George Soros, who recently joined Bill Gates in giving away their personal fortunes to the betterment of humankind, writes on his website:
Is “An Inconvenient Truth” Really True?
Global warming has begun to loom so large that I can no longer ignore it. I was moved by former Vice President Al Gore’s persuasive presentation. I checked it out with scientists, and they confirmed that scientific opinion is unanimous about the dangers; they only differ on the speed of the process.
There are many delayed effects; indeed, even if all new carbon emissions stopped today, the warming of the oceans would continue for some time. Average temperatures are already higher than at any time in human history, so further warming poses a real threat to the survival of human civilization.
The situation is not hopeless because we are likely to be more adaptable than we think, but the danger is real and there is no time to waste.
Unfortunately, the Bush administration is in denial. Public opinion is well ahead of the administration on global warming, but there is a lot of confusion and obfuscation by special interests. Exxon-Mobil has been the main sponsor of advocacy groups whose goal is to confuse the public. Peer reviewed scientific publications are unanimous on the existence of a serious manmade problem; reports in public media, however, are evenly divided. That is the achievement of these advocacy groups. Nevertheless, cities and states are taking action on their own; only federal action is missing.
Although the Kyoto Protocol came into force without U.S. participation, future progress hinges on a change of attitude by the United States. Plans are afoot to mobilize U.S. public opinion, and I hope that will make a difference.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment