NewScientist, 21st July 2007
(Article, "Global Shades" opening sentence.)
"Even with the best will in the world, reducing our carbon emissions is not going to prevent global warming."
Exactly right - this article brings to mind Nigel Lawson's lecture to the Centre for Policy Studies in late 2006 about which I blogged here.
Lawson summarises his lecture thus:
"Essentially, I have sought to argue three key propositions.
First, the relatively new and highly complex science of climatology is an uncertain one, and neither scientists nor politicians serve either the truth or the people by pretending to know more than they do.
Second, far and away the most rational response to such climate change as, for any reason, may occur, is to adapt to it.
And third, the rich countries of the temperate world have an obligation to assist the poor countries of the tropical world to undertake whatever adaptation may be needed."
There exists limited time, energy and money. Why are we continuing to waste (huge amounts of) these in trying to stop something that can't be, when we could be using them helping those likely to be most affected?
8 comments:
Today I found an empty jam jar in the dishwasher. I asked my wife why she had just washed it when she was going to send it for recycling anyway. Surely the energy spent on washing it far exceeds the energy it will save by being recycled?
In May of 1996, The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change {IPCC}, presented a draft of its report in December 1995, and it was approved by the delegations. However, when the printed report appeared in May 1996, substantial changes and deletions had been made to the body of the report to make it conform to the Policymakers Summery. Among them, two key paragraphs written by the scientists, and agreed to, were deleted.
They said:
1. None of the studies cited above has shown clear evidence that we can attribute the observed climate changes to increases in greenhouse gases.
2. No study to date had positively attributed all or part of the climate change to …man-made causes.
also:
I heard on a radio talk program that said that the ice caps of the Earth and Mars were both melting. I did a little research and this is indeed the case. http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2..._southpole.htm
Since there are no humans on Mars yet, and very little greenhouse gas, maybe the solar energy ouptut is more important than expected with respect to global warming.
Just some thoughts....
Agreed... but we shouldn't be polluting creation anyway =) and also... just because there is currently no proof that pollution is having an effect on global warming doesn't mean that it isn't. I'd like to reduce the chances as much as possible myself, whilst agreeing with Mark's general point that we probably should be focusing on helping out those who are suffering.
I think it attitude that "it's already bad... we can't make much difference now... let's just burn fuel without a care" is really dangerous. If somebody was chopping me to bits a mm at a time from the toes upward I really would want to do all I could to slow it down. I mean even if I wasn't sure if there was anything I could do to slow it down, I'd still try and do what I could just in case in might help. We're talking about the planet that 7 billion odd people live on now and our grandkids and their grandkids will live on in the future.
Just my tuppence.
Rob
PS re the jam jar - the amount of energy your dishwasher used by having an extra jam jar in it will have been zero or close too it - the recycling saves a lot of energy in comparison. Again just my tuppence
But Rob, what if, erm, CUSTARD is causing it all? As custard consumption has increassed due to industrialisation so has climate change. Just to be safe we should immediately spend squillions on custard reduction policies...but then there's also the comparative lack of black cars compared to when Henry Ford was in full swing and global warming's got worse since then too - all cars should be black, ACT NOW! (Just in case...) We should transport all custard away in brightly coloured cars to SAVE THE PLANET :-)
And yes, it did take me three goes to spot all the spilling mistokes in my responke...
deep man, very thought provoking, thanks mark
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