Is the Time for Skepticism Over?

In the latest issue of Time, one of the most ominous Special Reports on the Environment was featured. As you can see, we are being asked to be worried, be very worried. Alarmists have been raising red flags of environmental doom for years, and their have been many of those so-called Cooler Heads (Global Warming-Cooler Heads, grow up...) that have been there calling those Alarmists...well, Alarmists. Yet, in this issue of Time, there is no ambiguity. Global Warming is real and it is man-made and it is happening faster than anyone could have predicted. This in an of itself is nothing new; however, what is new is the bold suggestion that the debate over the past five years is over, and that the scientific community is no longer conflicted over whether or not Global Warming is happening, but what can we do (if anything) about it. Recent Congressional Hearings, have invited industry leaders such as Wal-Mart, Dow, BP and the like to voice their concerns and/or find out how they can a) contribute to the solution b) stay out of trouble. Much blogspace has been devoted to the Kyoto Protocol and our continual rejection of it. This issue though I think relevant, is not the biggest problem in US Environmental policy. To be honest, I have no idea what it is. Science, up until quite recently, was always viewed as an almost mystical source of knowledge. The conclusions of "hard" science were indisputable, and were taken to be true sans reflection. Yet, it should be clear to all, and should have always been clear, that Science just like every other field of endeavor is susceptible to human subjectivity and contingency. I have been vainly attempting to do my own research on this issue, and I find that wherever I go the science is always overwhelmed by terrorizing propaganda, on both sides of the Global Warming Issue. Each side is marshaling data, studies, and rhetorical strategies not to discover the truth, but in order to combat the other side's lies. It is frustrating to read. It seems that this issue, if legitimate, could signal a watershed moment in Human History. It could also spell the beginning of the end of the human race on planet Earth. Yet, so many are hung up on these ridiculous binary distinctions, of right and left, Republican and Democrat, and employ such childish rhetoric in order to make a point. The point is, the more we focus on the "Global Warming Debate" and the less we focus on what is actually happening on our Pale Blue Dot, the more people become alienated and disillusioned (at best) or the closer we get to sowing the seeds of our own destruction (at worst). I would like to believe that a reasonably reputable magazine such as Time would not present such a sensational, shocking report without being fairly confident about the conclusions it draws. But so little research is presented without having some blatantly biased agenda. We live in a Culture of Fear, a society that is kept in paralysis through our own paranoia. God is coming, the Devil is Coming, Terrorists are coming, Global Warming is coming, the liberals are destroying our way of life, the neocons want to destroy us.

I think the time for Skepticism is just beginning...