For John, BLUF: Man's historic state is poverty and "saving the planet" could return us to that state. Nothing to see here; just move along.
From Glenn Reynolds we have a link to a Pajamas Media article by "Zombie", "Climate Movement Drops Mask, Admits Communist Agenda".
That seemed pretty extreme. I figured the author was over the top. Then I realized he was reporting from the Bay Area. Out there it probably is possible to gather up a large number of people who believe that Capitalism, rather than bringing billions out of poverty is responsible for enchaining them and ruining their lives, and the planet. That is a point of view.
Meanwhile, The LA Times has this article on the current status of Climate Change Science.
It's a climate puzzle that has vexed scientists for more than a decade and added fuel to the arguments of those who insist man-made global warming is a myth.The science is unsettled, apparently.Since just before the start of the 21st century, the Earth's average global surface temperature has failed to rise despite soaring levels of heat-trapping greenhouse gases and years of dire warnings from environmental advocates.
Now, as scientists with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change gather in Sweden this week to approve portions of the IPCC's fifth assessment report, they are finding themselves pressured to explain this glaring discrepancy.
The panel, a United Nations creation that shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore, hopes to brief world leaders on the current state of climate science in a clear, unified voice. However, experts inside and outside the process say members probably will engage in heated debate over the causes and significance of the so-called global warming hiatus.
Hat tip to the Instapundit.
Regards — Cliff
Long time reader, first time poster. I'm not sure where the idea that global warming has stopped comes from. The rate of increases may have slowed down, but we are still warm by historical/geologic standards. I refer you to the NOAA climate data center, http://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/cmb/images/global/2014/aug/horserace-201408.png
ReplyDeleteyou can see that of the 5 warmest years, only one was in the 20th century. Also 2014 and the 5 warmest years are well above historical/geologic averages at about 0.6 degrees above the mean.
I also don't understand the poverty meme. We are an energy intensive species our energy use doubles every generation or less. I doubt fossil fuels can keep up, they simply don't scale very well. Do we really expect to double hydrocarbon production in 25 years? As we find with many things we need a distributed, scalable way(s) to generate the energy we need. I think we can see the way forward with solar and wind (unsubsidized!) achieving cost parity with natural gas turbine generated power. And lets no forget nuclear.
cheers all!
I agree that fossil fuel can not go on for ever. That said, many don't want nuclear power (and there is the fight against wind down near the Cape).
ReplyDeleteMy concern is that a short term effort to deal with "climate change" will result in the destruction of capitalism, resulting in a drop into deep poverty.
Regards — Cliff