           Comments     Threshold   RE: we just don't know yet
By dlapine on 12/30/2008 1:36:27 PM , Rating: 2 It's not a
matter of belief to recognize a potential danger and consider
actions to avert it. The critical part is to determine the
likelihood of occurrence and the level of danger.  One would not
speak of "belief" when discussing the dangers of a large
asteroid impact, as the event has already occurred in the past,
and conditions prevail that make another impact probable in the
future.  The same for a change in climate. There's no belief
involved- just calculations of the probabilities of an event
that would effect all of the earth. You then must weigh those
probabilities against the amount of damage to determine the
degree of effort we (the human race) needs to forth to prevent
such an occurrence.  Belief enters into it only for the
religious fundamentalists, as none of their religions specify
the destruction of the human race via a change in climate, so
obviously the probability of such an event i