This site is still in its early stages, but if I wait for it to be nicely polished it will never be published. More topics will be added over time. Launched 26 March 2019. Last Edited 20 February 2020.
Environment
to be completed - topics will include:
climate change science - man-made or natural?
climate change - prevention
climate change - adaptation
our responsibilities to other countries
encouraging low-carbon enterprise
managing our waste
Climate Change Science
Climate change, or global warming, is really happening and it's caused by man. That is the official scientific consensus.
It's caused by burning too much fossil fuel, which has produced too much carbon dioxide, which in turn makes it harder for heat to escape from the atmosphere. It really is a greenhouse effect; the energy from the sun gets in unimpeded, but the longer-wavelength energy going out is impeded by the greenhouse material, whether it be glass or carbon dioxide.
Its effect is to increase the temperature of the earth, which in turn causes a number of knock-on effects, including, but certainly not limited to: more extreme weather due to the increased energy in the atmosphere, higher sea levels due to thermal expansion of sea water and melting ice from Antarctica and Greenland, disruption to plant life and changes to animal behaviour.
It is not caused by the heat generated by industry - the heat generated by man is less than 0.1% of the heat that comes to the earth from the sun, and this extra heat is enough to raise the surface temperature of the earth by at most 0.1 degrees. (If the earth heated up by this much, and its emissivity stayed the same, this would increase the radiation into space by 0,1%.)
Tipping points
One of features of Global Warming that makes it particularly alarming is the existence of positive feedbacks, or tipping points. This is where temperatures rise enough in a particular location to create a change in the surface of the earth that causes further trapping of heat, thereby making things even worse. The most obvious example is melting of polar ice caps - ice reflects a lot of the energy from the sun, but once the ice melts, more of the energy from the sun goes into the sea, and gets trapped.
A number of tipping points have been identified and some, like melting polar ice, are already having an effect. The worry is that we will trigger a tipping point that sends global warming beyond our ability to contain it.
Local effects
The earth is far from homogeneous, and different parts are affected in different ways. Indeed, the ever-changing weather can hide some of the subtler effects of global warming, unless you look at the picture over a long period of time. Britain, we believe, will get wetter, and the gulfstream may get disrupted, meaning that Britain actually gets colder as a result of global warming. The complicated local effects make it harder for scientists to come to a consensus about what exactly will happen.
Controversy
Global warming is calculated using computer models. Not surprisingly, models of global warming differ in detail from each other and none predict global warming exactly correctly. This means that their validity can only be established after comparing their predictions with actual climate data over several years, as any deviation between prediction and reality can be, and has been, used as an excuse to discredit the models. Then there are people who simply found it hard to believe that something as puny as man could have such a big effect on the earth. Unpicking the trend from varying weather patterns also took time. However, the evidence has now mounted to such a level that few people honestly say that they do not believe it - the main dissenters seem to be those with a vested interested in maintaining the status quo.
Conclusion
Firstly, apologies to any real climate change scientists for this oversimplified account of global warming. Any corrections or improvements to this account are most welcome.
The threat from climate change or global warming is so great the Environment is number 2 in the Destiny Model. Everything we do from now on must take the environment into account. If we get this wrong, nothing else matters.
Climate Change - Prevention
Climate change, or global warming, has been caused by man - therefore man ought to be able to reverse it. Man caused global warming by burning too much fossil fuel, and cutting down too many trees. So, the solution is to burn less fossil fuel, and replant the trees. In principle, it's that simple.
What isn't simple is cutting our usage enough and planting enough trees to turn things around. It's a bit like stopping a train that is running at speed; it has taken ten miles to reach this speed and you've got one mile left before it hits the buffers. To make things worse, the train has begun to go downhill and the gradient is getting steeper all the time. The longer we take to apply the brakes, the harder we will have to brake, until we reach a point where it is impossible to brake hard enough.
If you put 'climate change prevention' into Google you get a lot of sites that say that if we cut down on our energy usage a bit here and a bit there, we can save the planet. The suggestions will all help a bit, but the runaway train analogy above gives a better idea of the urgency and seriousness of the situation.
I believe we need serious investment in renewable energy and a new investment in nuclear power - and pay what it costs. We also need to drastically reduce fossil fuel use in cars and lorries. We need more railways and while I don't think we can sensibly 'force people out of their cars' we can encourage people to seek less polluting ways of using their cars.
Britain accounts for 1% of the world population and 2% of the world's pollution. Can we make a difference? We certainly can - by showing commitment ourselves, we encourage other countries to have the same commitment.
Climate Change - Adaptation
Climate change, or global warming, causes, among other things, sea levels to rise and weather to become more extreme. If we fail to contain global warming, we can adapt by moving to higher ground and building stronger structures. In principle, it's that simple.
What isn't simple is moving the largest cities in the world to higher ground and putting even more steel and concrete into them to protect them from the strongest winds. If sea levels rise, our available land area will decrease. And making more concrete will add more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. And only the richest countries will be able to afford it. And the worst-affected countries don't even have suitable higher-level land to move to. And...
...it's not going to happen. Certainly not in any meaningful way.
Our Responsibilities to other Countries
Britain led the world into the industrial revolution, and while the experience has not always been pleasant there is no doubt that, on the whole, it raised the quality of life throughout the world. The whole world embraced what we started, and this led to the current environment crisis.
At risk of stating the bleeding obvious, we don't lead the world any more, and the world is not blaming us for global warming. The nearest we have to a world leader is USA, and currently the USA is definitely not leading the world to a cleaner future. It is the responsibility of all developed countries, and particularly those that are 'polluting above their weight' to come up with a credible plan to sort it out. Britain is one of those countries, and we must play our part - we have a moral obligation to do this.