Published online: Oct 02, 2014
White Out & Wide Open—The Blog
(ED--We’re going through our old blogs and reposting them so you can get a little taste of winter during these summer months.)
The other day we learned about ants … this week it’s time to tackle the Ebola crisis. (Sure hope the snow comes quickly so we can start writing about snowmobiling.)
Recently The Washington Post informed us that global warming could have a direct effect on the spread of the Ebola virus. Well, in all fairness to The Washington Post, it didn’t directly say global warming could actually cause the spread … it just said that it may or may not be a factor.
In fact, the entire article was based on making a connection to the two “out of control” catastrophic events that could destroy the human race, while finishing each connection with a disclaimer that there is not proof that anything related to global warming and Ebola have any connection whatsoever.
The article basically posed the question: “Could climate change hasten the spread of the deadly virus?” (It would be the same as asking the question: Does riding a snowmobile make my butt look bigger? Perhaps the conclusion of the premise is based on the fact that it’s actually my butt that makes my butt look bigger. )
Anyway, the article pointed out that scientists’ understanding of Ebola is very similar to their understanding of global warming … they don’t know squat. And it’s this very connection (of lack of knowledge) that leads the paper to the belief that the two must obviously be connected. (My snowmobile got stuck … and I’m stuck in traffic—naturally riding snowmobiles has a direct affect to traffic congestion in large cities.)
Somehow, environmental scientists determined that since Ebola is more prevalent in drought-stricken countries (a virus that exists, but no facts to actually prove its connection to a drought-stricken area), and since global warming can cause droughts (the theory of man-caused global warming isn’t supported by fact and it tends to be weather patterns that create drought conditions), makes for a convenient leap that the two may or may not be related.
In other words, The Post story is your typical global warming hit piece that is not based on fact, yet is designed to lead the reader to a pre-conceived conclusion that man is destroying the planet. Even in its concluding statement The Post hedges its position on whether there is a connection between the two: “Given the mixed-bag forecasts, it remains unclear whether we will see an increase or decrease in the Ebola outbreak.”
We’re sure The Post will follow up this article with another headliner “Global Warming—the underlying cause of halitosis.”