cognoshanty

global cooling

An interesting article in the globe that traces the history of global climate alarms back further than I knew about. Since the Globe puts it content behind a wall after 24 hours, I'll quote:

In 1902, the Los Angeles Times reported that the great glaciers were undergoing "their final annihilation" due to rising temperatures. But by 1923, it was the ice that was doing the annihilating: "Scientist says Arctic ice will wipe out Canada," the Chicago Tribune declared on Page 1. So it was curtains for the Canadians? Uh, not quite. In 1953, The New York Times announced that "nearly all the great ice sheets are in retreat." Yet no sooner did our neighbors to the north breathe a sigh of relief than it turned out they weren't off the hook after all: "The rapid advance of some glaciers," wrote Lowell Ponte in "The Cooling," his 1976 bestseller, "has threatened human settlements in Alaska, Iceland, Canada, China, and the Soviet Union." And now? "Arctic Ice Is Melting at Record Level, Scientists Say," the Times reported in 2002.

I knew about (slightly remembered even?) the global cooling thing in the seventies, but I didn't know about this see-sawing back and forth going back so far. Science aside, the message about humanity's instinct for doomsday strikes a chord with me. I have this pet theory about the continual existence of a hyped annihilation threat (from Judgement Day through nuclear war and now to global warming). I think there is a kind of genetic storyneed that goes hand in hand with religion: for one it really amps up our importance as a species if we see ourselves having the ability to wipe out the planet. Then this article touches on a distinction which I found interesting: that our chattering classes and leaders (political and religious) find doomsday a convenient way to get our attention. Absolutes make good campaign slogans and pass through word of mouth more quickly and thoroughly than messy reality; it makes them a natural tool for a thought leader (fuck i've been guilty of it on tourfilter with "never miss another show"). Scientists are also psyched to get their hands on an intractable problem that is said to threaten our survival - it's exhilirating work, which can last a lifetime ... i don't mean this to be a debate about global warming - fuck, maybe we're right this time - just about how armageddon seems to be somehow hardwired into our noosphere. Posted by marstall at December 25, 2006 11:11 PM