Even though we may accept the inevitability of global warming, we want to forget and ignore how bad it can be, how serious, dire, and grim. And we are consistently re-shocked by the learning of new tipping points and an increasing rate of change.

Right now I feel an empathy with the smoker who first coughs up blood, the pre-diabetic with numb feet, the alcoholic with a DUI. This is the uncomfortable time when we realize the real consequences, and we first know that we have a
serious problem with no real solution. The very best we can do is pledge survival, reform behavior and work hard for some serenity. All while we face the problem. But there are no guarantees.

But much like the diabetic, alcoholic, smoker – we may know what we have to do, but it is so difficult or impossible to change. And just like we as a society have chosen to deal with those bad habits: We should stop advertising messages (like with tobacco), we should offer treatment and information (as with a diabetic), and we should not permit anyone (drunk driver) to injure the innocent. This is consistent with our long cherished civility that supports healthy change, along with a sense of law and accountability.

And we should speak this loudly. Thanks so much.

http://biodiversivist.blogspot.com/2009/11/armchair-climatologist.html

It has been said that we are all crazy. It’s a just matter of degree. Coping mechanisms, denial and cognitive dissonance, are natural and normal. There are tens of millions who think global warming science is wrong. They have not all crossed the line into a diagnosable mental illness. Are America’s religionists all mentally ill?

I have to admit that I’m nervous about teaching too much climate science to school kids. It’s a scary subject, maybe not something kids need to hear too much detail about. If we hit a tipping point it will mean the end of civilization, not just a big immigration problem.

The magnitude of what it will take to stop it has not dawned on most of us:

http://biodiversivist.blogspot.com/2009/10/wwf-study-puts-global-warming-into.html

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg18925431.400-climate-the-great-hockey-stick-debate.html

When I zoom in to the NASA temperature graph I see a ~+2C peak around 400-500yrs ago.
I see a few more periods of ~+2C over the past 11,000 years. From 11,000 to 120,000 years ago the graph shows a much colder period (~-6C), then a relatively large warm period (~+3C) about 130,000 years ago.
The shape of the hump at 130,000 years ago looks very similar to the hump at ~330,000 years ago.

When fully zoomed out, to me it looks like the past 11,000 years as the most stable (the trend appears relatively flat) of the past 450,000 years.

-Ralph

“People whose lack of psychological health leads them to deny or oppose the concept of global warming should be seriously ignored — except to offer them counseling…”

Clearly you choose those words carefully. I fully agree. But a Climate ODD ( a Clodd ?!?!) – well they can do real harm. I would label Senator Inhoffe a clodd. He wields tremendous power and acts to prevent adaptation or mitigation. He should be seriously ignored. But he cannot. I know we must, but I am not sure how.

I am old enough to remember Senator Joe McCarthy (demagogue from the 1950′s) – his true self was exposed on TV in the Army/McCarthy hearings – after which he drunkenly faded away. It looked to me like the exposure to his real self worked to protect us. But the stakes now are much higher and the science tells us we do not have the luxury of time for all the necessary counseling.

I know that is a big issue in the counseling profession.. but the analogy holds up in politics – what do we do with someone whose behavior is harming us all? I can ignore delusional words from a clodd… but when they hold power, then we must speak truth to that power. Or speak over it. Or vote them out of office.

It is like we are sitting in our seats in a crowded theater, we smell smoke, feel heat and see flames… but some CLODD tells us to stay seated and even buy more tickets in a theater that is about to burn… that is harmful language to everyone.

I know we are working out the answers here… thanks for all that you do.

D. Newton couldn’t have better exemplified ODD if he tried!

What a wonderful, succinct description of the problem. Thank you so much. I am forwarding your link.

I hunger for your wisdom on how to approach a future that is going to be colossally different than expected. What culture do we abandon? which do we cherish?

I’m part of a self-righteous green cult? A public opinion poll released earlier this month
found that 75% of the U.S. public thinks the federal government should regulate greenhouse gas emissions. See http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/07/opinion_071009.html
A cult by definition is very much in the minority. Concerning global warming being a reality that needs action, it looks like I’m in the mainstream, and you’re on the fringe or in a cult.

When Her green faith healing gig runs out of steams she may have a future in the entertainment industry.

Allison seems to believe that schoolteachers are entitled to use public school classrooms to promote their personal agendas. Would she be so forgiving if a fanatic right wing teacher attempted to indoctrinate her children? Mr. Bigelow’s blind faith in the Prophet James Hansen is the least of his problems; he is a relatively recent convert to green theology.

My point Allison was not to attack your self-righteous green cult (you will eventually grow up) but to object to this fringe radical proselytizing in public schools.