This was the article that started the But Head movement. The first page describes how researches have been monitoring the worlds vegetation on a global scale by satellite. They go on to explain that climate change (if we accept that it is real) has benefited plants immensly by providing more sunshine, "For example, in the Amazon cloud cover is a major factor for plant growth and in those areas the cloud cover has declined and solar radiation has increased,". They also go on to say the Amazon Rain forest has benefited more than any other place, "Owing to the added sunshine, photosynthesis has been rampant. The Amazon basin accounts for 42 percent of the global increase in vegetation, according to the study."
Now to most people, this would be fantastic news. the fact that warmer weather and higher CO2 levels are causing plants to grow like crazy is awesome. The author even goes into detail about how India has been able to feed their population boom because of increased food supplies (no mention of improved seeds, etc).
BUT the good news must end. the author then goes into how, "The problem is that eventually the positive effect of global climate change on vegetation production is likely to reverse." The article now goes into the doom and gloom hypothesis. And the worst thing is that none of the doom and gloom scenatios have a bit of scientific data to back it up. They are only worried because the climate goes in cycles. No kidding? Really? Like maybe it will eventually get colder? Yep, my first official declaration is that "John Roach"
for National Geographic News is the first official "But Head".
Thank you John for your contribution to society.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/06/0605_030605_climatechange.html
Friday, September 25, 2009
Are You a But Head?
I have started this blog to track the number of articles I read written by a "But Head". But not just writers can be a But Head. Nope, anyone can be a But Head.
How can I be so insensitive as to refer to people as But Heads you ask? Hold on a minute, I am not the one with my thoughts in the sewer. Well, keep reading and let me explain.
A "But Head" is not what you are thinking. In the simplest terms, a But Head is anyone who hears or writes about great news, but adds a "but" into the story to make the overall theme of the story negative. A simple example might be, "I found $100 dollars, BUT it sucks because now I have to pay back my little sister." See, it really is not what you thought, is it.
Now how would someone like myself ever even think of this? It is quite simple. I follow the debate regarding "Global Warming" or "Climate Change" very closely. I read thousands of articles and I even categorize them for future use. Now personally, I have yet to find any scientific evidence that humans are causing the climate to change. And scientific research seems to continually demonstrate that humans are not the problem. BUT, many of these articles, which spend the first page describing how their experiment does not support the theory, or how they just discovered a wonderful positive effect, then make broad non-supported accusations about how Global Warming is really bad, and worse things will happen. But the bad things never happen now, but in the future. Thus, we are left with a feeling of impending doom.
To be a But Head, you do not have to be a journalist or scientific writer. You can be anyone. If you hear a good upbeat story, but feel compelled to add a doom and gloom scenario, you are a But Head. For example, people have been talking about peak oil for quite some time. This theory states that we are running low on oil, or have reached maximum capacity and supplies will for now and ever decrease. if this were true, it would really suck. We rely on oil each and every day. If the oil producers were unable (nothing to do with unwilling) to find more oil to meet demand, this would be very bad. Some people have been crying peak oil for several years and are always claiming that tomorrow we will start to run out. Of course, then some huge new find of oil is discovered. But of course, our But Heads can never be happy, so they then tell us that the new discovery is "so little as to mean nothing", or "the oil can not be reached" or any other doom and gloom scenario. These people are grade A But Heads. they take a positive discovery, and instinctively turn it into a negative.
So I ask you, are you a But Head?
How can I be so insensitive as to refer to people as But Heads you ask? Hold on a minute, I am not the one with my thoughts in the sewer. Well, keep reading and let me explain.
A "But Head" is not what you are thinking. In the simplest terms, a But Head is anyone who hears or writes about great news, but adds a "but" into the story to make the overall theme of the story negative. A simple example might be, "I found $100 dollars, BUT it sucks because now I have to pay back my little sister." See, it really is not what you thought, is it.
Now how would someone like myself ever even think of this? It is quite simple. I follow the debate regarding "Global Warming" or "Climate Change" very closely. I read thousands of articles and I even categorize them for future use. Now personally, I have yet to find any scientific evidence that humans are causing the climate to change. And scientific research seems to continually demonstrate that humans are not the problem. BUT, many of these articles, which spend the first page describing how their experiment does not support the theory, or how they just discovered a wonderful positive effect, then make broad non-supported accusations about how Global Warming is really bad, and worse things will happen. But the bad things never happen now, but in the future. Thus, we are left with a feeling of impending doom.
To be a But Head, you do not have to be a journalist or scientific writer. You can be anyone. If you hear a good upbeat story, but feel compelled to add a doom and gloom scenario, you are a But Head. For example, people have been talking about peak oil for quite some time. This theory states that we are running low on oil, or have reached maximum capacity and supplies will for now and ever decrease. if this were true, it would really suck. We rely on oil each and every day. If the oil producers were unable (nothing to do with unwilling) to find more oil to meet demand, this would be very bad. Some people have been crying peak oil for several years and are always claiming that tomorrow we will start to run out. Of course, then some huge new find of oil is discovered. But of course, our But Heads can never be happy, so they then tell us that the new discovery is "so little as to mean nothing", or "the oil can not be reached" or any other doom and gloom scenario. These people are grade A But Heads. they take a positive discovery, and instinctively turn it into a negative.
So I ask you, are you a But Head?
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