The climate is changing alas alas
And we are stuck in a deep morass
While politicians dull and crass
Argue the point about greenhouse gas
Some have knives at their backs,
Others ears full of wax
As they decry a carbon tax
And say go slow, just relax
How has this come to pass?
Can we break this sad impasse?
With sound debate turned to farce
While icecaps crack like broken glass
I was astonished to hear Liberal Senator Nick Minchin on yesterdays news state that global warming is a myth.
“Not only has there been no temperature increase since the record in 1999, it is now clear from satellite imagery that the earth is starting to cool.”
It is not surprising that a Liberal politician supporting his parties “anti carbon tax” stance would attempt to discredit the science but to hear someone lie so blatantly was breathtaking. And more astonishingly these kinds of outright lies are told daily with impunity by many otherwise respected and intelligent people. And they succeed in keeping the average citizen confused! This of course is the whole point! So where do people go for accurate information? The answer is to the source data. In this case, Senator Minchin has stated that the evidence for a cooling earth is from recent satellite data. So what does NASA say? The latest information on the NASA website (http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2011/jan/HQ_11-014_Warmest_Year.html ) says:
Global surface temperatures in 2010 tied 2005 as the warmest on record, according to an analysis released Wednesday by researchers at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York. The two years differed by less than 0.018 degrees Fahrenheit. The difference is smaller than the uncertainty in comparing the temperatures of recent years, putting them into a statistical tie. In the new analysis, the next warmest years are 1998, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007 and 2009, which are statistically tied for third warmest year. The GISS records begin in 1880. "If the warming trend continues, as is expected, if greenhouse gases continue to increase, the 2010 record will not stand for long," said James Hansen, the director of GISS.
So there you have it. We know that politicians lie but usually it is just broken promises which may have been sincere at the time they were made. People should not be allowed to get away with the outright misrepresentation of science. This is not the time to be arguing about the science. The science was settled years ago. Now is the time for bipartisanship and international accord. We are in trouble and we need to do something about it. The debate should now be centred on alternatives for action and we need to work together.
And we are stuck in a deep morass
While politicians dull and crass
Argue the point about greenhouse gas
Some have knives at their backs,
Others ears full of wax
As they decry a carbon tax
And say go slow, just relax
How has this come to pass?
Can we break this sad impasse?
With sound debate turned to farce
While icecaps crack like broken glass
I was astonished to hear Liberal Senator Nick Minchin on yesterdays news state that global warming is a myth.
“Not only has there been no temperature increase since the record in 1999, it is now clear from satellite imagery that the earth is starting to cool.”
It is not surprising that a Liberal politician supporting his parties “anti carbon tax” stance would attempt to discredit the science but to hear someone lie so blatantly was breathtaking. And more astonishingly these kinds of outright lies are told daily with impunity by many otherwise respected and intelligent people. And they succeed in keeping the average citizen confused! This of course is the whole point! So where do people go for accurate information? The answer is to the source data. In this case, Senator Minchin has stated that the evidence for a cooling earth is from recent satellite data. So what does NASA say? The latest information on the NASA website (http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2011/jan/HQ_11-014_Warmest_Year.html ) says:
Global surface temperatures in 2010 tied 2005 as the warmest on record, according to an analysis released Wednesday by researchers at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York. The two years differed by less than 0.018 degrees Fahrenheit. The difference is smaller than the uncertainty in comparing the temperatures of recent years, putting them into a statistical tie. In the new analysis, the next warmest years are 1998, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007 and 2009, which are statistically tied for third warmest year. The GISS records begin in 1880. "If the warming trend continues, as is expected, if greenhouse gases continue to increase, the 2010 record will not stand for long," said James Hansen, the director of GISS.
So there you have it. We know that politicians lie but usually it is just broken promises which may have been sincere at the time they were made. People should not be allowed to get away with the outright misrepresentation of science. This is not the time to be arguing about the science. The science was settled years ago. Now is the time for bipartisanship and international accord. We are in trouble and we need to do something about it. The debate should now be centred on alternatives for action and we need to work together.
