The toxic rhetoric of climate change

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    Another very great piece by Judith.
    https://judithcurry.com/2019/12/14/the-toxic-rhetoric-of-climate-change/

    I recommend reading the whole article. Here are some extracts. The first one is interesting. Extremist reporting and the IPCC are poles apart. Very often these absurd claims are not supported by the IPCC.

    Judith Curry message to children and young adults: Don’t believe the hype that you are hearing from Extinction Rebellion and the like. Rather than going on strike or just worrying, take the time to learn something about the science of climate change. The IPCC reports are a good place to start; for a critical perspective on the IPCC, Climate Etc. is a good resource.


    The most alarming scenarios of 21st century climate change are associated with the RCP8.5 greenhouse gas concentration scenario. Often erroneously described as a ‘business as usual’ scenario, RCP8.5 assumes unrealistic trends long-term trends for population and a slowing of technological innovation. Even more unlikely is the assumption that the world will largely be powered by coal.

    Alarming press releases are issued about each new climate model projection that predicts future catastrophes from famine, mass migrations, catastrophic fires, etc. However these alarming scenarios of the 21st century climate change require that, like the White Queen in Alice and Wonderland, we believe ‘six impossible things before breakfast’.



    So . . . exactly what should we be worried about? Consider the following statistics:
    • Over the past century, there has been a 99% decline in the death toll from natural disasters, during the same period that the global population quadrupled.
    • While global economic losses from weather and climate disasters have been increasing, this is caused by increasing population and property in vulnerable locations. Global weather losses as a percent of global GDP have declined about 30% since 1990.
    • While the IPCC has estimated that sea level could rise by 0.6 meters by 2100, recall that the Netherlands adapted to living below sea level 400 years ago.
    • Crop yields continue to increase globally, surpassing what is needed to feed the world. Agricultural technology matters more than climate.
    • The proportion of world population living in extreme poverty declined from 36% in 1990 to 10% in 2015.
 
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