Global warming rant .... oh and a question?

Question

Last night, BBC news big threat coming our way - heatwaves, every summer like the one that hit Europe in 2003 - trillions of people will die, you get the picture. So, how come our government (and others) don't ban the manufacture of huge, petrol guzzling cars / 4x4's ? If things really were that bad surely they'd do it immediately?

Answer 1

Global warming is a political myth.  If you are really worried about carbon footprint get unregulated China and India to pitch in.  They have the highest populations in the world.

Answer 2

Because

a) There isn't an obvious alternative that can replace petrol or diesel engines. The car manufacturers all have hydrogen fuel cell prototypes being tested, but we're about 5 years away from seeing them in our local dealerships. e.g.

http://automotive.einnews.com/news/hydro...

b) Because moves forward have public support, removing peoples cars won't be popular (understatement).

c) Things are being done, or at least are planned that we will see enacted in the future; in new building regulations, emissions legislation etc. The plans to build more nuclear power stations in the UK are part and parcel of this (I support them by the way).

d) It's about risk management - Govt's look at the implications - yes there are likely to be more heat related deaths in the summer months, but fewer cold related deaths in the winters. As its the elderly that are most at risk in both winter and summer there may be a net fall in the number of deaths.

This has been in the news in the past couple of days:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/724046...

e) Because we are going to have to have a complete change in how we get power - a new technological revolution if you like and that isn't going to be easy or quick - certainly not quick enough.

Myself, I think we may be able to reduce emissions somewhat, but in the short to medium term we're really talking about  adaptation and damage limitation measures.

Answer 3

Trillions? Lol... There has only been 100 billion people who have ever lived... As for AGW... It doesn't exist.. and the media is making too much money off of this to actually say the truth...

Answer 4

Just FYI.  The USA is in a huge deficit (debt).  But from WHO?  We owe a lotta money from Saudi Arabia, China, and Japan.  Saudi - Oil,  China - little stuff that we own, Japan - Technology and gadgets.  We can't just ban the manufacture of these gas guzzlers!  We owe too much money.

Answer 5

They'd lose votes, most voters elect for self interest.

Answer 6

The simple answer Doc is that gasoline powered vehicles have nothing to do with "Global Warming"  Bovine flatulence annually is much harder on the atomosphere than internal combustion engines.  Riddle Me This....since the polar icecap on Mars is also melting at a proportionate rate to ours, are the Martians banning 4X4s etc?  OOPs they don't have any!

Answer 7

its all not true its all lies

Answer 8

"trillions" of people will die?  I suspect the estimates from heat related deaths this summer was more likely in the range of 100's or 1000's, not "trillions" (you might want to get your hearing checked by a professional).  Especially since there are only about 6.5 billion people and it's unlikely that will increase to the trillions before summer.

As far as governments instantly banning things, democratically elected governments generally realize that people require gradual change rather than abrupt.  So raising fees on gas-guzzlers and giving tax incentives for car manufacturers to produce more efficient vehicles will the the path governments will use to bring about change.

Answer 9

It would make far better sense to apply heavy taxes on all fossil fuels based on carbon content. My reasoning is that banning NEW big vehicles will take a decade to work its way through the fleet.

By contrast with a heavy tax on fossil fuels, we see an immediate effect on all use, be it new or older vehicles.

We can make that tax very heavy if at the same time we reduce other thaxes that people pay, reduce them until we have a revenue neutral effect... the government gets no more total money.

People will dodge paying that tax by cutting consumption, that is ok. But to keep the tax shift revenue neutral tax rates would need to be further adjusted as consumption changes.

Answer 10

Because their rant about people dying because of AGW is a complete and total lie.

Answer 11

Political will usually requires a financial incentive and the status quo cannot be changed so rapidly without an effect upon "progress". It is bad, my friend, and thanks to human nature, it shall get worse before it'll get any better.

The key thing is for everyone to do what they can, and for voters to make this the biggest issue come election time. Without us, our environment would most likely breath a sigh of relief, without our environment we would cease to exist. Climate change does matter; it's that simple.

Answer 12

not everyone can afford cars that are not the "petrol guzzling cars / 4x4's ". hybrids are expensive. if we're going to go into that why doesn't the government ban alcohol,or cigarettes? because that's what people WANT.

Answer 13

Because even if we all stopped driving, no, make that TRAVELLING, by any means other than shanks' pony tomorrow, it wouldn't make the slightest bit of difference to this so-called global warming nonsense.

Big, expensive cars account for about 5% of all the private cars in the UK. Private cars account for (at most) 10-15% of man's contribution to global CO2 production. Man's entire contribution to global CO2 production is about 3%, most of which comes from electricity generation and cattle farming.  Do a little research if you don't believe me.

It was warmer in the mid-1600s than it is now, despite their lack of Range Rovers and cheap transatlantic flights. The fact is, the Earth is always warming and cooling, scientists know this, so why are our governments using such spurious arguments to promote such utter hogwash, or greenwash as it's now being called?

Could it be just for the money?

Answer 14

Simple.

There are enough stable, mature adults around who know that the AGW myth is silly to allow the Socialists to take control.

