Until watching Channel 4’s recent documentary on global warming I was about 75% sure that the link between global warming and human CO2 emissions was nonsense, or at least seriously exaggerated. I’m now 99.99% it’s nonsense… and pissed off at the realization that we are letting people in Africa die rather than let them develop and fully use their natural resources like coal and oil.
Please please watch it as someone has put it on google video but it might not be around for long. Even if only half of it is true, it’s a bombshell.
March 13th, 2007 at 10:30 pm
I didn’t watch the programme. I wish I had now, as it sounds as if it was pretty interesting.
I don’t know whether global warming is man-made or not, but the majority of scientists seem to think that it is. I would therefore worry about how much of the programme shown recently was spin (to attract a large viewing audience).
As I said though, I didn’t see the programme and if I did, I would perhaps be just as convinced by it as you have been.
March 13th, 2007 at 11:29 pm
Well why don’t you watch it for yourself since someone was as kind as to put it on google video
It’s only an hour long…and you’re a phd student so it would count as work..
March 14th, 2007 at 2:06 am
I started watching it last night, but was sleepy…now it looks like it isn’t working, or maybe it’s just me. Oh well. I tried.
March 14th, 2007 at 2:17 pm
It was broke…but I’ve fixed it now. Probably someone took it off google so watch it quick before it disappears again
March 14th, 2007 at 6:44 pm
i downloaded it from google. I plan to put it on my iPod and watch it while I’m on a plane this week. I’ll le you know what I think.
Meg
PS. I finally mailed your mountain dew on Monday. You’ll have to work hard to actually get to it–it’s very well wrapped. I also declared it correctly (I’m terrible at lying), so no one will be getting a free trip to Cuba any time soon.
March 15th, 2007 at 8:46 am
“and you’re a phd student so it would count as work..”
Can I put it down as a training day?
March 20th, 2007 at 6:28 pm
It was definitely interesting–seems compelling/logical. Need to do some digging before I have a firm conclusion on it though.
mlh
March 20th, 2007 at 7:42 pm
check this out.
http://comment.independent.co......359057.ece
meg.
March 20th, 2007 at 9:54 pm
Much is being made of his stance as if that undermines the entire program. But I don’t find it very surprising given the hostility to criticisms of human CO2 -> global warming theory, that he is now saying this. If more of the scientists who appeared on the program started saying the same thing, then I’d be concerned.
I’ve yet to see anyone actually demonstrate that the points made on the program were incorrect.
March 21st, 2007 at 2:31 am
it looks like a lot of the scientists on the program had some outside infuences–http://www.atlanticfreepress.com/content/view/1174/81/
now, I won’t be so bold as to say that the altantic free press article is completely true, but it does poke some holes in the C4 piece.
meg
March 21st, 2007 at 2:53 am
and then look at: http://news.independent.co.uk/.....355956.ece
When you knowingly use false information and then claim it was just “fluff”–I have a hard time believing that any of it is true.
And I was so willing to give it a chance too.
I will say that I do agree with the premise that we shouldn’t allow the precautionary principle to force the developing world to remain undeveloped.
March 21st, 2007 at 11:32 pm
Good find. I definitely need to do some more research on this and I want to hear more of the program makers own responses to this criticism.
March 26th, 2007 at 1:42 am
The republican ranking member (former chair) of the US Senate Environment Committee had a special screening of the movie last week. He’s a notorious global climate change nay-sayer, going so far as to say that Harry Potter was more believable than global climate change and that it was the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the american people. class act, really. Anyway, just found it interesting how much attention its getting on this side of the pond. Meg.
PS. has your package arrived yet?
March 26th, 2007 at 1:36 pm
yo rowan,
some more facts on the “independent scientist” from the program you saw.
http://www.monbiot.com/archive.....#more-1047
I agree it is harder for a scientist to disagree with the main thinking of the day, but with the vast majority of world leading scientists on the Internation Panel for Climate Change saying that global warming is most likely caused by human activity, I would be inclinded to go with them, rather than a the minority.
I completely disagreed with the stance of the program saying that we are disadvantaging africians by not allowing them to use fossil fuels, and the example of the solar panel in the hospital being under powered, they are probably 100’s of km from the nearest power line, and therefore can only use solar. I can assure you that the majority of the greenies out there like me, are just as concerned about development issues, in fact the climate change agenda is now becoming the one of the main campaigns of oxfam, christaid aid etc.
But in the end, the program has stimulated debate on the issue, which is only a good thing.