— Feature, Musings —12.11.2019 09:35 AM
Person of the Year vs. A Nobody
Maxime Bernier said Greta Thunberg was “clearly mentally unstable.” He said she was “not only autistic, but obsessive-compulsive, eating disorder, depression.”
Today Greta Thunberg was named TIME’s Person of the Year. She will be remembered.
Will anyone remember him?
It is very understandable why some people are very angry with Greta Thunberg. Nothing gets people more angry than…. the truth.
So to all the people who believe in Greta; please sell your SUVs and take public transit. Stop flying on vacations.
I suspect however, that they all want someone else to cut back.
Me, I don’t have an SUV and don’t fly on vacation. I don’t think global warming is the end of the planet. Consider the fossil beavers and fossil trees on Ellesmere Island, carbon dated to 2 million years ago.
Consider also how to prevent the next ice age. Now that will be climate change.
Thanks for the reference to Ellesmere Island. I looked it up, and you have some factual inaccuracies in your account:
– The trees have been dated to 4-5m years old, not 2m.
– This change is far from outside of the realm of possibility under a climate change regime. Based on oxygen isotope ratios, the linked study indicates mean annual temperatures 4 degrees warmer than the present day. This would be what we would expect in the 2050s (2040-2069) under RCP 4.5, which is a middle of the run scenario and likely to be a lowball on our current trajectory (source: CanESM2 r1i1p1 RCP 4.5 anomaly from 1981-2000 over southern Ellesmere Island)
By the 2080s it’s quite a bit warmer than that, and under more extreme scenarios it’s also quite a bit warmer.
Paper: “Climate variability in the Early Pliocene Arctic: Annually resolved evidence from stable isotope values of sub-fossil wood, Ellesmere Island, Canada”
Climate data for comparison: https://services.pacificclimate.org/pcex/app/#/data/climo/ce_files
Paper URI: https://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/6488303/Csanketal_2011_paleo.pdf?response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DClimate_variability_in_the_Early_Pliocen.pdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAIWOWYYGZ2Y53UL3A%2F20191211%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20191211T222702Z&X-Amz-Expires=3600&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=1161b416bf235c5f8f2037d40aafa98341e6ee9e3c21897a1a125a1e8496a335 .
Thank you for your reply. I have seen timelines of 2-5 million years ago. The referenced temperatures were 15 to 20C warmer for the plants and animals to survive.
But my main point remains: the virtue signalling activists, celebrities, and politicians (e.g.Justin Trudeau) still fly on vacation, and drive around in big gas guzzlers, whilst telling the rest of us that WE have to do better and cut back.
I don’t think global warming will be the end of the planet (and I don’t think Greta has said that either), but I think it will cost trillions of dollars and millions of lives and urgent action is fully morally and finicanially justified.
While she has done a good job of raising the profile, I think she has oversimplified what is actually a very complex issue and that might have done more harm than good. I get the impression – here in Canada at least – that most people feel meaningful emissions reductions can be accomplished without adversely impacting their quality of life.
Nothard to be a better person than Trump.But…
Nothing that Greta has done will have any real effect on the world. It doesn`t matter how big your crowd is, standing around shouting in unison that somebody else needs to fix the system won`t fix anything. The only way to effect change is by actually changing things. As consumers we all have ultimate control. There is no business in the world that will continue to operate if no one buys their product. I know it`s hard, but if you care about where we are as a society, exercise your right as a consumer to not buy or use any products which harm your environment.
We sure will! But not necessarily the way he might think.
“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.”
My head just exploded…….
Will anyone remember her is a better question.
What Extinction rebellion is really about in one of the founders own words. Smash that heteronormative cis gendered euro centric patriarchy baby.
Extinction Rebellion isn’t about the Climate – Extinction Rebellion – Medium
https://medium.com/extinction-rebellion/extinction-rebellion-isnt-about-the-climate-42a0a73d9d49
Climate is just a means to an end for this lot amd its telling that not once has this come up in media coverage of this group. Confirmation bias as usual from the media though.
The ice is melting. Fires are raging around the world every year. The heteronormative cis gendered euro centric patriarchy is in denial. Except for the young people. God bless Greta Thunberg who is a white Swedish girl from Stockholm. I haven’t heard yet, whether she likes to kiss girls or boys or both because it has nothing to do with what she is on about. Fellow Calgarian.
