Or to put it another way…
Anthropogenic forcing (a quantitive change in a control parameter) of (our) the radiative balance (structure) will foster the tipping point (bifurcation) in our climate (an attractor).
Or to put it another way…
Industry Declares: “Hand Wringing As The Most Dangerous Part of Global Warming!”
In a well-lit hall, over a hundred media people settle into their chairs. Others adjust cameras and sound as latecomers step over twisted wires and auxiliary lights. On the bright stage, a well dressed young woman stands in front of black curtains, smiling, waving her hands at comrades while asking the media to quiet down. She speaks to the attendees.
“The once-accepted belief that global warming does not enhance hand wringing has come under review recently. We in the fossil fuels industry see that along with hand wringing comes, a decrease in the labor force, increased regulations, reductions in economic output, and a reluctance to spend income. As a result, the independent panel you see seated here before you suggests that hand wringing could easily be the worst byproduct of global warming…”
Surprisingly, a bulky young man in first row stands. “…Coupled with nonsensical research, idiotic deregulation on GHG emissions, population marginalization, storm mortality, sea level rise, despicable media propaganda, and deranged political posturing. Your panel proposes hand wringing as a key event of global warming. You people are a joke.” He stands defiantly as Security approaches on him.
“Hand wringing is an issue we in the fossil fuel industry consider worthy of your attention. Any other questions?” She immediately points to a different young man in a blue suit, then nods to Security.
“Can you comment on a deletion in your first draft of the report title “Enhanced Climate Chaos,” specifically the section that stated Tweet-storms are a key by-product of the chaos?” He watches as the first young man is escorted from the room by brown-shirted Security.
“That first panel of authors was corrected by our current set of researchers. No single Tweet-storm can be attributed to global warming.”
A journalist interrupts. “Isn’t this all more deflective nonsense meant to eviscerate science and redirect political will into blind alley?”
A fossilized insider on the stage rises from his seat and grabs the microphone. “Son, it’s not about baffling them with bullshit anymore. And while it is true, a climate of fear has always been a fading industry’s best tool for survival, given the new political climate that is even more so. Therefore the fossil fuels industry has decided to add a bit more chaos to its tool kit of misinformation. Outright lies, graft, spin, corruption, and greed lead to chaos anyway–but the simple fact is we have the country by the cajones…”
EDITORIAL NOTE:
–The word “cajones” was properly vetted and verified by INS, ICE, Homeland Security, three nut-cases from Texas, and a wishy-washy liberal from the east coast–
A young member of the dais–a newbie–speaks, seeking his time in the media-glare. “Science has been marginalized. Soon science will be nullified and vilified! A degenerate two-tier future is ours, like it or not. We wish only to prove that you and your Internet audience have a choice of either corrupt politicians in the pocket of corporate citizens or psychotic politicians–and here is the best part–all controlled by the same graft and fear. The name of the game is chaos! Where once you had elephants and donkeys, now you have snakes and jack-asses. Oh, and I want to stress that chaos is not caused by global warming. The climate always changes…” A cellphone rings. The speaker freezes, concern in his eyes. He turns and places a manicured hand over the microphone–to no purpose. Another voice detection system picks up his words when he speaks into his cellphone:
“…No R.T., we got this….No. Absolutely not. Okay, I will assure them it is not a directed assault on our democracy by the boardroom–it just happened…I know that Scotty is concerned. Tell him to talk to R.P. …I know he is an idiot–but that makes him our poster-child right?…Yes, I know what you think of him…Look, how about we say we are just eking out the last little bit of profit for a degenerate fossil fuels industry due to renewables? The media loves that one and the population deflects away from human forcing of the climate…Who cares about a national policy on renewables…Really? Then how about I say that we are cooperating corporations now–a global commune of corporate-citizens working on…Calm down, R.T., calm down. You’re right, sorry, wrong word…Okay I’ll take care of it. As soon as I can get off the horn with you…Yes, I remember this is the Information Age. Yes, I will tell them a massive amount of misinformation is to be expected…Yes, I know. Yes, I know to push that nationalism crap…Yes, I know we are here to push hand wringing as a national disaster. Yes–I got it–anything else? Okay, gotta’ go.”
His hand moves from the microphone unaware of his gaffe. The room is silent, waiting for his words. “Media is our bulwark against falsehoods. Attributing hand wringing to global warming is our attempt to show you that the fossil fuel industry cares about you, America. To prove it we will fund research through Heritage, Enterprise, and the rest of our impressive group of researchers to help you through the hand wringing crisis. We will also enlist our friends in mass media, the go-to-trusted-source for facts and information. That is you people here today. The country is in the very best of hands. You can have confidence in us when we say hand wringing must be a national priority.” He points to man rushing down the aisle. “What the heck is that?”
There’s a protestor in the wings. “Bullshit. Our major media outlets are the posterior announcements of your gaseous lies. The effluent of a bloated corrupt system. Your mass media system leaves our population with no reliable foundation of information on the climate, on the nation, or on the economy. The media could help reverse the trend if the mass media were not platforms of deceit, propaganda outlets. Whores for the owners of the media companies wishing to declare information as a falsehood and misinformation as a fact–” Security descends on this protestor as well, but another soul stands across the hall.
“Tacit approval of corporate-citizens betraying of our nation breeds defeat. The citizenry must not excuse a leadership that seeks personal comfort over responsibility. Don’t be lulled into inactivity in the face of criminal corruption. No matter what they tell you–it was not always this way! Consider their continued barrage that too much action leads to disaster. Can you say fascism? All around us is so much BS my fellow citizens are at a loss to decide where we should put our trust and support. Why don’t our nation’s legislators craft a bill forcing ‘News Outlets’ to tell the truth at all times when reporting events? It would help us…” Her voice is a grunt of pain. Twin wires stick from her back. Security contractors drag her limp body away. The conference descends into uncontrollable chaos.
(We’re almost to the philosophy part. Thank goodness. Societal decay is so depressing…)
Another person rushes the dais grabbing a microphone. “What is true now? We The People have no reliable tools to address substantial questions. This is a key issue we face as citizens of this country. Where are the trustworthy informational tools the population can use to help make them better citizens and our country stronger? What is a better citizen? First of all, a citizen is one who breathes. One who has truth, facts, loyalty to the nation and uses them in their decision process for the betterment of the nation. Trustworthy has been taken from the human population by corporate-citizens seeking only corporate growth and profit…” Security drags this man to the floor.
A fourth person stands in the audience. “Demand truth. Demand our leadership act like responsible adults.”
And so forth…
(Finally, some philosophy, I’ll make it short. 62 words, 344 characters–with spaces)
The bizarre actions we see around us are not distinct from the over-energized climate; rather, our bizarre actions are proof we are part of the climate system, and we are approaching more chaos than we can afford. Consider your attachment to our planet, and our place in its systems. See that we can be both small and powerful at the same time.
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