U.N. global warming summary about "feel good-ism"

By Gretchen Randall
for eco-logic Powerhouse magazine

February 10, 2007

The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its "summary for policymakers" about global warming - not the actual scientific report that is due in May. As Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) said, "...the IPCC Summary for Policymakers was not approved by scientists but by U.N. political delegates and bureaucrats." Its conclusions are not what the scientists found, but what the politicians want the media to talk about and the public to believe.

The summary acknowledges that even if industrialized nations cap their greenhouse gas emissions, the climate's warming won't be affected. In other words, man can't affect the climate very much, but Al Gore, the media, and Hillary Clinton will "feel good" if they force us to drive less and use less energy, even though it will harm the American economy.

Another example of "feel good-ism" is the NFL's plan to plant 3,000 trees in the Miami area to absorb the CO2 produced by the Super Bowl. In a story in the Washington Post, Ken Caldeira, a climate scientist at the Carnegie Institution at Stanford University, admits that such projects create a "feel-good illusion" about slowing global warming. Caldeira notes that the amount of carbon dioxide in fossil fuels is 25 times greater than what could be absorbed by trees.

Comments

1. "Anthropogenic warming and sea level rise would continue for centuries due to the timescales associated with climate processes and feedbacks, even if greenhouse gas concentrations were to be stabilized." {10.4, 10.5, 10.7} (Page 12 of the summary)
2. The media seem to believe that by repeating alarming scenarios of rising seas and showing pictures of melting glaciers they will convince the uninformed that man/woman is indeed the cause of climate change. If we were only that powerful!

Background and links:

In the past, the IPCC summaries were contradicted by the scientific report that followed. Gerald Marsh has written a critique of the 2001 report. It can be accessed here. To read "Trees take on greenhouse gases at Super Bowl" click here.

Gretchen Randall may be contacted at:
Winningreen LLC
3712 N. Broadway - PMB 279
Chicago, IL 60613
Phone: 773-857-5086