Keith Hudson wrote: > At 09:53 14/07/01 -0700, Michael Gurstein wrote: > >I think this is the best counter to Bush's irremediably self-interested know > >nothing position on Global Warming. > > > >It is not that we don't know enough therefore we should do nothing thus > >allowing things to change, rather it is that we don't know enough therefore > >we should not be allowing potentially drastic changes to occur in what we > >don't know enough about. > > This entirely misses the point. > > If the present climate change is natural then there's absolutely nothing > that can be done about it. Global warming could get far worse or it could > swing the other way. (There's strong evidence, for example, that the next > Ice Age could start any decade soon.) This entirely misses the point. The most harmful effect of CO2 is de-stabilization of the climate, leading to increased frequency and amplitude of weather _extremes_, which are destructive independent of an "Ice Age" backdrop (not just "a litte warmth"). There's absolutely a lot that can be done against man-made GHG emissions. > If the present changes are man-made (against an otherwise stable backdrop), > then the Kyoto proposals would come nowhere near correcting the CO2 cause. > Nowhere near. Far more drastic action would be required We gotta start somewhere... > that would have to > totally replace the fossil-fuel derived productive processes of the whole > world. It would be akin to a new type of Dark Ages. Balderdash! A reduction by 2/3 would achieve very much. If the USA would reduce its CO2 emissions by 71.5% (i.e. more than by 2/3), it would reach the per-capita emissions level of Switzerland. Keith, do you want to suggest that Switzerland looks like the Dark Ages ? Btw, alternative energy sources could easily provide enough energy to replace all fossil-fuels. E.g. solar-powered vehicles are already well-advanced (if you think that E-vehicles are lame, have a look at www.acpropulsion.com to see how the E-car outruns a fossil-fuel Porsche). It's not a question of feasibility but of good will (which the oilmen in the WhiteHouse lack). Chris
