It is scary, and plainly scientific views must be listened to by politicians and measures taken. This is not (hopefully), the end of humanity. Conceivably a run-away greenhouse could develop, dooming us, but the best opinion says this is unlikely (no excuse though for ignoring the potential).
Absent some runaway situation we can imagine but don't expect, the harm is going to be expensive but controllable. Relocation will cause political and economic disruption. Crops will have problems. Some cities may have to be abandoned.
We do need, though, to take political action to accelerate as much as practicably feasible, the transition of the world from dependence on green house gas emitting technologies to more sustainable, non-polluting technologies. First, the oil and coal and similar industries need to be aggressively prevented from getting in the way. The same applies to electric utilities and their handling of people who go solar and so on. Existing subsidies for oil companies and so on need to be scrutinized for their effect on these things.
To an extent, subsidies and special rules should be considered to accelerate technological advances and their application. The paranoia about nuclear energy should be re-examined, especially with the standards of modern as opposed to old plants.
We could also, as individuals, inform ourselves and change our lives, such as by reducing meat consumption, energy-proofing our homes, recycling, and so on.
No comments:
Post a Comment