According to a climate FAQ coal burning accounts for 42% of manmade CO2. Interestingly countries like the UK with managed populations are able to retire coal plant but populous south Asia is building new coal burners. Mercenary Australia supplies the coal while saying not our problem.

I think we've tested our adaptation abilities with less than 1C warming. That's fires, flooding, water supply, crop failure and storm surges. We should accept some pain to reduce emissions which in effect is what coronavirus is doing as we speak. Future generations will thank us for it.

really puzzles me how so many have been so dumbed down to think that burning coal changes the temperature of the planet. I can understand the many who have made millions or even billions from the renewables scam that has given us masses rises in electricity prices and unreliable energy pushing the doctrine. Well I suppose when advice is taken from privileged 16 year old spoilt brats you probably have the answer. So many now have woken up to the scam. You really would think any honest scientist would invest their lives improving humanity not pushing this garbage.

pushing this garbage.
runner,
Pollution is the real problem borne of that other problem overpopulation ! Since most humans didn't take any notice, COVID-19 & its off-siders will do the job over the years to come !

Taswegian, " Your Dreamin" again, just like theis CCC Author!

Author...Hmmmm...stop frightening the children...

"But climate activists should not despair if they are confronted with the true size and global complexity of the problem. Demands for climate action need not fall short of calling for climate resilience to be given a higher priority in activists' countries of residence. To the extent that this results in better town and country planning, hazard preparedness, and protection of natural ecosystems within national borders it will surely be a lot better than no action at all."......that's says it all, so why did you write three pages?

Im a fan of 'Occam's Razor' approach to writing, suggest you try the same and save the planet by using less paper and internet electricity on long articles. While I appreciate alternate views, those veggie treats and tea, might have increased your carbon footprint....Methane?

This smacks of attention a deficit disorder, just like Grimacy-Greta and your own FlIm-Flam-Tim Flannery CCC poster boy!

Maybe? But many economies including ours are welded to fossil fuels and their export! And due to idiotic idealogy, unable to change, least the robber barons take a hiss fit? And cancel all the current arrangements they would seem to have with the political class/decision-makers?

Otherwise, we could start to transition and nationalise what we must, in our own national interest!

We couldn't afford the trillion we needed to expend to get it done, but when threatened with a virus that may have a 20% kill rate? Were out of the starting blocks like an Olympic sprinter with billions, billions our grandkids will be paying interest on!

And leave the country and the nation a virtual banana republic? For our official intransigence! As we wait for our pollies finish and convert us to the southernmost state of the people's republic of China?

And what would that matter if by then we have already crossed a point of no return tipping point!?

The coal-fired lobby will see finally what they have wrought and demand to know, why didn't somebody warn us, or provide a viable solution with at least as much alacrity and no expense spared as if we were confronting a killer pandemic?

Because folks, the outcome of unmitigated climate change will be 3 times more catastrophic! I hate being the bar steward who told you so, but if you look at OLO archives, you'll see where I predicted that the covid-19 was a pandemic going somewhere to happen as others were saying, don't worry, she'll be right. And then predicted it would hit the USA far harder than anywhere else!

Why? Because of the folks in charge and making incomprehensible decisions?

And vowing to continue with more of the same, to protect money and privilege! Worked well on the Titanic, didn't it?

When we cross the tipping point and we will inside a short-short decade, if nothing changes? Those with the deepest pockets can book passage, one way to Mars, maybe? TBC.
Alan B.

Melvin Bolton,

The projections of global warming are irrelevant. What is relevant is the impacts of global warming.

Two recent papers indicate that global warming and increased CO2 concentrations are likely to be beneficial, not harmful, for the global economy. These are based on studies of empirical data.

Lang, P.A.; Gregory, K.B. Economic impact of energy consumption change caused by global warming. Energies 2019, 12, 3575. https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/12/18/3575
http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/12/18/3575

Dayaratna, K.D.; McKitrick, R.; Michaels, P.J. Climate sensitivity, agricultural productivity and the social cost of carbon in FUND. Environmental Economics and Policy Studies 2020, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10018-020-00263-w
http://doi.org/10.1007/s10018-020-00263-w

Dear Peter Lang,

“The projections of global warming are irrelevant. What is relevant is the impacts of global warming.”

So the projections of the spread of the coronavirus in the US were irrelevant and Trump was right to ignore them. He was only ever required to deal with the impacts?

Can even you see how ridiculous that sounds?

It seems even Mother Nature has fallen for this climate change alarm
http://www.extremestorms.com.au/record-high-temperature-at-penrith-48-9c-4th-january-2020/
Those who think this is not a cause for concern will of course politely refrain from using aircon when it is around 50C.

If the solutions I've proposed would in any way harm our economy! I would understand those folk who are shouting the loudest to protect the fossil fuel, robber barons and the crumbs from the table we get in return for their rapacious activities?

Simply put and thanks to the after-effects of covid-19, we are heading toward a depression! And don't say you weren't warned!

