Enough to Make You Dizzy!  

It is natural, human, for us to try to fit the facts to our beliefs.  So if we genuinely want to know what is going on with climate change, we must be able to deliberate and do so with participation from others.  

First of all, should we care?  As has been stated in a past E-News, yes, we should, if only to avoid going to war with the Chinese over the supply of fossil fuels.  

Here are some excerpts from news reports.  What is your conclusion?  

1. The Pope says “no” to global warming.   

Pope Benedict XVI has launched a surprise attack on climate change prophets of doom, warning them that any solutions to global warming must be based on firm evidence and not on dubious ideology.  

The leader of more than a billion Roman Catholics suggested that fears over man-made emissions melting the ice caps and causing a wave of  unprecedented disasters were nothing more than scare-mongering. … From http://www.dailymail.co.uk http://www.dailymail.co.uk, December 12, 2007.  

2. NASA data point to accelerated melting of Arctic ice.  

WASHINGTON (AP) — An already relentless melting of the Arctic greatly accelerated this summer, a warning sign that some scientists worry could mean global warming has passed an ominous tipping point. One even speculated that summer sea ice would be gone in five years.  

Greenland's ice sheet melted nearly 19 billion tons more than the previous high mark, and the volume of Arctic sea ice at summer's end was half what it was just four years earlier, according to new NASA satellite data obtained by The Associated Press. …  
December 11, 2007.  See http://nsidc.org/news/press/2007_seaiceminimum/20070810_index.html 

3. Some scientists challenge global warming.  

BALI, Indonesia - An international team of scientists skeptical of man-made climate fears promoted by the UN and former Vice President Al Gore, descended on Bali this week to urge the world to "have the courage to do nothing" in response to UN demands.    

Lord Christopher Monckton, a UK climate researcher, had a blunt message for UN climate conference participants on Monday.  

"Climate change is a non-problem. The right answer to a non problem is to have the courage to do nothing," Monckton told participants. …
December 11, 2007.  See http://epw.senate.gov/public/ .  

4. We will face an oil crunch in five years.  

The world is facing an oil supply “crunch” within five years that will force up prices to record levels and increase the west’s dependence on oil cartel Opec, the industrialised countries’ energy watchdog has warned.  

In its starkest warning yet on the world’s fuel outlook, the International Energy Agency said “oil looks extremely tight in five years time” and there are “prospects of even tighter natural gas markets at the turn of the decade”.

The IEA said that supply was falling faster than expected in mature areas, such as the North Sea or Mexico, while projects in new provinces such as the Russian Far East, faced long delays.  Meanwhile consumption is accelerating on strong economic growth in emerging countries.… The Financial Times, July 9, 2007.  

Hmm, which course of action on our part would be prudent?  

If you answer the multiple-choice questions below and e-mail to lessonanswers@mymontebello.com with “Lesson answers” in the subject field, you will be credited toward a “certificate of recognition in community affairs” to be awarded in 2007 by a local nonprofit organization.  

1. What are we reading?

(a) There are respectable voices who deny global warming.

(b) There is a credible source which shows that the Arctic ice is melting faster.

(c) We are headed for a shortage in the oil supply.  

2. Which course of action on our part would be prudent?

(a) Regardless of the facts on global warming, conserve in order to alleviate the coming oil shortage.

(b) Regardless of the facts on global warming, conserve in order for us to have a stockpile of fossil fuels against unforeseen emergencies.

(c) Regardless of the facts on global warming, conserve in order to avoid confrontations with fuel-hungry countries.

(d) Regardless of the facts on global warming, conserve in order to set an example for fuel-hungry countries.  

January 3, 2008