Basically, the question is: Will we or won't we survive this potential total apocalypse? This test and representative question, I think, will be at the forefront of the historical and environmental legacies of the global warming issue, rather than the test and question of: Will we or won't we prevent the man-made ice age from happening? Because I think it's pretty obvious what the answer to that question is. Anyone in their right mind who considers the implications of a planet like Earth that has a global economy which is dominated by the free-market system will realize that this mode of trade, enterprise, and finance, used by the human mind which will always have a capacity for greed and recklessness, is the environmental equivalent of letting some cats loose on a cage full of mice- the rodents, like the vegetation, wild animals, and other natural resources of the planet, will be helplessly devoured. And one is also an idiot if they think that the officials who regulate (and they do regulate it to some extent; credit is sometimes due) this savage feast will stop it from happening. Why should they? It's in their own financial best interest, and I'm sorry, but it's also in the best interest of the economy and consequential country they represent and work for. And the environmentalists have long since conceded that the only steps that can be taken to significantly reverse the trend of the increasing amounts of greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere would be the result of multinational cooperation and efforts made between the governments of advanced countries and major corporations; because of that oh-so-pesky element of human nature that exists within the minds of executives and government officials, there is no way that the aformentioned steps will be taken in the amount they need to be taken until it is too late, when hysteria regarding the impending ice age ensues among the public and the monkey-suiters of the world realize they can add more gold to their vaults by half-assing a response to the crisis that the public will eat up.
I hate to sound defeatist and apathetic towards something that many people view as the most important political and environmental issue of the 21st century, but I just don't see this new millenium playing out any other way. I'd also say that there is some good news to come of this, which is that if humanity survives their pet ice age they will not only have passed that most important of tests I mentioned earlier, they will also have an unprecedented amount of new knowledge about the ins-and-outs of the Earth and its environment in addition to experiencing an inevitable change of consciousness that will result in a new type of Congressman and executive- One who, even with their greed and recklessness, will give Mother Nature the respect she deserves.
