2007-07-08

The End Result?

I'm sure that many tuned in to the Live Earth concert like many had tuned in to the Live 8 concert a couple of years ago. This time, instead of poverty, it was about the climate and raising awareness about global warming and the little things each of us can do to help reduce our consumption and waste. I suppose it's because poverty was already done and...well...that project didn't do much to the state of poverty, in the end.

I'm sure that the message in Live Earth got to a few, but most were probably only interested in the entertainment. Live 8 stood a better chance at success than Live Earth. I mean there's only so well that a message touching on over-consumption of resources can do when it is presented through a vast consumption of said resources and delivered by people who very likely use far more than the average person. But remember, the important thing wasn't the environment, but the entertainment. Forgive me while I roll my eyes and laugh at the whole thing.

Looking at the Wikipedia article, you can see just how much Live Earth cost us, if we listen to the Global Warming doomsday speeches:

The estimated carbon footprint of the event "at least 31, 500 tonnes"; further estimate places the need of 100, 000 planted trees to offset the carbon emissions
All together, performers flew around 222, 623 miles to attend the event; this does not include everyone else required to pull off the performance
People were so touched by the message in Live Earth that thousands of plastic cups were left lying around of Wembley Stadium alone. How much other trash was left lying around everywhere else these concerts were held? If I can find the time to dig around some more, I'll expand on this.
After their show, Razorlight went via tour bus with police escort to get on a private jet to Scotland, then a helicopter to Balado for additional performances.

I'm really going to listen about Global Warming from big fancy artists who ride in private jets and empty tour buses, preaching about how we should all cut down on our own travel pollution by, say, taking one car instead of two. Right. We need to cut down so they can enjoy their private jets and tour buses instead of a second car for a 4 member family meeting up at a weekend cottage. Makes me want to gag.

So, yeah, I'm sure it reached some...very few...poor souls. But I think it was the biggest waste and flop I have seen in a long time. I'm still not even sure how valid the message is. Right now, the Global Warming movement seems to be the next big money holder, so it's getting a lot of attention. Just like tobacco. Just like oil. Just like countless other things. Doesn't make it any more true than they were. I started off really concerned about where things were going. I fell in with someone who lets out loud outraged cries about Global Warming and is hell bent on creating his own little utopia of "elite" people (and THAT is a whole other can of worms). The most he did was open my eyes to a lot of things. Gave me some direction to support his own research, not figuring that I'd find something else and start to question what's being shoved down everyone's throats these days.

Yeah sure, Global Warming is real. It's happened time and again throughout the course of history. They even show that in "An Inconvenient Truth". And proceed to yell doomsday at everyone about how current numbers are off the charts and so much higher than past numbers. Without a warming of the globe, there can never be ice ages. It's common sense. So yes, it's happening. I don't think that's the issue, actually. The issue they push and that everyone seems to miss is how quickly it's happening. Supposedly much faster than any time previously. I don't even think that's as big a deal as it's being made out to be. But then, I'm a misanthrope and I don't think humans are all that we like to think we are. Life will continue to move forward, whether or not we are a part of it. And honestly, I think we fail as a natural species.

However, I don't think that global warming is all that publicity and big power-seeking figures are currently saying it is. Yeah, we're getting a little warmer. Read the little guy news once in a while. Ignore the big headlines and look at what's underneath them. Here are a couple of old articles I read and never found time to finish researching and writing about (those works for this blog are still in progress...just very slow progress):
Earth's Magnetic Field Weakens 10 Percent
When North Becomes South: New Clues to Earth's Magnetic Flip-Flops

Now, Mr. Smith ranted and raved at me about how bad it was that winter where I was living was so abnormally warm and mild. Granted, it was weird and caused a lot of worry about what the summer would be like for us. He used this to support his own doomsday plans. What gets me about all of that is the fact that it was abnormally cold where he was and they were getting a lot of snow, when they usually get next to none. You hear about this all across Canada and the States. In the news, they constantly show the record highs. I told you that Global Warming was the next big money holder. What they don't show is that beside these record highs in places that are generally colder, there are record lows in places that are generally warmer. I don't mean all-time records, but records like, "we haven't seen temperatures this high/low in _____ years." This is what is plastered all over the news. Well, the highs are. They ignore the lows because that would raise questions about the whole Global Warming outcry that's been picking up momentum.

My research is incomplete. I've been really busy trying to pull my own life together since September and haven't had nearly as much time as I'd like to continue the work I started with this blog. But...those two articles I linked above this section make sense to me in light of this. It makes sense that if the magnetic poles are indeed flipping around, then the climate would as well. It doesn't make so much sense to me that we are experiencing a warming of the Earth but yet some places are getting colder. On the whole, temperatures seem to be climbing a little, but not nearly so much as is being preached on the news. Take everything you hear with a grain of salt and form your own opinions based on your own experiences. Somewhere in there is the truth.

Remember what I said about the fact that I experienced a winter that was warmer than was usual for this city? And how we were all worried about the summer? Well, so far, the summer is about about 10 to 15 degrees C colder than it was when I visited last year around the same time. It's rather scorching at times and the grass is having trouble staying alive, but it's cooler than it was and cooler than the winter predicted. It also can't make up it's mind. One day, we are near 30 or 40 C and the next we are under 20, or, even more dramatically, under 10. All in all, I find the Global Warming cookie a little tough to swallow right now. Though I wouldn't say it is without concern or basis. I think it's very real...I'm just unsure how much is true and accurate.

As to Live Earth, we'll see if Razorlight plants those trees that will offset the emissions from their travel during the event ;)