I recently had a debate disscussion with a concerned user
about climate change. Though i have already covered this topic, i did mention its significance to our lives. This post illustrates the problems that most of us face, we know about what we read in the papers, but what does it really mean? what can we really do? well, together, we can change the world...Face facts the climate is changing it's has always been changing and it's going to keep changing no matter what we do. Ridding the world of incandescent bulbs won't do a damn thing.
Until someone gives me some conclusive evidence to show we can help change the climate and/or we are the problem then i won't be losing any sleep.Anthropogenic links to climate change is now considered by the overwhelming scientific and political community to be unequivocal. A less than 5% probability that global warming is caused by natural forcing. As far as scientific research is concerned, a figure like this suggests a near impossibility. Infact, data suggests that natural forcing factors would have produced a global cooling affect in the recent time of warming, very likely attributed to greenhouse gases.
These conclusions have been drawn from quantified data from various sources, such as radiosonde and satellite instruments and paleoclimate research. There is an overall consistency of evidence, with increased improvements in modelling and observational studies.
As far as science is concerned, nothing is without doubt, nothing is 100% certain, not just in environmental science, but across all boards and facets and theories. For people to argue they need 100% conclusive certainty, they really don't have an understanding of science.
That being said, conclusive evidence is available, if you choose to read it. The links are now unequivocal. If you do want to learn about it, goto the IPCC (intergovernmental panel on climate change) websites and read through their reports, specifically the fourth assessment report. IPCC is the leading body for the climate change assessment, established by the United Nations and the World Meteorological Organization and won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.
My main beef with the climate change army is that none of them seem to mind the obscene amounts of money it is going to cost to make a very modest target reduction.
This money could be funneled into other causes, such as funding cures for AIDS and malaria or fighting world hunger, things like that would make a much bigger difference to the world now rather than buying us a few more years.
Unless China, India and the US get involved, there is nothing Australia can do...Thats the problem, the government and big business really don’t seem to do anything about anything to REALLY help the world become a better place. Their modest climate targets really aren’t even close to where they need to be, and problems with the developing world and the rest of the world’s lack of effort is really a joke.
But Australia can and does have an impact; we are huge producers of CO2 emissions, which alongside methane (mostly from cattle...an even better reason to eat roo!) is the biggest contributor to global warming. Cars are one of the most significant influences of this, and do pose the biggest threat. One of the scariest things is that India is on the verge of producing a very cheap and ascertainable small car which means a MASSIVE increase in CO2 production.
We need to spend money to fix things. The amount that is being spent is completely insignificant to money spent elsewhere, such as the military, and 'defense'. By battling climate change, we're providing a future for tomorrow, and sea level rise is one of the more insignificant of the problems we face. There are major problems in the world, like hunger. How about WATER? Over 2 billion people in the world are suffering from lack of clean water. This is only going to get worse... Food demands will increase along with prices, impacts on the hydrological cycle will result in increased major storm events, spread of life threatening diseases will spread with increased global temperatures, and the Western World will see a major increase in refugee numbers, a major impact of our defense policies.
The thing is, if the whole world doesn’t jump on board, its going to be very difficult to achieve much. But thats no reason to sit back and say "screw it" and should be even more of an incentive to be proactive about it and get involved. If no one cares, why would the Governments do anything about it, why would businesses “go green” if it wasn’t hot on everyone’s lips. sure they are only doing it to score brownie points with the public, but its still a step in the right direction.
And in the meantime the Victorian government constructs a desalination plant, sucking more power creating more CO2 instead of spending the money on recycling water because Australia would rather have desalination than recycled water. How about the government spending the same money and placing tanks in peoples yards, connecting them to toilets and laundries and saving more water that way....the changing of light globes will not do much, but it is a little we can do.There are many problems we are facing, and many more we will face in the future if we don't start acting appropriately. The government will do whatever they can get away with. One of the most effective things that NEEDS to happen first is the public's attitude needs to change. Until then, the government will not "lead by example", but hopefully "follow the masses"...even if it is to just win the next election…
