EU Rota has noted an interesting little story about new calculations on solar variability and its contribution or not to climate change and global warming. It’s the sort of thing that makes all good little sceptics (like myself, of course), hug ourselves with glee.
See, we can say, it’s not just us capitalist bastards who want to drown Bangladesh. Old Sol himself has it in for them as well!
Which is delightful of us to say, of course, but there is something of a second order consideration.
Let’s assume and adopt the rational position, that climate change is happening and that there will be, if it is unchecked and as large as some are predicting, terrible effects.
Who or what is causing it becomes less of an issue. OK, so the sun is responsible for 30% of it. We can’t do anything about that. But we can do something about the 70% that we are responsible for. (It doesn’t really matter how large or small those two numbers are, just that neither is 0% or 100%.)
For, the larger the effect of the sun on climate change, the more we have to limit our own promotion of it…for whether it’s just a natural change or one we have caused, the effects are going to be exactly the same.
So we end up with this slightly odd position. The more the current warming is a natural phenomenon (and assuming that it doesn’t simply reverse itself similarly naturally) the more we have to change our own behaviour to stop adding to it.
Technorati tag climate change.
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