So you’d be okay with a bunch of white supremacists using climate change as a cover to re-engineer society via population control and mass die offs since every one else is in denial?
Because that is in fact what Greta and company are really advocating.
You might be comfortable with people who advocate that because it suits your biases but I certainly am not. And weaponizing a neurotic teenager to be a spokesperson is frankly repulsive no matter who or what the message is.
Want to reduce pollution? Start by eliminating drive-throughs (Tim’s, McDonalds, etc.). See how well that goes over.
Although I don’t doubt for a moment the sincerity of Ms. Thunberg, she reminds me of the Children’s Crusade of the early middle ages. I submit that both movements were based on naivety, and were started by persons who didn’t want to be confused by the facts, but who wanted to implicitly and completely believe in something. That it took someone like President Putin to succinctly describe Ms. Thunberg and her movement speaks volumes about how incoherent, shallow and “PC” our media and political leaders are.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CnyqLogH0Y
It seems to me for a poor person in Africa they are more likely to gain the benefits of electricity by setting up a local solar power system for themselves or thier neighborhood then waiting for a coal or oil plant to be built and hooked up to a power network.
People are saying we shouldn’t listen to her becuase she is young are the same people who didn’t listen to the old scientists either.
“I submit that both movements were based on naivety, and were started by persons who didn’t want to be confused by the facts, but who wanted to implicitly and completely believe in something. ”
This.
A 16-year-old girl, whether she is physically stunted and mentally challenged or not, ranting “How DARE you!” at me generates nothing but a snicker and a turn of the page (someone needs a ‘time out , I think). The fact that she is happily and willingly being used as a pawn by environmental groups turns that snicker to scorn….the same scorn I have for any political leader who shamelessly bowed to pressure and officially met with this 16 year old child (yes, child) as if she were a legitimate political figure.
The world has gone insane.:(
Good God she’s 16 years old. Stop burning fossil fuel is her message.
I speak and think for myself and do not wear a tinfoil hat.
“Stop burning fossil fuel is her message. ”
No, it’s the message written by Jessica (Jennifer?) Morgan of Greenpeace, who writes those passionate speeches that Greta makes. Don’t be fooled.
I do not even want to admit that I am from Alberta. We have selfishly abused our planet and forget that Mother Nature is a serial killer. I applaud Greta Thunberg!
If she was promoting pro-life in the same way would do you think she would be revered to the same degree?
Here is the antithesis to Greta. Wonder who would win a debate head-on (rhetorical question)?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8dXpe1Pp6Q
There is still hope that our youth are not all brainwashed and hypocritical.
They couldn’t name the Hong Kong protesters as the persons of the year, because it would force them to acknowledge that Communism, and it’s close relative Socialism, are big problems in the world.
“They couldn’t name the Hong Kong protesters as the persons of the year”
Most people expected them to be chosen, I think.
Remember when Time Magazine was respected and influential?
I remember when science was respected and influential.
Good one.
“I remember when science was respected and influential.”
You mean before those scientists, who once toiled in anonymity and were most concerned with the accuracy and integrity of their work, started to enjoy being treated like rock stars and traded their integrity for celebrity, financial security and government grants?
Yeah, I remember that too…
Back then scientists had a lot more financial security and government grants. Back then they also concluded that our greenhouse gas emissions where causing global warming.
Fred,
It’s called the ugly side of capitalism.
“Back then they also concluded that our greenhouse gas emissions where causing global warming.”
I said BEFORE, Darwin… BEFORE they started the CAGW bullshit. Was I unclear, or do you just have trouble following an argument that you don’t understand?
“It’s called the ugly side of capitalism.”
Yes. There many more people, both very wealthy and not, whose financial security is threatened by the need to slash fossil fuel usage then there are scientists.
“BEFORE they started the CAGW bullshit”
Can you give a date? CAGW started in the 1970s (derived from theories that date back to the 1890s) and became consensus in the 1980s but didn’t become popularly known until the 1990s.
Darwin,
You’re on one hell of a roll these days! My compliments.