Global warming is a subject which I approach in a purely non ideological way. I have no affiliations to big oil and I have no affiliations to anti-corporatism. This is a subject in which I genuinely want to find the truth on and always have.
You could look at the populist discussion in the media on this topic as a parallel between two documentaries. The most popular of which is Al Gore’s documentary supporting man made global warming versus the documentary refuting it called the “great global warming swindle”. Both of them are very convincing, al Gore’s doc is slightly more emotional and contains less science and facts.
But first is a big problem that plagues any debate on these issues. And That is the usage of the word “global warming”. When the words global warming are used on the news it normally refers to manmade global warming, and scientists who seek to prove manmade global warming normally reveal studies talking about rising co2 levels or the retreat of glaciers or the melting of the polar icecaps and assume on top of that that mankind is causing it all.
The issue here is whether this warming is caused by humans. I have always been very frustrated by the lack of focus on this aspect of the debate. Which always seemed to me to be the only important question.
How much of the temperature rise is due to humans.
The conventional surveys reporting on the status of the poor polar bears or the melting of the ice caps, support what we all know and shouldn’t debate.
Which is that the planet is actually warming.
Which is not under debate at all! Both the documentaries have temperature charts in them in which you can see that the temperature of the planet is wither going up or going down, it is never in a straight line, it is always changing. And if you think about it, why would it always be constant, it makes more sense that it changes over time.
To me, though when people talk about the scientific consensus being settled then they are referring to this. But I fear that far too many people make an ideological jump from the real evidence that the planet is warming to the assumption that humans are causing it all.
The argument for human caused global warming hasn’t changed much. It goes along the lines that CO2 contributes to the greenhouse effect which in turn causes a rise in temperature, and human industry produces CO2. But how much CO2 is there? How much is caused by humans? These are burning questions.
Be wary of people who do not address the weaknesses of their own arguments.
Also, the question as to whether CO2 causes temperature change is under fire. In the al gore documentary he shows a chart correlating warmth to CO2 levels, but if you look closely at the chart then you see that the temperature levels leads the CO2 level, therefore it is impossible that CO2 drives the temperature, in fact it seems to be the other way around.
The CO2 causes global warming argument seems to be the only argument that the man-made global warming advocates promote. However, more C02 is caused by animals and rotting plant matter and the oceans then by humans. Also, look at the forest around me, its beautiful. These trees and this plant matter is releasing carbon dioxide as we speak, we are made of carbon. It is not a pollutant, it is a part of life.
The best argument for moving array from non renewable sources is that they are non-renewable. They will run our some say and we shouldn’t be left holding our nobs when that happens. This angle is rarely stressed though.
But what is the harm of taking action to limit emissions? Well, it puts more of a stranglehold on businesses, it holds back industry, limits developing countries, and can result in some pretty Orwellian laws such as a recently proposed carbon emission points where you need to buy points for your own carbon emissions. These laws, whilst being well meaning should not be made until we are sure that our carbon emissions does cause global warming.
To sum it up. I am still not sure what to think. If you asked me whether I believed in man made global warming only a year ago I would have said yes, mainly because of it was the consensus. But then consensus can be wrong. It is generally a consensus that feminists represent equality and I don’t believe that. I moved to a middle ground and now I will probably land on the side that it is not man caused. But one thing is clear, that we need more discussion on many points. Such as the role of the sun in warming, does CO2 drive temperature? And is the cause really man made.