[LINK] Climate Change, The other point of View

[Frank O'Connor]

Ahhh ... Tom,

You recently had us convinced that nuclear was a great option and 
that what had happened in Japan was gonna be no problem ... 
admittedly with opinionated harangues rather than fact .... but it 
was a triumph of quantity over quality, of noise over caution, of 
simplistic rationale over considered debate.

And the opposing voices were silenced. strangely enough by your 
contention that your rights were being compromised.

And look! Japan's nuclear problems have faded into nothing ... just 
as you predicted!

You're a real phenomenon, Matey! A genius. Never wrong!

And now greenhouse gases are no problem, because vulcanism dwarfs it..

So, if I can be a tad more mundane, I'm sitting here in Rye on a 
really windy day, after an uncharacteristically really windy few 
weeks, (amazing where excess energy goes in weather systems isn't 
it?) after the warmest year we've had on record, after the warmest 
decade we've had on record, with the Arctic ice sheets retreating ... 
all of which are on the scientific record, but TK wants to advance 
the simplistic theories and opinions of a relatively minor geologist 
from what is regarded as the looney fringe who wants to opine about 
weather.

So, just a few more issues and facts for you ... which you will no 
doubt blithely ignore:

1. 85% of volcanic emissions are not greenhouse gases, and in fact 
have a net COOLING effect on the world's climates. (The effect is 
only temporary .. a year or so ... but it's there.)

2. Greenhouse effects are good. Without them we'd be warming our 
butts on blocks of ice, but too much greenhouse or too swift a change 
in greenhouse is not a good thing. Tends to have a similar effect to 
a tectonic shift underfoot.

3. Whilst another 5 or 10 degrees wouldn't be bad for life (generally 
speaking life really likes steamy swamps, plants love sunlight and 
warmth, bugs and microbes love humidity and turgid weather systems), 
it wouldn't be too flash for we of the human persuasion. Aside from 
the fact that it would likely adversely impact on areas where we have 
huge populations (the old temperate and tropic zones, Chief), it 
could actually be good for places where we have less dense 
populations (Australia, Russia and the Arctic) So that's OK ... we 
just screw over other 5-6 billion people on the planet - but that's 
their problem. The resultant sea level rise, floods, droughts which 
may affect those areas that are otherwise beneficiaries of

4. I don't know about you, but the rule for CLOSED systems like the 
Earth is to be a little bit careful about screwing things up ... 
because unless you can get outside the CLOSED system, screwing them 
up by sending them into new steady states, equilibria or whatever you 
want to call it is a one way frigging trip. You can't just conduct 
the experiment, say "Oopsie!" and expect everything to return to 
normal like you can in the lab ... the consequences tend to be a bit 
more drastic.

Now I like a cheerleader as much as most, TK ... but the sporting 
variety tend to be a tad more easy on the eye and have a far superior 
attention span to others for whom science and technology can do no 
wrong. But dredging up a looney geologist to support the contention 
that climate change either ain't happening or if it is happening 
there's nothing we can do about it hits new lows.

Even for you.

							Regards,

At 11:15 AM +1000 21/6/11, Tom Koltai wrote:
>Dear Linkers,
>I received this in an email this morning. It is replicated here to
>ensure balanced and fair reporting. (see comments at end)
>
>Quote/
>Professor Ian Plimer (a member of the School of Earth and Environmental
>Sciences <http://www.ees.adelaide.edu.au/>  at the University of
>Adelaide. He is also a joint member of the School of Civil,
>Environmental and Mining Engineering <http://www.ecms..adelaide.edu.au/>
>) could not have said it better!
>If you've read his book you will agree, this is a good summary.
>Okay, here's the bombshell. The volcanic eruption in Iceland, since its
>first spewing of volcanic ash has, in just FOUR DAYS, NEGATED EVERY
>SINGLE EFFORT you have made in the past five years to control CO2
>emissions on our planet, all of you.
>Of course you know about this evil carbon dioxide that we are trying to
>suppress, that vital chemical compound that every plant requires to live
>and grow, and to synthesize into oxygen for us humans, and all animal
>life.
>I know, it's very disheartening to realize that all of the carbon
>emission savings you have accomplished while suffering the inconvenience
>and expense of: driving Prius hybrids, buying fabric grocery bags,
>sitting up till midnight to finish your kid's "The Green Revolution"
>science project, throwing out all of your non-green cleaning supplies,
>using only two squares of toilet paper, putting a brick in your toilet
>tank reservoir, selling your SUV and speedboat, vacationing at home
>instead of abroad, nearly getting hit every day on your bicycle,
>replacing all of your 50 cents light bulbs with $10.00 light
>bulbs...well, all of those things you have done have all gone down the
>tubes in just four days.
>The volcanic ash emitted into the Earth's atmosphere in just four days -
>yes - FOUR DAYS ONLY by that volcano in Iceland, has totally erased
>every single effort you have made to reduce the evil beast, carbon. And
>there are around 200 active volcanoes on the planet spewing out this
>crud any one time - EVERY DAY.
>I don't really want to rain on your parade too much, but I should
>mention that when the volcano Mt Pinatubo erupted in the Philippines in
>1991, it spewed out more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than the
>entire human race had emitted in its entire YEARS on earth. Yes folks,
>Mt Pinatubo was active for over one year, think about it.
>Of course I shouldn't spoil this touchy-feely tree-hugging moment and
>mention the effect of solar and cosmic activity and the well-recognized
>800-year global heating and cooling cycle, which keep happening, despite
>our completely insignificant efforts to affect climate change.
>And I do wish I had a silver lining to this volcanic ash cloud but the
>fact of the matter is that the bush fire season across the western USA
>and Australia this year alone will negate your efforts to reduce carbon
>in our world for the next two to three years. And it happens every year.
>Just remember that your government just tried to impose a whopping
>carbon tax on you on the basis of the bogus ''human-caused'' climate
>change scenario.
>Hey, isn't it interesting how they don't mention ''Global Warming'' any
>more, but just ''Climate Change'' - you know why? It's because the
>planet has COOLED by 0.7 degrees in the past century and these global
>warming bull artists got caught with their pants down.
>And just keep in mind that you might yet have an Emissions Trading
>Scheme (that whopping new tax) imposed on you, that will achieve
>absolutely nothing except make you poorer. It won't stop any volcanoes
>from erupting, that's for sure.
>But hey, relax, give the world a hug and have a nice day!
>PS: I wonder if Iceland is buying carbon offsets?
>/Quote
>
>Of course whilst his simplified analysis is patently accurate, the
>author doesn't concern himself with rampant on-going pulmonary disease
>issues (caused by cumulative effects, not one offs like a volcano
>eruption) nor does he concern himself with the reality that economic
>infrastructure, whether it be a $10.00 lightbulb or a massive solar
>panel/wind farm rollout is necessary for the ongoing relationship
>between Government and her citizens.
>
>Let's face it, money talks.
>Our traditional potential nuclear winter cohorts;
>the evil Russian Empire and the Sino Empire are now our commercial
>confederates.
>Therefore the Arms race concept needs replacing with some other equally
>demanding financial imperative. If we remove war amongst the planets
>inhabitants as an economic enhancer, we are left with either UFO's or
>climate change as the potential arch enemy to facilitate a methodology
>of economic progress measurement.
>I don't know about you guys, but just in case UFO's turn out to be real,
>I'm kinda leaning towards the climate as being the bad boy that all we
>need to rally to fight against.
>The only victim, a few carbon atoms.
>
>Err, Koltai, aren't we made of Carbon ?
>That's okay, in the future you will be able to buy some offsets to fix
>that problem...
>
>TomK
>
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