2. Let's say for a moment that the current warming trend (if it does exist) is entirely due to natural phenomena. What is the downside to reducing carbon/CO2 emissions? Is there a downside other than economic change?
Thundering silence, eh Kim? That's exactly the same reaction I got when I posed the same question the last time we went around this issue. The reason is simple. It's inconvenient. Dealing with our inability to live in a sustainable manner is the largest moral/ethical issue our species has ever faced. But human exceptionalism--our belief that we are somehow the apex of all living things--gives us a deep seated belief that something will come along and save us, no matter how stupidly we behave. MC P.S. I'm sick of the snow. If it ever clears up, maybe we can get back to astronomy. I'm sick of this topic on this list, and I doubt anyone is going to be swayed by anything anyone says.