Is Global Warming a con to get more Taxpayers Money?

[pdq1]

In the pursuit of tackling Climate Change severe restrictions are put on companies and individuals and hefty taxes are put on us to comply.

But isn't mother nature able to tackle the problem. Only this week temperatures have been lower than at Xmas. There has been an exceptional amount of cloud cover meaning the sun's rays are unable to reach the ground.
Storms and tornados have diluted the carbon in the air. While we have been acting like King Canute hasn't nature tackled it much more successfully.

[bazwillrun]

"'I made a mistake': Gaia theory scientist James Lovelock admits he was 'alarmist' about the impact of climate change

British scientist admits he had 'extrapolated too far' in earlier book
Claims other environmental commentators such as Al Gore did the same


'I made a mistake': Scientist James Lovelock has said his previous claims about climate change were too 'alarmist'

'I made a mistake': British scientist James Lovelock has admitted his previous claims about the deadly impact of climate change were too 'alarmist'

Environmental scientist James Lovelock, renowned for his terrifying predictions of climate change's deadly impact on the planet, has gone back on his previous claims, admitting they were 'alarmist'.

The 92-year-old Briton, who also developed the Gaia theory of the Earth as a single organism, has said climate change is still happening - just not as quickly as he once warned.

He added that other environmental commentators, such as former vice president Al Gore, are also guilty of exaggerating their arguments.

The admission comes as a devastating blow to proponents of climate change who regard Lovelock as a powerful figurehead.

Five years ago, he had claimed: 'Before this century is over billions of us will die and the few breeding pairs of people that survive will be in the Arctic where the climate remains tolerable.'

But in an interview with msnbc.com, he admitted: 'I made a mistake.'

He said: 'The problem is we don’t know what the climate is doing,' he told 'We thought we knew 20 years ago. That led to some alarmist books – mine included – because it looked clear cut, but it hasn’t happened.

[andy-hughes]

beso - in the spirit of debate which makes this site so vibrant and vital, you are entirely entitled to take issued with my opinion if you so wish.

What you are not entitled to do is to be personally offensive to me because you don;t agree with my viewpoint.

I am not ignorant, neither am I a fool, and a repeteition of your offensive remarks will be reported.

[Brenden]

Al Gore has made himself a multimillionaire from "global warming", remembering there was no ice cap at one time until we had the ice age, i believe they are natural phenomenons and mother nature will do as she wishes - now if you were to say the planet was overpopulated I would heartily agree.

[bazwillrun]

what will be the scenario not if but when we enter the next real ice age ?

they'll be praying for global warning

[baza]

until the earth heats or cools to a significant figure or remains the same i dont think either side of the argument will accept the other point of view. didnt someone once say that there are lies,lies and statistics.
i do object to being screwed by multinational energy suppliers that use the con of searching for renewable energy at my expense.

[seadogg]

Energy resources based on fossil fuels are finite. Quite irrespective of global warming we just cannot carry on in the same old way. Its true that there have been long term and short term climate swings but the human race can live only within the most moderate changes. Within that framework anyone can believe what they like.

[jake-the-peg]

I especially love the posters on this topic who start "I don't know much about science but....."

They then go on to give us all the benefit of their ignorance!

The fact of the matter is this

There is now not one scientific institute in the world that will tell you that Global warming is a myth.

The very last one was the the American Association of Petroleum Geologists who changed their minds in 2007


You'll even struggle to find individual mavricks who think that the Earth is not warming - they've moved on to trying to say that it's not humans who are responsible.

Baz is right about Lovelock - not that Global warming is a myth but some people like Lovelock have done everybody a bit of a disservice by bein too dramatic about the imminent affects.

That doesn't mean that it's not a problem, it just means ideas like the shutting down of the Gulf stream and sudden dramatic tipping points do not look likely.

Unfortunately most people seem to get their scientific information from tabloids - and they don't print balanced information, they print dramatic alarmist stuff - so when that doesn't occur it damages the reputation of careful steady work that never makes the papers.

We're really lucky in the UK, of all the countries in the world we're about the third least affected, sea level rises seem mild and our climate is not marginal.

But you can't just look at a few days of strange weather in one small segment of the planet and blame it on global warming or the lack thereof

[bazwillrun]

"The fact of the matter is this"

says the "world renowned expert"

LMAO

[Steve.5]

Yes pd it is. They appear to have run out other ideas. The capitalists want even more of our hard earned money.

This so called invented problem has been around for centuries. mother nature adapts without any help but these bastards use it as a lever to justify their greedy policies.

