Pascals Wager and Global Warming :: Climate Change, Greenhouse Gases

Since measurements began in 1958 -- and it can be assumed to gain been the case since the industrial revolution -- emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere has rise steadily as a result of the burning of fossil fuels (Quay, pp 2344). Although there is much argument over the implications of increasing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, there ar several points that almost all scientists would agree on firstly, carbon dioxide acts to absorb radiated heat if present in our atmosphere will do just that to slightly extent. Second, the concentration of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere is rising. Third, the temperature of the planet is rising - although the amount of this increase and the causes of this rise are subject to disagreement (Philander, pp 193). When I was at initiate in Vermont, one of my teachers explained to me Pascals Wager. According to this teacher, the philosopher and mathematician Pascal had tried to establish the costs and benefits of believing in God. He saw it in this way you can any believe in God or not. If you do believe in God, and there is in fact no God, because you will perhaps have spent some extra energy unnecessarily abstaining from certain pleasures and wasting your Sunday mornings in Church, but overall you did not give up overly much. And, it could be argued, you may have actually treated your fellow men more kindly then you would have otherwise. If, however, there is a God, and you believed in him, then you get eternal salvation.On the other hand, you could choose not to believe in God. If there is no God, then you are fine. You can sin all you like, you can allow yourself transgressions and forbidden acts, and the only punishments you will face will be those of this life. If, however, you lived thusly and there is a God, then you face an eternity of wring and unbearable misery. So, Pascal reasoned, one would do best to believe in God and act accordingly. That way, if youre wrong, the worst thing that could happe n is that you were more pious and warmth then you may have otherwise been. If you do not believe in God and you turn out to be wrong, the risks become terrifying.My teacher suggested that I apply this same logic to global warming. It is a matter of playing the odds.