Mr Hawkes. Yes, obviously we should have started doing something a few decades ago when Exxon predicted global warming but in good corporate selfishness buried it (fortunately they didn't destroy the evidence!):https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/jan/12/exxon-climate-change-global-warming-researchThen of course, as Lee Roberts pointed out at Tuesday night's hustings, Mrs Thatcher was told about and as a scientist took climate change seriously but what Lee failed to say was she then turned her back on it, supposedly because of the influence of the climate skeptical chancellor Nigel Lawson (and possibly because of pressure from business lobbyists):https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/margaret-thatcher-coal-mines-boris-johnson-b1899098.htmlhttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-40899188.ampBut we can't change the past. China obviously has a problem now but my understanding is they know they have to fix it and, Ironically, their dictorial system of government might allow them to expedite resolving it; and they do seem keen as both motorists and government in promoting electric vehicles. And, yes, EVs may rely on coal or oil generated electricity but it's a lot easier to filter and capture carbon emissions from a power station than from millions of ICE vehicles, or aircraft. Ultimately, car reduction has to be an aim unless roads and parking dominate all our open spaces? The solutions may well be painful in terms of lifestyle changes and financial costs but think of the costs of not doing it? (A good parallel is execs who couldn't see the need to invest in cyber security as the was no obvious return on investment but after Talk Talk's problems and other examples of large organisations being hacked that attitude soon changed; plus regulators like the FSA, OfCom, etc started asking questions and probing what protection companies were investing in.)Yes, the world's climate does go in cycles as the solar system's complex gravitational interactions move us closer then further from the Sun. I'm sure as you're responding to this thread your fully aware of Milankovitch cycles:http://www.climatedata.info/forcing/milankovitch-cycles/https://science.nasa.gov/science-research/earth-science/milankovitch-orbital-cycles-and-their-role-in-earths-climate/Figure 3 of this is interesting if you look at the way CO2 is now:https://royalsociety.org/news-resources/projects/climate-change-evidence-causes/question-6/So, yes, there is a cyclical change in climate over a long period but if you look at current greenhouse gas emissions they appear to follow no previously known pattern and coincidentally begin on 1750 when the industrial revolution began - I don't think there's any evidence of a previous industrial revolution injecting these gases into the atmosphere? If anyone has it perhaps publish it? It's really worth looking at the graphs in this link to see the increases in greenhouse gases since 1750:https://www.epa.gov/climatechange-science/causes-climate-changeYes, as John says, the world will survive but perhaps the human race has run it's course and is due for extinction. However, I was joking with some friends on our regular Zoom conference on Monday night; perhaps we need another Krakatoa to erupt put some debris into the atmosphere, attenuate the Sun's radiation for several years and buy us time to do something about the climate? Sadly, the resulting crop failures that might accompany it might cull some people but I suppose that's life :-(
Michael Ixer ● 369d