clear that we cannot go on as we have in the past. The questions of when and how environmental degradation will catch up with us remain.In passing, it should be noted that there are several (weak) arguments to be made suggesting the patterns of climatic change that have, and will still, occur to be quite beyond the understanding and influence of mortal men. As argued by C. W. Thornthwaite in 1956, man is incapable of making any significant change in the climatic pattern on the earth; that the changes in microclimate for which he is responsible are so local and some so trivial that special instruments are often required to detect them. Another interesting argument against the severity of global warming, forwarded by Meyer in 1996, is the artefact of a transition of stationing weather observatories near cities that have grown considerably during the same period. And place this curve, with its relatively small fluctuations, net to one of natural temperature changes over the last 20,000 years, and one might well despair of hearing any human impacts against so noisy a background. These arguments bring to light the controversy that surrounds the urgency of global warming and climatic change. Indeed, standing alone they do make compelling assertions that can only be countered by the application of theory. As also noted by Meyer, only by adding a theoretical explanation of the workings of the climate system, the processes that generate the events that we experience as weather and the order that we discern as climate, can we suggest with some confidence what would have been or would be the consequences of particular human activities. IV. THE IMPORTANCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL VIABILITYBefore moving on, it is necessary to highlight the importance of environmental viability. While this may already be well known, it is equally apparent that most individuals do not perceive it as an immediate problem. For most, concern with the environment is a...
