![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 11 of 11. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Dinah on June 8, 2006, at 8:10:10
The new ice age of the seventies, the result of environmental irresponsibility causing global cooling?
It seemed like no one remembered years ago right after my wedding, in fact, on my honeymoon, when I ran across an article in the newspaper discussing it. I'm pretty sure I kept the article and may someday find it.
But I don't think I've heard it mentioned since then.
I *know* I'm not nuts here. Well, maybe I am, but not about this.
Posted by Dinah on June 8, 2006, at 8:16:22
In reply to Am I the only one old enough to remember, posted by Dinah on June 8, 2006, at 8:10:10
Posted by Declan on June 8, 2006, at 16:32:48
In reply to Am I the only one old enough to remember, posted by Dinah on June 8, 2006, at 8:10:10
It rings a bell. About the same time as the Club of Rome/everyone starving/Paul Erlich? We should be able to remember all this stuff.
Posted by Bobby on June 8, 2006, at 16:40:51
In reply to Am I the only one old enough to remember, posted by Dinah on June 8, 2006, at 8:10:10
Yes, I remember. Now, global warming can be attributed to that extra hour of sunlight we get when we switch to Daylight savings time. :)
Posted by Jay on June 11, 2006, at 11:31:52
In reply to Re: Am I the only one old enough to remember » Dinah, posted by Bobby on June 8, 2006, at 16:40:51
I am old enough to remember Ronald Reagan claiming trees cause pollution, and that, once you've seen one "Redwood" in California...you've seen them all! And this was while he was supposedly still "sane"!
Folks better take global warming *very* seriously, not just for us. That seems to be the thinking.."Oh it's not going to affect me.."..etc. etc. There is nothing normal about June-like temperatures, in Canada and Northern U.S. in February. You now need a boat and just a Spring jacket to get through much of the Arctic in January. Not normal...period. When they first discovered the hole in the Ozone layer over Antarctica, the scientists where so freaked out, they thought their instruments where not working. With the number of SUV's and air-conditioners out there today, people don't seem to be interested in science and logic.
IMHO..
Jay
Posted by Dinah on June 11, 2006, at 16:01:59
In reply to Re: Am I the only one old enough to remember » Bobby, posted by Jay on June 11, 2006, at 11:31:52
But that's the weird thing about what I remember, Jay.
In the seventies, there was nothing normal about the snowfall in the north, and there was scientific evidence to show that the temperatures were abnormally cool. I was thoroughly convinced, and was terrified of the new ice age that I was positive was coming.
I believe the current trend is not to talk about global warming so much as climate changes.
*Are* you old enough to remember global cooling and the new ice age? If I remember correctly, our pollutants were interfering with the ability of the sun's rays to get to earth. But it's been a while, and I was young at the time. Then next thing I knew, seemingly overnight, there was global warming, not cooling, and nobody remembered that there ever was a new ice age scare.
Tons of new legislation re. pollution has come out since then, and in the US, using only my own recollections, pollution seems better now than then. Do you remember how the cars used to belch fumes? And you couldn't walk down a major street without coughing. And there have been tons of new laws about environmental pollution, which I believe are enforced at least better now than then.
Posted by Dinah on June 11, 2006, at 16:04:02
In reply to Re: Am I the only one old enough to remember » Bobby, posted by Jay on June 11, 2006, at 11:31:52
You're eight or nine years younger than I am. And this was the mid seventies if I recall correctly. Perhaps you were too young to remember.
Posted by Jost on June 11, 2006, at 16:31:18
In reply to I'm trying to recall » Jay, posted by Dinah on June 11, 2006, at 16:04:02
I don't remember the ice age thing, but I'm quite sure that despite a lowering of some pollutants, especially obvious ones in urban areas of the US, etc, that the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has continued apace.
I haven't seen An Inconvenient Truth, but there is a danger that we're changing the climate of the earth in destructive ways.
Jost
Posted by Dinah on June 11, 2006, at 17:10:10
In reply to Re: I'm trying to recall, posted by Jost on June 11, 2006, at 16:31:18
I'm not arguing in favor of ignoring pollution. I'm actually something of an environmentalist, but not one that relies on cataclysmic scenarios for being one.
I think we have a duty to respect the earth, to be grateful for what it provides us, but to always keep in mind future generations, and because we love our children and their children and so on, to try to leave the world a bit better than we found it, or at the very least no worse. It seems the least we can do.
On the other hand, I always get annoyed with scientists who tell us to put our babies to sleep on their stomachs - no wait - their backs! To avoid eggs - no wait - eggs are ok! The earth is cooling and there'll be an ice age within our lifetimes - no wait - the earth is actually warming!
Make up your mind already! Or at least admit that you might be telling us something completely the opposite in a few years. And quit scaring me until you're sure! (this would be a sort of global scientific you, not directed to anyone here)
And... I suppose that I see the world as a vast place far more powerful than we mere humans. That it could pick itself up and shake us off if it wishes to. I find immense comfort in that belief.
I understand that this is just my belief and that others have equally valid beliefs that may be completely opposite to mine, and I respect those beliefs as well. After all, there's no science backing up my belief. ;)
Posted by Jost on June 11, 2006, at 21:35:18
In reply to Re: I'm trying to recall » Jost, posted by Dinah on June 11, 2006, at 17:10:10
Scientists do change their minds quite a bit--- esp. when it comes to things like substance x being good, or bad for you-- or good for you in one way, and then--it turns out, or they forgot to mention--bad for you in some other way.
.Like caffeine--remember when they thought it caused horrible things? and then it didn't?
I'm not that much of an environmentalist--at least sentimentally. I don't like a lot of things, but I do them anyway--and am not terribly fussy about it. I'm using my Air conditioning until someone passes a law-- I don't like AC, but I hate hot humid weather more. On the other hand, I wish they would ban most automobiles in New York-- it's like traffic gridlock, and massive noise pollution everywhere you go.
I'd like to see more research on better, different fuels, rather than opening wildlife areas and forests to exploitation-- that's more the kind of environmentalist I am. I'm not a stickler for recycling per se--that's the kind of environmentalist I'm not.
I guess I go with my instincts on this stuff--- which isn't necessarily scientific-- I do recall hearing something about "first there's be an ice age, and then it will get warm and there won't be any moisture in the air, and crops won't grow and.." but I'm not sure if anyone says that, now it's more about hurricanes--
Jost
Posted by Dinah on June 11, 2006, at 22:22:02
In reply to Re: I'm trying to recall, posted by Jost on June 11, 2006, at 21:35:18
Chuckle.
I suppose that's the sort of environmentalist I am as well. I buy things with high recycled content when I get a chance. I used to be good about recycling, but they've stopped recycling here and have said they have absolutely no intention of doing it in the foreseeable future. Environmental issues influence my vote. I try not to eat mammals, but I'm not good at sticking to that. I feel guilty when I eat mammals. :(
But I drive to the grocery store, and no power on earth would get me to part with my air conditioner.
And my charitable dollars tend to go to the Red Cross or domestic animal causes, rather than environmental ones.
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Politics | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.