Apocalyptic Anxiety

"The Medicalization of Everyday Life" is a quote attributed to Thomas Szasz. A current example of this phenomenon occurred in a recent issue of Psychology Today online. It is a short piece by Robert D. Stolorow, Ph.D. and makes only a few points. The reader comments at the bottom of the article are well worth the read and indicate that not everyone is taken in by the psychobabble purveyed in popular media reporting on news in psychology. In his article Dr. Stolorow expresses his distress over humanity's failure to take serious action on human induced climate change and laments what he fears is our legacy to future generations. He even has a psychobabble word for that - generativity. Apparently, we lack concern for our descendants. He blames 'unbridled narcissism' and greed for this 'condition'. A response to his psycologising has been presented here.

Dr. Stolorow is terrified by the image of record low ice extent in the Arctic and a headline“Arctic Ice Melt and Sea Level Rise May Be ‘Decades Ahead Of Schedule’” . He scares easy. Is he hyperventilating? Perhaps a few deep breaths will help.

Can we reassure Dr. Stolorow that our ancestors back in the 1920s, 30s and 40s had similar concerns about the melting Arctic. Apparently, we have been waiting for an ice free Arctic for almost 90 years. The panic wears off after a while. One hopes that this will reassure Dr Stolorow that his fears are unfounded because Arctic ice melts on a regular basis. We will survive.

Next Dr Stolorow was filled with 'intense horror' at a planetarium show over 30 years ago where he learned that the sun will become a red giant star and engulf the earth a million years in the future. It is more like 5 billion years  but regardless Dr Stolorow scares easily. He wants to legitimize this fear by giving it a name: apocalyptic anxiety. Now he can sound professional. Is there a 12 step program for this brand of AA?? Hello, my name is Robert and I'm Apocalyptic.

As one of his readers pointed out: "It's a bit like being obsessed with global nuclear annihilation when standing in the middle of a field during a severe thunder storm, when you should be worried about being stuck by lightning.

Common sense can disarm apocalyptic anxiety.

He concludes with:

"We must renounce destructive narcissism and oblivious denial, embrace generativity, and face up to our apocalyptic anxiety before it is too late for the safety of future generations. President Obama brought tears to my eyes when, in his acceptance speech at the DNC, he contended that climate change and the threat it poses to human life on planet earth are not illusions. He was right, and we must not turn away!"

Dr Stolorow is an emotional fellow with deep concern for the human race.  He asks: "Why have the majority of Americans and American politicians been largely oblivious to this extreme threat?"

Perhaps it is because people realize that the predictions of the global climate models are not coming true. When people are told contradictory things by the experts or observe results contrary to predictions the fear subsides and they conclude that scientists still don't know what they are talking about. Sort of like the caffeine is good/bad for you controversy. No sense worrying about a cuppa java when there are mouths to feed.

The wacky world of climate science

Or why the public doesn't pay attention to the 'experts'. Sometimes scientists open their mouths in public and prove themselves irrelevant. Perhaps this guy missed his calling as a comedian.

Running runs out of plants. Professor Running has followed his model to the conclusion that the Earth may run out of plants.

Some musings on this research can be found here at Greenie Watch.

Quote:

"Publicity-hungry scientists find a goldmine in global warming. Just think up some extreme implication of it and the media will be all over you. It is a temptation to which many respond. "Running out of plants" is however a more extreme extrapolation than usual.

It is so ignorant that it is difficult to know where to start when critiquing it -- so I will mention just two main points. The biggest fallacy is in regarding the total biomass on earth as fixed. It is not. It is responsive to two major factors: Water availability and carbon availability. Plants are almost entirely made up of water and carbon. And guess what the global warming theory implies: More water (through evaporation of the seas) and more carbon in the form of CO2. Plants like warmer temperatures too. So the clear implication of global warming is that we should have A LOT MORE plantlife in future. So bring on that CO2!

The other main point is China. China shows vividly how responsive to politics plants are. China under Mao was a major food importer. Australian wheat farmers blessed him regularly. Under a more capitalistic system, however, China is a major food exporter -- being in fact the world's biggest exporter of fruit and vegetables. You have probably seen Chinese offerings in the Produce section of your local supermarket. So if we really are running low on food plants, bring on more capitalism! Capitalism is good for plants too! -- JR"

End quote

To keep up with peer reviewed research on plant response to CO2 enrichment click here.

CO2 has been exhaled during the creation of this post. No living thing was harmed. Some even liked it.

Spume

Spume: Foam or froth of water, particularly that of sea water.

There is a story on Yahoo News this morning (Sept. 27, 2012) concerning a storm in a Scottish village near Aberdeen, Scotland that showed its coastline covered in a foamy substance like suds from a huge washing machine had been dumped upon it. This is an unusual occurrence but not unprecedented. Although the extent of it was new to me we have all seen some foam form where the waves hit the beach.

"The sea is acting like a washing machine," said Professor Chris Todd of the University of St Andrews' Scottish Oceans Institute, referring to how the combination of strong winds and waves was mixing air into the water with natural organic materials.
"It is likely there are phytoplankton cells and they produce a lot of mucus which when whipped up can form this foam." he added.

