Re: Ice melting / Fly infestations?
As I was just emptying the clothes dryer these thoughts came to me:
What if we thought about our participation in curbing anthropogenic climate change in the same way we approach car safety?
Every time we get in a car, we put on our seatbelts. Further, most of us drive safely, and we make sure are cars are in safe operating condition.
We don't plan to get into a serious car accident and there is no guarantee we will involved in one, but the probability is out there. We wear our seatbelts because we know that the laws of physics are against us and there is plenty of data out there that reports that accidents could happen. None of us are walking around with those statistics in our heads; we have just accumulated that understanding through the news, photos, and anecdotes from people we know.
One of us not wearing a seatbelt will not make a difference to the overall statistics in regards to deaths and serious injuries. However, as we have all begun to wear them, and through demand require improved safety design in all cars those numbers (as a percent of population) have dropped significantly.
This could be a good analogy for anthropogenic climate change. Just like we can never completely stop the deaths and injuries associated with driving (or eliminate the laws of physics that can sometime hurt us), we
can bet on curbing the effects.
More, we have collectively decided that the potential wasted cost of seatbelts and safety design is worth the risk of
never getting in an accident. When we get in our cars, we take the conservative approach to the potential of harm, by putting on our seatbelts, driving safely, and maintaining safe cars. With micro changes in our behavior, we have reduced the potential for harm on a macro scale.
Why wouldn't we make a few changes in our behavior (not to say that we aren't already) not to do the same when it comes to climate? Even if the models, data, and scientists are wrong, isn't it worth the cost and effort - even if macro climate change is outside of our ability to affect it in any way?
I'm glad my dad always told me to put on my seatbelt and more clothes on the line.