[beso]

"The fact of the matter is nothing has happened" is just another myth perpetrated by the denialists.

In fact the measured warming so far is at the high end of that projected by the models.

Quoting retractions by the most ardent alarmists does not mean the that the scientific conclusions are wrong. In any case Lovelock is not highly respected among climate scientists. His controversial Gaia theory has been widely debunked.

Anyone who reads the science could not intelligently conclude that climate change is not being caused by humans. It is an issue we need to be concerned about if we care at all about leaving a habitable planet for our grand children.

Consequently those who continue to deny this can rightly be accused of being ignorant of the science.

[beso]

Steve.5 // mother nature adapts without any help but these bastards use it as a lever to justify their greedy policies. //

Mother Nature adapts over very long periods. The rate of environment change is unprecedented in geological history beyond catastrophic events.

Mother Nature adpting does not mean it will keep the planet pleasant for us.

The real greed is the consumers who refuse to curtail their gluttonous waste of resources because it costs some money so they pretend there isn't a problem.

[pdq1]

Now they say dinosaurs were responsible for global warming all those years ago. I suppose they can say its true because the dinosaurs were wiped out and hey presto global warming was solved.

Thats the problem with cause and effect. You can put two separate events together to prove your point.

Maybe if the cow population was eradicated we could solve the problem at a stroke.

[pdq1]

A link about dinosaurs

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/17953792

[infundibulum]

"windfarms sprout up everywhere but do not produce enough energy to offset that used to make the windmills." - where is the evidence ?

" Yes it is a con and only the UK seems to tax it's people because of it. " - give us an example please

“It doesn’t matter what is true, it only matters what people believe is true” [Paul Watson, co-founder of Greenpeace] - highly ironic as Paul Watson was not a co-founder of Greenpeace according to this
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Watson

"increases in utility bills etc etc etc " - what has this to do with global warming?


"The fact of the matter is this "
- that is the problem Jake ,the Lack of facts , and the sensational information that the media focuses on .
Some people experience things on the media and think they are true and don't seem to acknowledge that most of the popular media - newspapers, radio , TV and the dubiously selective algorithms of internet search engines feed them the ' next Best story' .
The ' next best story ' may be mainly research or speculation ( or in the case of the internet possibly advertising revenue ), and until the media are held responsible for presenting facts and correcting things they have previously stated , a huge proportion of the population may be titillated , manipulated and misinformed , as has always been the case .

[baza]

very interesting infundibulum, and your point is?

[infundibulum]

baza ,

""The fact of the matter is this "
- that is the problem Jake ,the Lack of facts , and the sensational information that the media focuses on .
Some people experience things on the media and think they are true and don't seem to acknowledge that most of the popular media - newspapers, radio , TV and the dubiously selective algorithms of internet search engines feed them the ' next Best story' .
The ' next best story ' may be mainly research or speculation ( or in the case of the internet possibly advertising revenue ), and until the media are held responsible for presenting facts and correcting things they have previously stated , a huge proportion of the population may be titillated , manipulated and misinformed , as has always been the case . "

[baza]

repeating your submission does not really answer my question, having read both posts twice , i still cannot see your point. yes oil,and coal will run out, when is anybodies guess, replacement sources of energy need to be found.We are bombarded with psuedo information re global warming, either for or against but at the end of the day joe public foots the bill.

[infundibulum]

Baza ,
I did ask of your comment "windfarms sprout up everywhere but do not produce enough energy to offset that used to make the windmills." - how did you come to that conclusion?

[Zhukov]

Swathes of the Planet are rapidly being destroyed..it is not just. Fossil Fuels polluting us..if awareness leads to more Recycling/cutting down on unecessary journeys,better Food management i.e.less waste..then as more adopt,it slowly becomes the norm...Big Problem..in the U.S. they do not/seemingly will not subscribe...They are "Far and Away"the World"s Biggest Wastrels/Squanderers of what this World gives up..The scale of U.S.Ignorance in this,is Breathtakingly Outrageous.!!..but "The Fix is in"..and the Almighty Dollar "Towers"in Importance,above any concerns the rest of the Human Race might raise..

[baza]

infundibulum, it was in a newspaper that i read, from start of production to final instalation of one turbine costs x amount of energy, to replace that energy would take over one year given wind variables and so on. No mention was made as to cost/energy needed to obtain the raw materials in the first place. It does make me think that with so many windfarms sprouting up we may be shooting ourselves in the foot.