Monday, April 9, 2007

Today's Roundup

Global warming? Do the math

If, as Mr. Dion demands, we honoured our Kyoto commitments and reduced our current CO2 emissions by one-third -- [...] -- we would be saving one-third of 1 ml-- the tip of an eyedropper.
And somehow, that is supposed to save the planet from warming; the tip of one eyedropper out of 2,400 bottles of water.
That might be true if carbon dioxide were the most toxic substance ever discovered by man. But it is not. We each expel it every time we exhale.
It's hard to imagine how such a tiny amount of a benign substance could cause the end of the planet. Maybe Mr. Dion could explain that in his next press release.

Mansur: Is there global warming 'truth'?

We know from recent past experiences, however, that long-term predictions on issues where human agency and nature intersect -- such as population or renewable resources -- turned out differently.
This record of science being fallible might be a small consolation. Yet it is a helpful reminder. Scientists, when true to their vocation, will ask of the public not to abandon skepticism as a "truth" seeking tool -- unlike politicians in general being insistent on consensus when "truth" is uncertain.

Gray says Gore does ’great disservice’ by stirring up alarm over global warming

‘‘He’s (Gore) one of these guys that preaches the end of the world type of things. I think he’s doing a great disservice and he doesn’t know what he’s talking about,’’ Gray, 77, said.

[...]

Today, skeptics are left out of government funding and even endure a kind of ‘‘mild McCarthyism,’’ Gray said.‘‘If you don’t go along with it (global warming), you pay a bit of a price. There’s a bit of mild McCarthyism about this whole thing,’’ he said. Critics allege that skeptics are ‘‘all tools of the fossil fuel industry,’’ Gray said. ‘‘I’ve never gotten any money from the fossil fuel industry.’’