Global Warming: Is Mankind Really the Biggest Enemy of Earth?

As the debate on global warming rages on, one can not help but wonder, how much cause and affect, does man actually have on this huge issue? There are endless opinions available on the subject. In fact, it's getting to the point, where after attempting to digest them all (or as many as one can), it's almost impossible to have an objective opinion anymore. I wonder, is this just another example of the media trying to make us believe, we're well on our way to destroying the planet? There has been a lot more publicity on the environment in the last several years. People in general seem to be more sensitive to environmental concerns these days.

Besides the apparent rise in the earths mean temperature in the last 10 years, a lot can be said in regards to the natural disaster patterns also. We've seen the worst tsunami (at least in modern times) in Indonesia. The gulf coast of the United States has been battered by hurricanes at a much more torrid pace than usual. It seems as though the weather (not just temperature) cycles are different too. What does all that mean? Is mankind really the biggest enemy of earth? And if so, how much of all this are we responsible for? It seems as though there are many questions, and apparently a whole bunch of opinions also! With all the technology we possess, you might think the whole issue would be cut and dry. Yet, it seems the more technology we harness, the more confusing it becomes.

Or does it just appear that way, because along with that technology, comes even more avenues to get that information into our heads! Sometimes I am convinced, with all the information and our ability to communicate it, we have become a bunch of sponges that couldn't soak up another drop of water if our lives depended on it. Has our culture reached the point of saturation? At least where information is concerned? I guess probably not yet, not until every household on the planet has a computer with an internet connection! I think it is fair to say no matter what any of us believe, we can probably all agree (most of us) since the 20 century, or once the industrial revolution was in full swing, that mankind carries some blame, for at least a small portion of this issue.

But, if you look back at the history of our planet, and we have been able to determine a lot of that history in recent years, the earth itself has shown signs of major climate changes in it's past. Consider this, our planet has been around for a very, very long time. No matter how any of us believe the earth came into existence, the planet was here long before us. Long before we got here, there were climatic events that practically wiped out every living thing on the planet. Apparently the most simple forms of life were able to survive, thus life was able to continue when conditions improved. So the history of the earth proves there has always been climate changes (drastic ones), the biggest ones occurring long before man walked the planet. Certainly there is evidence that an asteroid or a comet crashed into our planet causing some of these changes in past history.

However, with or without such an event, the climate is constantly going to change, regardless of our existence or not. Surely this will be debated for a long time to come. But, debates or not, it's quite a stretch to think that man could be the biggest enemy of the earth, considering what we now know. Is it that mankind is truly destroying the earth?, or is that mankind is trying to control the climate! If man is trying to control climate change, it would be a very expensive test in futility. That would be equivalent to trying to control the sun with a dimmer switch mounted on your living room wall! Sure, we could discharge every nuclear weapon in the world, and probably kill every human being in the process. But, the earth would still be here. It might not be able to support life as we know it for a while, but it would still be here!

Every time the earth has gone through major climatic changes in it's past, the cycles eventually returned to normal. So is man truly that powerful? Yes, in a lot of ways mankind has much power, but in the end we pale in comparison to the earth and the forces that created it. Mankind must cherish our wonderful planet, and the life it affords us. Global warming and changes in our climate, for the most part, are probably a lot more out of our control than we think. Is mankind really the biggest enemy of earth?, or is mankind really the biggest enemy of himself?

The reality is, our climate is constantly changing, and to some degree always will be. In the end, we must learn to adapt to our planet, just as our planet is learning to adapt to us!