One short view of Climate Change
Human beings need to take action to arrest climate change and protect this earth for our future generations.
I worked at Microsoft during its best years when it was the undisputed leader in the tech sector. The technology world has always changed fast and we learned that if you wait until all the facts were known about a topic before making a decision that would be too late - you had to work with the available information and make the best decision. Most times it resulted in a good decision. Most climate scientists (97%? - what a huge level of consensus) agree that global warming is caused by man-made greenhouse gas emissions, largely CO2. I suspect the remaining 3% of scientists won't change their minds no matter how much new evidence is disclosed. If I had a potentially terminal illness and 97% of doctors I consulted recommended a specific course of action to address the illness that would be good enough for me, I'd follow their advice and act on it.
The Precautionary Principle says that if Something might cause harm to the public or the environment and there isn't scientific consensus that the Something won't cause harm, then basically don't do it (I'm paraphrasing here). Sadly, governments don't seem to be very effective at taking preventative action which could save significant time/money/grief from expected consequences, instead they apply costly band aid remedial solutions once things do go wrong. Lots of examples supporting this. Minister, invest in preventative health measures?... naw, too costly so let the next government pay for the mop-up later. Impose penalties on major polluters for their greenhouse gas emissions? Naw, instead let's provide them subsidies and hand-outs as It Helps The Economy. Sad that you can't eat money.
Another barrier to addressing climate change is that it's global and human nature is to reap the benefits from a shared resource but not to look after it - that's someone else's responsibility. So who does look after the earth? We all should.
The earth's systems are closed loops. What is known as the carbon cycle or Greenhouse Effect is where carbon gets naturally emitted into the atmosphere and then reabsorbed from the atmosphere by the earth. If the emissions are below a certain level the normal carbon cycle can deal with emissions and the overall CO2 level stays manageable. The 'normal' carbon cycle is critical for life.
The developments from the Industrial Age have accelerated the carbon cycle through activities like burning coal and oil for power, propulsion and electricity that have been putting more carbon into the atmosphere than nature can safely reabsorb. The Industrial Age changed the world, generally for the better, but with consequences that weren't considered at the time. Developments from the Industrial Age resulted in the Enhanced Greenhouse Effect where the earth can no longer absorb the greenhouse gases that have and continue to be released at an ever greater level. As a result the level of atmospheric CO2 continues to rise. It's now the highest it has been in 800,000 years. Other greenhouse gases like methane, which are many times stronger greenhouse gases than CO2, are released from the consequences of other industrial processes like certain farming activities, and decomposition of organic material. Artificial refriderants have even higher Global Warming Potential than CO2 and methane. As the concentration of greenhouse gases rises in the atmosphere more heat released from the earth is reflected back to earth by the CO2 blanket. The temperature rises.
The scientists who we should be listening to tell us we need to reduce the amount of CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions - now! The scientists and others saying the human-induced climate change is all hog wash would probably have been spruiking the health benefits of smoking cigarettes not long ago.
If someone claims that the rise in atmospheric CO2 is not caused by human activity they are either ignorant or disingenuous. There's money and fame to be made by being on the minority side of a big argument.
Internal combustion engines release CO2 as exhaust gases, and coal-fired power plants release CO2 in burning the coal. Consider the number of motor vehicles running around the world right now, and the number of coal-fired power plants in use or planned. Then remember the world's population continues to grow and a large part of it will demand higher and higher standards of living through growing affluence (buying a car, eating meat, building a bigger house, creating more waste.) Watch the accelerating growth of the middle class in China with its increasing consumption. Unfortunately, the Sustainability mantra of reduce, recycle, reuse doesn't appeal while climbing 'the ladder of success.' What to do?
Come-on Australian government, pull your finger out and show real leadership - you are in danger of being the laughing stock of the world with your heads in the sand (or up something else!)