No one knows for sure, but it seems likely that irreversible climate change could happen within our lifetimes. Humans have a great capacity for denial, though, and we’d much rather focus on present profits when we can and urgent crises when we must rather than long-term savings, stability, or sustainability. Exhibit A is the Bush administration:
Some scientists, including President Bush’s chief science adviser, John H. Marburger III, emphasize there is still much uncertainty about when abrupt global warming might occur.
“There’s no agreement on what it is that constitutes a dangerous climate change,” said Marburger, adding that the U.S. government spends $2 billion a year on researching this and other climate change questions. “We know things like this are possible, but we don’t have enough information to quantify the level of risk.”
Fair enough, but digging our heads in the sand and withdrawing from the Kyoto protocols is not the way to prepare for a possible worst-case scenario that, if realized, would be catastrophic.
Oh, and you’ve got to love this:
When [James E. Hansen, who directs NASA's Goddard Institute of Space Studies] posted data on the Internet in the fall suggesting that 2005 could be the warmest year on record, NASA officials ordered Hansen to withdraw the information because he had not had it screened by the administration in advance, according to a Goddard scientist who spoke on the condition of anonymity. More recently, NASA officials tried to discourage a reporter from interviewing Hansen for this article and later insisted he could speak on the record only if an agency spokeswoman listened in on the conversation.
“They’re trying to control what’s getting out to the public,” Hansen said, adding that many of his colleagues are afraid to talk about the issue. “They’re not willing to say much, because they’ve been pressured and they’re afraid they’ll get into trouble.”
But Mary L. Cleave, deputy associate administrator for NASA’s Office of Earth Science, said the agency insists on monitoring interviews with scientists to ensure they are not misquoted.
“People could see it as a constraint,” Cleave said. “As a manager, I might see it as protection.”
Nice. “We’re not going to do anything about global warming until we know it’s really happening (and we’ll tell you when that is), but by golly we’ll make sure to ‘protect’ what our scientists say.”
Do you ever feel we’re taking our planet to hell in a handbasket?
