In today’s NASA/JPL newsletter they write about an article that will appear in the journal Science which states:

“the changes to Greenland’s glaciers in the past decade are widespread, large and sustained over time. They are progressively affecting the entire ice sheet and increasing its contribution to global sea level rise.”

That’s no big shocker. I’ve read numerous reports that all conclude the same thing. This is just another drop in the bucket - pun intended.

Lets skip the debate over the causes, or even existence of global warming, for just a moment. There is no denying that the media is paying closer attention and writing more and more about it. That influences our perceptions no matter what we think is the cause. If you believe that global warming is real and has anthropogenic roots then these stories just add fuel to the fire - gosh, is that another pun?

If you believe that this is just a temporary phase that the climate is going through or perhaps even that this is some sort of global environmentalists conspiracy, then the increase in reporting, again, enhances your preconceptions.

While in college my focus in philosophy was epistemology: the study of knowledge (read more about episemology at Wikipedia.). Of course I’m interested in what people believe but more interested in why they believe the things they do.

So what do you believe and why?

I myself believe that global warming is a real trend and caused by humans. Beyond that I hope both cases are true. Now I’m wondering - and maybe you are to - why I would hope such a thing. If global warming is really happening then it will undoubtedly cause a great deal of tumult around the world. Of course I feel that my hopes are independent of reality so my hoping will not directly affect anyone. I still do my part to conserve, not that I think it will do any good.

Bottom line is that I’ve always felt that stagnation is boring and change - the more the better - is eventually a good thing. I’m really looking forward to seeing how all this turns out.