October 28, 2005
DiCaprio on the Global Warming Threat
Leonardo DiCaprio is the latest actor/celebrity to graduate with honors from the Hollywood University of Scientific Hogwash (HUSH). DiCaprio, with his extensive knowledge of weather patterns, geologic history and Starbucks Frappucinos, was on the Oprah Winfrey show yesterday:
The actor stated, "Global warming is not only the number one environmental issue that we're facing today, but one of the most important issues facing all of humanity.
"We're in a situation right now where we're basically emitting too much of this carbon pollution from our cars and our electric power plants that burn coal into the atmosphere, and it's causing our planet to heat up."
Winfrey then fawned over DiCaprio, likening him to Noah warning of the upcoming flood. Perhaps comparing him to Chicken Little would be more appropriate.
See, the whole global warming theory is one that is surrounded in a great deal of controversy. Some believe that the theory of global warming is a result of junk science. In fact, my pal Joe over at Geosciblog has written about the global warming phenomenon from a geologist's perspective.
Let's face it: we really don't know enough about the warming and cooling trends of the Earth to know if our consumption of fossil fuels is really causing major problems. I'm not suggesting that we shouldn't try to curb our use of fossil fuels and that we shouldn't be looking for other fuel alternatives. I do think that panicking over a trend we don't really know enough about is foolish.
And having know-nothings like Leonardo DiCaprio lecture us on the state of the world at large because he's taken up a "cause" like all other dutiful Hollywooders is obnoxious in the extreme. (From an "unofficial" biography: Leo was educated at the Center for Enriched Studies and John Marshall High School, both in LA. He often cheated in school (especially in math), and seemed more interested in entertaining his classmates than in doing his homework. "School, I never truly got the knack of. I could never focus on things I didn't want to learn. I used to, like, take half of the school and do break-dancing skits with my friend in front of them at lunchtime.")
Stick to entertaining, Leo, and leave the science to the big boys.
Show Comments »
This is such a silly issue. Every high school science student can tell you that a "theory" is just that - an assumption/conclusion, which has not been proven. When a theory is proven it becomes a law (i.e. law of gravity, Newton's third law of motion, etc.)
I have a theory that moon men sneak into my house at night and steal one sock out of every pair in my dresser drawer. Nice theory, but try to prove it (although my 9-year old would believe it). If yo repeat a theory often enough, people come to accept it as fact. It's BS.
The two major fallacies that this "theory" is based on are 1) the "phenomenon" of global warming is caused by human activity and 2) that this "phenomenon" is unique to this part in history. Surface tempuratures have risen and fallen by fractions of a degree in a cyclical manner ever since they started recording them (and no doubt before as well).
I have a copy of an article that appeared in Newsweek in 1975 warning about "global cooling" and the in a generation or two we would be experiencing a second ice age. What rot!
Posted by: Gary at October 28, 2005 04:48 PM
