How hot is hot enough?

Stop Global Warming!, originally uploaded by Abri_Beluga.

My partner and I rarely agree on an ideal temperature. I'm sure that if nuclear proliferation turned nasty and we saw the incandescent wave of flesh-melting fission rolling towards us his last words would be something like "... at last! Where's my speedo?"

I'm partial to more temperate climes and so the global warming issue is one that I try to keep abreast of. A colleague of mine has been trying to convince me that upstanding members of the scientific community have debunked the 'myth' of global warming and that what we're experiencing is a temporary anomaly - the global equivalent of stepping out in a sweater when in fact a vest would have done nicely. This sort of contrariness resembles the infamous medical wisdom of Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, amongst others.

I'm inclined to believe that human beings are at fault - we are impatient innovators. So many ideas take hold before the consequences can be perceived. Lead pipes witnessed the birth of modern plumbing and poisoned it. Chlorofluorocarbons kept our food cold and germ-free as it dissolved our fragile atmospheric sunblock. There are more of us than ever before, more of us with cars, computers and our ungainly, contemptible 'carbon footprints'.

It may just be my Baptist upbringing speaking, but I think it's more convenient to assume that you screwed up, intentionally or not, pay your tithes (now called 'green tax') for absolution and then make a doomed but noble attempt at self rehabiliation. The worst that could happen is that a few excess trees are planted. Oh, the horror.