On Dec 25, 11:58 pm, Nick Santos <[email protected]> wrote:
> Back to the question at hand, I'm not convinced that the developing world's
> standard of living is higher due to modern technology that they have access
> to.
The "elephant in the room" or to put it more explicitly the real
problem is over-population. If the population of the world was 650
million, and not 6,500 million, then there would be no problem with
global warming. The global emissions of CO2 would be reduced to a
tenth of their current values and this is the level that scientists
claim is neccessary to prevent "dangerous global warming". But the
reason for the booming population is the scientific advances achieved
by the Western World!
And it is not just the developing world that are benefiting from those
changes. Life expectancy is rising in the developed world too, and
populations there are rising. In a few years time, over 10% of the UK
population will be aged 70 and above.
But the main reason that the standard of living is rising, as opposed
to population, is because of "cheap" oil. We no longer have to produce
goods by the sweat of our brows. True, in the past we, and especially
American cowboys, used horse power for transport, but even then there
were rickshaws and sedan chairs. Now everyone has their own automobile
or at least, in some parts of south east Asia, a motor bike. When
that oil runs out then fuel, derived from coal, is going to be more
expensive and everyone poorer. When the coal runs out - disaster.
cars fueled by hydrogen, produced with nuclear energy, will be a
fleeting fancy. Then we will be in trouble. When the standard of
living drops world wide, nations will go to war over the scarce
resources. Iraq was only the beginning :-(
We can already see that the US is no longer the problem. Agreed, if
they refuse to give up their SUVs we are doomed. But now it seems that
China wants to expand the number of its SUV owners. Just as over the
last ten years the US has increased its carbon use by an amount equal
to the total use of carbon in the UK, so if China cannot be persuaded
otherwise, it will increase its use of fossil fuels by an amount equal
to the total fossil fuel use of the USA!
Think about it.
Cheers, Alastair.
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