------------------------------------------------------- CONVENTION OF THE GOAN DIASPORA FROM GOA INTO THE WORLD Lisbon, Portugal June 15-17, 2007 Details at: http://www.goacom.org/casa-de-goa/noticias.html -------------------------------------------------------
---Charudatt Prabhudesai writes: > > There are good reasons to believe all those > scientific facts mentioned by Dr. Helekar, although > I am of the belief that threat to our eco-balance > has reached such alarming proportions that we do > not need reasons anymore. > Mario responds: > Charudutt, First of all, let me say that I believe that your heart is in the right place, even though I thought you were out of line in ascribing political motives to skeptics of why global warming may be taking place and what, if anything, can be done about it. > You are free to believe whatever you like, but your conclusion that WE DO NOT NEED REASONS any more is alarming to me. It explains why I believe that blaming humans for global warming has now reached religious proportions, where people like you emotionally believe on faith what cannot be proven conclusively by science. > You seem blissfully unaware of the growing body of knowledge on this subject by REAL scientists that would question your religious-like certitude, as compared with information by politicians like Al Gore. > BTW, did you know that an analysis of Al Gore's personal carbon foorprint showed that his was 20 times higher than the average American? TWENTY TIMES HIGHER! This is your high priest on global warming? > In response the publisher of these findings has been receiving death threats, apparently from environmental extremists for whom Al Gore is like a God. > Charudutt responds: > > We must believe this simply because what we stand > to gain by believing in order to act to heal our > planet is far more positive and wise than not > believing! What do we lose anyways by believing? On > the other hand, by not believing we will lose even > the chance to lose! For it is not the living who > alone can hope to win or lose? Who knows if we will > have the luxury of a hope to lose if we are DEAD? > By the time we get our proof, we may not need it. > Mario responds: > a) You seem to dismiss the massive economic disruption that would be created in the western economies if the precepts of the Kyoto Treaty would be followed the way the extreme environmentalists would like. > b) You seem unaware that 80% of countries including India and China are not required to follow the Kyoto Protocols. Have you ever wondered why? > c) If you add up a) and b) above the results for all the economic disruption will be nil, even if one agrees that humans are responsible for the global warming that may be going on. > Charudutt writes: > > Al Gore's documentary an inconvenient truth - a > global warning, is an eye opener. It is indeed by > far the"most terrifying film you will ever see". > Mario responds: > Al Gore's movie is largely science fiction. For a critical look at this film please see: http://www.cei.org/pdf/5818.pdf > Please read this analysis critically, so that you can see other opinions on this subject. > Charudutt writes: > > The theories which posit antitheses of this red > alert are devises of political ambitiousness, their > selfishly practical motive being, it will not > happen in our lifetime anyways, so why not make hay > (and pots of money) while the sun shines? > Mario responds: > I can make a far more plausible case for the political motives of the environmental extremists. Here's why. The Kyoto Protocols were conceived in 1997 demanding massive economic disruptions from only the western economies. In the meantime, here we are 10 years later, and serious scientists still disagree on whether human activity is to blame, and whether the economic disruption is going to produce any real results. How do you justify an international protocol to solve an issue that is still in dispute? In addition, the protocols exempted 80% of the countries in the world including India and China. Wasn't this a political decision? > Charudutt writes: > > But Al Gore, with ample proof at his disposal shows > that things are happening in OUR very lifetime. > C'mon guys, can't you feel the quality of heat on > your skin now-a-days? > Mario responds: > I have shown above one response to the contents of Al Gore's science fiction film. Regarding my skin, no, I don't feel any more heat now than I did 30 years ago. You must have very sensitive skin because the estimate of global warming is 0.7 C since 1900. > Charudutt writes: > > The coral reefs are going, the glaciers are going, > the sea levels are predicted to rise threateningly > when all those continents of ice will have melted, > most forests are gone, and the rest are fast going, > the wild life is going, polar bears are drowning > (!) for want of a piece of ice to step on!...LIFE > is going is off Mother Earth! Do we need reasons to > save her? > Mario responds: > Even if all that were true, and most of it is not, there is nothing we can do about it if the global warming is a natural phenomenon. Did you know that frozen Siberia was once a verdant forest and verdant north America was once covered by several feet of ice, way before the first machine or automobile was invented? > BTW, not one polar bear that has drowned due to a melting glacier, because a) they don't need glaciers to live, b) glaciers melt very slowly, c) they can swim, if they needed to. > Charudutt writes: > > Global warming is a threat. And better believe that > it is not a bluff charge. It is "Quayamat"! The > English word is APOCALYPSE!! > > One last thing to end: As rightly titled by Dr. > Helekar, the responsibility is GLOBAL. There will > be enough time to point fingers if we save the > planet NOW. As Al Gore says in his docu. that it is > just a matter of mobilising the recalcitrant > political will. Because we still have the resources. > Mario responds: > Charudutt, please do whatever you think is necessary. If you live in India, please work on the re-forestation problem, try and convince the car manufacturers and other companies to implement emission controls. I don't think it will have any noticeable effect on global warming, but it will certainly help reduce the appalling pollution I have to experience whenever I am in India. > These days I can hardly see Mumbai from the plane, because of the pall of smog, then have to land and live in that smog for a few days. Some people live in that pollution all their lives. > So, yes, there is certainly things that need to be done to help the environment - for health reasons. >
