Climate Change Deniers: Explain the Size of my Sheep

[Desperate Measures]

"In the past, only the big, healthy sheep and large lambs that had piled on weight in their first summer could survive the harsh winters on Hirta," said Professor Coulson.
Because of climate change, he explained, grass for food is now available for more months of the year on the island.
"Survival conditions are not so challenging - even the slower growing sheep have a chance of making it, and this means smaller individuals are becoming increasingly prevalent in the population," he said.
"Young mums" tend to give birth to smaller lambs
The team also found that younger sheep tended to give birth to smaller lambs - a phenomenon they termed "the young mum effect".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8130907.stm

"That doesn't mean that animals will adapt and thrive in a warmer world. Far from it — by some estimates, rapid climate change could drive as many as one-third of the species on the planet out of existence by mid-century. Though warmer winters in blustery Scotland might sound nice — especially if you're a sheep on the small side — the changes due to global warming are likely to be far from positive in most parts of the world. Evolution will help species adapt, but there's a term for what happens when the pace of evolution can't match the pace of climate change: extinction." http://www.time.com/time/health/article ... d=tsmodule

So? I'm waiting. I hold the deniers directly responsible for the size of my sheep.
Also, because this isn't hugely negative, do you think the deniers will use this as a "See? Climate Change isn't so bad."

[Dolbri]

Are there still people who deny that the climate is changing? Aren't most of them arguing that it's not man-made?

[Desperate Measures]

Are there still people who deny that the climate is changing? Aren't most of them arguing that it's not man-made?

Eh, tomato - tomato.

[Les Drapeaux Brulants]

Are there still people who deny that the climate is changing? Aren't most of them arguing that it's not man-made?

Eh, tomato - tomato.

Hardly. Of course the really deluded are those that think that they can actually control the climate change...

[Greed and Death]

Your sheep ?
That's called chance.
The entire population on an island, possibly a change in environment

[Yootopia]

Are there still people who deny that the climate is changing? Aren't most of them arguing that it's not man-made?

Eh, tomato - tomato.

C'est pas pareil at all. Personally I reckon people who say that climate change is ALL OUR FAULT are cretins, because it's been this bad when we haven't been around (not that we aren't probably helping). Not being full of hubris and not believing in climate change are different things.

[Desperate Measures]

Are there still people who deny that the climate is changing? Aren't most of them arguing that it's not man-made?

Eh, tomato - tomato.

Hardly. Of course the really deluded are those that think that they can actually control the climate change...

Are we talking about the guy standing outside the public library with a remote control from a 1986 Samsung Television or are we talking about humanity as a whole having an impact on the world's climate?

[Blouman Empire]

So? I'm waiting. I hold the deniers directly responsible for the size of my sheep.

Why?

Also, because this isn't hugely negative, do you think the deniers will use this as a "See? Climate Change isn't so bad."

I was just about to say this.

[Desperate Measures]

Your sheep ?
That's called chance.
The entire population on an island, possibly a change in environment

Don't act like you know my sheep.

[The_pantless_hero]

Make the topic "why are are my bears getting larger... and THIRSTING FOR HUMAN BLOOD!"
That will get some congressional action

[Les Drapeaux Brulants]

Are we talking about the guy standing outside the public library with a remote control from a 1986 Samsung Television or are we talking about humanity as a whole having an impact on the world's climate?

Hey, I know that guy... Even if man did contribute to this latest warming cycle, it shows more than a little hubris to believe that we could undo our damage, plus reverse any natural changes in order to keep things as they are now.

[Yootopia]

Make the topic "why are are my bears getting larger... and THIRSTING FOR HUMAN BLOOD!"
That will get some congressional action

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM74A0V29dU

I make no apology for this being in German

[Dolbri]

Are there still people who deny that the climate is changing? Aren't most of them arguing that it's not man-made?

Eh, tomato - tomato.

My point is that while this story may be a good indication that there actually IS climate change, it does not at all prove that it is man-made. And if it's not man-made, we can go on burning fossil fuels like usual. So it's a very big and relevant difference.

[Desperate Measures]

Are we talking about the guy standing outside the public library with a remote control from a 1986 Samsung Television or are we talking about humanity as a whole having an impact on the world's climate?

Hey, I know that guy... Even if man did contribute to this latest warming cycle, it shows more than a little hubris to believe that we could undo our damage, plus reverse any natural changes in order to keep things as they are now.

I don't understand this line of thinking. Even if failed in the attempt, why shouldn't it be attempted? If we are currently impacting the climate negatively, why not mend our ways to not impact it in such a way? Are you the type that picks up smoking when diagnosed with a cancer?

[Desperate Measures]

Are there still people who deny that the climate is changing? Aren't most of them arguing that it's not man-made?

Eh, tomato - tomato.

My point is that while this story may be a good indication that there actually IS climate change, it does not at all prove that it is man-made. And if it's not man-made, we can go on burning fossil fuels like usual. So it's a very big and relevant difference.

It's true. This story does not suggest one way or the other whether climate change is man made. But Scottish sheep have never been very convincing.

[Greed and Death]

Your sheep ?
That's called chance.
The entire population on an island, possibly a change in environment

Don't act like you know my sheep.

That's true the change in your sheep could be because your a bad sheep herder.

[Farnhamia]

Are we talking about the guy standing outside the public library with a remote control from a 1986 Samsung Television or are we talking about humanity as a whole having an impact on the world's climate?

