On 11/29/06, Jim Torson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> At 11:33 PM 11/28/2006, James Annan wrote:
>
> >James Annan wrote:
> >
> > > Even if one assumes the premise that we are "optimally adapted" to the
> > > present climate (which I think would be difficult to rationally defend),
> > > it does not follow that changes to the climate would result in net costs.
It is not difficult to assert that we and our fellow terrestrial
species are optimally adapted as biological organisms to rates of
climate change that are typical on evolutionary timescales; that our
infrastructure is adapted to the even smaller rates of change typical
on historical timescales; that we are already at least verging on
exceeding the normal range of variability, and that even in the most
severe regimens of emissions restraints and the most vigorous
sequestration efforts the impacts of our current behavior will
continue to accelerate for decades and resonate in the system for
centuries.
All of this amounts to net "costs" in the pipeline, leavinga side the
thorny issue I raise elsewhere of how we measure costs and benefits.
The optimal global mean temperature is a minor matter, I think. From
all appearances, even if we haven't past the station already, the
train will have plenty of forward momentum when we get there and we
are still shoveling more coal into the engine.
All of this requires detailed argument rather than raw assertion,
admittedly, and I won't try ot provide them today, but I think the
case is strong for each of these points.
mt
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