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‘See no evil’ brigade drive 4x4s over children’s future
• TIM Newark’s letters demonstrate how irresponsible Channel 4 was to show The Great Global Warming Swindle without also presenting the counter-arguments at the same time (Green excuse to curb our liberty, March 23; Third world jibe way off the mark, March 30).
The evidence is clear (and supported by an overwhelming majority of scientists) that the burning of fossil fuels is seriously changing our climate. The world community seems at last to be coming to recognise the threat this represents.
But the programme claimed to disprove this argument.
It only did so, however, by carefully selecting data which appeared to support its case and ignoring any which didn’t. And Channel 4’s decision to leave this partial and unscientific approach unchallenged left the appearance of a scientific justification for the vociferous ostriches and ‘see no evil’ monkeys who prefer to believe that all is well, thereby apparently sanctioning their desire to keep driving 4x4s over our children’s and grandchildren’s futures.
For example, natural variations in solar radiation levels have indeed caused global warming in the past, as Mr Newark suggests, and this has in turn caused the release of greenhouse gases, such that, yes, measurements of historical CO2 levels can be seen to show these increasing following on from rather than preceding global warming.
But what Mr Newark (and the programme) apparently chose to ignore is that those increasing levels of CO2 then went on to increase global warming still further – considerably above and beyond the influence of the sun. In our current situation, moreover, satellite measurements clearly show increased solar radiation levels as not being the culprit for recent global warming.
That is down to humans generating greenhouse gases – at a rate far faster than anything in the planet’s history. And the global warming caused by this will also go on to generate more of the gases, and hence heat the planet still further, unless we can somehow manage to apply the brakes.
Mr Newark’s quoting of the fact that global temperatures dropped for a while after 1945, despite rising carbon dioxide emissions, also does not disprove the link between CO2 and global warming but sadly instead provides further evidence of humanity’s capacity to pollute on a truly global scale.
Prior to clean-air legislation in the 1960s and 1970s the quantities of other pollutants released by burning fossil fuels were so great that they simply cooled the climate more by reflecting sunlight away than the CO2 emissions did to warm it (as well as causing, for example, massive acid rain problems).
If a person smokes a cigarette in a lift then everyone else in the lift knows their local environment will be affected.
If the same person smokes a cigarette in an aircraft hangar, then the effect is less obvious. But if more and more people start smoking more and more cigarettes in that hangar, eventually it will fill with smoke.
With more and more people burning more and more fossil fuels, all around the world, how can we possibly expect it not to have some adverse impact? Applying the brakes doesn’t just need politicians to mouth good intentions but millions of people to do their share.
Channel 4, at a national level, and people like Tim Newark locally, are the Nick O’Teens of the 21st century – whispering in all our ears: “Go on, have another. What harm could it do?” Seriously damage our health!
ANDREW MYER
Islington Green Party |
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