Although I'm not a scientist, I personally think it's too late already, and this thing has gone too far to stop. It's like an eighteen-wheeler headed downhill with no brakes - you can slam on the pedal all you like, but the time to prevent crashing was way back before you started down the hill, preferably before you left the garage!
The same things that cause me to believe that we don't have much time also cause me to believe that we might not have run out of time. (Operative word: might.) I feel duty-bound to do whatever I can to stop this, and to beat myself bloody against the wall, if necessary, to do it.
I quite agree with your assessment of the situation with the eighteen-wheeler. We've actually had a surprising amount of notice during which we could have done something and didn't. Our only hope lies in the fact that nature has sometimes proved more resilient and quicker to respond than we had thought possible. It's a very serious situation, and I am praying, hoping and stomping my feet for a massive effort to curb the impending disaster. If I weren't doing that, I'd be putting a gun to my head.
We sure have had a lot of time - I remember Carl Sagan warning people about global warming back in the 70s. Jacques Cousteau warned of the imminent death of the oceans back then, and when he was asked in the 90s about the dealine for saving them, he replied that it was already too late to do anything - we might think we're looking at a living system, but it's gone too far to save. We just can't see it yet.
I agree that, whether we can stop the process or not, we should still reform the way we do things. Not necessarily because it'll have the desired effect, but simply because it's the right thing to do. David Gerrold once said that the number One Commandment of the Universe is "Thou shalt not Waste", and we've been sinning for a hell of a long time now. It's time we stopped being such pissant babies and started living within our means. (Whatever happened to that wisdom? Oh yeah, it probably went the way of "Sticks and stones", and "Live and let live".)
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branchandroot
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Date: Sunday, February 4th, 2007 02:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Sunday, February 4th, 2007 02:48 am (UTC)I quite agree with your assessment of the situation with the eighteen-wheeler. We've actually had a surprising amount of notice during which we could have done something and didn't. Our only hope lies in the fact that nature has sometimes proved more resilient and quicker to respond than we had thought possible. It's a very serious situation, and I am praying, hoping and stomping my feet for a massive effort to curb the impending disaster. If I weren't doing that, I'd be putting a gun to my head.
Catherine
no subject
Date: Sunday, February 4th, 2007 03:07 am (UTC)I agree that, whether we can stop the process or not, we should still reform the way we do things. Not necessarily because it'll have the desired effect, but simply because it's the right thing to do. David Gerrold once said that the number One Commandment of the Universe is "Thou shalt not Waste", and we've been sinning for a hell of a long time now. It's time we stopped being such pissant babies and started living within our means. (Whatever happened to that wisdom? Oh yeah, it probably went the way of "Sticks and stones", and "Live and let live".)