Crash Course

A lot of sense-

www.globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Read it and weep :(

Name one period in history where there were not a lot of problems. The world will get through this like it has all the other problems.

Climate change really worries me and most of the world is just sitting on its ass about it, but I think things will start to change now, especially with that jackass out of the White House..

Scientists do agree that climate change is real and is happening now. That is a fact, which has always been true. Climate has changed throughout history. However, there is NO consensus that Global Warming caused by human activity is happening now.
I never said that Al Gore was the arbiter of climate change. I did suggest that his movie is what brought the fear mongering to the masses. You, my friend, are simply one of the many who have fallen for the propoganda. I urge you to look at the opposing information. For example, check out the BBC production (which was never broadcast/censored(?) in the USA.) called The Great Global Warming Swindle.

The climate isn't responsible for the economy. Spending the bizillions of dollars proposed by Kyoto to cut CO2 will not result in any significant climate changes, and it most certainly will not bring us out of a global recession.

The movies are the same! A polemic is just a counter-argument, isn't it? Both movies have been found to contain controversial data. The fact of the matter is that there are two sides of the coin. The fact that the movie exists at all proves that there is no consensus on the matter.
The IPCC!? Don't make me laugh. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Here we have a group of people with a predetermined goal: to show evidence of human-induced global warming! Otherwise they will work themselves out of a job, so to speak. The IPCC does NOT do research. They merely report on other peoples' findings. They can, therefore, pick and choose which research they wish to report/ignore. Even some members of the IPCC have resigned with comments such as, "the process is motivated by pre-conceived ideas and is scientifically unsound." (I stole this info from Wikipedia)
There IS a Green Conspiracy afoot. But it isn't the fault of the scientists. It is the fault of the self-interest groups who pounce on the research, misinterpret it, misrepresent it, lie about it, exaggerate it, or simply don't understand it, and proceed to use it to further their own agendas. Environmentalists, Anti-Capitalists etc. Even Margaret Thatcher used it as her excuse to close down the coal mines!! Actually, she wanted to further her own agenda, which was to develop more nuclear power. But this last comment comes from The Great Global Warming Swindle, so take it with a grain of salt.

Is it a question of over-reaction to hysteria or is it more that thanks to public warnings about these potential problems action was taken which averted catastrophe?

For every thing on that list I could name a few where "over-reaction" could have averted disaster, but didn't because nobody in charge took them seriously.

To name a couple of (anecdotal) examples, I remember 7 or 8 years back reading an article warning that the levies in New Orleans were completely inadequate and that a disaster could occur if nothing was done to improve them. No panic or "over-reaction" ensued and nothing was done.

A couple of years ago an acquiantance of mine (among others) wrote a paper on the threat that mortgage-backed securities posed to the international financial system. No panic or "over-reaction" ensued and nothing was done.

etc etc etc. If swift action hadn't been taken by the authorities with SARS, Mad Cow, etc I'm sure they would have had much more serious consequences.

Whatever doubts there might be about climate change, I am completely convinced that at the very least it has the potential to wreak devastating consequences on society and prudence dictates that we should be doing what we can to alleviate that risk.

Compliments on the intelligent response (what's up with this Thorn guy?).

The over-reaction I refer to is what takes place after an event occurs:
The fear of American beef in Japan after finding a tainted cow in North America. Most Japanese are unaware that their own country has had 10 times more cases of Mad Cow than the entire American herd, which is much, much larger than Japan's. I am still waiting to hear of anyone contracting Mad Cow from eating North American beef. This is just a case of a trade war. In Korea it is politics. But the masses are made to believe something else.

The fear of buying an economy class ticket for fear of getting a blood clot (Economy Class Syndrome). The media jumped on this after a single case and then for about a month it seemed that it was a daily occurence. I guess it has been cured now.

Killer Bees!!! Need I say more?

The fear of Bird Flu. Sure a handful of people in Asia have died from the disease. But we have been told that it is next to impossible to contract unless you are in close and long-term contact with the sick animals. The virus does not easily spread to humans. But still we see people refusing to travel to these countries. I had a student rush herself to a hospital after learning she had eaten imported chicken! A recent govt. report in Japan predicts that up to 650,000 people could die from bird flu in Japan! These authorities have to explain that that is a BIG if.

The fear of an imminent terrorist attack. 9/11 was a long time ago and I'm still waiting for it. Sure, sure, terrorist attacks are a reality, but these are not exactly what Mr. Bush was trying to sell.

Lead-painted toys from China. The dangers of lead were well known, but only after the toys actually ended up in Japan did the hysteria begin. Again an over-reaction to a threat that doesn't really exist. In my generation we lived in a lead-painted/lead-fueled world!! Everything was full of lead. Yeah, it was unhealthy, but it wasn't the end of the world. That kid who got the Dinky toy from China for Christmas would have to suck on it 24/7 in order to even get the lead to register in his body. I got this from a news article. I didn't make it up.

The fear of food from China. How many people were sickened by those gyoza? The answer is 3. No, the answer is not hundreds. Hundreds is the number of people who went to the hospital because they thought they had been poisoned after hearing the media reports. Ask your students if they heard the story about the 7 Japanese who were poisoned by eating fugu at a hotel in Chiba just last month. Of course, now that the Olympics are over, we don't hear much about the evils of China anymore (yellow sand, anyone?)

SARS is a good one, too. Yes, swift action by authorities nipped it in the bud. But the hysteria lingered. Again it originated in China, so that is bad to begin with and the media jumped on it. We learned that it can quickly spread from country to country. Soon it would be an international epidemic!! People refused to travel to Canada because of the outbreak in Toronto. Actually, it never spread outside of a single hospital. I had a student whose high school cancelled a school trip to Vancouver due to the SARS scare. The school, in their infinite wisdom, chose New York as an alternative. If you are not familiar with the geography of North America, look at a map to see the idiocracy of that decision.

Can't remember my original point, but I think I am talking about human psychology. Some risks we accept: We live in a country in which there is a very real risk of being killed in an earthquake. Some risks we fear. Why?? I don't know.