An Inconvenient Truth!!
I went to the free showing of the Al Gore Climater Change movie arranged by Sutton Council.
Congratulations to Councillor Colin Hall for arranging this and it was very appropriate this was shown the day after the publication of the Stern Report.
The movie set out the impact of human generated climate change.
Apart from being a major impact on the world as a whole, there are more immediate impacts on the poorest both in the developing and developed world. Thus this is also an equality issue.
The scientific evidence in support of a human impact is very strong and thus we have seen the debate move from one of proving a theory, through to the weighing up the cost of the impact compared to other pressing needs (the Copenhagen Consensus debate) through to the issue of risk management, which is where the Stern Report is at. The Economist magazine recently published a survey that shifted to this position as well.
I also think we need to go beyond that immediate need and recognise that climate chaos as well as being human generated is also caused by other activities as well (solar luminosity, volcanic activity etc) and has happened many times before (Permian/Triassic boundary 90% mass extinction, no ice caps in the early Eocene etc) due to our climate being a chaotic system, with many tipping points. Thus the best way to tackle it is:
1. A short term (ie 50 years policy) of reducing human generated climate change with a minimum 60% and up to 90% carbon reduction. This will be achieved through new technolo0gy and its spins offs (which will help with the longer term) and regulatory activity combined with educational work, that ensures all the public are are fully aware of the implications and act on them.
2. A much longer risk management approach of "preparing for climate change" which recognises that even if we secure a 90% reduction, non-human impacts may still change climate and we need to maximise our adaptivity to maximise our chances to overcome such changes.
Congratulations to Councillor Colin Hall for arranging this and it was very appropriate this was shown the day after the publication of the Stern Report.
The movie set out the impact of human generated climate change.
Apart from being a major impact on the world as a whole, there are more immediate impacts on the poorest both in the developing and developed world. Thus this is also an equality issue.
The scientific evidence in support of a human impact is very strong and thus we have seen the debate move from one of proving a theory, through to the weighing up the cost of the impact compared to other pressing needs (the Copenhagen Consensus debate) through to the issue of risk management, which is where the Stern Report is at. The Economist magazine recently published a survey that shifted to this position as well.
I also think we need to go beyond that immediate need and recognise that climate chaos as well as being human generated is also caused by other activities as well (solar luminosity, volcanic activity etc) and has happened many times before (Permian/Triassic boundary 90% mass extinction, no ice caps in the early Eocene etc) due to our climate being a chaotic system, with many tipping points. Thus the best way to tackle it is:
1. A short term (ie 50 years policy) of reducing human generated climate change with a minimum 60% and up to 90% carbon reduction. This will be achieved through new technolo0gy and its spins offs (which will help with the longer term) and regulatory activity combined with educational work, that ensures all the public are are fully aware of the implications and act on them.
2. A much longer risk management approach of "preparing for climate change" which recognises that even if we secure a 90% reduction, non-human impacts may still change climate and we need to maximise our adaptivity to maximise our chances to overcome such changes.
posted by Charlie Mansell at 2:55 pm
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