Canute Climate Change Demands
"The temperature of the winter season, in northern latitudes, has suffered a material change, and become warmer in modern, than it was in ancient times. ... Indeed I know not whether any person, in this age, has ever questioned the fact."
Christian Aid, which represents the cooperation of 40 denominational and ecumenical groups in Britain, believes it is crucial that this week's G8 meeting "agrees to the principle of a ‘stabilisation goal’ for atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases, which would limit global warming to 2°C"—an arbitrary target also favoured by the German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
If for one moment we might be permitted to entertain the heretical possibility that a significant proportion of currently observed climate change might be attributable to natural causes, such as variability in solar activity, then any demands to limit global warming to 2°C, or any other level, will prove as effective as those of King Canute to hold back the rising tide.
The real challenge facing our politicians, as I have stated previously, is how we are going to end our dependency on the world's finite reserves of oil and to achieve energy security without damaging either our economy or our ability to compete internationally. The international challenge for groups such as the leaders of the Group of Eight richest economies is what we are going to do to ensure poor countries get access to clean, renewable sources of energy, and thereby help eliminate global energy poverty.
Just to prove that some things never change, the quote with which I began came from Noah Webster ... in 1843!
1 comments:
I think the chances are we probably are changing the climate by human action, but what worries me is how lazy we've been about actually proving this scientifically, and how if you try to question the hypothesis (even with the goal of tightening up the evidence in favour) you're viewed as some sort of heretic.
I'm tired of living in a country with an enforced belief system. I used to think this was just about enforcing secular views over religious, but now I see that it extends to all areas of thought.
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