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Originally Posted by suspectnumber961
* humans have caused degradation of the planet and biosphere....just look around.
* humans are at least partially responsible for global warming...which is only part of that degradation.
* part of what needs to be done is to "offset" the ignorance of the "weiny-head" faction that doesn't want to take responsibility and basically wants to dig a deeper hole.
* individuals can do some things...as most on this forum are probably at least attempting to some extent...but overall govt policies (corporate policies) are the major player as far as results.
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I tend to agree with the parts quoted above, but the question remains; how big of a problem is global warming, and what steps are reasonable to combat it?
The implication that most are concerned with is that global warming will make the environment unpleasant, possibly dangerous, and less economically prosperous for humans. In other words, people are concerned with people-caused global warming because it affects the well-being of people.
If our underlying concern is for people, then we must be most attentive to appropriating resources to areas that do the greatest good for the longest period of time. Expensive projects such as the Kyoto Protocol cost a lot of money, but likely have an extremely low impact on the welfare of the people. The resources that might be spent fulfilling the Kyoto agreement would be better spent on things that would provide a direct improvement to human wellness, such as combating AIDS, treating malaria, and establishing farms where starvation persists.
Might things be worse for people a hundred years from now when the temperatures are a couple degrees warmer - perhaps. Are people needlessly suffering right now who can be helped with relatively less effort - certainly.
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Eventually humans will have to reduce their numbers and impact on the planet...or they will be forced to. But how do you suppose this likely to play out?
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Reality is that for the most part...nothing will likely be done until the first serious tipping point occurs?
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It seems you acknowledge that individual effort is mostly a lost cause until the masses adopt it. Why be concerned with saving a gallon of petroleum that is sure to be consumed by someone else, apart from personal economics? Sanity requires accepting that which cannot or will not be changed.