It's an ill wind that blows nobody any good

With the recent story of former NASA employees telling NASA to stay away from the climate change argument, it once again causes me no end of confusion about the vast majority of climate change deniers. And despite their claims of being "skeptics", they are not; they are full-blown denialists, unwilling to look at the hard data or accept the conclusions of the hundreds of scientists who's jobs are to figure this stuff out.

The main point that I do not understand is why they are fighting so hard against the evidence that man is changing the Earth's climate. As a simplification, I'm going to look at the four major possibilities we have in regards to climate change:

1. Climate change is happening, but we don't do anything about it
2. Climate change is happening, and we fix the problem
3. Climate change isn't happening, and we don't do anything about it
4. Climate change isn't happening, but we change things like it was happening

Climate change is real, we do nothing
The science is real and our pollution and actions are changing the environment of the planet. Temperatures continue to rise, glaciers keep melting, severe weather events (hurricanes, tornadoes, droughts, etc.) continues and maybe even get worse. Within some number of generations, the environment will be damaged beyond repair and global resources will become very limited, wars will start, millions will die, and the human race as a whole will be in significant danger.

Climate change is real, we fix it
The environment improves, glaciers do not melt, severe weather gets a little less severe and frequent. The planet is still able to provide enough resources for the future generations (until such time as resource requirements exceed the planet's ability to generate).

Climate change is not real, we do nothing
Nothing significant happens. The environment stays about the same, or at least gets no worse than the current path. Global resources will continue to provide for future generations (until such time as resource requirements exceed the planet's ability to generate).

Climate change is not real, we change things as if it was
The environment improves, global resources last longer (renewable energy by definition will last longer than fossil fuels). The planet is still able to provide enough resources for the future generations (until such time as resource requirements exceed the planet's ability to generate).

Yes, I realize this is a very simplistic view of a complex issue, and ignores things like costs and technological improvements, but at the base level, it seems to boil down to this:

If we act like we are causing global climate change and work on fixing what's causing it, at worst, we are spending a lot of money to make the planet better for future generations; at best, we are saving future generations. If we do nothing, at best we are making things no better or worse for future generations; at worst, we could be dooming future generations and perhaps our entire planet.

Seems like we have really have nothing to lose and everything to gain by just assuming the scientists and data are correct. If they end up being wrong, well, at least we'll have a nicer planet to live on.

So then thing happened

It finally happened. Even with all the difficulties, problems, heartache, and craziness along the way, it really has happened: I'm going to be a father. Assuming anyone reads this who is not on Twitter and Facebook, my wife and I are expecting our first child in early September.

It's both awesome and daunting at the same time. I have no doubt I am the same as every first-time father-to-be: trying to figure out how we're going to make it work, if I'll be a good dad, wondering how I'll be able to handle diaper changes, sleep deprivation, and knowing that another human being will be dependent on me in so many ways. Breast milk or formula? Disposable or cloth? How soon is too soon to introduce them to Star Wars, Star Trek, and Doctor Who?

Now don't get me wrong, I am certainly not complaining about this. My wife and I have been trying for nearly five years now, and we've been told that we wouldn't get pregnant without artificial assistance (guess they were wrong on that point) and have endured the pain of two miscarriages along the way. So when they say a baby is a blessing and a miracle, I feel that we're both acutely aware of that.

There are so many questions that we will need to answer in the months and years ahead. We'll make mistakes along the way; some little, some big. I don't know much about parenting or what's to come, but I do know that our baby will be very loved and they will know it.

I'm trying not to get myself locked into certain parenting ideas, that we're going to do this or not going to do that because I'm smart enough to know that once the baby arrives, any plans that we've made are probably going to get thrown out the window. While I will certainly hope that our child is into things like science, math, science fiction, Dungeons and Dragons, and all these other geek things, I'm also promising myself that I won't be one of those parents that forces their kid into something that the child obviously does not want to do. I do not want to be one of those parents that tries to live vicariously through their own children.

 Needless to say my life and I will be sending out on adventure fairly soon: a trip to Europe. We're actually going to England and France in June and until we get back from that trip, I'm probably not even to be thinking too much about parenting as long as all the doctors appointments are going well.

So I would like to apologize in advance; at some point I'm sure I will turn into every new parent who wants to constantly talk about their children, show pictures or videos, and every Facebook and Twitter status will be about the baby. I will do my utmost to make sure that period is as short as possible.

Just promise me if I turn into one of those parents, somebody throw something at me.

EDIT: I just found out that Blogger apparently doesn't want to recognize carriage returns when I type a post in from my iPad, nor does it allow me to edit an entry after I post it.  Wonderful!  Google, can you guys please get your asses in gear and work on some good apps for iOS and the iPad?  I understand they are your rival, but all you're doing is alienating your customers that want to use an iPhone or iPad.