Sunday Sermon in the Church of Climate Change

Climate change appears to go through peaks and troughs, and by that I mean it appears that everyone can go several months without any real mention of it, and then you can go several more months where everywhere you turn there is some sort of story or message written about it. It appears we're hitting one of those peak periods, as I've started running into multiple articles on the subject over the last week or so. And they've all been balanced, well-written, and in no way are they hysterical drivel.

Or not.

The Daily Mirror, a paper which I thought was relatively balanced and not prone to extreme bouts of Daily Mail-style "IT'S GONNA KILL US ALL!" blather, ran a large story today focusing on Gordon Brown's speech saying the world (yes, the whole world) now has 75 days to sort out climate change, else the world is doomed for all eternity. Or something. He claimed that if no deal was thrashed out at the next climate change summit in Copenhagen, 'the planet will be in even greater danger than ever of droughts, floods and other extreme weather'. And in their 'Voice of the Mirror' section, the editor agreed with him, and ranted about how climate change is the 'single biggest threat in the world' and that, and I quote, 'the scientific evidence is so clear that climate-change deniers now sound as misguided as flat-earthers'.

Most of the time, when I see a piece on climate change which is about as un-biased and balanced as a case study on homosexuality from the Westboro Baptist Church, I normally just shake my head and turn the page. But that part basically accusing anybody of being a climate change non-believer as being delusional stung me to such an extent that I almost felt insulted. And to be honest, this also exposes a real problem with the whole climate change arguement and it's staunch believers.
First, I have to ask the question - where is this stone-cold evidence? In the many many years that this whole arguement has been going on - back to the point where it was called global warming (Whatever happened to that tag, I wonder?) - I have yet to come across concrete, unrefutable evidence that proves to me that climate change is happening, and happening now. There are holes in all of the arguements or claims that I have read. For example, there is a quote in the main article from the Mirror which says 'he (Gordon Brown) warned the 2003 heatwave across Europe caused 35,000 deaths. And he said that this would 'become the norm' if no deal was reached in Copenhagen'.

Can you see the flaw in this logic? I can. Surely if climate change is an ever-worsening problem, then wouldn't every summer since 2003 bring with it an equally devastating, if not even worse, heatwave?
Continuing on this theme, why is it that, if global temperatures are going up, why was last year's British summer the wettest on record for many years? That doesn't sound like the consequences of a climate that is heating up all the time.
What bothers me even more though isn't these misguided and shaky arguements they use, it is the climate change believers' methods of going about argueing their point.

As you've probably gathered, I've not exactly read an abundance of balanced, well-reasoned articles or stories on the issue of climate change. The thing is, If they were prepared to calmly set out their points and use common sense and reason to argue their case, then maybe myself and lots of other people would be inclined to listen and perhaps come round to their way of thinking. But the massive problem is that listening to a speech on climate change is like listening to a religious extremist giving a sermon.

Basically, their beliefs and ideals are superior, and you have two choices; either believe, or die in the fires of Hell.

That may sound like an extreme metaphor, but I tell you what, it's how it damn well feels sometimes. You either subscribe wholeheartedly to the idea that man-made climate change is real and the biggest threat to world existance in history, or you are cast aside as a delusional, myopic idiot. It's ridiculous and somewhat farcical, and I tell you something, it is one of the biggest reasons why people are largely so apathetic to the concept. Ironically, all the climate change lobby are serving to do by trying to hammer their beliefs down people's throats in this manner is simply put MORE people off possibly believing in it - in essence, they are simply shooting themselves in the foot by taking the stance of religious zealots preaching their message from the rooftops and soapboxes. They've even got similar phraseology - a favourite sentance among TV preachers, begging for your money, goes something like this:
"BUT! You can save yourself! Just call 1845 SAVEME and pledge a donation to our church..." etc etc.

For a climate change speaker, simply modify to:
"BUT! You can save yourself, and the rest of the world! Just turn off the standby light on your TV, cycle to work and use solar panels!"

What really angers me the most about the whole situation is the fact that I am seeing such figures as Gordon Brown promising to put climate change 'at the top of the public agenda', when I can think off the top of my head of multiple situations and problems which need sorting or working on before we get to the concept of something which may or may not be already happening or possibly happen in the future. Let's see: the fact that we are still technically in a recession, mass unemployment, the faltering NHS, the fact that Mr Brown himself saw it fit to release a convicted mass-murderer on 'compassionate' grounds, the unsatisfactory end to the expenses scandel (Expensegate?), the sinister rise of public surveillance, illegal immigrants and health and safety, and, oh, nearly forgot, that oh-so-worthwile war we are engaged in in a faraway country which, at one point a few weeks ago, was seemingly producing one dead soldier per day.

I don't want to sound like a politician myself, but does Gordon Brown know the word 'priorities'?