[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]

Re: Human vs. natural influences on the environment



John McCarthy (jmc@Steam.stanford.edu) wrote:
: In article <IZW8oS9cpoND069yn@teleport.com> kowens@teleport.com (Jeff Owens) writes:
:  > "By September 1979, all important life in the sea was extinct. 
:  > Large areas of coastline had to be evacuated...  A pretty grim 
:  > scenario. Unfortunately were a long way into it already...based 
:  > on projections of trends already appearing..."
:  >    - Paul Ehrilich, Environmental Handbook, 1970, pp 174
:  
:  OK, the world is full of bad predictions.  Our interest should
:  be to look at the facts and decide if todays predictions are
:  based on good science or immature science.  The best way to do
:  that is to discuss todays science and the recommendations by
:  a consensus.  Why introduce radical views or obsolete views
:  just to create a villain.
:  
: Ehrlich's obsolete views are worth quoting because he is still
: recognized as an authority.  Only last year he received the $350,000
: Heinz prize for his writings on population and environment.

: He continues with predictions of doom, although less flamboyantly than
: when he was younger.
: -- 
: John McCarthy, Computer Science Department, Stanford, CA 94305
: *
: He who refuses to do arithmetic is doomed to talk nonsense.
: http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/progress/
It's sort of nitpicky saying things like, well look at that, he was wrong
particularly when there have been massive changes in environmental protection
since 1970, particularly when environmental castrophes have occurred, like
depletion of fisheries, degradation of water quality for several large
metropolitan areas (D.C. comes to mind).  The Chesapeak Bay totters on the
brink of becoming the world's largest dead marine estuary, several species
of salmon are also on the brink of extinction on the west coast due to 
habitat destruction and dams.  These are well known consequences of pollution. 
There are other possible consequences that are more controversial, such as
global warming, ozone destruction, and loss of fertility due to the presence
in the environment of hormone like chemicals released through human 
activity.  Dismissing them out of hand is pure foolishness in light of
the catastrophes that I mentioned.n 



References: