Folks, I'll say it again, and maybe it will sink in somewhere.

Change is inevitable. For us to consider that the world will stay as we think it ought to, or for that matter any other part of the universe around us, is simply arrogant and unrealistic. To conclude that at this point in our cumulative existence we have such great potential to influence our environment ONE WAY OR ANOTHER is annoyingly arrogant, and has no basis in historical fact yet. We could cut our contributions to global emissions in half next year, and one good volcanic eruption or major forest fire will completely nullify our effort.

My advice is to live your lives. Be considerate of others, but let's not get all chicken little when there's really nothing we can do about any of it except watch and squawk. There will always be very real, very substantial threats, just as there have been since time for our species began.

I am not trying to be defeatist about preparation, just realist. We can do things to deal with the minor issues, but the big stuff is for the most part beyond us.