The world does appear to be changing.
For years, the scientists have been warning of global warming. The majority of people, in western countries at least, have accepted that our actions were causing a real problem, but few governments were willing to do much about it.
But the problems are becoming more obvious, the alternative technologies are become cheaper, and more and more governments are making realistic decisions to change to renewable energy. WE can hope for real change.
But there’s still much to be done, and we can all play a part.
A brief rundown of the facts
I have summarised the facts before, so all we need here is the briefest rundown:
- The world is heating up. So far, 2015 is the hottest year on record. The previous hottest year was 2014. There has been no slowdown in temperature rise, just variations around a rising trend.
- The burning of fossil fuels is the major cause of this rise. Something like 97%+ of scientific papers on the subject, and all of 197 scientific organisations surveyed, agree.
- These temperature rises, the consequent rise in ocean water levels and the change in weather patterns, is doing great harm in the world. Low lying islands and coastal areas are being flooded and battered by storm waves, and the islands’ only freshwater source, groundwater, is being contaminated as salt water intrudes. Drought is becoming more severe in North Africa, which will affect millions of people. There are many destructive environmental effects.
- The main action we need to take is to leave most of the coal reserves in the ground and switch to renewable energy.
- This is feasible, and not prohibitively costly. It will actually create jobs and stimulate economies.
It seems likely that the fossil fuel industry and conservative media are misrepresenting the information to delay the inevitable. Somehow, many christians have been taken in by this.
Power to the people!
Timid governments need to be prodded to take the action they know is needed, even if it disturbs some of those lobbying them. The upcoming Paris talks are crucial to making serious and significant steps to put things right before disaster is at our door.
So it is in some ways up to us, the people, to make our opinions heard.
March to make it harder for politicians to prevaricate
This weekend, climate marches are being held in locations all over Australia, and all over the world, in the hope that it will influence politicians.
I’m not normally someone who demonstrates in this way, but I’m joining the Sydney march because I think it’s that important.
Will you join in too, for the sake of God’s world and the third world poor who are suffering most for what we in the rich world have caused?
Photo: Micah Australia
It’s not that simple, for instance:http://www.express.co.uk/news/nature/592932/Polar-ice-caps-increase-volume-third-cool-summer-halts-melting-Arctic
But sure it must be discussed somehow.
Hi Jonathan, thanks for the reference. I hope no-one who reads this thinks that I think climate science is simple! Those who think a climate science is about a line on a graph are over-simplifying. The truth is that the models are much more complex than that, and they predict what the data is showing – temperature “variations around a rising trend” (as I said above). If the melting of Arctic sea ice has reversed, it will almost certainly only be a temporary thing. For it to be more than temporary would require many more years of continued reversal.
Also, that links to an article at the Daily Express, a far-right tabloid aligned to UKIP which not coincidentally denies global warming. It’s not surprising the article is critical about climate science and at points hints at conclusions that go far beyond what any interviewed expert would conclude.
So I don’t think it’s a reliable source.
Okay, only left resources are reliable from now on in any kind of discussion.
No, that’s not my claim at all and that hyperbole was a bit unfair. I’d consider right-wing broadsheets like the Daily Telegraph (the one from the UK, not Oz – lest UnkleE thinks I’m completely out of my mind) and The Times reliable sources for your information.
Hi Jonathan,
I think some right wing media (Sydney’s Telegraph is one!) present distorted and dishonest polemic in the guise of facts, and cannot be trusted. I think some left wing media are inclined to do the same, though there are less of them and they are smaller generally.
We need to judge both by the evidence – and in this case, the scientific evidence is closer to what the left wing media is saying.
We are overwhelmed with left-wing opinions in most of topics, not only on climate issues, saying that they are more close to scientific evidence may be just a matter of opinion.
Well I don’t think so. Let me test your views by asking which of the following statements you agree or disagree with.
1. Almost all climate scientists agree with the view that global warming is real, dangerous, largely human-induced, caused by fossil fuels, and we need to do something very soon. That is the scientific evidence.
2. You may choose to disagree with it, but that would be the same as one of your patients disagreeing with not just your diagnosis, but the diagnosis of scores of experts.
3. And it is clear that the left agrees with the scientific consensus and some parts of the right do not.
Also, that (significant elements of) the main right-wing parties embrace climate scepticism is mostly limited to English speaking countries. And even the majority in the British Conservative Party acknowledges climate change. The fault line for the most part isn’t between left and right, but between right and further right.
I haven’t denied climate change in my first commment, I just said that the discussion isn’t that simple. I didn’t started the right-left issue.