Shark Bait Blog

Environment.. and Scuba Diving.

Monday, February 23, 2009




Climate Change


In view of the increasingly vociferous, political propaganda being circulated in the media regarding Climate Change by industry funded, Skeptic lobby organisations.. who are fighting a desperate rear guard action now that there has been a change of administration in the United States; it made a pleasant change to read the recent article by Dr Vicky Pope of the Met Office Hadley Centre, in the Guardian newspaper.

I found these comments particularly cogent -

'For climate scientists, having to continually rein in extraordinary claims that the latest extreme is all due to climate change is, at best, hugely frustrating and, at worst, enormously distracting. Overplaying natural variations in the weather as climate change is just as much a distortion of the science as underplaying them to claim that climate change has stopped or is not happening. Both undermine the basic facts that the implications of climate change are profound and will be severe if greenhouse gas emissions are not cut drastically and swiftly over the coming decades.

When climate scientists like me explain to people what we do for a living we are increasingly asked whether we "believe in climate change". Quite simply it is not a matter of belief. Our concerns about climate change arise from the scientific evidence that humanity's activities are leading to changes in our climate. The scientific evidence is overwhelming.'

- Dr Vicky Pope

The Guardian 11th February 2009


('Blue Marble' image courtesy of NASA)
Cartoon of the Month

I do enjoy a good, thought provoking cartoon and came across this one today, so here is the first in an occasional series -