I’m one of those people who really enjoy spending time in the outdoors. I hike, backpack, camp and am ready to try anything else that is fun to do outside. I’ve been doing this for a few decades. Over time I’ve noticed changes happening in the outdoors. It’s not so much the outdoors as it is the people you find in the outdoors.
When I was younger people hiking in the woods were excited to be there. The backpacks and tents were canvas and were heavy. Food was in cans and was heavy. You either had to be very strong or not go too far from resupply points to hike. Spending time in the woods required a level of dedication. Over the years the equipment has gotten lighter. Dehydrated food has become more plentiful to all who are willing to buy it. As a result you now see people roaming around in the woods who wouldn’t have left the edge of their town a few decades ago.
There are people who go into the woods now who have gained all their outdoor knowledge from the internet. These are people who feel their computer gained knowledge is better than real world experience. Unfortunately they’ve put so much faith into what they learned in the cyber world they can’t comprehend it just may be wrong.
When I was backpacking this year I heard the sound of jingle bells behind me. I was shocked that Santa would be visiting a backpacking trail miles away from the nearest town. It appears a young man was wearing jingle bells so he could be heard by bears in the woods and wouldn’t surprise them. I asked him how he learned about this and he told me he’d read about it on an online nature magazine. I tried to explain on a well traveled trail bears avoid people and can hear you, smell you long before you get near. I suggested if he’s nervous he could always just whistle. He looked at me and asked why it would be online if it wasn’t something he should do. I was then going to try and sell him a one of a kind rock that was on the ground near my foot but resisted the temptation.
With this type of experience I should not have been shocked by certain people’s reaction to the theory of man-made global warming. When I was growing up there were studies that showed we were headed for global cooling. This was a time before the internet and most of us figured we had winter clothes so it probably wasn’t a big deal.
There were studies about man-made global warming for years before Al Gore decided to exploit it for fame and fortune. When his movie “An Inconvenient Truth” came out there were people who took it as fact. The government told universities if you want millions in grant money you have to be willing to find there is such a thing as man-made global warming so we can continue to give you millions of dollars in grant money. Universities opened their arms wide, took all the cash and told the government not to worry.
Freaking out about man-made global warming soon became quite popular. Governments around the world saw an opportunity to scare people and take more of their money. They let their citizens know it was to save the planet and protect them against corporate evil. Of course Hollywood gave Al Gore an Oscar for his movie. This proves a documentary doesn’t have to be based in truth for Hollywood to like it. Al Gore also won a Nobel peace prize which proves such a prize isn’t based on reality but whatever gives the Nobel peace prize committee the best feelings.
The most amazing aspect of the climate debate are the scientists whose research shows the climate may be changing but man is not the cause, they have been vilified. Reports were published that demonstrated the idea of man doing anything to destroy the planet tended to make the earth burst into uncontrollable laughter. There was such an insane frenzy about man-made global warming that truth and reality were lost. People with empty lives who needed a noble cause such as saving the planet refused to listen to reason. What they were saving the planet from was not important to most of them.
“We’ve got to save the planet from vile, evil corporations that make my computers, clothes and favorite car but cause global warming.”
“Emails leaked from East Anglia University show global warming data was manipulated.”
“Yeah, yeah so what.”
“A court in the United Kingdom said Al Gore’s movie contained at least 11 falsehoods and refused to show it to schoolchildren unless those falsehoods were stated first.”
“The next thing you’ll tell me is that polar bears are not in trouble from man-made global warming melting the ice.”
“The scientist who wrote the paper about global warming hurting the polar bear is being investigated for scientific misconduct.”
“Yeah, well, we may not have global warming but we can still tell people to fear climate change. If it gets too cold or too hot we can always say man is causing the climate to change. Nobody will be able to prove us wrong. This will enable us to convince the government to continue giving universities vast sums of money and tax people to protect them. We’ll even organize a protest. Isn’t that a great idea?”
“UUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH!”
After I spoke with the ding a ling bell-wearing guy he paid no attention to what I had told him. He continued to trot along the trail warning bears and any other form of wildlife that he was an idiot. Experience and reality meant nothing to him. Over the years I don’t think nature has changed much. How people think about nature has changed more than any of us realize.
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