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Global Warming ~ my son’s perspective

November 26, 2007

Last night the power went out, throwing our house into darkness. My six year old asked me why the lights and his Nintendo went off. I explained that the electricity went out. He then asked why electricity was so bad, especially if it allows us to see at night and play video games. I didn’t understand, but he went on to explain how electricity causes global warming and we must stop using electricity. He began to question the premise that he learned at school and suggested that he didn’t think electricity was so bad after all.

I laughed, but realized that most people are thinking and acting on global temperature data on the same level as my six year old. Anyone who dares to question any aspect of global warming is written off as a fool immediately. No one wants to look like a fool so we all play along. But at what cost? Our planet is on course to spend trillons of dollars over the next decades not on improving life for humans, but in an attempt to cool the planet. I like the studies that suggest that if human life was eradicated from the face of the earth it would result in a 1% decrease in global temperatures over the next decade.

According to recently published satellite figures, global temperatures have fallen over the last decade. By this year we reached lows not seen since 1983. Turns out the 1930s had four of the ten warmest years in the last 100 years, the warmest was in 1934. I will admit that I don’t understand the global warming/cooling issue, but what bothers me the most is that everyone else seems so certain about a topic that is so complex. Whenever everyone has something figured out, I start to think that they might have it wrong. Hopefully my son won’t be ridiculed for thinking critically about the issue ~ I know I will be…

Written by Alexander Muse · Filed Under Blog, Personal, Politics 

Comments

7 Responses to “Global Warming ~ my son’s perspective”

  1. BuildHome » Global Warming ~ my son’s perspective Says:
    November 27th, 2007 at 12:03 am

    [...] Check it out! While looking through the blogosphere we stumbled on an interesting post today.Here’s a quick excerpt Last night the power went out, throwing our house into darkness. My six year old asked me why the lights and his Nintendo went off. I explained that the electricity went out. He then asked why electricity was so bad, especially if it allows us to see at night and play video games. I didn’t understand, but he went on to explain how electricity causes global warming and we must stop using electricity. He began to question the premise that he learned at school and suggested that he didn’t thi [...]

  2. kajun36 » Global Warming ~ my son’s perspective Says:
    November 27th, 2007 at 12:12 am

    [...] Check it out! While looking through the blogosphere we stumbled on an interesting post today.Here’s a quick excerpt Last night the power went out, throwing our house into darkness. My six year old asked me why the lights and his Nintendo went off. I explained that the electricity went out. He then asked why electricity was so bad, especially if it allows us to see at night and play video games. I didn’t understand, but he went on to explain how electricity causes global warming and we must stop using electricity. He began to question the premise that he learned at school and suggested that he didn’t thi [...]

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    November 27th, 2007 at 12:25 am

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  4. jane doe Says:
    November 27th, 2007 at 12:27 pm

    noone wants to redicule your son. in fact, part of the scientific method is to question all areas of the arguement. that is great, good for him! the global warming issue revolves around america’s overuse of fossil fuels and CO2 emissions. It has been proven to change the climate. Do you think things are better or worse over the past 50 years for the environment, overall? Do you think things are getting better? If not, what do you suggest people do to make it better, conserve a little more? Or are you the type of person who, when camping, they leave their trash behind for others and don’t pick up after yourself and question why you need to pick up in the first place? If I was a parent, I would just say, “pick up after yourself because I said so” instead of having a long dialog about the importance of picking up and keeping things at least as good as when you got there. It appears you would rather have the dialog, which is fine! that is, in my opinion, the problem with a democracy and why people need to be made to do the right thing. people didn’t want to wear seat belts, but congress passed the law and it saved thousands of lives. just a thought

  5. jharr Says:
    November 27th, 2007 at 1:15 pm

    Jane Doe, I think you serve to simply reinforce Alex’s point.

    “Or are you the type of person who, when camping, they leave their trash behind for others and don’t pick up after yourself and question why you need to pick up in the first place?” that seems like a big jump in your logic and a pretty short-sighted way to look at the world. The same group who attacks conservatives “For us or against us” stance on patriotism double-back and pull the same nonsense on the environment. The truth in both lies somewhere in-between where most reasonable folks live.

    I think the best case to-date to be made is by the founder of the Weather Channel, John Coleman. Check it out here: http://icecap.us/index.php/go/joes-blog/comments_about_global_warming/

    Please take a minute and look at what corporations and celebrity faces of the movement have to gain by this ‘crisis’ (hint Al Gore is already riding this wave to a legacy), just as many have done with the Iraq war. What do the parties involved have to gain through global enivro-hysteria? Where is the money going?

  6. Mike G Says:
    November 27th, 2007 at 3:49 pm

    I’m all for critical thinking. But you’re not serving your argument by referencing that the highest temps in history were in the ’30’s since the Dust Bowl Drought devastated the U.S. Heartland throughout the 1930’s.
    http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/drought/drght_history.html

  7. New Design Explained : Texas Startup Blog Says:
    January 26th, 2008 at 2:58 pm

    [...] Problem - I often include posts about my family, political beliefs and non-entrepreneurial ideas that interest me.  New visitors to the blog are just as likely to [...]

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