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Discussion » Questions » Environment » Right-wing Conservative and Christian groups oft deny global warming. Do they also deny evidence of past climate change, i.e. Ice age? Why
Benedict Arnold

Right-wing Conservative and Christian groups oft deny global warming. Do they also deny evidence of past climate change, i.e. Ice age? Why

Posted - July 22, 2019
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Responses


  • 5391
    Really?
    The Arctic and Greenland have reached an unprecedented lack of ice cover and it continues to shrink as the ancient glaciers melt. One can now sail the Arctic as never before. (BTW, it is currently summer in the north). 

    Evidence for anthropomorphic climate change is enormous and growing, and supported by EVERY reputable scientific endeavor currently in existence on the planet, even the Trump Administration’s; though he and his cabal of villains is working to suppress the truth, in part so their Uber-rich homies in the energy industry can perpetuate their own profits.
    (Orders of magnitude greater than whatever you allege Al Gore made)  

    As we have seen before, actual facts on the subject would once again be of great benefit to you. Deflecting is a poor substitute for understanding. This post was edited by Don Barzini at July 23, 2019 1:07 AM MDT
      July 22, 2019 8:43 PM MDT
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  • 33803
    No it is not unprecedented lack of ice.   There was less ice about 1000ad...that is how the Vikings sailed there and colonized Greenland etc. There was a Viking colony called "Vinland" because of the fine grapes and wines produced. This area is iced over today. So it was warmer then. 
      July 23, 2019 9:12 AM MDT
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  • 5391
    No doubt the mostly illiterate Vikings provided accurate nautical intel to document their findings. Yeah. 
    Rather unreliable; even the year is uncertain. But yes, there have been notable warm periods in recorded history. 

    You do understand that glaciers move, right? Based on the age of the ice now exposed by melt (I am assuming you know what ice cores are for) the current calving of the ice shelf in Greenland is ice many thousands of years old. It is not being replenished during winter at previous historical rates, and there is a lot less of it. Greenland alone has lost a trillion tons of ice in four years. What is happening now is unprecedented in speed and scale. Natural cycles don’t explain this. 

    Iceland just lost its first known entire glacier to the warming climate, in fact, a plaque is planned to mark the site.  This post was edited by Don Barzini at July 23, 2019 5:25 PM MDT
      July 23, 2019 1:39 PM MDT
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  • 4624
    Those who care about making money were initially the ones who shouted loudest against climate change.
    They were worried about loss of profits from having to give up fossil fuels.
    Now they're beginning to realise that if they don't change how they make their profits, they will go bankrupt.
    Companies like BP and Shell have been buying up solar technologies for decades, preparing to control and profit from the shift, 
    but holding back to squeeze every profit possible from the old technologies.

    The profiteers will always go where the money is - no matter what the ethics or long term effects.


      July 23, 2019 1:52 AM MDT
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  • 2836
    To be perfectly honest,

    Conservative and Christian are contradictory terms
      July 22, 2019 8:37 PM MDT
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  • Let me guess.  I bet you think that Conservatives should actually be called Regressives and that Christianity is more about socialism than the followers wish to admit.
      July 22, 2019 9:01 PM MDT
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  • 2836
    Indeed I do. I consider Conservatism stagnation and synonymous with retardation.

    Jesus was a socialist. He was born long before the rise of industrial capitalism in the 19th century, but his radical ideas have influenced many critics of capitalism, including many prominent socialists and even Pope Francis.


    Facts are hard to dispute no matter how hard those on the right choose to "cherry pick".
      July 22, 2019 9:05 PM MDT
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  • 5391
    Though most Christians believe they do, paltry few live as Jesus taught, and still fewer would if they fully understood what was actually taught in the Gospels. 
    Hiding behind false apprehensions of arcane beliefs is the sad remnant of the traditional ignorance that spawns denial of science and the corruption of facts, such as we’ve just seen. 
      July 22, 2019 9:22 PM MDT
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  • 4624
    I agree.
    St Francis of Assisi and Paolo Frier exemplified the Christian ideal better than most.
      July 23, 2019 1:55 AM MDT
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  • 2836
    Indeed. 

      July 23, 2019 3:55 PM MDT
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  • 4624
    I'm not sure all of them deny global warming.

    Rather, they deny that the present rate of warming is accelerated by human agency.

    The deniers point to a natural warming cycle between the ice ages,
    (true, but the actual increase around the globe is far in excess of the natural rate of warming
    which is slow enough to allow natural evolution to adapt)
    and an increase of emissions from volcanoes
    (the latter invalidated - i.e., proven to be related solely to access to means of communication.
    There has been no increase in actual volcanic and tectonic movements.)

    They also refuse to accept that unless we take urgent action
    to significantly reduce greenhouse gases within the next twelve years,
    the warming will reach a tipping point at which the rater of increase will become exponential
    and beyond the power of any technology to reduce.

    Some, such as the JW's, believe that global warming is part of the proof of the coming of Armageddon. While they believe good humans should be good stewards (and are not) of God's creation, they welcome the coming Day of Judgement when they will inherit Paradise on Earth for eternity. Hence, they choose to take no action. "It is all part of God's Will."

    Some conservative Christians do accept human agency and that good Christians have a moral responsibility to do something about it - 'though I agree with you, not many.

    I think the main resistance comes from people who fear that they might lose their profits or be forced to live a less comfortable life.
    The impression is mistaken of course.
    Profits and jobs will come from green technologies.
    Yes, we may give up some of our excessive consumerism,
    but we will be more comfortable and healthier at less expense.
    In essence, it's fear of the new and the unknown.

    There's also the psychological aspect of denial...

    I hear it in on the news;

    it shock-sears my mind. 

    I am flash burned. 

    All over already,

    dead and cold,

    ashes all, might as well be.

    Cool, clammy skin.

    Breaths rapid and shallow,

    A pricking pressure flickers in my neck.

    Like blood from the jugular of a slaughtered pig,

    energy spurts, drains from me.

    Dizzy spins.

    Lie down, close eyes.

    No! It cannot be.

    Unacceptable, unbearable.

    The pain would be too great.

    I would rather be dead than 

    admit it into consciousness.

    Oh, please! Let me be numb and dumb.

    Leave me be and let me block it out.

    If I don’t see it, don’t feel it, 

    I’ll be alright.  




    This post was edited by inky at July 24, 2019 5:41 PM MDT
      July 23, 2019 1:37 AM MDT
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