Debate: Present day, is it more important to focus on fixing the economy or the environment?
Side: the environment first

I agree wholeheartedly with your idea of multi tasking, and in fact that is what Obama is trying to do: create jobs by making our nation more reliant on renewable energy as opposed to fossil fuels.The issue is, we must do something now about the current warming, otherwise it will be to late. Here's why: Imagine a seesaw with balls balanced perfectly on either side. A small touch to one side causes the balls to role, making the seesaw even more out of balance. The more the seesaw becomes out of balance, the faster the balls role. The faster the balls role the more the seesaw becomes out of balance. This is an example of a positive feedback system.A similar example can be seen when it comes to climate change. A small warming, can cause changes in the environment which cause warming to accelerate. In other words, more warming means more warming. For example: as the earth warms, the polar ice caps begin to decrease in area. This means that there is less ice and more land/seawater exposed. This means that less sun is reflected into space by ice, and more is absorbed and radiated into heat. Obviously this means that there is going to be more warming, and therefore more ice melting.Another example of a positive feedback system can be seen in the melting permafrost. As permafrost from arctic lakes melts, it allows for the growth of methane forming bacteria, and releases stored CO2. This in turn speeds the warming process.My point in all this is that if we do not act quickly then the warming that was originally triggered by humans will be out of our hands.Here is a great video that talks about these positive feedback systems if my explanation wasn't sufficient for you to understand the idea: Polar Ice UpdateWhy is it that once scientists predict something based on past data, the same must occur in the future no matter what?That's because scientists don't shake a crystal ball. Obviously as more data comes along, then we will have a better understanding of what is happening, but to wait and do nothing while we collect this data is irresponsible when we already have a good idea of what is going on. Maybe the prediction was another 20,000 to 30,000 years, but in reality it was supposed to be 10,000 to 15,000 years. We don't know.By that same logic it could be another 40,000 to 50,000 years. However, this is not a guessing game. Allow me to explain why scientists know that this will not be happening for another 20 - 30 thousand years.When talking about this in my previous argument I mentioned Milankovitch factors, but did not explain what they were. Allow me to do so now: the earth experiences long term changes in it's orbit having to do with 1) orbital shape (eccentricity) 2) axial tilt (obliquity) 3) Procession (axial rotation) and 4) Orbital inclination. These changes occur independently and periodically. They each individually have relatively little effect on the earth's climate, and often their effects cancel each other out. Once about every hundred thousand years, however, these effects come together to create a global warming or global cooling event. This pattern was first noticed by Milutin Milanković, a serbian cicil engineer and mathematician. By looking back at global temperatures from the past couple hundred thousand years, and comparing them to these cycles, Milanković was able to determine that these ice ages coincided perfectly with when all of these factors lined up (which as I said is about once every hundred thousand years).Therefore by determining when these factors will line up again we can determine when the next global cooling/warming will occur. Look at this graph for a visual of how we can predict these events: Milankovitch cycles.Sure, I agree we are speeding it up slightly, but I honestly don't think human beings have caused as much effect as before our time, what with volcano eruptions, meteor strikes, and the countless amount of animals with flatulence issues. :) lolHumor aside, the current amount is CO2 in the atmosphere is about 380 parts per million. In the past couple hundred thousand years, CO2 has never gone much above 300 parts per million. Incredulity is not a valid argument.