Answer 15

The BBC is correct in their analysis of global warming.  We will not only see sea level rise crises--but also health vectors like malaria and dengue-carrying mosquitoes, and rainfall and weather pattern changes (which has a dramatic impact on our ability to grow food), and other diseases migrate to new latitudes.  This could ultimately displace and imperil the lives of millions, if not billions of people around the world.  It's very unfortunate that the U.S. government and many corporate giants are not always looking out for our global best interests.  And, in many cases, big industry has undue sway with government as well as the media--which then dictates what the public hears and how they respond to the issues.  We know, for example, about intentional disinformation campaigns that attempt to discredit the facts and the science behind climate change (global warming) by suggesting that the "jury is still out" and other false arguments.  Then, many members of the public, as you can see from these boards, simplistically believe that there's nothing to worry about.  At this time, the U.S. produces 25% of the world's CO2, with just 5% of the world population, and we are a country that has the largest corporate and governmental stake in petroleum-based economy because we consume the most and we erroneously equate burning fossil fuels with prosperity.  Moreover, industry has been totally recalcitrant to do anything because they are invested in selling people hulking, gas guzzling SUVs and making record profits in the oil and gas industries.  Therefore, until we replace elected officials with those who will do the will of the public instead of the corporations, and we demand that automakers turn to green vehicles (like plug-in electric), we will not see a ban on 4 x 4s and SUVs.  Don't for a second think that your best interests, or those of the globe, are being held sacred by corporate institutions or by government.  In short, we've collectively fallen asleep at the wheel on global environmental and social justice issues, and we've allowed transnational corporate interests to dominate and eclipse the needs of the planet and its people.

Answer 16

i dont think trillions will but look on the bright side there will be a longer season to grow crops.  Anywho, greed and peoples love of huge vehicles are why we keep buying petrol.  You just dont get the same amount of power from a battery.

Answer 17

Global warming is a lie. Don't believe everything the government tells you.

Answer 18

Yes, if things were that bad, they would.  Fortunately, things aren't that bad.  Climate change has always, and will always, happen.  If there were a big eruption of a major volcano, we could have snow in July.  It happened in the early 1900's and could easily happen again.  Man-made global warming is a myth.  Don't let the Chicken Little's of the world scare you.

Answer 19

The government don't really give a toss. They make money out of the petrol so why would they want to do anything about the traffic consuming it ?  I've tried really hard to get manufacturers to cease over packaging,which would make some difference but no-one takes any notice..............

Answer 20

man made global warming is a hoax

Answer 21

You are a Dr?  Did you know there is not 1 trillion people on this planet????  Hmmmm.  You seem very educated.  I am not sure you should be tackling Global Warming.

Answer 22

all about money !! if they ban those things they will get less revenue .!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 23

Credibility is like virginity, someone said. One of your "facts" is way off base. How can 1,000 Billion people die when there are only 6 Billion in the planet? Were you counting all insects that will not survive the heat? How about those that will do better in a warmer environment?

Answer 24

Because its government. The purpose of government is to form committees to prevent anything real from getting done. What planet have you been living on?

Answer 25

Funny thing about this is it depends which story you read. This was based on a report and one media story simply said global warming would dramatically increase the deaths in summer. However, the other story pointed out that the original report also acknowledged there would be fewer deaths in winter and this would result in fewer weather related deaths overall. So what should we believe?

If we were really being serious about global warming we would:

Stop eating meat and farming animals: animals are net producers of CO2. We would increase the vegetation as this will use up CO2.

Reduce human population

All eat less and become couch potatoes: exercise increases CO2 production.

rebuild local economies and reduce global commerce

ration travel etc

But... a competitive market economy drives economic growth and an ever increasing use of resources. Also, there are a lot of financial interests tied up in responding to the global warming threat. This means that vested interests will maintain the profile of the threat but constrain the responses.

Answer 26

Really, trillions of people will die? Trillions? There aren't even a trillion people in the whole world. How many people died in the heat wave of 2003? People who wouldn't have died anyway I mean. A hundred maybe? And you know you cannot blame any heat wave on global warming. Global warming is only making it one degree warmer than normal. That just isn't much of a heat wave!

Answer 27

Ok firstly it is making me so mad how some people are saying things like: "Global warming is a lie!" and "Global warming in a myth!"

Are you blind, deaf, or just completely ignorant? Look around you, global warming is happening, its not just some publicity stunt.

Anyway to answer your question:

most of the earths population cant afford the modern non-petrol guzzling vehicles that are coming to the market.

Just like with littering, people may think that just because theyre doing it doesnt mean that others are aswell. So people are taking their time with their polluting vehicles until it becomes the normal thing to do to move on to more eco-friendly ways of moving around.

Even if it became evident to the world that we were all going to die in the turn of a century, the government wouldnt do anything about it because its all about the money. They will do what it takes to make the money until the day we're all dead. And if we ASSURED them that global warming is proving to be lethal, they would continue doing their business, because they would think "what is the point if its too late anyway?"

I think that soon enough alternative ways of powering cars will become the norm. because we are using up the earths non-renewable natural resources, and eventually there will be nothing left.

Answer 28

global warming ha ha there were no cars around in the last ice age lol its just earths natral cycle

Answer 29

Heat waves huh? Banning cars and SUV would stop the heatwave? That is interesting but completey wrong.

People will buy what they want and the car manufacturers realize this. If you want mass unemployment or job losses because the car manufacturers leave to build cars elsewhere keep pushing this silly agenda.

Most people died because of a lack of air conditioning last time I checked. We in the US have that wonderful invention in mass in allmost every house and car so we will be fine. Europe has the problem so buy a air conditioner and you will live. Temps in the 80-90s are not that hot and people in Africa have lived in those temps for ever and they do just fine. Maybe the people in Europe are just weak and frail. Toughen up some and drink more water.