2010 Diary week 31
Global warming, climate change and weather extremes
Book Review
Part III of the review of The Weather Makers: How Man is Changing the Climate and What it Means for Life on Earth by Tim Flannery will be posted in the next few days. These are some snippets from the review: “The Kyoto protocol may be the most bitterly contested international treaty ever to be realized, which when one considers its modest goals appears strange indeed. Two big reasons for this are economics and politics.” “In the developed world, energy use is growing at the rate of 2% per annum or less, and with such low rates of growth the only way for one sector (such as wind, gas, or coal) to grow is to take from another sector’s share. A furious struggle is ensuing between the potential winners and losers.” “Australia has the highest per capita greenhouse emissions of any industrialized country – 25% higher than the United States – and Australia’s growth in emissions over the last decade has been faster than that of other OECD countries. 90% of Australia’s electricity is generated by burning coal.” “Given Kyoto’s manifest problems, it may seem best to tax carbon emissions at the smokestack, yet this simple and effective solution finds no favor in Australia or the United States.” “For those who urge abandonment or who criticize Kyoto, there are two questions: What do you propose to replace Kyoto with, and how do you propose to secure international agreement for your alternative?” “One of the key decisions in our war on climate change is whether to focus our efforts on transport or the electricity grid. Decarbonizing the grid wins hands down. For with that achieved, we can use renewable power thus generated to decarbonize transport.”