I have always been sceptical about the suggested terror that Global Climate Change is likely to inflict on the Planet. I do not take seriously predictions of Armageddon, without real evidence to back it up. However, I do not believe for a second that the rise of 0.75 Degrees Centigrade over the past Century is simply the result of “natural occurrences“. For a Century which has seen the use of fossil fuels increase a great amount, whilst deforestation has never been so high; it would be naive to think that humanity has absolutely no affect on our climate, and that it’s all just one big coincidence. Of course humanity has had an affect on the climate. Of course humanity has to act to prevent catastrophe in the future. Of course humanity has a duty to protect endangered species such as the polar bear, and endangered habitats such as the Rain Forest. Responsible capitalism has to be the future. Not a capitalism based on the old “take whatever you can from whomever you wish” system. The system that told us in 2008 that losses through sub-prime mortgage-back securities would only tally up to around $170bn, when in fact the IMF estimated that it was closer to $4,100bn. The forces working for the Capitalist system, aren’t always right. And when they’re wrong, they’re very very wrong.
Whether Humanity has a small affect on global climate change, or a ridiculously large affect on global climate change, it should not matter. It will eventually become an issue that threatens a generation, and whilst Conservatives seem to be overly panicked about National debts being left to our kids, they do not seem to have a problem with a destroyed rain forest, oil drilling in the middle of national reserves and deadly droughts that seem ever so more widespread.
The Telegraph, itself a conservative newspaper reported in 2005 that “The present trend of warmer sea temperatures, which have risen by an average of half a degree Celsius (0.9F) over the past 40 years, can be explained only if greenhouse gas emissions are responsible, new research has revealed.“. The evidence from the cited study, is so compelling, it’s difficult to find anyone willing to argue against it.
As stated in my previous blog entry, The Conservative Party, on their local election leaflet stated that they “played a key role in making new laws to cut carbon emissions and promote renewable energy” clearly trying to suggest that they have a commitment to help tackle Global climate change. However, our Conservative MEP Roger Helmer (pictured on the leaflet) on his own private blog, states “The science of global warming: Why I believe that the Great Carbon Myth is not only unproven, but disproven“. The leaflet is a a clear case of Conservative propaganda. On the one hand, they’re committed to fighting climate change, on the other, they’re not. Of course, it is no different to the fact that the Labour Party are apparently committed to fighting Global Climate Change…….. whilst they install a third runway at Heathrow. Parliament has no hope of gaining back it’s respectability.
Whilst it is quite clearly true that nature itself plays a role in the changing of the climate over time, nature cannot account for three quarters of a degree centigrade higher temperatures since 1906. The only way to describe why global temperature has increased so dramatically, is by suggesting that there has been a sharp increase in greenhouse gases found in the Earth’s atmosphere. When polar ice is examined, gas found trapped in the core of the polar ice is analysed, it has been found have a 35% greater amount of Carbon Dioxide than in the last 650,000 years.
As I am naturally sceptical of the media attention global climate change receives, I am even more sceptical of the small amount of scientists who disagree with the widely accepted consensus, and the Conservatives who latch onto their objections. Why are they in the minority? Are they the climate change version of Creationists? It isn’t like the consensus is one big group of related scientists hell bent on World domination and fear mongering. They are respected experts in their field.
The U.S. National Academy of Sciences, which in 2005 the White House called “the gold standard of objective scientific assessment,” issued a joint statement with 10 other National Academies of Science saying “the scientific understanding of climate change is now sufficiently clear to justify nations taking prompt action. It is vital that all nations identify cost-effective steps that they can take now, to contribute to substantial and long-term reduction in net global greenhouse gas emissions.“
Here, see for yourself: http://nationalacademies.org/onpi/06072005.pdf
Average temperatures have climbed 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit (0.8 degree Celsius) around the world since 1880, much of this in recent decades, according to NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies.
The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports that 11 of the past 12 years are among the dozen warmest since 1850.
A press release from the National Academy of Sciences (you’d expect them to know their stuff, right?):
“We urge all nations, in the line with the UNFCCC principles, to take prompt action to reduce the causes of climate change, adapt to its impacts and ensure that the issue is included in all relevant national and international strategies.”
This statement was signed by:
National Academy of Sciences, United States of America
Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
Royal Society, United Kingdom
Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia
Academia Brasiliera de Ciências, Brazil
Royal Society of Canada, Canada
Academié des Sciences, France
Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher, Germany
Indian National Science Academy, India
Accademia dei Lincei, Italy
Science Council of Japan, Japan
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC):
“Even the minimum predicted shifts in climate for the 21st century are likely to be significant and disruptive.”
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS):
“The scientific evidence is clear: global climate change caused by human activities is occurring now, and it is a growing threat to society [snip]The conclusions in this statement reflect the scientific consensus“
National Research Council:
“Greenhouse gases are accumulating in Earth’s atmosphere as a result of human activities, causing surface air temperatures and subsurface ocean temperatures to rise. Temperatures are, in fact, rising. “
Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society (CMOS):
“CMOS endorses the process of periodic climate science assessment carried out by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and supports the conclusion, in its Third Assessment Report, which states that the balance of evidence suggests a discernible human influence on global climate.“
Geological Society of America:
“The Geological Society of America (GSA) supports the scientific conclusions that Earth’s climate is changing; the climate changes are due in part to human activities; and the probable consequences of the climate changes will be significant and blind to geopolitical boundaries.”
I swear, short of New York turning into an icy Narnia, Conservatives are never going to listen to the facts, sticking instead to the very very few “experts” and Sean Hannity, and the rest of those who refute the evidence. It appears to be Conservatives and those with big oil agendas who refute the claims of the large amount of respected Scientists, sort of like tobacco companies refuting the idea in decades past, that smoking is linked to lung cancer. I am far more weary and lacking in trust of big oil and big business making it’s case against global climate change. Me, i’m going to put my trust in the experts assessments. I do not have a great deal of evidence to the contrary, which hasn’t been disputed by global warming experts, and so the evidence is so great, and the research so vast in favour of man made global climate change, and knowing as little as I do on the subject, I’m going to go with the experts on this one.
