Good article by Robin McKie, science and technology editor of the Observer.
"[Climate scientist David] Keeling started [in 1958] when overall levels [of CO2] were 315ppm. Today they stand at 390 and will touch 400 around 2015.
"This discovery is probably the most important ever made in climate science, say Robert Kunzig and Wallace Broecker in their book, Fixing Climate. 'If Keeling had not been so devoted to measuring carbon dioxide, the debate on global warming would be even more mired in polemics than it is now. Instead, the ‘Keeling curve’ of carbon dioxide at Mauna Loa has become one of the debate’s few universally acknowledged truths.' ...
"Some sceptics deny such changes will occur. Others say it is too costly to abandon the burning of fossil fuels even if this does dump billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. They say we should just put up with those spreading deserts and flooded coastlines -- a notion of staggering immorality, according to Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway in their book, Merchants of Doubt. 'This is the equivalent of medical researchers arguing that they shouldn’t try to cure cancer because it is too expensive and that, in any case, people in the future might decide that dying from cancer is not really that bad.'
"After a year in which climate talks have stalled and the 'climategate' affair has induced near paralysis in dealing with the discussion of global warming issues, we can see we are in a bad shape. Nothing new there. We have been doing nothing about global warming for 50 years, despite the warnings."
Full article: Asthmatic Earth denied remedy - News - Mail & Guardian Online
No comments:
Post a Comment