Quote:
|
Originally Posted by punky
It is just too early to get hysterical about it.
|
And there lies the crux of the problem. Geovernments in particular are all short term, only able to see to the next election.
If climate change is happening the seeds were sown many years ago, and yet the full effects may not be apparent in our lifetimes. That is the quandry, we do not know and are unable to properly ascertain what we are doing, or the extent of our actions. But if we are detrimentally affecting the planet, since the effects of climate change are slow to become fully apparent, so are the benifits of our attempting to reduce our impact. That is why it is a matter that requires proper consideration now, not in years to come.
Yes the sudden doomsday scenario of The day After Tommorrow is (we do hope) fiction, just as the thought that horse methane in the 1800s proved to be unfounded supposition. But at what point can our planet continue to absorb the increasingly rapid changes we are inflicting on it?
Gentle chnge now in our policies may well be preferable to drastic changes in the future to achieve the same effect. Plus reduction in our consumption now, may provide much greater longevity of limited resources such as oil. For the UK our energy costs are already set to rise as our North Sea gas bonanza runs out. That is just the ecomomic impact. What else might there be?