As the Seas Around Them Rise, Louisiana Fisherman Deny Climate Change
Your responses remind me of sundevil's in another thread. You're channeling anger at CNN, which is fine, for reporting a story with a synopsis that is supported with scientific data. I think every network tries to cater to its consumer base, so it's nothing new.
I want to get down to the crux of the issue here. You previously said that man made climate change isn't a top 3-4 issue in Louisiana. Clearly, the evidence disagrees with your claim.
You seem to be angered at a consensus with only partial evidence yourself. Yes, it's obvious that there are other factors besides anthropogenic global warming that contribute to coastal erosion. The CNN story actually alludes to this several times. You'd have to have an "agenda" of your own to read it and say they tried to frame climate change as the only contributor to coastal erosion. I think another main part of the article is the widespread denial about scientific data on man made climate change that is also brought to the forefront.
Poe, who "lives and dies with the weather" and who has seen the lake level rise where he takes his boat out each day, does not buy the argument that we're witnessing irreversible changes.
Yes, the oysters have been dying, but that may not be caused by the changes in the sea level or how much saltwater is in the lake.
Yes, climate change is happening, but it "can change and go the other way, too."
Dotson doesn't believe climate change would negatively impact the fishing industry on the Louisiana coast. Not based on what he's seen.
"It doesn't concern me. What is science? Science is an educated guess," Dotson says defiantly. "What if they guess wrong? There's just as much chance as them to be wrong as there is for them to be right."
"I work outside in the weather on a boat, and it's all pretty much been the same for me," Dotson says, standing on Jetty Pier in Cameron, gesturing toward the ocean. "The climate is exactly the same as when I was a kid. Summers hot, winters cold."
Any changes to the coast are simply "the world changing back and forth," he says.
Leo Dotson is among the skeptics. He's been shrimping in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, for 54 years and he'll admit the coastline has changed.
"It's moved," he says.
But that has nothing to do with man-made climate change, he adds.
Dotson gets red in the face, repeating that scientific studies showing climate change as affecting weather patterns or warming the Earth are simply wrong.
I've encountered this attitude with many folks, mainly conservatives. The arguments against are usually "they have an agenda" or "they werent' there x-amount of years ago".
Your own article from the USGS actually says what is relatively known and has been echoed in most every scientific research on our planet's climate--that other natural processes contribute to coastal erosion, but that sea level rise caused by "Human activities during the past century have drastically affected the wetlands".
http://www.nola.com/coastal/index.ssf/2008/12/part_1_because_of_subsidence_a.html
So here's a synopsis: You're angry with CNN for reporting what you deem to be sensationalist because though man made climate change is a factor in louisiana coastline erosion, to you it isn't a top 3-4 issue. Furthermore you are angry with CNN for framing the folks interviewed as unintelligent because they report on their attitudes toward global warming, which is by all major accounts a major issue.
Now please tell me in where and when I've misinterpreted you thus far.