After reading Collapse (by Jared Diamond), I felt as though my understanding of humanity took a quantum leap. His profound question, "What was the man thinking as he cut down the last tree on Easter Island? It comes down to the nature of creeping change, the boiling frog scenario. Environmental degradation has taken down so many societies, but rarely has humankind had so much foreknowledge. Simple- minded people will try to argue that a dip in average temperature somewhere in the world is evidence that climate change is a hoax. A better informed person knows that the model for future climate change has long predicted cooling in some areas and warming in others prior to a tiping point. Oh su...

After reading Collapse (by Jared Diamond), I felt as though my understanding of humanity took a quantum leap. His profound question, "What was the man thinking as he cut down the last tree on Easter Island? It comes down to the nature of creeping change, the boiling frog scenario. Environmental degradation has taken down so many societies, but rarely has humankind had so much foreknowledge. Simple- minded people will try to argue that a dip in average temperature somewhere in the world is evidence that climate change is a hoax. A better informed person knows that the model for future climate change has long predicted cooling in some areas and warming in others prior to a tiping point. Oh sure, the world is just going to get to some tipping point and then doom mock the deniers. They seem unaware that rapid and dramatic shifts in the direction and path of the oceanic conveyer belt, a worldwide current of water that flows through our oceans and regulates climate, is altered by such issues as melting Arctic ice changing the salt concentration of the ocean, a change associated with historic swings in climate. Has anyone studied the Year without a Summer (1815)? Something as simple as a major volcano ashing up the skies made the temps dip worldwide, majorly affecting the outcome of the War of 1812, and providing snow year-round. The greater issues are salinization of the soil and desertification. Anyway, some past societies managed to pull it out in time. Eternally hopeful...