The Real Inconvenient Truth

We live in a world where news flows 24 hours a day. A world where you can find out anything that your heart desires without even leaving the comfort of your own home. In such a world rather than having to trust that sources like the BBC, tabloids or textbooks supply and interpret news and information accurately, we can merely seek a second, third, fourth or in fact any number of other opinions and sources.

The irony is, that this can have a negative effect in portraying a clear message, especially for those groups trying to get the climate change message out there. Countless reports and statistics begin to confuse the scientific arguments about climate change. When differing sources tell us that temperatures may rise by anywhere between 1 degree Celsius and 6.4 degrees Celsius and with some reputable sources still predicting global cooling, trying to make a judgement becomes difficult. Indeed, sea level rise predictions from the IPCC alone spread anywhere between 90mm and almost a metre. This means people don’t know what they are really facing in the future. Our obsession as a society for statistics just confuses the whole thing further. While scientists may debate the effect thermal expansion has on sea levels and how much extra carbon dioxide can be absorbed by plant life, the wider issue is surely more important.

The Copenhagen Summit is seen by many as crucial to future policy on climate change

The real inconvenient truth is that we don’t know. We know so little about our complex world and the workings of our atmospheric systems. With Climate being one of the most complex areas of science it is obvious why we do not have a complete picture. Add to this the scale of what we are trying to predict in both space, the entire globe, and time, predictions running ahead a century, then it is no wonder that certainty is hard to come by. Unfortunately for the well intentioned Green lobby, this uncertainty plays perfectly into the hands of the groups with a huge interest in the outcome of the climate debate. Groups such as the energy sector, oil industry and car industry. Their ability and motive to spread counter-intelligence thanks to their considerable influence in the worlds of science, the media and politics means it is not surprising people start to doubt reputable sources like the IPCC when these groups stoop to any means to protect the ‘business as usual’ mantra. This leads to the defenceless individual, just looking for direction, to get lost in a sea of incomprehensible and conflicting statistics.

The 10:10 Campaign, backed by The Guardian newspaper, binds those who sign up to reduce emissions by 10% by the end of 2010

However, for those who decide to sit on the fence. Those who reason that the science is not sure, the science is not perfect. The inconvenient truth is we know enough to be sure that messing with a complex and finely balanced system will have global and irreversible consequences. The question is, will we act as individuals and as a society now, to save the world of tomorrow from the consequences of climate change? Whilst the default setting for many well educated people is just to ignore the science and the logic, to believe the whole thing a myth, whilst others hide behind statistical uncertainty, our climate will steadily change as we fail to act. Our uncertainty will no longer be whether climate change is real but whether it will destroy the security of the way we live.

Anthony Barron

For more info about the Copenhagen summit, click here

For more info on 10:10, click here

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Tags: America, Environment, Europe, Politics

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 10th, 2009 at 5:39 pm and is filed under Comment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.