|
NO
|
USA PARTY
|
% OF FOSSIL FUEL COMPANY DONATION
|
|
|
YEAR 2000
|
YEAR 2016
|
||
|
01
|
REPUBLICAN PARTY
|
60%
|
91%
|
|
02
|
DEMOCRATIC PARTY
|
40%
|
9%
|
Donald Trump, the Grand Old Party
(US Republican Party) nominee and a contestant for the United States of America
presidency is giving a hint of Parexit for the United States. Parexit means
leaving Paris. The word is a combination of Paris and exit, where Paris has
been shorten to Par and exit maintaining its full spelling. It is just like
Brexit. Within this context it means the United States of America could
withdraw from COP21 Agreement, that is, if Donald Trump is elected president of
the United States of America. The two main goals of COP21 are 1) to reduce the rate of global greenhouse gas
emissions to a mean of below 2⁰C and 2) for rich nations to help poor nations
financially in going green.
Donald Trump holds the view that the
concept of increase in global temperature is an idea created by China to
discourage the United States business competitiveness.
Donald Trump is not the only
person who does not believe there is anthropogenic global warming causing
climate change. There are scientists, politicians, businessmen who share that
belief. These are climate change skeptics. The following are some basis of
skepticism:
CLIMATE
CHANGE IS USUAL NOT UNUSUAL
Climate has always been changing.
The planet have experienced cold periods (ice ages) as well as warm periods. Climate
change manifested in drought, floods etc. does not depend on just unusual
change in global mean of surface temperature. There are many regional variables
like temperature, humidity, cloud cover, precipitation, state of the oceans and
direction and strength of wind that are factors to consider. Regionally, for
years, sudden changes in temperature are over four times bigger than the global
mean. Much of the regional changes had to be done apart from the global mean
else the global mean changes would be much more.
DISCREPANCIES
BETWEEN FACTS AND MODEL PROJECTIONS
Discrepancies between facts and model
results. Models tend to overrate temperatures. . An argument is that a distinct
mark to greenhouse warming is that surface warming must come with a warming at
the tropics at altitude 9 kilometers that is two point five (2.5) times bigger than
the the surface temperature. However,
indications are that temperature at that level of the tropics was three
quarters of what was at the surface (Lindzen, 2007, Douglass et al).
FOSSIL FUEL
COMPANIES AND THE REPUBLICANS
Some top companies in the world
that benefit from the use of fossil fuel doubt climate change. One such leading
company is Exxon, a Texas-based American oil company. Exxon played a key role
in the United States’ decision to withdraw from the UN Kyoto Protocol on
climate change. Exxon and other fossil fuel companies have as allies, some Republicans
in the United States Congress. As of September, 2016, in the ongoing United
States presidential campaign, 91% of fossil fuel company campaign donations go
to the Republican Party and 9% to the Democratic Party. In year 2000 campaign donations from fossil fuel
companies were 60% to the Grand Old Party (Republicans) and 40% to the
Democrats.
INCREASE IN
TEMPERATURE TRIGGERS INCREASED HUMAN ACTIVITY
The sun provides almost 100% of
the heat we get here on Earth. There are solar cycles. Solar cycles bring about
changes in temperature which effect change in climate. Changes in temperature
affects human activities which in turn affect carbon dioxide production. When
there is increase in temperature there is increase in human activity. Life is
teeming at the equator where the temperature is high, while life at the poles
is not so teeming because temperature is low. The point is increase in
temperature comes before increase in carbon dioxide. The phenomenon is
initiated with changes in the solar cycle. The increase content of carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere is precipitant of increase in temperature and human
activity due to heat radiated from the sun. Flow of carbon dioxide as a
chemical reaction on Earth is controlled by temperature, temperature generated
from the sun. Anthropogenic global warming has been exaggerated, contribution
of greenhouse gases therefrom is minimal. Climate change is dependent on solar
cycles.
OUT OF SIGHT
OUT OF MIND
The distance, psychologically and
physically, between people and where climate change is clearly manifested
creates doubt. Take a person living in a plush gated community in USA, China or
Ghana. If you tell such a person that because of climate change there is
drought in South Sudan, they might probably ask you what part of planet Earth
is South Sudan. Icebergs and glaciers in the north and south poles are melting
because of climate change, one living in comfortable circumstance in a gated
community in Ghana may not bother to help fight climate change because the
poles are so far from where they are, though they drive cars that release fumes
into the atmosphere on daily basis.
PARTING SHOT
Clearly there is a divide on the
climate change issue, even among leading climate scientists. There are those
who believe climate change is real and is threatening the survival of earthlings,
and there are those who are of the opinion climate change is not a big deal.
The divide is clearly showing in United States politics. President Barack
Obama, a Democrat, said jointly with the President of China, in China that the
United States of America will ratify COP21 Agreement. On the other hand, Donald
Trump, the Presidential candidate for the Republican Party in the November,
2016 United States presidential election is threatening that the United States
would withdraw from COP21 Agreement, if elected president. However you look at
it, the definitive and decisive indicators are that the natural environment is getting
progressively worse off. From both sides of the divide, all of us need to pull
our efforts and resources together to reach a convergence that should lead to
the path of inducing a clean and balanced natural environment sustainably, as
espoused by this blog.
Reference:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-22/us-election-scientists-blast-trumps-stance-climate-change/7867072?section=environment
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