Holding Steady in a Firestorm

A chunk of ice four times the size of Manhattan broke off of Greenland today.  Obviously, this has nothing to do with temperatures rising and everything to do with gay marriage being fine and dandy in California.  Obviously.

Ignorance of all sorts from all sorts is something that should be looked as an enemy.  I don't buy into all the global warning claims just as I don't buy into claims of faith or conspiracy.  A chunk of ice breaking off Greenland can be looked at as merely a chunk of ice breaking off Greenland (with expected and unexpected repercussions), or it can be looked at as a warning (and either ignored or examined).

I believe in better safe than sorry.

I think it is ludicrous to think that the pollutants we put into the air, water and earth will have no effect on life.  These effects may not be known instantly, and they may not be readily apparent, but I find it naive to believe that Earth acts as one big filter for all the shit we spew into it.  Ecology dictates that actions have reactions.  Sometimes the effects are positive.  Sometimes less so.  Just because you don't experience them firsthand, doesn't mean they don't occur or won't occur down the line.

I'm far from an environmentalist.  As I've stated before, I'm more of an ecologist.  I try my best to understand the balances and look at the long-term pictures.  I think for many people the idea of environmental catastrophe scares them into submission.  They feel their lifestyles would have to change so much that they would no longer enjoy the comforts they presently enjoy, and they shut down.  The put on the blinders and stick their fingers in their ears, happy to only hear their song and no other.  It is comforting to say, "You have no proof!  It's just a cycle!  It's all a conspiracy!"  It may be comforting, but it also gives an illusion of safety where there should be none.

I can't determine whether or not a chunk of ice breaking away from Greenland is the direct result of global warming.  It doesn't really matter, though.  There are always other implications.  (And let's keep in mind that there are studies saying the first six months of 2010 are the hottest ever recorded.)  Implications that have yet to be fully understood.  (Though I bet importers and exporters are already plotting out new shipping lanes, which will inevitably drive up the price of goods, as this ice is heading straight into those lanes, and will actually disrupt them within two years.  Take that, consumerism.)

Like the lump in one's breast, these signs should be ignored at your own risk.  The lump can be malignant or benign, but it needs to be checked out.  Same thing goes with the environment (which may actually be linked to that mysterious lump I keep referring to).  To ignore it is to court disaster.  To fear it is to do the same. 

But then again, I'm sure this is all the fault of uppity homosexuals.