Skipper

Like most people, I find the debate about climate change confusing. So I was very pleased to find a relatively straightforward explanation of the 'warmers' versus the 'deniers' in the august pages of the current edition of The Economist.


Inevitably, it is complex but it makes the case convincingly that just because a few elements in the case have proved dodgy that the whole 'pack of cards' is thereby demolished. It seems that certainty is not obtainable given current science- the future outcome could fall within a benign category- or it could be as catastrophic as depicted in Cormac McCarthy's bleakly dystopic book (and film), The Road. If the former comes to pass, maybe we have been worrying over rather little; but if the latter, we will have condemned our descendants, not to mention humanity as a whole, to a slow and very unpleasant death.

The Economist briefing concludes thus:

The fact that the uncertainties allow you to construct a relatively benign future does not allow you to ignore futures in which climate change is large, and in some of which it is very dangerous indeed. The doubters are right that uncertainties are rife in climate science. They are wrong when they present that as a reason for inaction.

To this conclusion I would like to add another concept: managing the risk. In a recent pub conversation some climate sceptic friends seemed unimpressed by the fact that nine out of ten climate scientists believe human agency is responsible for global warming. They focused on the those who have challenged the overall thesis and found lacunae in its structure such as the University East Anglia 'Cimategate' massaging of data and the mistaken predictions about those Himalayan glaciers. My concern, however, lies more with the nine who say 'yes' rather than the one who says 'no'.

Let me pose a hypothetical question. If nine out of ten firemen told you there was a pretty fair chance your house will burn down, would you believe the single expert who said it would not? Or would you set about solving the problem and upgrading your house insurance? Similarily, if nine doctors out of ten told you you needed an operation, would you believe the single dissenter? I don't think a sensible person would take the risk- the stakes are far too high. We have been told, by an array of very distinguished people that there is a fair risk the world will be destroyed unless we do something pretty sharpish about carbohn emissions. I simply cannot believe why the 'deniers', sceptics or whoever- Nigel Lawson, George Bush, Jeremy Clakson- have been unable to grasp this simple fact yet persist in braying forth the views of the minority who agree with Dr Pangloss.