A gentleman I met at Heartland’s great New York conference in March sends a heartbreakingly hilarious account of an event hosted this weekend by the San Diego Zoo, obviously intended less to inform than absurdly alarm. Enjoy this excerpt from his email:
Here is a summary of speaker topics:
Here is their press release following the event:
All the speakers accepted as fact the theory of manmade global warming and its predicted dire consequences. Further, they all urged actions to attempt to change the world’s temperature. My impression is that the entire audience of about 200 concurred. I was the lone exception.
Here are a few of my questions and the speakers’ answers:
George Durner, Senior Polar Bear Researcher, U.S. Geological Survey, Alaska Science Center. Mr. Durner explained how the earth has experienced “unprecedented heating” during the past 50 years as a result of CO2 in the atmosphere from man’s use of fossil fuels. He went on to describe how polar bears may become extinct due to mankind’s abuse of the environment.
I asked Mr. Durner what has happened to the worldwide population of polar bears during the 50 year period leading up to his calamitous warning of the demise of polar bears.
Mr. Durner admitted that the polar bear population had doubled during the last 50 years.JoAnne Simerson, Senior Animal Keeper, Polar Bear Researcher, San Diego Zoo.
Ms. Simerson showed graphics and a video of Arctic ice melting, and likewise argued that manmade global warming is melting the ice and destroying the polar bear habitat — and if we don’t heed the urgent call to change world temperature, polar bears may become extinct.
I asked Ms. Simerson if there were any theories other than manmade global warming that may help us understand what is happening to the Arctic ice.
Ms. Simerson replied that she was not a climatologist and only intended to show us the polar bear pictures she had taken.
Terrie Williams, Ph.D., Professor of Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz.
Dr. Williams discussed the disastrous effects manmade global warming has on mammals. One example: African lions have been observed to be more lethargic because it is necessary for them to roam further in hunting, as their habitat is being wiped out because of man’s use of fossil fuels. Dr. Williams concluded her presentation with pictures and a sad story of a seal she saw in Antarctica. She explained that the seal became disconnected from its normal habitat when large blocks of ice unnaturally broke off, prevented the seal from getting to its food source. The presentation concluded with a picture of the seal frozen and dead.
I asked Dr. Williams if it was true that the earth had warmed about one degree Fahrenheit during the last 100 years. She agreed. I then asked if I understood correctly the essence of her presentation. Are we to understand that all the problems to mammals she had described are directly attributable to that portion of the one degree Fahrenheit over the last 100 years that is the manmade part? In other words, it is some fraction of one degree Fahrenheit over 100 years?
She answered yes.