I've been trying to wrap my head around the idea of a warming planet due to an overabundance of something as benign as carbon dioxide for a long time. The conflicting evidence is almost overwhelming.
While it makes sense that there would be some danger in a warming planet, far worse consequences could ensue following a significant cooling of the earth's surface.
When I think about the damage to crops and the potential for starvation and famine if the world temperatures continue to drop and throw us into another Ice Age, a shiver (no pun intended) runs down my spine.
There is a ton of evidence that the earth is actually entering a new ice age, rather than heating up. Even though reports of record high temperatures persist, much of the evidence points to just the opposite.
Take, for example, the rise in CO2 levels. This apparent sudden and 'shocking' rise in a natural element I have always thought to be a beneficial force of nature, is quoted by some as the cause of the planets warming over the recent past. But, can an increase in carbon dioxide, a necessary ingredient in photosynthesis, be a bad thing?
Long term historical studies indicate we are experiencing a dramatic draw-down in CO2 levels, and currently sit at around 400ppm, which many consider to be dangerously close to the 150ppm minimum levels that, if crossed, would result in the end of all plant life on earth.
According to other scientists, temperature rise is not a result of a rise in CO2 levels, but rather a rise in temperature is the cause of higher CO2 levels.
According to Burt Rutan, a well known engineer and one of many 'climate change deniers', the overwhelming majority of greenhouse gasses are made up of mostly water vapor. Only 3.62% of greenhouse gasses are CO2, and a miniscule 3.4% of those CO2 emissions are human caused.
Clearly, there are many respected scientists that do not agree that man made CO2 emissions are damaging to the environment. So many that a petition has been signed by over 31,000 scientists endorsing this statement:
“There is no convincing scientific evidence that human release of carbon dioxide, methane, or other greenhouse gases is causing or will, in the foreseeable future, cause catastrophic heating of the Earth's atmosphere and disruption of the Earth's climate. Moreover, there is substantial scientific evidence that increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide produce many beneficial effects upon the natural plant and animal environments of the Earth.”
According to this group of highly esteemed scientists, many of them PhD level environmental specialists, the threat of CO2 increases causing harmful effects on the human population is overblown and incorrect. Quite the contrary, according to them. CO2 levels are dangerously low, and an increase in CO2 in the atmosphere would only result in a continued increase in plant biomass on the surface of the earth.
And, as we speak, there is an investigation underway at the NOAA into a whistle blower's contention that studies were conducted in a way that exaggerated the threat of climate change.
Clearly there is a lot of controversy surrounding the issue of man-made climate change.
One thing is certain, world food availability will surely become an issue in the future, as climate does change over time historically.
Whether or not food shortages are a result of increasing greenhouse gasses and man made global warming, remains to be seen.
Owning a small parcel of land in a rural area where organic food can be grown in abundance, might be one strategy for food security that makes sense to you.
If it does, feel free to contact us for more information about how you could join us in organic sustainable paradise.
