Global Warming and the Future of Humanity: An Interview With Noam Chomsky and Graciela Chichilnisky
Actvism Munich Editorial Pick of the Day: Truthout
"Global Warming and the Future of Humanity: An Interview With Noam Chomsky and Graciela Chichilnisky"
Notable excerpts from the Article:
Noam Chomsky
- " As for climate change, it's by now widely accepted by the
scientific community that we have entered a new geological era, the
Anthropocene, in which the Earth's climate is being radically modified
by human action, creating a very different planet, one that may not be
able to sustain organized human life in anything like a form we would
want to tolerate. There is good reason to believe that we have already
entered the Sixth Extinction, a period of destruction of species on a
massive scale, comparable to the Fifth Extinction 65 million years ago,
when three-quarters of the species on earth were destroyed, apparently
by a huge asteroid. Atmospheric CO2 is rising at a rate unprecedented in
the geological record since 55 million years ago. There is concern --
to quote a statement by 150 distinguished scientists -- that "global
warming, amplified by feedbacks from polar ice melt, methane release
from permafrost, and extensive fires, may become irreversible," with
catastrophic consequences for life on Earth, humans included -- and not
in the distant future. Sea level rise and destruction of water resources
as glaciers melt alone may have horrendous human consequences."
Graciela Chichilnisky
- "Climate change is new and complex. We don't have all the answers. We
are still learning how exactly the Earth reacts to increased CO2 and
other greenhouse gases. We know it leads to warming seas which are
melting the North and the South Poles, rising and starting to swallow
entire coastal areas in the US and elsewhere, as the New York Times
article documents. We know that the warming rising seas will swallow
entire island nations that are about 25 percent of the UN vote and
perhaps at the end, even our civilization. This realization is traumatic
and the first reaction to trauma is denial. Since there is some
remaining scientific uncertainty, a natural response is to deny that
change is occurring. This is natural but it is very dangerous. Signs of a
poorly understood but treatable house fire requires action, not
inaction. While denial leads to certainty, it is only the certainty of
death. This is true for individuals and also for civilizations."
TheEarth's climate is being radically modified by human action, creating a
very different planet, one that may not be able to sustain organized
human life in anything like a form we would want to tolerate. (Photo: Asia Development Bank / Flickr)
