These days, everyone seems to agree the planet is warming up. What we don’t agree on are the reasons why: human caused or natural?

Personally, I figured the resounding consensus among the world’s scientists fingering humanity as the cause was reason enough, but what do I know?

Anyway, the short video above aims to silence this largely irrelevant debate in favour of the more pressing issue: what are the consequences if we choose a course of action…and we’re wrong?

About The Author

Ian MacKenzie

Ian MacKenzie is the founder and former editor of Brave New Traveler. He is a now a contributing editor to Matador, and the network's architect. Ian is also a documentary filmmaker, with his first feature (One Week Job) released in 2010.

  • Diego

    Altight, since you haven’t been able to find any flaws in your own argument, i’ll nit pick for you.
    First of all, you argue about the debate whether Climate Change is real or not? that is not the debate, most would agree that climate change is happening. The argument is over whether this change is BAD as such. Several models predict doomsday and enconomic catastrophes damaging us. However those are not the only models, others argue extra CO2 would be helpfull to several areas of our environment and plant growth and that serveral areas would highly benefit from the adverse effects of global warming and that infact increased Sea Level rises may be counteracted by greater evaporation to a degree. So much is currently not clear and is dificult too act upon.

    Furthermore, you go out on the idea that any action taken, though costly would be successfull. Have you ever thought of the alternative or Europe spending public money and increasing taxation further laxing the economy in order to try and help the planted, while India and China are building a new powerstation made of dirty coal every week? How can you expect a country with 1 bn in poverty to care more about an unknown areaa of science while people are dying and starving?

    By oversimplifying, important debates and details have been left out, changing the entire debat. Just my 2c, keep your mind open at all times.

  • http://www.bodydetoxdiet.net Bodydetoxguy

    the effect of Global Warming these days is even worst. i think every government should pass stricter laws on Carbon Emissions. we should also concentrate more on renewable energy sources and avoid fossil fuels.

  • http://www.prettygoddess.com Beautiful Girls Gallery

    Global warming is becoming such an obvious problem that someone somewhere other than the US President needs to step up to help drive a massive campaign which aims to reduce Global Warming.

  • TaxedPayer

    Latif is one of the leading climate modellers in the world. He is the recipient of several international climate-study prizes and a lead author for the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). He has contributed significantly to the IPCC’s last two five-year reports that have stated unequivocally that man-made greenhouse emissions are causing the planet to warm dangerously.

    Yet last week in Geneva, at the UN’s World Climate Conference–an annual gathering of the so-called “scientific consensus” on man-made climate change –Latif conceded the Earth has not warmed for nearly a decade and that we are likely entering “one or even two decades during which temperatures cool.”

    The global warming theory has been based all along on the idea that the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans would absorb much of the greenhouse warming caused by a rise in man-made carbon dioxide, then they would let off that heat and warm the atmosphere and the land.

    But as Latif pointed out, the Atlantic, and particularly the North Atlantic, has been cooling instead. And it looks set to continue a cooling phase for 10 to 20 more years.

    “How much?” he wondered before the assembled delegates. “The jury is still out.”

    http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/Scientists+pull+about+face+global+warming/2010571/story.html

  • http://www.melatoninfaq.com Alicia Meyer

    Global Warming and Climate Change is the biggest environmental issue that we face these days. the long term effects of these environmental changes to a nations economy is quite damaging. there would be a shortage in food supply as well as on water supply too.

  • http://www.unitechelectrionics.com Jeff Rose

    Global warming is to some small part, true. That is where the facts stop. To say we humans are responsible in some way is pure fantasy. I have a friend in New Zealand who studies glaciers and his own statements were ignored because they were not quite mainstream and certainly not at all popular thinking as it contradicts other so called “scientific” (that should read) well funded and well paid findings.
    You get what you pay for.

    His reporting states that the N.Z. glaciers are melting because of the heat from the volcanic mass directly under them N.Z. is also known as the “shakey Islands” and for very good reason, they have many small earth quakes on a daily basis, as N.Z. is also on a earths crust fault. The heat from lava flows under the ice galciers is the main reason, how easy was that to break as news.? Not popular with the “paid” scientists who have fudged the results and pocketed the money to provide a differing picture in line with the United Nations ? and Possibly the W.H.O.

    It is so strange that we humans, with all of our collective brains, have rationalized that the way the islands and the continents are now positioned is exactly what they have been for since the dawn of time. So, to get those who think that is correct by living in noddy-landy or we all live in utopia, um…. any reason comes to mind why they drill for oil in Saudi Arabia and in neighbouring lands? Could these lands once have been covered with lush forests possibly , hmmm? Is it possible this earth as we know it in 2010 has always been this shape? Has it ever expanded in size or indeed has it ever shrunk?

    Yes of course the earth is different now, you knew that, afterall, why do we drill for oil in the strangest of places: This is simply because the earth has been very different many millions of years, (sorry God botherers) where there were lush forests are now deserts and deep sea beds. The earth is constantly undergoing a sort of ” terra – forming ” every so often, we are due for one soon scientists seem to all agree on that one at least, maybe 21-12-2012 is when it happens? who knows? The earth was not made in 7 days.

    This so called emissions trading scheme was found to be a scam of absolute mammoth proportions and if one was to read the Copenhagen treaty as it was proposed, it is without a doubt, a very contrived and evil document, requiring all signing countries sovereignty to be handed over to the United Nations, once the leaders of each country signed one by one, that was what was expected. People are in fact smarter that that.
    The leaders of all countries have all seen through the smoke and mirrors of the U.N.
    That document was just short of being labeled communism by stealth.

    Greenhouse gases…..bring ‘em on ?
    I live near a main road, we get heaps of car and truck exhausts in the morning and the afternoon, the trees have never looked so well, green trees, if you can remember from your elementary science at school, need 3 things, water, carbon dioxide and sunlight to grow with. The lawns grow so fast, so much CO2 around they flourish. Not what you wanted to hear? Suck it up ! Emission Trading scams are just that scams.

    As a bonus for us, the carbon dioxide is used and as a by-product of photo-synthesis converting those three into food for plant life, the plant gives of oxygen which incidentaly is useful for us humans. We enjoy the Oxygen. Reduce Carbon Dioxide = less oxygen.

    As far a taxing companies, here again is a scam, the only benefits are to the carbon traders who stood to make a motza from the windfall off trading carbon credits or debits.
    It’s a total no brainer, a giant money making scam and it needed to be stopped!

    Finally, just because we can see Ice melting in the frozen wastelands etc. does not mean gloom and doom, it is all part of a perfectly and horrible natural occurance. To state anything else is purely showing the lack of true understanding of applied science and physics and the lack of respect for the knowledge of what has occurred thousands
    of years ago.
    Scientsts seem toi have trouble understanding the gulf stream, el ninio etc, teh seas are warmed by subterranean thin earth’s crust, is that so hard to comprehend ?

    Just because we were not there to record these torrid events millions of years ago does not diminish the facts. The earth is constantly changing whether we like it or not.

    One thing we will unfortunately have to get used to is more severe volcanic activity.
    That is what we all should all be focusing on.
    That is our next global effecting occurrence that will ultimately affect everyone.

    So, let’s all pull our collective heads out of our rear ends and focus on “what if” scenarios regarding volcanic eruptions. Are we going to go the way of the dinosaurs?

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