Global warming, Doomsday vault, and the falling sky
An ancient Chinese fable story tells about a man from Qi who was worried about falling sky and sinking earth. His friend came to calm him, and told him that the sky is nothing but air and needn't to worry about. But the Qi man still was worried and asked what about the sun, the moon and the stars falling from the sky if the sky is nothing but air. Then his friend explained that those celestial bodies are only twinkling objects of air. Even if they fall, they won't hurt anybody. But the Qi man were still worried about sinking earth. His friend gave him similar false explanation that the earth just solid blocks of earth which filled up all spaces, there are no empty spaces, even if you stamp your feet on the ground all day the earth will not sink. Then the Qi man stopped worrying and became happy again.
(http://www.chinapage.com/story/skyfalling.html)
I don't know if there's any Western People who had similar concerns, but I do know there was a Little Chicken who did. One day Chicken Little was walking in the woods when an acorn fell on her head, then she thought that the sky was falling. He hurried back from the wood and wanted to tell the King. On the way to palace, he met Henny Penny, Cocky Pocky, Goosy Poosey, and at last the sly Foxy Woxy. The King's dog saved him from becoming Foxy Woxy's lunch and rewarded him an umbrella for telling the king about falling sky.
(http://www.geocities.com/mjloundy/)
You may laugh at that foolish Qi man or the silly Chicken Little. But when you seriously talking about Global Warming, the other Big Issue, have you ever realized that you are as foolish as the Qi man or Chicken Little?
Scientists and researchers in the 2008 International Conference on Climate Change (NY.) published a "Manhattan Declaration on Climate Change." In this declaration, they are"affirming that global climate has always changed and always will, independent of the actions of humans, and that carbon dioxide (CO2) is not a pollutant but rather a necessity for all life;" and they "recommend that world leaders should reject the views expressed by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as well as popular, but misguided works such as ‘An Inconvenient Truth.'" "That all taxes, regulations, and other interventions intended to reduce emissions of CO2 be abandoned forthwith."
(http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=22866)
Now what? We are normal people, which "scientists and researchers" advice shall we follow? Who is the man of Qi, people in the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change or the scientists and researchers in the 2008 International Conference on Climate Change ? Or we are the man of Qi who are worried by some scientists' false alarming warning and relieved and became happy again by another group of scientists' advice?
It's reported that a "Doomsday vault" opened last week in the arctic to preserve crops in the face of Climate change, war and natural disasters. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is intended as a back-up to the network of seed banks around the world which store, grow and replenish thousands of varieties of crops. A quarter of a million samples - totalling around 10 million seeds from virtually every country in the world were carried deep into the mountain in Svalbard to the north of mainland Norway.
If Noah comes back and declares there will be a big flood on earth tomorrow, shall we listen to him and make an Ark to preserve animals and our own lives?
