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| Jan 18, 2010 12:17 pm |
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The Reality of Climate Change |
John Stephen Veitch
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I was somewhat distressed leading up to COP15, at the misuse of this open forum, to support a propaganda effort to discredit the strong science behind climate change.
I'm not going to permit that to happen again. To that end there will be new posting rules for this network in the next couple of days. Essentially YOU, need to state your OWN personal point of view. To put your reputation on the line. Then if you want to add supporting evidence from some source, by all means do so.
So let's begin now.
I'm not a scientist, but I've read over a thousand pages on this topic in the last three months, and I'm totally convinced that the anti-climate change propaganda we have recently been subjected to is malicious, dishonest, and destructive of both the environment and in the longer run the economy. Moreover that failure to discuss the topic in a proper way was destructive to this network.
Even if the science was proven wrong in some way, the sorts of things humanity needs to do to adapt to climate change are things that are worthwhile anyway.
Here's little story about science getting it wrong.
In the 1840's thousands of Londoners died of disease, thought to be carried in the sewers. Science of the time described this as "the miasma" and it carried scarlet fever, small-pox and cholera to its' victims. It was thought that the SMELL for the open sewers caused the deaths.
The Sewer Commissioners called for submissions, and they got 137 suggestions, none of which were acceptable. Edwin Chandwick, the Poor Law Commissioner ordered the flushing of the sewers. That didn't stop the deaths. Child mortality was common. Often the death rate was so high the bodies couldn't be buried.
In 1849 14,000 Londoners died of Colera. The Chief statistician William Farr was tracking the places were deaths occurred. There was a geographic pattern to the deaths that he could make no sense of.
Dr. John Snow developed a theory that the geographic feature of the death pattern might have something to do with drinking water. In 1853 the cholera returned and Dr Snow had one suspicious water source closed and the epidemic stopped.
In 1856 Joseph Bazalgette, an engineer developed a plan for an enclosed sewerage system to get rid of the smell. The system involved bricked in sewers, which were self cleansing and large pumps to raise the sewerage into holding ponds.
Politicians rejected the plan. But 1858 was the year of the "great stink" so bad that parliament was closed. A few weeks later three million pounds was approved for the building of Bazalgette's sewer. The work involved 20,000 men with picks and shovels, and it took almost 14 years.
However as the work proceeded the incidence of cholera dropped. "Getting rid of the smell" obviously "worked".
In 1866, in an area which had been cholera free for some time, suddenly had several deaths. Together William Farr and John Snow quickly identified a reason. Eels were found in the water supply pipes. This pipe was not yet fully isolated from the sewers. Dr Snow died several years before the real cause of Cholera was discovered.
Bazalgettes sewer was completed in 1870, and London never again suffered from a cholera epidemic.
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My point is this. Even though the real reason for the epidemics was wasn't understood, the open sewers were correctly identified as the problem. The engineering work on the sewers was very expensive, and the politicians reluctant, but the work was needed and should have been approved many years earlier.
This is typical of how human societies behave. We can see the same thing now regarding climate change.
I do have evidence to support my view.
It's so Cold, there can't be Global Warming.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDTUuckNHgc
John Stephen Veitch; The Network Ambassador
Open Future Limited - http://www.openfuture.co.nz/
Innovation Network - http://veech-network.ryze.com/
Building an Open Future - http://openfuture-network.ryze.com/Private Reply to John Stephen Veitch (new win) |
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