March 2007 Archives

Tipped off by blogging's uber conservative, I took an hour and fifteen minutes to view the Channel 4 documentary "The Great Global Warming Swindle," It's well worth a look, and can be found on Google Video.

The film interviews a group of climate change septics, and presents their theories on how the world's climate is regulated. It goes into some length about the systems that drive climate change. In a nutshell, the film argues that variations in climate are caused by changes in the sun's radiated output. It certainly sounded plausible to me.

Predictably, they had a swipe at Al Gore's film "An Inconvenient Truth." In particular, they cited the segment that struck a chord with me, where Gore points out the relationship between climate and CO2 levels. They highlighted an aspect of the relationship that was not mentioned by Gore; that CO2 levels have historically lagged behind changing climate, by a period of about 800 years. On the face of it, this omission seriously damages Gore's argument.

I found it interesting that they didn't press on with their critique of that part of Gore's film. Gore goes on to show the variations in CO2 levels over the past million years, then dramatically demonstrates how present CO2 levels are significantly above the highest previous levels. He concludes with a visual demonstration of the alarming levels of CO2 that will be present in 50 years at the current rate of increase.

It's disappointing that the makers of this film took a swipe at Gore for a critical omission, when they themselves omit to mention the current unprecedented levels of CO2 compared to the highest levels over the past million years.

This is the crux of the argument as I see it. Yes, CO2 levels have historically lagged climate change. I accept climate is a very complex system driven by the sun's energy. But they didn't speculate on what could happen when the relationship between climate change and CO2 levels is reversed, ie, when the change in CO2 levels runs ahead of natural changes caused by variations in the sun's intensity.

In the absence of any natural explanation, and unlike the past, the increase in CO2 levels is being driven by human causes, not by climate change. The sun's still driving the system, but the system now has the new variable of rapidly increasing amounts of CO2.

Footnote: The film covers a broad range of other issues regarding climate change. There are sites providing detailed critiques of the documentary. A couple are here and here.

When was the last forced resignation of a Federal Liberal Minister?

Has there ever been one in the current admistration? (I don't think so.)*

Funny that there's one now ...

*Belated Update: Apparently there were some forced resignations in the first year of the Howard government, for breaching the "Ministerial Code of Conduct." After several ministers were forced to resign, our PM had a change of heart about enforcing the code. Now, share trading breaches are not a sackable defence. Just watch who you meet, OK?

Faced with the incompetent and the more incompetent, the electorate in NSW has little choice. It's either vote for the Greens, or, if you're lucky enough to have a competent example running in your area, an independent.

All governments have a 'use by date' and this NSW Labor government is well past the mark. They need a period in opposition to rebuild and refocus.

Let me say that this sentiment doesn't come lightly from a person that (normally) votes Labor. The last time I felt this way was during the woeful Labor administration of Barry Unsworth.

It's a pity that the opposition is so much worse than the incumbents. A conservative government that doesn't have the numbers in the upper-house should be nearly bearable, but the powerful conservative-religious elements have so reduced the moderates in the Liberal party that giving them control to any degree is unacceptable.

So it comes down to the Greens and local independents. A term or two of minority government would protect us from the worst elements of both parties, and would likely bring some long needed reforms to NSW. I'm hoping that the good sense of the electorate will prevail in three weeks time.