'Inhospitable' Earth? Compared to the past, hardly

2013-07-06T00:00:00Z 'Inhospitable' Earth? Compared to the past, hardlyJonah Goldberg Tribune Media Services Arizona Daily Star
July 06, 2013 12:00 am  • 

You just can't out-gloom an environmentalist. The Atlantic invited some luminaries to answer the question "How and when will the world end?" Some contributions were funny. Others simply plausible - a volcanic eruption from underneath Yellowstone National Park is frightfully overdue.



It's hard to imagine a more absurd overstatement. I'm not referring to the exaggerated claim the Arctic has "melted." And the acidification of the oceans is a concern, though there's reason to believe it's not as bad as some say. But even Chicken Little wouldn't call it proof the world is already over.

What's ludicrous is McKibben's use of the word "inhospitable."



Of course, McKibben is speaking of the physical environment. But by any conceivable measure - save, arguably, outdoor temperatures - Earth is a vastly more hospitable place for humanity thanks to the hard work of humanity.

When Pilgrims came to North America, it was often described as an inhospitable wilderness. Malaria, smallpox and yellow fever decimated immigrants and untold millions of Native Americans. Backbreaking labor was the only means of subsistence for millions of Americans for generations. Drudgery and toil - have you ever tried to churn butter? - were necessary for even the simplest pleasures. And does anyone dispute the improved lot of blacks and women?

Ironically, as global warming fears have risen, America and Earth have gotten more, not less, hospitable. Since 1990, global poverty has been cut in half, and since 1970, extreme poverty has dropped 80 percent.







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