climate change then, same fear mongering term that tries to put the responsibility on every individual. Who of us can control the sun, sea, volcanic action or water vapor? Surely it's the other way round and we'll just have to live around it.
People still haven't figured out that pollution and climate change are two different things. Certainly human activities can have an affect on climate change (especially cutting down the rain forests), but if we were to end all pollution today the climate would continue to change - as it always does.
Politicians who believe they can pass laws to change climate are living a lie. They should be focused on ending human pollution but continue to study ways to adapt to climate change which is going to happen no matter what.
It's often called global warming because the average temperature over the globe is getting warmer. Whether it's freezing in Kunming is hardly the point.
So the climate is indeed changing. There would be some climate change no matter what the human species does. However, what the human species does, does in fact affect the climate. So I don't see why we should go for increasing the rate of climate change.
As for the air pollution question, it's obvious.
Humans affect the climate fractionally to the point of insignificance. Alpage48 is correct in stating that dealing with pollution and adapting to climate change is more important than using climate change as a means to create money, power and taxes for governments and large corporations spreading fear and guilt into the hearts of people that in actual fact can't do a thing to stop climate change realistically. We are told what we do affects climate change and if we believe that we can then be told what to do and we'll do it
And what's wrong with the world being warmer anyway? People are moving to warmer climates all the time. The places that had coldest winters on record last/this year will certainly be hoping for a warmer period. Does that mean they will have to produce as much CO2 as possible?
Nearly 40 years ago the climate was cooling and there began a great hue about the coming ice age.
Until about 20 years ago, there was claimed evidence of warming. However, for more than a decade the rate of warming has declined.
The Global Warming scare was over hyped and computed models, some since proven to be based on flawed assumptions, predicted catastrophic changes in ocean level and food supplies. Many projections were mistaken as we are now past the dates of many severe conditions and they have not occurred.
Global warming morphed into climate change. Interestingly, there is no argument about whether the climate is changing. But the science is inconsistent and unreliable. Comparing temperatures of 100 years ago to today's temperatures and claiming increases and decreases of fractions of a degree requires one ignore the technical capabilities of today and assumptions about methodologies of a century ago.
In 1978, the fear was we would all starve or freeze to death by now.
"Humans affect the climate fractionally to the point of insignificance."
Wrong.
There's a lot more science involved than what you're going to get out of the National Review and its ilk.
What's wrong with warmer weather depends on how much warmer the global average is, whether or not shrinking glaciers do or do not affect river volumes and sea level, and how high above sea level you live - among many other things.
The issue has not gone away and speculation about government desires to take over wealth presently concentrated in private hands, often to obscene levels vis-a-vis global human needs, will not make it do so.
I agree that reducing pollution and adapting to climate change is extremely important, and is going to cost a lot of money.
A lot more science involved when manipulating fact is the aim. There's a lot more common sense involved than what you are going to get out of agenda funded climate reports and their multi billion dollar ilk.
Adapting to climate change shouldn't need to be that expensive or scary. When the ice on the river Thames used to form so hard between the 17th and 19th centuries, people weren't saying they were all going die if they didn't change their lifestyles. They had frost fairs on ice. Today's warnings on climate change are at biblical proportions and only being used as the idea of hell is losing its hold
@vicar
It depends on how you look at it. Scientifically global warming or climate change is a real and proven fact, and you can see it every day.
And I don't think we are talking about a frozen river in London.
About global warming, sure a few more degrees in England would be comfy but that is not the realdanger.Especially, if you are from a rich country and have the chance to pay to stay alive.
The results of global warming, are of biblical proportions, famine, floodings, mass exodus, death, disease, war over water.
If you don't know about the science behind it; weather is a local occurence but it is not produced locally.
In short, the polar ice on the water melting is bad, but the problem is melting permafrost and glaciers. What to do with the extra water, and before you think about your tan-line, the ocean currents and their temperature produces storms and wind, or vice versa, it heats up, storms get stronger, -corrections! -They already did get more and stronger, see El Nino....corrections, El Ninos, Tornados in central Europe, never happened before, Tornado occurences in the US raised a few hundred percent.
And you can study and prove those things, actually storms can be traced back to the currents in the ocean, and the temp at that time, etc.
That's how a few smart scientists predicted where the remains of the Malaysian airliner will hit the shore. And they got it right!
All extreme weathers can be calculated by the observation of other planets weather phenomenas. And if you don't believe how fragile our climate is, check your weather channel and see how hard it is to predict weather after a little bit of air pressure changed by a few Azore winds.
So, if weather and the rising water level is not a problem, then what about the people living on coast lines, where to relocate them, compared to that, the Syria conflict refugee problem will appear like a small travel group.
We are talking about billions of people, looking for higher elevation, food and water, let alone work.
Imagine the house prices and the econmy problems. You think 2008 Financial crisis, was bad, well let's see what 2-4 degrees C, will do to your investment plan.
Let's go to the ocean, currents will change since their temperature is shifting. Currents probably speeding up, or drasticly slowing down. More extrme weather. More extrmem wether means more drought, or more flooding. Or both. More water also means more tectonic movement. See the tectonic impact of something as small as the Three G dam.
Some species will adapt, as we will, but I think, not letting it go there in the first place seems a much more creative, more efficient and happier plan, than hoping that it's all a scam. Or waiting until poop hits the climate control apparatus.
So, some species will go extinct, and I am not talking about, the unknown buttmuncher bug in god-knows-where, but real big environmantal impacting animals.
That can bring down plagues of rodents and pests, killing crops and such. Older Chinese know that, from when they were killing little bird in the Great Leap forward, and we are not talking abou teagles, but sparrows and such. Let's say, it didn't work very well for China, ask some old people in Yunnan, they remember, very well.
Well, there is much more to the problem but I think you get my drift.
The good thing is stopping the global warming and climate change is easy and sensical, and it's cheap comparing to fixing it when it's too late.
So, if you need a FORD F150 to make a 3 mile drive to buy a can of soda, sure!But if not, you could buy a cheap Japanese or European car, with higher milage to the gallon, which is cheaper and better for everyone, too.
Get solar panels, invest in tidal wave power plants, you even may become rich in the process of saving the planet.
Green technology is available for a long time and it's dirt cheap.
Switching to green energy creates jobs, and jobs not run by international syndicates, but smaller businesses, it will destroy some jobs but it will create more than it will destroy.
The funny thing about your claim is that the multi billion dollar industries are actually the ones, trying to fund bogus research that argues the climate change is scam, or not a problem. Especially funded by oil companies, and heavy industry, that should already be proof enough.
It' their coal, oil and mining dollars going down, when everyone can produce their own energy and even sell it. Driving efficient cheap and green cars. Importing goods in a cleaner way,industrial filter producers, maintanance technicians, most are medium size producers and services.
So, getting green will be more beneficial to us little people. That is why the big bosses are all against it. They don't want to invest in a few million dollar filter systems vs. their multi billion dollar profits.
I recommend to watch and research some actual documents and documentaries and see how scared some of those researchers and scientists are about this. That, is the moment when you should be worried about it, when a person that researched the reason Mars is a dead planet, telling you that planet earth is heading that way, and that there will be a point of no return when everyone will say "Oooops!" but then everything will go really fast.
Anyway, I think it's not scary but hopeful, we actually have a chance to save the planet we inhabit, by little small actions.
Me not chosing one specific airline, or power company, sometimes even saving a buck while doing it, giving those companies pressure to make steps toward a better world, becomeing cleaner, and more responsible.
And if we make it work, we deserve that planet for a bit longer. If not, then we all deserve and will die anyway, if we are to stupid to clean our own garbage.
