While talking to a friend the other day about CO2 emissions and Global Warming, my friend suddenly threw me an unexpected question:
“How much money do you have riding on the ‘alternate energies’ industry?”
I was taken aback by the question and he further clarified, “It is my considered opinion, that Al Gore’s ‘Inconvenient Truth’ may have taken many people for a ride and he may have a lot of money riding on all these ‘Alternate Energies’ industries. I don’t think Al Gore really gives a damn about the environment considering all the bad press he gets about the energy he uses in his home. That’s not mentioning that the Bush family has strong ties with the petroleum industry and this may just be Al Gore’s way of getting back at Bush for ‘stealing’ the presidency from him in 2000.”
Quite a wild conspiracy theory, but not without merits. And on further thinking, it reminded me of a discussion on the ping.sg shoutbox with 2 other pingsters – arzhou and miccheng. Mic pointed out, that global warming may not just be due to just increase output in CO2 – or even methane – emissions, and he emphasized that he is all for reduction in the emission of greenhouse gases for the very purpose of having a less polluted atmosphere and not for the sake of ‘containing Global Warming’.
Anyway, there have been documentaries refuting that claim and I have also read articles indicating that this might also have something to do with an increase output of energy from our star – Sol (more commonly known as the Sun).
Still, a lot of people further argued that the messed up weather patterns, the stronger hurricanes and typhoons, the melting of ice caps, and the increased in rainfall and more severe flooding is a testimony of ‘global warming’.
Well, it maybe true, but more severe storms would happen as long as there is an increase in heat energy trapped in the oceans and the atmosphere. Being a layman, it is my opinion that more severe storms is a way for the planet to regulate the temperature, and to release the excess energy that is introduced.
Furthermore, more severe flooding has more to do with drainage (or the lack of it), and the elevation of the land than with rain. Take for e.g. New Orleans. Many were quick to point to the failure of the dykes as the main reason. However it was also pointed out that New Orleans is sinking (and Bangkok and Venice too!) and the dykes themselves were to be blamed for this. One of the reasons, if I got it correctly, is that the dykes removed the ability of the Mississippi River to dump fresh soil on its banks.
Now, let us look further than just the result of air pollution causing Global Warming to the cause and effect of some of the other environmental problems that we have, all as a result of our abuse and / or unsustainable use of the planet’s resources.
- Bad water management #1 (Overuse of underground water) -> Depleted water table and land sinkage.
- Bad water management #2 (Indiscriminate irrigation on acidic land) -> Displacement of salts into arable land making them barren.
- Bad water management #3 (Dumping of unprocessed industrial waste / sewage into rivers / lakes) -> Death of marine organisms and a possible collapse of the river / lake eco-system.
- Bad water management #4 (Bad Drainage) -> When a worse than normal storm hits you, you are going to be swimming.
- Deforestation and the loss of grassland -> Erosion of arable land.
- The loss of marshland / swamp -> Removes the one obstacle preventing wter erosion of land.
- Invasion of foreign species -> Destruction of local fauna and flora as a result of competition from species that indigenous species have no defense against.
- Excessive use of fertilisers -> Fungal blooms that destroys marine eco-systems and fresh water sources.
- Excessive use of insecticides -> Consumption of dead poisoned insects harming other creatures.
- Excessive amount of waste -> Non-biodegradables like plastics choking up the landscape.
And the above is an incomplete list because that’s a list of things I can remember from reading Jared Diamond’s Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed.
I do suggest you read that book for a better understanding of the herculean tasks in dealing with our environmental problems and not be too carried away by Al Gore and all those stars from Hollywood. And I am not suggesting you ignore their message anyway, but just reminding you that Global Warming isn’t the one and only environmental problem we have, and there are other problems that exist which could make Global Warming just that much worse than it already is. In fact, the case studies in Diamond’s book would point out just how some of the above cause and effects combine with one another to cause the complete collapse of certain societies.
Incidentally, Diamond’s book also mentioned something about Angkor Wat, which another pingster has posted in this post. Read and be enlightened on not just what environmental problems can do to the area we live in (and floods), but also what it means to our species as a whole!
In short, quit telling me about the ozone layer and the melting ice as if that’s the only environmental issue we have!
