TheRealCJ said:
Global warming may be happening. Personally, I'm skeptical, at least on the causes and on the speed. For a number of reasons:
i) Models have consistently been shown to take account of far too few factors to draw any proper scientific conclusions.
ii) In the UK, one of the most prominent environmental research facilities, the University of East Anglia, was engaged in some extremely unscrupulous practice with their data, yet the only inquiry into it was an internal university one, which exonerated everyone involved.
iii) The Media often exaggerates things. Ten years ago, the hole in the Ozone layer was going to kill us all. When was the last time you heard about it?
iv) The timescale the data is based on is too small in a geological time-frame to be relevant.
v) Climate-change scientists often ignore pertinent evidence, exaggerating the possibilities. For example, did you know that one increasingly-accepted historical reason for the explosion of growth of population of Europe in the Middle Ages was a several degree temperature rise, allowing increasing amounts of crops to be grown by fewer people (leading to towns...). If that's the case, how can a 2 degree rise have the potential consequences that have been suggested, and why is this evidence never addressed?
However, pollution is still a practical problem. Finding alternative fuels is crucial, not least because oil is limited in supply. Having said that, most current green fuels are both unworkable on a large scale, and inappropriate. Did you know that a battery for an electric car takes more to make in terms of carbon emissions than it can possibly recoup in its lifetime, and that its effect upon the environment is WORSE, in terms of fossil fuels used, than a diesel engine? Positing fake solutions is not the way to address it - real research is needed, and someone needs to fund it, and that someone ought to be government and industry.
I also think its very difficult for a lay person to get any idea of how real the threat is. Government and media manipulation of the issues is so strong, that getting any real idea is impossible. Things like the UEA fiasco don't really help.
I'm all for alternative fuels, but I want one that works, not some stupid concession which doesn't actually help. And if a government really wants to do something about it, let it start making laws that actually help. Make businesses turn lights off at night. Take away standby modes on electronic goods. Require increased efficiency. Don't claim motorists are the evil responsible.