Hey, I know that guy... Even if man did contribute to this latest warming cycle, it shows more than a little hubris to believe that we could undo our damage, plus reverse any natural changes in order to keep things as they are now.

I don't understand this line of thinking. Even if failed in the attempt, why shouldn't it be attempted? If we are currently impacting the climate negatively, why not mend our ways to not impact it in such a way? Are you the type that picks up smoking when diagnosed with a cancer?

You have to look at that response in context, DM. First it was, "The world is not getting warmer!" Then it was, "Well, it's getting warmer but it's not our fault!" After that you got, "Okay, it's getting warmer and it's our fault but it's not entirely our fault!" Finally, "Yeah, it's getting warmer but it's not entirely our fault and anyway we can't do anything about it!"

Throw in with those, "Plants grow better with more carbon dioxide, so we'll have huge tomatoes!' and "All the scientists who claim global warming and climate change are a danger are looking for gigantic pay-offs from ... from ... they're making money off it!"

Make more sense now?

[Gendara]

Are there still people who deny that the climate is changing? Aren't most of them arguing that it's not man-made?

Eh, tomato - tomato.

My point is that while this story may be a good indication that there actually IS climate change, it does not at all prove that it is man-made. And if it's not man-made, we can go on burning fossil fuels like usual. So it's a very big and relevant difference.

The biggest problem with discussion on climate change is that nearly everyone talking about it has an agenda, and thus, uses loaded terms. "Climate change" and "global warming" have essentially become synonymous with the concept of "man-made climate change", and thus, people who deny the validly of man-made climate change are generally dismissed with evidence of climate change that shows very little in the way of direct causality.

And considering how strongly I had the phrase "Correlation does not equal causality" driven into my brain in college statistics classes, I consider that a cardinal sin.

Is climate change occurring? Yes. It's also been occurring for nearly 4 billion years, and certainly long before humanity had even the slighest chance of affecting his environment at all.

Most data does suggest that we're going through a climate shift. But the data to suggest that said climate change is being exclusively triggered by the actions of humans, or that there's anything that humans can do NOW to attempt to prevent/reverse said change, is much shakier. It's possible, but hardly proven.

[Desperate Measures]

Your sheep ?
That's called chance.
The entire population on an island, possibly a change in environment

Don't act like you know my sheep.

That's true the change in your sheep could be because your a bad sheep herder.

Nobody, NOBODY, has EVER called me a bad sheep herder before.

[Desperate Measures]

Hey, I know that guy... Even if man did contribute to this latest warming cycle, it shows more than a little hubris to believe that we could undo our damage, plus reverse any natural changes in order to keep things as they are now.

I don't understand this line of thinking. Even if failed in the attempt, why shouldn't it be attempted? If we are currently impacting the climate negatively, why not mend our ways to not impact it in such a way? Are you the type that picks up smoking when diagnosed with a cancer?

You have to look at that response in context, DM. First it was, "The world is not getting warmer!" Then it was, "Well, it's getting warmer but it's not our fault!" After that you got, "Okay, it's getting warmer and it's our fault but it's not entirely our fault!" Finally, "Yeah, it's getting warmer but it's not entirely our fault and anyway we can't do anything about it!"

Throw in with those, "Plants grow better with more carbon dioxide, so we'll have huge tomatoes!' and "All the scientists who claim global warming and climate change are a danger are looking for gigantic pay-offs from ... from ... they're making money off it!"

Make more sense now?

It kind of makes sense in the same way that my one year old just pointed to one of our cats and said, "Da-da". No, wait - I don't know what any of this means...

[Greed and Death]

Don't act like you know my sheep.

That's true the change in your sheep could be because your a bad sheep herder.

Nobody, NOBODY, has EVER called me a bad sheep herder before.

Those things tend to get said behind your back.

[Gift-of-god]

The biggest problem with discussion on climate change is that nearly everyone talking about it has an agenda, and thus, uses loaded terms. "Climate change" and "global warming" have essentially become synonymous with the concept of "man-made climate change", and thus, people who deny the validly of man-made climate change are generally dismissed with evidence of climate change that shows very little in the way of direct causality.

And considering how strongly I had the phrase "Correlation does not equal causality" driven into my brain in college statistics classes, I consider that a cardinal sin.

Is climate change occurring? Yes. It's also been occurring for nearly 4 billion years, and certainly long before humanity had even the slighest chance of affecting his environment at all.

Most data does suggest that we're going through a climate shift. But the data to suggest that said climate change is being exclusively triggered by the actions of humans, or that there's anything that humans can do NOW to attempt to prevent/reverse said change, is much shakier. It's possible, but hardly proven.

No. Not everyone has an agenda. Even if they did, that does not change the science.

No one is claiming that climate change is solely caused by humans. The claim is that through industrial processes, humanity has added significant amount of pollutants into the environment. Enough to cause unprecedented change in our climate that would not have otherwise occurred. And the data agrees quite nicely with this claim.

[Desperate Measures]

That's true the change in your sheep could be because your a bad sheep herder.

Nobody, NOBODY, has EVER called me a bad sheep herder before.

Those things tend to get said behind your back.

HA HA! You win, Sir!

[Greed and Death]

Nobody, NOBODY, has EVER called me a bad sheep herder before.

Those things tend to get said behind your back.

HA HA! You win, Sir!

See I just proved global warming is fake.

[Ann Coulters Ideology]

Are there still people who deny that the climate is changing? Aren't most of them arguing that it's not man-made?

Are you blind? The article clearly states that sheep are to blame.