely altering our environment. As stated above, our climate has varied in the past. Some politico's have the audacity to cite this in an attempt to allay our fears. I've read some republican propaganda that actually claimed the current extinction rate is natural. They claim these species could not adapt. True, but it is our effects that they cannot adapt to.

Guess what? If we are altering our environment at a rate that hundreds or thousands of species per year can't adapt fast enough to survive, it is only a matter of time before we join our already lost breathren. Mother Earth is a complex ecosystem. Every organism from bacteria to blue whales is to some extent interdependent on the others. We, in our arrogant race to advance technologically, may be changing the climate faster than WE can adapt biologically. Our technology may enable us to survive, but for the other species we share this planet with, we have certainly interfered with natural selection on a grand scale. Once a species is gone, it is gone forever. We may never know the value of it's genetic material.

It seems to me that a film such as "The Day After Tomorrow" could only help to heighten awareness among those that may not otherwise be informed.