Reply #3: Planet of the Schlemazels

[Dogmudgeon]

Yes, it is happening, it has been reported on in reputable sources (popularly at space.com), and a few points need to be addressed.

The first is that nobody ever claimed that 100% of terrestrial warming is anthropogenic -- in fact, "anthropogenic" is the term of art to describe human-caused global warming, and is abbreviated as "AGW". Evidence suggests that the Earth is, and has been, in an unusually warm era for approximately 10 to 13 thousand years.

There are some reputable critics of AGW, but they're easy to identify, because they base their arguments on evidence, not ideology. But these critics are few and rare, since the evidence in support of AGW is strong. And I'll emphasize that I do mean "AGW", anthropogenic global warming.

The next point is the biggest in scope, but it's ironically trivial: planetary warming throughout the Solar system may be caused by changes in solar output, infalling cosmic dust encountered in our passage through a dusty part of the galaxy's spiral arms, or even some presently undiscovered phenomenon. Until we start building factories on other planets, no one is likely to politicize the phenomenon. And, of course, the Earth's climate itself is known to have cycles of activity, and as they become known well-enough to predict the weather by, they will be popularized, like the ENSO, or El Niño Southern Oscillation.

But if the Earth is, in fact, experiencing a certain amount of non-anthropogenic warming, does it make sense that we should we pile more kindling on that fire?

One example I like to use is from kids' cartoons and Yiddish minstrelsy. The characters of the schlemiel and the schlemazel are favorites in most minstrel comedy. The schlemiel is the trouble-making clown, and the schlemazel is the fall guy. In Tom and Jerry cartoons, Jerry (the mouse) is the schlemiel and Tom (the cat) is the schlemazel. Mr. Jinx, the Warner bulldog, and the unhip-looking actor representing the PC in Apple's new ads are other schlemazels.

In cartoons, the schlemiel leads the schlemazel into a dark closet or shed; the schlemazel then strikes a match, and in the light, he (and the audience) can plainly see that the place is stuffed with barrels of TNT, sticks of dynamite, jugs of nitroglycerine, etc. -- immediately followed by a massive explosion.

Clearly, the AGW "skeptics" are the schlemiels; and if we fail to see through their deceits, we will be the schlemazels. Then, a closet full of dynamite will look pretty mild in comparison.

--p!