Tom Brokaw And The Dawn Of Doomsday

Tom Brokaw will tonight, on The Discovery Channel, host a documrntary, at 9:00 p.m. e.s.t., about global warming, about the very eral dangers it poses, as it posits the question, what can we do about it? Is it, in fact, too late to actually do anything about it at all. It purports to take a concise look at the causes, which have been upheld as valid by the majority of the scientific community. Foremost among these would be the effects of industrial pollution, as well as carbon emissions from autombiles and planes.

In addition, it presents a frightening cataloque of some of the more dramatic effects of global warming, specifically noting the effects on the polar regions, where vast glaciers can be seen to practically be melting before your eyes as huge sections of ice off the coast of Greenland and Antartica literally slide into the sea.

The long term effect of this, Brakaw notes, is the potential for devastating flooding. Practically the entire coastal areas of Florida, the North and Mid-Atlantic states, and even New York City itself, or at least huge portions of it, could end up underwater.

Although it wasn’t mentioned in the ads that I saw, one issue that would be impossible to avoid would be the detrimental effects of global warming on the weather, with the increase in numbers and intensity of severe storms, such as thunderstorms, flash floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, etc.

The entire US has felt the effects this year. The western half of the country has experienced severe droughts, resulting in more forrest fires than usual, while the south and midwest has experienced increases in heat, humidity, and storms, resulting in tornadoes and flooding. Just last week, a number of tornadoes touched down in the Dayto Ohio area, seemingly just springing up from out of nowhere.

The Northeast, in the meantime, has experienced flooding on a scale heretofore almost unheard of. Finally, and remember, we are barely a third of the way through hurricane season, if that much.

That a newsman with the status and integrity of Tom Brokaw would agree to host this special speaks volumes about the validity of the science behind it. And, even if the science is to a limited extent debatable, just the possibility makes it a subject which is deserving of serious consideration, and national public attention.

Which leads me to my main question-why is this being shown only on the Discovery Channel? Why not on the NBC network, in addition to MSNBC? Would not a prime time network airing bring in sufficient ratings numbers? Surely a night can be determined for the showing on the network which would give it as great an impact as possible. Even if it didn’t bring in a lot of viewers, it would still be deemed a public service, and so would be worth the risk. And with the right amount of advertisement, it might even be a ratings bonanza, and for that matter, may serve to galvanize public attention and demands for action from what seems to be a reluctant, to say the least, Congress.

And, of course, I have already answered my own question. Look at who are the major advertisers on network television. Brtish Petroleum, Daimler Chrysler, all the other major oil companis in additon to auto manufcturers, airline companies, and all the major industries which depend to one extent or another on the products that in the course of their production send volumes of carbon emisions and other pollutants shooting into the atmosphere.

Ask yourself, why would they agree to sponsor a program which argues as it’s central theme that these very companies, in combination with the lifestyles of America and other industrialized developed nations, to say nothing of the other developing nations, such as India, Brazil, and China-are combining to end life and civilization on earth as we know it? It doesn’t really make a whole lot of sense to think they would, does it? The wonder to me is, that they woudn’t resist showing the program on a relativly minor outlet like the Discovery Channel.

By the same token, if you’re smart, you cut your losses without incurring more casualties, or suspicion of heavy handedness. To this end, they can’t engage in killing the program all together, and to their way of thinking the harm to showing it on Discovery would be minimal. The people that tend to watch these kinds of cable networks tend to already believe the scientifically accepted view of global warming anyway, so they are really not learning anything new. The impact on them will be minimal at best, as they are already, from the perspective of these corporate entities, giant pains in the asses.

They can, however, and I have no doubt they have, pressure NBC,who depends on their advertising dollars, from showing the program on a major network like NBC, which would result in massive exposure, with potentially devastating results for the companies.

These national, and in some cases international, mega corporations, control the media, and to a large extent they control political discourse in this country, and their reach and influence is global. It all boils down to what I have been saying for years. We are moving ever more rapidly toward a global feudalistic society, which cares for nothing whatsoever about our survival, or the long term survival of the planet, it cares for nothing but it’s own power and short term profitability.