Getting Around the Libertarian Argument
This absurdly funny diagram details all the way global warming will kill people. The best part? The sources are the Lancet and the Proceedings of National Academy of Science. How much you want to bet PNAS article was approved through the buddy system review process. (Correct me if I got that wrong Jamie). The Lancet last year published a study estimating the death toll in Iraq to be at least 600,000. That was true just like mass death by global warming will be.
Anyway since people are absolutely sure to die of global warming the state has the right to tell people how to live their lives. Go using global warming to violate citizen rights.
December 18th, 2007 at 3:59 am
Yes, the idea that environmental degradation in the form of air pollution might lead to asthma and allergies is just laughably ridiculous.
And how dare those “experts” infringe on my right to be ignorant about whether malaria is a vector-born disease! The audacity!
December 18th, 2007 at 4:09 am
Correction: Oh wait, Washington Post… these are just pundits, not experts. In light of that, shouldn’t we be blindly accepting whatever they say as Truth without bothering to find out for ourselves?
December 18th, 2007 at 11:30 am
They don’t cite the specific article. For all I know, a shifting ecosystem probably does increase the existence of waterborn disease. There are 3 tracks at PNAS. I’m pretty sure that even if the article were commuincated it wasn’t such a crappy representation of global warming.
December 28th, 2007 at 10:10 pm
Marvelous production advancements in agriculture have led to an overabundance in most developed countries, however this is at the cost of crop diversity. Over the past hundred years, some sources estimate we have lost as many as 95% of the plant species that were common in American and European diets. Out of thousands of vegetable and fruit species, only a few remain that are commercially produced. The problem with this loss of genetic variability in our edible plant species is that our modern plants have narrower conditions for growth and survival. Our veggies are inbred and many of the genes necessary for survival in a changing climate are now extinct. I expect that if our climate changes too much and too quickly, massive crop failure is a distinct possibility. Although the US and Europe would only suffer the effects of a less diverse diet, individuals whose subsistence relies on one or two crops might be faced with severe famine. Chew on that.
December 29th, 2007 at 11:16 am
“some sources”
Specify.