The planet is alright, no need to worry!
kma | 16.08.2001 23:12
no need to protest, or at least that what the Guardian says here is something i found on another site.
At least according to scientist Bjorn Lomberg it is. We're getting
ourselves all steamed up over nothing, we're not cooking ourselves to
death and "as we have used ever more we still have even more left."
Also not all that many people are really going hungry nowadays.
In a three part essay (or three essays over three days) in the British
liberal newspaper `The Guardian' beginning today 15th August,
Mr. Lomberg throws down the gauntlet to the green movement. He accuses
environmentalists, aided and abetted by the media, of needless and
irresponsible scaremongering.
He quotes figures and statistics to back up his case,
e.g. "Agricultural production in the developing world has increased by
52% since 1970, daily food intake in developing countries increased
from 1,932 calories in 1961, barely enough for survival, to 2,650
calories in 1998." And according to him is set to rise even further to
3,020 by 2030. Despite the increases in population the proportion of people
hungry in these countries has dropped "from 45% in 1945 to 18% today
and is expected to fall even further.. food in other words is not
becoming scarcer but ever more abundant" this is reflected in a 90%
drop in food prices.
Don't worry about air pollution, apparantly our air has never been
more pure, it was a lot worse in the days of ancient Rome. Concerns
about coral reef destruction, falling fish stocks, disappearing
forests and wild life and so on are greatly exaggerated too. The
losses are greatly outweighed by the gains. The El Nino storms of last
year brought more economic benefits than losses for instance and all
over the place things are looking up!
So, should we start rejoicing then? Is George Bush right, natural
resurces can be exploited as much as we like and we're not going to
run out any time soon? Should Oxfam and UNICEF and all the rest put
their feet up and relax? Who is Bjorn Lomberg anyway and does he have
an agenda? After all Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth and all
their other environmenatal agencies have their agenda too, plenty of
people are making a living out of scaring us to death. But who is
right really? Are people better off as he asserts, are the forests
not in any great peril, is air and water quality improving over all,
and are the seas not laced with pollutants? Are we all really rather
thrilled by all the bad news and distinctly bored by more optimistic
reports?
Or is Mr.Lomberg speaking on behalf of corporate interests?
I'd appreciate clarification on these issues please from people who
know the score.
Thanks,
Peace and regards,
you can read the full article and make comment at this Guardian web site:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/globalwarming/0,7368,395145,00.html
ourselves all steamed up over nothing, we're not cooking ourselves to
death and "as we have used ever more we still have even more left."
Also not all that many people are really going hungry nowadays.
In a three part essay (or three essays over three days) in the British
liberal newspaper `The Guardian' beginning today 15th August,
Mr. Lomberg throws down the gauntlet to the green movement. He accuses
environmentalists, aided and abetted by the media, of needless and
irresponsible scaremongering.
He quotes figures and statistics to back up his case,
e.g. "Agricultural production in the developing world has increased by
52% since 1970, daily food intake in developing countries increased
from 1,932 calories in 1961, barely enough for survival, to 2,650
calories in 1998." And according to him is set to rise even further to
3,020 by 2030. Despite the increases in population the proportion of people
hungry in these countries has dropped "from 45% in 1945 to 18% today
and is expected to fall even further.. food in other words is not
becoming scarcer but ever more abundant" this is reflected in a 90%
drop in food prices.
Don't worry about air pollution, apparantly our air has never been
more pure, it was a lot worse in the days of ancient Rome. Concerns
about coral reef destruction, falling fish stocks, disappearing
forests and wild life and so on are greatly exaggerated too. The
losses are greatly outweighed by the gains. The El Nino storms of last
year brought more economic benefits than losses for instance and all
over the place things are looking up!
So, should we start rejoicing then? Is George Bush right, natural
resurces can be exploited as much as we like and we're not going to
run out any time soon? Should Oxfam and UNICEF and all the rest put
their feet up and relax? Who is Bjorn Lomberg anyway and does he have
an agenda? After all Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth and all
their other environmenatal agencies have their agenda too, plenty of
people are making a living out of scaring us to death. But who is
right really? Are people better off as he asserts, are the forests
not in any great peril, is air and water quality improving over all,
and are the seas not laced with pollutants? Are we all really rather
thrilled by all the bad news and distinctly bored by more optimistic
reports?
Or is Mr.Lomberg speaking on behalf of corporate interests?
I'd appreciate clarification on these issues please from people who
know the score.
Thanks,
Peace and regards,
you can read the full article and make comment at this Guardian web site:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/globalwarming/0,7368,395145,00.html
kma