Apparently, 'was it a Hurricane Irene'  stirred up a frothy mixture and deposited the suds upon a reporter who was braving her winds to bring us the story.

Will Al Gore and the rest of the hysterical press include this incident among its attempt to convince us of the unprecedented nature of the  severe weather the world has experienced lately? This is my attempt to 'normalize' the occurrence for the easily excitable lest they attempt to blame CO2 for this phenomenon as well.

There is even a word for it in the dictionary presenting testimony to its past occurrences.The word dates from the 14th century.

Don't fret. The world has survived spume in the past and there will be future instances to alarm those who need their daily dose of atmospheric drama.

A story about apples in 2012

Ontario apple crop hit hard by severe spring freeze. 80% wiped out.

Similar happenings in Russia.

Here is what is happening to apples in Oregon

Sometimes the weather is not kind to food prices.

BC apple growers will be happy to make up the short fall.

Selling global warming

Try selling me GLOBAL warming from here

Vostok at -119F. Brrrrr.,,,,,

Kinda takes the GLOBAL outta 'global warming' don't it?

Hot here; cold there

Heat distribution not so rare.

It is tough to find it warming everywhere.

I guess CO2 can't be trapping heat everywhere at once. 

Change is what the climate does. Gets no help from us.

CO2 has been exhaled during the creation of this post. No living thing was harmed. Some even liked it.

Pogo Science

"We have met the enemy and he is us." ~Pogo

There is a modern branch of science that worships this view. Or, rather, there are scientists who believe that man is responsible for the destruction of the environment, the wonton depletion of resources and the global warming they say is going to roast our butts if we don't immediately stop industrial society from emitting carbon dioxide. Being duly convinced of the accuracy and righteousness of their observations confirmation bias drives their political activism to the detriment of the truth. These scientists become like doctors who refuse to help despite having taken the Hippocratic Oath. Somehow these scientists know how the world works and data to the contrary must be wrong or ignored. They are blessed. They are the chosen. Cognitive dissonance has no place in Pogo science since they know who the enemy is. They are self-anointed.

"The Earth has cancer and the cancer is Man." ~Club of Rome

And yet, it is cognitive dissonance contrasted with confirmation bias presented transparently on the same table that results in the distillation of the truth. Self assurance is no guide to verity but can be an impediment to its discovery. 

Pogo science does not care about the truth. It is the end that drives policy. Pogo science begins with the premise that humans are the source of the world's problems and that they need to be controlled by the self appointed philosopher kings for the sake of the planet. Scientific observations which confirm this bias are used to 'legitimize' the view. Contrary opinion is ignored or attacked as funded by vested interests as if funding can determine truth.

"In searching for a new enemy to unite us, we came up with the idea that pollution, the threat of global warming, water shortages, famine and the like would fit the bill....All these dangers are caused by human intervention....and thus the “real enemy, then, is humanity itself....believe humanity requires a common motivation, namely a common adversary in order to realize world government. It does not matter if this common enemy is “a real one or…. one invented for the purpose." ~Club of Rome

Pogo science lives in the mind of the alarmist and politics drives Pogo science. Invention reinforced with repetition by a complicit media (we love a good scare story) accommodates the politician's need to feed his crony capitalist constituents a share of the spoils of election and his need to be regaled with accolades as he defends the environment against the rapacious and uncaring nature of unbridled consumption. The need for research funding fuels the search for crises that will attract that funding from politicians who apportion the research grants. Scares attract funding. Exaggeration of the scares will raise the profile of the problem and attract additional funding. Media hype. Political cronyism. 'Scientific' amplification. They feed each other in a mutually satisfying circle of certainty. 

The casualty often excluded from the circle is the truth. 

But veracity is not important, only the goal. And the goal is control.


They want to control how you transport your groceries.
They want to control the light bulbs you use.
They want to control how your dispose of your garbage.
They want to control what you eat.
They want to control how you get from place to place.
They want to control the origin of your electricity.
They want to control your thermostat - 68 everyone, no higher in winter.
They want to control your procreation.
They want to control your access to health care.
They want to control how many people get to exist on the planet. 
They want to control your access to data.
They want to control your access to communication.
They want to control your freedom.

Give them your freedom and you give them your life.

Sensitize the populous to environmental control with recycling, plastic bags, light bulbs and then move to the big stuff. 

Pogo science leads to tyranny by the keepers of the data, the philosopher kings and their media lapdogs.

“Today’s debate about global warming is essentially a debate about freedom. The environmentalists would like to mastermind each and every possible (and impossible) aspect of our lives.”
Vaclav Klaus
Blue Planet in Green Shackles

Not everyone buys into the misanthropic nature of human action. Some of us have not lost sight of the good that humans do. As Christina Aguilera sings: Things Keep Getting Better. Below are some antidotes to the acrid message of the Club of Rome.









 






We have also met the solution and he is us. Until someone can show me that there is a limit to the ingenuity of the human brain my faith in net human goodness will remain unshaken.

For our alarmist friends

How to handle a hot day.....