The Forum > Article Comments > The over-blown science of global warming > Comments
The over-blown science of global warming : Comments
By Garth Paltridge, published 17/8/2009Why is it that scientists have become so one-eyed in their public support for the disaster theory of climate change?
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I've heard it argued that "Gore & Hansen had to lie to get people to listen"; a particularly infuriating sophistry. Not least for the purely moral reason that relationships, especially between citizens and leaders, should be built on trust; the politics of "disinformation" are extremely counter-productive.
But why should a sea level rise of 80cm be so alarming? After all, sea levels rose by about that magnitude over the 20th Century. Did I miss the news about the disastrous consequences?
That's not to say that rising sea levels is without consequence, but surely past experience has shown that it can be managed? So why all the panic?
Your concern for displaced people is admirable, but perhaps a little premature. Bangladesh, for instance, the long-time "climate refugee" poster child, is actually gaining land area in spite of sea level rises. For island nations such as Tuvalu, the story is more complex than climate alarmists are admitting.
In any case, the 20th century alone saw plenty of mass displacements of population. It may not have been a picnic, but by and large we managed.
Why all the emphasis on just the adverse consequences of climate change? What about the benefits?
In other words, I'm not saying we should do nothing at all, but I do think we need to think very carefully about what we do. As best I can understand it, Cap-And-Trade, the political hobby horse du jour is about the worst strategy we could adopt to adapt to climate change.
As Edmund Burke noted, "no passion so effectually robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear." So it concerns me greatly that the Australian government is rushing headlong into perhaps the most costly and damaging restructures in our history on the basis of much ado about not much at all.
Oh, and I always love it when people weigh in with the Laws of Thermodynamics: they're science's equivalent of the Templars.