Climate Change - Manmade or Not?

[Ord_Sgt]

I don't think there is much argument that the climate is beginning to get warmer. Take this last winter for example, incredibly mild. However the problem I have is that we are told - as in it is already taken as read - that we are causing it. And while I think reducing polution is a sensible course of action there is no definitive evidence to support the idea that its our actions and not purely a cyclical thing. Problem is of course the green lobby twist everything to show their point of view and thereby undermine their credibility when found out and prevent most people making an informed intelligent decision based on facts. Of course the press have a vested interest in sensationalising the whole thing to sell copy and anyway we all know they don't let the facts get in the way of a good story.

Still I have no kids and will be dead in thirty years or so, so who gives a fcuk :D

In fact I'm just off to book a long weekend to the US to increase my carbon footprint and piss of the sandle wearing luvvies by taking an unnecessary flight.

[milsum]

TB, have pm'd you.

[TopBadger]

In any case, this program made me re-evaluate everything i thought i knew about climate change.

TB

One program completely changed your conviction? A little fickle aren't we?

Or has TopB just had his "road to Damascus" moment?

Nothing fickle about recognising the truthtm when it barbeques your donkey.

You know, i think i have...

[TopBadger]

I used to literally lose sleep over this being nature-lover (not a naturIST) but you know what - warmer climate, better crops in the UK, more wearing shorts etc and as long as you live on high ground - no worries. In fact let's just turn the UK into a sun-loving paradise as the Auusies have done.

(besides its too late to turn it back now.)

Yeah, sounds good, but our overwhelmed immigration services might complain when the population of the world tries to move here.

TB

[Litotes]

I believe that we are doing immense damage to the planet but that damage doesn't manifest itself as "global warming", which is far more dependent on things like solar radiation and volcanos, IMHO.

What we are doing is destroying the food chains on which life depends - in the oceans, the jungles, rivers. And we are doing that by the use of chemicals, pesticides and unsustainable large scale farming.

The "global warming" campaign which has used our taxes to build windfarms in beautiful and remote moorlands and hillsides has done immense damage to the beauty of this country (and others) whilst making vast profits for some manufacturers - all because the Government doesn't understand what it was doing. Unbelievable. It would have been far cheaper and far more sustainable to subsidise low energy light bulbs and loft insulation in all houses in order to cut our consumption of energy. Look at how wasteful businesses are - because it is all tax-deductible. The next time you visit one of these edge of town shopping sites, such as Currys, PC World, JD Sport etc, look up at the ceiling. You will see a thin metal plate separating you from the weather; no insulation at all. They keep everything warm by moving large quantities of hot air around with the huge fans and trunking that you can also see. Daft.

And the current crap about paying for waste disposal and "green" recycling really annoys me. I have always recycled and always will, but there is a large chunk of the population that doesn't care what happens to their rubbish, but would care if they had to pay to dispose of it. These people would rather drive out into the countryside and dump their rubbish than pay. It's wrong, they should be shot, but it happens, and we end up with a litter covered countryside because the Government doesn't think straight.

And I wish Mr Prescott would stop allowing developers and property owners to make huge profits by destroying large gardens (that are usually small scale nature reserves with a large number of diverse species) in order to build at densities that are stupid. I consider it much better to build on farmland where the farmer has already wiped out all but one species (wheat, barley or potatoes) with 50 years of chemical warfare.

This lunchtime rant was brought to you by billions of severely inconvenienced electrons powered by several nuclear, coal and gas fired power stations. One wind-farm powered electron was due to be inconvenienced but was delayed during the long journey over the Pennines and will join us later.

And another thing....

/and breathe......

Litotes

[halo_jones]

Yes there is some chicken little money too be made, but it would certainly be better for our grandchildren too live more greener and it wouldnt hurt if some things where made better ie no pollution in the air.

I have become very intollerant of diesel fumes, if that is because of too much time skiveing behind the POL point or just the increase in motors remains too be seen.

I spent some time working with the met office and the beardy boffin there and the Cray super computer certainly modeled that human are effecting the climate.

While it is also a matter of opposing views that anything we do now 'is too little too late' 'the last chance saloon' we realy do have too try "fresh air and clean water are the sustanace of us all" ...... !

[stoatman]

The winter of 1916 was warmer, by the way...

Here's an interesting correlation Al Gore will not tell you about, sunspot activity (a proxy for solar output) and temperature:



Who would have thought it? The sun is hotter now than it has been since as far back as we have proxy data. Notice how there is a correlation with the ups and downs -- the carbon dioxide data correlates far worse with temperature than this.

Now, if I were an evil genius, I would hitch my wagon to an environmentalist cause that most people do not understand (anthropogenic global warming as a result of carbon emissions), make a propaganda film incorporating "proof" consisting of selective quoting of data, and a very scary looking graph which was proved wrong more than five years ago, and hawk it around the world. I'd certainly win an Oscar for it! I'd then set up a company selling carbon offsets, and tell everybody that they needed to buy them to save the planet. I'd then watch the money roll in!

Oh, wait -- Al Gore has already done that!

[Oracle]

I believe that we are doing immense damage to the planet but that damage doesn't manifest itself as "global warming", which is far more dependent on things like solar radiation and volcanos, IMHO.

What we are doing is destroying the food chains on which life depends - in the oceans, the jungles, rivers. And we are doing that by the use of chemicals, pesticides and unsustainable large scale farming.

The "global warming" campaign which has used our taxes to build windfarms in beautiful and remote moorlands and hillsides has done immense damage to the beauty of this country (and others) whilst making vast profits for some manufacturers - all because the Government doesn't understand what it was doing. Unbelievable. It would have been far cheaper and far more sustainable to subsidise low energy light bulbs and loft insulation in all houses in order to cut our consumption of energy. Look at how wasteful businesses are - because it is all tax-deductible. The next time you visit one of these edge of town shopping sites, such as Currys, PC World, JD Sport etc, look up at the ceiling. You will see a thin metal plate separating you from the weather; no insulation at all. They keep everything warm by moving large quantities of hot air around with the huge fans and trunking that you can also see. Daft.

And the current crap about paying for waste disposal and "green" recycling really annoys me. I have always recycled and always will, but there is a large chunk of the population that doesn't care what happens to their rubbish, but would care if they had to pay to dispose of it. These people would rather drive out into the countryside and dump their rubbish than pay. It's wrong, they should be shot, but it happens, and we end up with a litter covered countryside because the Government doesn't think straight.

And I wish Mr Prescott would stop allowing developers and property owners to make huge profits by destroying large gardens (that are usually small scale nature reserves with a large number of diverse species) in order to build at densities that are stupid. I consider it much better to build on farmland where the farmer has already wiped out all but one species (wheat, barley or potatoes) with 50 years of chemical warfare.

This lunchtime rant was brought to you by billions of severely inconvenienced electrons powered by several nuclear, coal and gas fired power stations. One wind-farm powered electron was due to be inconvenienced but was delayed during the long journey over the Pennines and will join us later.

And another thing....

/and breathe......

Litotes

A good post which sums up my sentiments. You can guarantee when big business or the government get involved in anything, the motive becomes generation of income and profit. The global warming scenario has just fallen foul of just that.

[OldSnowy]

The World warms up. Results?

Norfolk is inundated.

Iraq south of Kurdistan is inundated.

Scotland warms up too much to grow oats (therefore no porridge) and the midges all die off.


To me, these sound like three extremely positive outcomes. What's the downside?

[wrxmatt]

Its about time this came out into the public domain.
About time some commoon sense was used.
Here is a government petition if you feel cheated like i do:

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/StopClimateTax/

Please sign and feel free to pass on to people

Matt