And the folk in charge are like the frog in the bowl syndrome, warm and comfortable until it's way too late! But covid-19as a shot straight up the FO and steaming hot, and able to get them also, regardless of their ring of steel security! And given they even in cradle to grave, air-conditioned comfort, needed to react with absolute urgent alacrity!

And because immediate absolutely imperative, urgent self-interest, was the master, had to obey! With what was always possible and then some!

Had that same mindset been employed to mitigate against climate change? We wouldn't be having this discussion, but thousands of us busy-busy building (nuclear powered) stuff and new infrastructure! And an export-orientated coperative capitalism economy, the envy of the world!

Understandably, the geniuses among us like AJ and coal-fired cohort feel threatened by that because they are just too smart to see the writing on the wall, or our children' and their children's future?

Whu flu, who brung you?
Alan B.

Thanks MB, this is an excellent article.

Perhaps covid-19 will be a wake up call for the world. The risk of a major pandemic driven by mass air-travel has been well known and planned for, for decades. We chose to delay action for the sake of money wealth accumulation, with austerity, tax cuts and balanced national budgets.

Now we all know what a tipping point look like.

Perhaps the penny will drop? If so, we need to see the big picture clearly, because big changes must be considered.

Good work, mate.

When the vaccine is tested safe and ready to roll? We will possibly have between two and three million unemployed and will need productive jobs and projects to get them back to work!

If we engage these projects etc via cooperative capitalism models? Then the money will stay in our economy circulating and circulating until exhausted Where every one dollar will do the work of seven or more.

This would allow the money required to employ four hundred Aussies to employ two million of them via the usual economic flow on factors. All while creating additional wealth and economic growth opportunities!

And could start with the graphene highways that all but eliminate transmission and distribution losses that total on average, as a reported combination, 75%.

And we can explore all the energy options to see which is the cheapest, the safe and most affordable. and in mass-produced systems, that other folk pay for with nuclear waste repository rental money! It just gets better and better and our manufacture could undercut anything produced in China given the energy input costs.

If that outcome is to be assisted? Could be done with genuine tax reform! Moreover, all current energy exports could b sent as transmitted electrical energy and more than able to treble current supplies and income! All that prevents any of that is the usual, never ever, naysayers! If it also decarbs the economy! What is lost!?
Alan B.

Same old same old, with the addition of the absurd "valiant efforts of Greta Thunberg".

Good luck with convincing the biggest offenders, China - and India with its millions of farting sacred cows.

I note that Melvin is an ex employee of that wonderfully corrupt and would be world government, the United Nations. Enough said.

Master Bolton does seem have influence... the new trolls are supporting the old, like "Sdull-Ruddnuts" have now got GDU virgin post troll... welcome to OLO!

Hmmm. I refer yo all again to https://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=20828#367140

We need healthy debate of the article. I disagree with this authors view... but its his.. Fair enough.. mine is different.... Stop this endless pointless, slinging and personality abuse and grow up.

I searched, in vain , for any mention of Thorium !

What is going on ?

SteeleRedux,

Try reading the papers and, if you have even a basic level of intelligence, you MIGHT realise how ridiculous your comment is.

Put another way, temperature change says nothing about whether global warming is beneficial or not. But the empirical evidence does. It suggests it's net beneficial not harmful. The word "net" is significant.

Dear Peter Lang,

Sorry mate but the stench of Cato Institute, Koch brothers and the Competitive Enterprise Institute is just too overpowering. If you would like to point me to a less tainted collection of studies to make your point I would be happy to look at them.

As to the benefits of the virus well I suppose it will remover a lot of the burdensome elderly, the infirm, the asthmatics, you know all the deadwood dragging the rest of us down. See a silver lining in every cloud.

See how idiotic that sounds. My analogy is perfectly sound. You want to disregard the modelling and deal with the impacts when they arise. The pandemic has aptly shown that stance for what it is. Utter denialism of the projections leading to far more deaths and costs than what the cure would have entailed.

India could become the new China !

"We need healthy debate of the article".

Who needs it? This isn't parliament; it's a site where people can express their OPINIONS. The world isn't going to be changed by anything said here. Don't lecture.

just because NSW and Canberra behave like the spoilt elite hubristic boys, girls and its... don't mean you should follow. If you think I was lecturing you tbbn, crawl back into your" gov funded safe space" and whinge to your inmates..

If You had been a naughty school boy/girl/it... Boy would I sort your ego out!.... ahhhh, "dedm twas da days... when living in a wet paper bag, on the side of a motorway was Luxury...…"

It'll be interesting to see if anyone's doing a study on the reduced emission during this virus period. Will it make any difference ?

Don't worry, with the funds they have access to, the CCC researches are probably doing model runs to PROOF that net zero can be down by 2030, except they will ignore the real data and real economic impacts. How cares, if that happens Chai-na will have bought up all the world resources and stock shares at bargain bottom prices.

And just in case, I am sure DR Mick the stick Mann and Prof Phil jones CRU (remember climate gate) will package the results simply enough to allow even Grimacing Greta or Flim-Flam-Tim Flannery to promote!