The Global Warming Debate
Misses The Point

The global warming debate goes round in circles. One side wheels out their expert to explain conclusively that humans are causing climate change. Then the other wheels out their expert to deny it without a shadow of a doubt. If scientists can't agree if climate change is happening what chance does your average person have of making sense of it? Most people seem to form their opinion based on some kind of vague political ideology. The whole global warming debate has just turned into a political sideshow.

image by woodleywonderworks

My message is that the arguments regarding the facts on global warming distract from the real issue. Whether global warming is fact or fiction doesn't really matter that much. Whether it is natural or man-made is not the pivotal question.

The real issue is what is driving our culture to destroy the earth? Forget about the contentious facts on global warming. Worry about what it is that leads us to poison the oceans, destroy the topsoil, wipe out the rainforests and (maybe) heat up the atmosphere by releasing stored carbon.

Man made climate change, if it is happening is merely a symptom of our destructive culture. The global warming debate cannot be treated in isolation. We need to look at all of our ecological problems and ask ourselves "why?"

The global warming myth is that it will be the biggest issue of our time. It's not. The biggest issue of our time is how to mitigate the effects of our crumbling yet destructive empire and how to develop a new way of life that will work for people and for the planet in years to come. 

The Mainstream Global Warming Debate 

The definition for global warming as it is popularly understood is the gradual increase in the earth's surface temperature due to human activity and/or natural causes. 

We are generally presented with two arguments when it comes to the global warming debate: 

1. Either humans cause global warming and that this is bad. Therefore we must do all we can to reverse this; or
2. A human induced rise in temperatures isn't happening. Natural causes of global warming like increased solar activity are responsible. Therefore go about your business as per usual. 

Proponents of the human induced theory argue that the facts on global warming are as such: 

• The burning of fossil fuels release carbon into the air. 
• The destruction of rainforests mean there are less trees to absorb the extra carbon. 
• More carbon in the atmosphere = trapped heat = higher temperatures. 

Maybe. Sounds plausible enough. But is man made climate change really happening? I don't actually care that much. All the global warming debate focuses on is fault. 

The facts on global warming aren't the issue. What I care about more is what kind of people we are if our way of life consists of destroying the natural environment and relying on a finite fuel source to do it. 

The truth about global warming (if it's human caused) is that it is a symptom of destruction more than it is a cause of destruction. Instead of addressing the symptom and getting worked up about the temperature we should be figuring out the cultural causes of climate change and having a serious look at our way of life. Carbon in the air isn't the real cause of climate change. The real cause is a culture of people who can't see divinity in the earth and treat it as something to be exploited.

Even if the climate change skeptics are right and the cause of global warming is natural then we can't just put our feet up. Let's say the burning of fossil fuels has no effect on the atmosphere. That doesn't mean that obliterating rainforests, pollution of the waterways and destruction of biodiversity is okay. We still need to have a serious look at how we live and remedy that. 

Even if the climate change skeptics are right we can't just put our feet up.

Although I have no conclusive proof for whether or not humans cause global warming I can easily understand why we would. Ever since our culture first emerged 10,000 years ago it has been destroying the environment with no thought of the consequences. 

The old civilizations of the Middle East and Northern Africa turned their forested lands into desert. This trend has continued to the present day to the point where we now have degraded soil, shrinking biodiversity, polluted waterways and human overpopulation to add to the receding forests. It would be of no surprise if we added altered atmosphere to the list. 

How To Stop Global Warming (If It's Happening) 

Regardless of what causes climate change carbon offsets aren't going to save us. 6 billion people cycling to school and work isn't going to save us. Becoming vegan isn't going to save us. 

Everyone becoming vegan is not going to save us.

The flaw is in the belief that man owns the world and that everything is a resource to be used for man's benefit. A culture that believes that is unsustainable. 

It doesn't matter what that culture does to be environmentally friendly; if its fundamental belief is that the earth is a human resource then it will destroy the world. 

This culture can argue all day long about the facts on global warming but it will get nowhere. If we don't change our cultural belief it won't matter. Whether we will suffer due to rising temperatures, a broken ecosystem, polluted water, famine or sheer overcrowding we will suffer one way or another. The current global warming debate must be reframed in a new light.

The only way to stop global warming is to work towards a change in culture, a change in our fundamental beliefs. Then we won't have to suffer en masse from any of that. The motivation for our change need not come from fear. It should come from a desire to create a better world for people.

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