| What the newspapers tell us | What does it mean? | |
|---|---|---|
97% cooked stats, National Post, Jan. 4, 2011, page FP7Lawrence Solomon goes to some length to count up scientists who "believe" in global warming and compare their number with the number of those who don't believe it. |
You don't need a Ph.D. to sit in a park in New York City in 1965 and see little (half-mm) balls of soot land on your newspaper. (They've cleaned things up since then.) You don't need a Ph.D. to see how dirty the air is in Los Angeles, or Mexico City, or numerous cities in the "developing" world. From the other side of the lake you can see a black cloud hanging over Toronto. The atmosphere is finite, but the drive to make money from selling cars, gasoline and air travel has no limit. We should be very concerned. | |
A Scientist, His Work And a Climate Reckoning, New York Times (Toronto Star Edition), Jan. 2, 2011, page 1Charles David Keeling and his son Ralph have been measuring carbon dioxide in the atmosphere since the 1950's. These two, and many other scientists, and the New York Times agree that the increasing levels of carbon dioxide are due to burning fossil fuels and are very concerned about the bad effect this will have on our climate.So what is their solution? The Times quotes Ralph Keeling as follows: "When I go to see things with my children, I let them know they might not be around when they're older. 'Go enjoy these beautiful forests before they disappear. Go enjoy the glaciers in the parks because they won't be around.' It's basically taking note of what we have, and appreciating it, and saying goodbye to it." |
Most readers of the New York Times don't live within walking distance of a glacier, or even within a 12-hour drive. What if everyone takes their children to see the glaciers and forests? How much carbon dioxide will that put into the atmosphere? | |
| In the same article, The Times states that economic growth (read cars and airplanes) in China, India etc. "is a moral imperative". It's not a moral imperative, it's an opportunity for someone to make some money while running a serious risk of damaging our climate. | It's not a moral imperative, it's an opportunity for someone to make some money while running a serious risk of damaging our climate. | |
| In another article on a facing page, The Times describes the "suffocating" traffic in Beijing as traffic grows faster than the road system. | There's no mention of any "moral imperative" in this second article. | |
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