Trends. But not like that.

Sometimes when I’m bored I read the “have your say” page on the BBC website. They ask open questions there that often generate answers based on personal stance rather than fact, the kind of questions that attract the hardest, most fanatical viewpoints to battle it out over the internet with no possible winner. It’s not far off posing the question “Is there evidence for God?”. Quite frequently they post up questions relating to MMCC (man-made climate change) and the responses are fascinating. Whilst there is serious debate over how fast global temperatures are changing, how much those changes are directly related to the human love of oil and how accurate the data is, it’s pretty widely accepted by anyone who has studied MMCC that it exists and that we need to do something about it. Today I found this comment, essentially attempting to prove MMCC wrong:

“We have just had one of the coldest winters in my 60 years, its the middle of May and I can see frost on the grass when I walk the dog each morning….I am not afraid, repeat, I AM NOT AFRAID.”

I just love this comment and I think, worryingly, this is how a lot of brains work. It’s hard to see the bigger picture sometimes when the only proof you can actually see is right in front of you and conflicts with the general consensus. If all you ever saw was beautiful beaches in Cornwall, it’s easy to forget the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and if you can keep buying tuna in Tescos its easy to forget that certain species are almost completely extinct now. I sometimes think that disasters like the huge oil spill currently leaking into the Gulf can actually be a good thing, despite the terrible damage to the ecosystems in that area. At least we are being reminded that we do have a direct, measurable effect on the earth and the more we fuck about, the more damage we do.

I don't really have a point with all this, I guess I just hope that the people that make decisions about this stuff can look at the bigger picture. Any decision that goes the other way is basically siding with our friend above unless I am missing some monumental scientific evidence that proves MMCC is a load of crap.

For more terrifying, unscientific reading, please read this and this.

Oh, the picture is me, looking sweaty. If trends are correct, this could be me ALL THE TIME!