Sunday, May 8, 2011

Earthquakes & Global Warming in this Little Shop of Horrors!

In a follow up to my article yesterday about today's sorry state of affairs whereby most adults are unable to critically read or judge information by use of analytical reasoning what they see / hear in the mass media. I'd like to expand upon that by posting and commenting on this completely ridiculous article that I stumbled upon soon after the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami and subsequent Fukushima nuclear accident.
LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS
You'd think it would be just too completely insane and outrageous to try to link the natural disaster in northern Japan with Man-Made Global Warming (AGW) but this guy tries to do it. 


He is a miserable failure.


Actually, this is funny... Well.... it would be funny excepting far too many people will believe this to be true.


Alternet (a supposedly reputable "Alternative Internet publication" that actually still supports idiocy like AGW) reports that Man-Made Global Warming is causing these earthquakes since 10 million years ago. Gee, I didn't know that man was causing AGW 10 million years ago. Heck, I didn't even know man had cars and factories 10 million years ago. Just goes to show what great "science" you can learn from publication like Alternet:

"... scientists have for the first time released a study that indicates that man made changes to our climate are also quite probably effecting the movement of tectonic plates around the globe as well. The implications of their research are far ranging as well as frightening:

An Australian-led team of researchers from France and Germany found that the strengthening Indian monsoon had accelerated movement of the Indian plate over the past 10 million years by a factor of about 20 percent.


Read that again.  It says, "the strengthening Indian monsoon had accelerated movement of the Indian plate over the past 10 million years by a factor of about 20 percent." You call that frightening? Did you know the sun will burnout in about 4.57 billions years? Now that's scary! 


This scientist that they base this sensationalist nonsense also adds (in another article):



"Laffaldano stressed that his study did not mean that global warming would translate to stronger earthquakes happening more often, with the relevant patterns developing over "the order of millions of years."
"Of course earthquakes do occur at the boundaries between plates because of plate motions, but our work doesn't imply at all that we will see an increase in these types of events," he told AFP.

Gee.... Well, what does that mean? He just said 10 million years in the previous paragraph. That's a long time too.  Homo sapiens (that's us - in spite of your sexual preferences) didn't even appear on earth until about 120,000 years ago. How could anyone equate that with AGW? I mean, how could anyone with a brain larger than half a peanut equate that with AGW? 


Logically, I don't know. But the writer of this article tries to do it. 
Millions of years running fossil fuel guzzlers like this 150 million year B.C. Dino model has raped the environment and destroyed the landscape. Is it too late to reverse the Global Warming damage we've done? Many scientists say it is, "Yabba dabba doo?"


The article continues:
Lead researcher Giampiero Iaffaldano (sic) said Wednesday that although scientists have long known that tectonic movements influence climate by creating new mountains and sea trenches, his study was the first to show the reverse.


And where, pray tell is this guy's evidence? Not to be found in the article at all. The writer continues with this idiocy:
I am no scientist, but many scientists have been telling us that the changes we see are now locked in and will occur even if we ended all carbon, methane and other greenhouse gases today. 


Nope. You are right. As for the first point, no argument there. You are no scientist. You are also definitely not trained well enough to be a decent reporter who checks facts either. Many scientists have been telling us!? Oh, really? Like who, may I ask? Mr. Giampiero Laffaldano? No, he hasn't. In fact, upon checking, it looks like you, Mr. Writer (who is only named as "Steven D" on the credits - no wonder!) have been taking Mr. Laffaldano's research way out of context. Shame on you! Not only are you a crap writer, Steven D., you are dishonest too... No wonder you are too embarrassed or ashamed to put your real name on such drivel! 


In his report about this very same subject, that you are quoting, Mr. Laffaldano, says nothing about AGW. He only speaks about long term climate change in the terms of millions of years. I already pointed out that us humanoids have only been here for about 120,000. There's a pretty hefty difference between 120,000 and tens of millions... But hey! What's a few coins change amongst friends, right, Stevie? Here is a direct quote from Mr. Giampiero Laffaldano's own report



“The 100km-thick outer shell of Earth, the lithosphere, is divided into pieces called tectonic plates. Plates move in different directions at speeds in the order of centimetres per year, comparable to the speed of fingernail growth in humans.
“The significance of this finding lies in recognising for the first time that long-term climate changes have the potential to act as a force and influence the motion of tectonic plates," said Iaffaldano.
"It is known that certain geologic events caused by plate motions – for example the drift of continents, the closure of ocean basins and the building of large mountain belts – have the ability to influence climate patterns over a period of a million years.
"Now we know that the opposite holds as well: long-term climate change, or the natural changes in climate patterns over millions of years, can modify the motion of plates in a feedback mechanism.” 


Steven D., the writer of this tripe then goes on to say,


"We are now only at a point where the only valid debate the extent of the damage (sic) that will occur to life on this planet if we can end or do not curb greenhouse gas emissions and other human activities that are driving climate change."


We are now at the point "where the only valid debate the extent of the damage"? Atrocious writing. Simply terrible. Does Stevie mean, "Where the only valid debate is the extent of the damage?" or "Where only the valid debate the extent of the damage?" 'Valid,' in this case, I suppose, would be meaning the people 'who are qualified and not nuts.' I think. This sentence is so poorly written that I have a hard time understanding what the writer really wants to say.


The reason I am not sure what this clown, Steve D., wants to say is that, like yesterday's posting showed, here is another person who fails miserably at the basic skill of critical reading and analytical reasoning. This sort of article is laughable. No wonder he doesn't sign his name.


Too bad far too many people read this nonsense and believe it without examining it for faults and poor reasoning.


Seriously. How embarrassing.... Embarrassing for the writer and the gullible reader both. The writer can't be helped. But at least he's smart enough to know to hide his identity and lock the door when he writes this science fiction tripe. Too bad there will be far too may readers (one is too many) who will read this crock and use it as evidence of AGW. Pathetic. Really.
LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS TRAILER (1986)

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