A couple of weeks ago I received an email, just now read, that caught my eye. I shall reproduce the important part and summarize the balance:<\/p>\n
50 Pics That Sum Up The Hell On Earth That Is Taking Place In Australia<\/p>\n
One of the prima donna actresses in the big awards show was running her mouth off about this being caused by Climate Change. They never pass up a chance to run their mouth. The last I heard they had arrested 43 arsonists responsible for this carnage. If ever there was a reason for public executions this would be it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Followed by numerous heart-rending pictures.<\/p>\n
Notice how nonchalantly climate change is dismissed. This sleight-of-hand paragraph evokes the natural emotional response to Hell, the loathing the conservative has for those darn Hollywood liberals, associates climate change with that loathing, reinforces it, then provides a replacement, and far more immediate, reason for the wildfires, and then seals the deal with a reference to public executions.<\/p>\n
The problem, of course, is that the replacement wildfire origin doesn’t work as a dismissal of climate change, now does it? Sure, arsonists start fires. But do most fires run rampant like this?<\/p>\n
No.<\/p>\n
They need an environment that is tinder-dry. This paragraph doesn’t provide the context that Australia has been hotter every summer for years, and that drought has been a problem – and it’s quite plausible, if not proven, to conclude that a chronic pattern such as that could be driven by climate change.<\/p>\n
It’s interesting how emotion is used to invoked “common sense”, often associated with rationality, in an attempt to discredit a scientifically accepted fact. It really leaves the observer wondering what the author of this missive thinks will be the final result if they are successful – do they really think that this is all a hoax?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A couple of weeks ago I received an email, just now read, that caught my eye. I shall reproduce the important part and summarize the balance: 50 Pics That Sum Up The Hell On Earth That Is Taking Place In Australia One of the prima donna actresses in the big \u2026 Continue reading