Another week, another president, another world

Yesterday I attended a fascinating conference in the Scottish Parliament on NATO and nuclear disarmament.  Organised by the Edinburgh Branch of the United Nations Association (once in its death throws, now innovative and leading the way amongst UNA branches) there was an excellent cast of experienced and quality speakers.

But the details are not for this post.  Last week I posted on the views of President Vaclav Klaus. At the Holyrood event I found the current edition of New World, the quarterly house magazine of the UK UNA.

It had an opinion piece by Mary Robinson former President of the Irish Republic (1990-1997) in which she passionately presents views antithetical to those of President Klaus.  Here are a few quotes:

1. For too long climate change discussions have stagnated in the realms of science.
2. Misconceptions 1. Negative effects of climate change are a possibility rather than a certainty.
3. Misconception 2. Negative effects of climate change are a threat to the future not the present.
4. Misconception 3. Negative effects of climate change will affect plants and animals more than humans.
5. The image of a polar bear stranded on a shrinking ice flow . . . only begins to capture the real picture.
6. The entire community (of the Pacific Carteret Islands) has been forced to move to another country.
7. What we need is a climate justice approach.

Her quest for a simple narrative leaves question about the basis, logic and reason or her position. I assume (though she does not say so) that by climate change she means human induced change.

1.  For too long climate change discussions have stagnated in the realms of science.  We can't ignore what science tells us.
2.  Misconceptions 1. Negative effects of climate change are a possibility rather than a certainty. The reverse is true.
3.  Misconception 2. Negative effects of climate change are a threat to the future not the present. The IPCC AR4 indicates that warming well beyond the current level will be beneficial to agricultural production. It is questionable if there strong is empirical evidence for this in any other field.
4. Misconception 3. Negative effects of climate change will affect plants and animals more than humans.   Interesting debating point.

5. The image of a polar bear stranded on a shrinking ice flow . . . only begins to capture the real picture.  Actually, it distorts the true picture. Polar bear populations are generally stable of increasing.

6. The entire community (of the Pacific Carteret Islands) has been forced to move to another country.  Pacific islands are rising as well as falling.  There is lively debate as to whether there is any human climate change element. 
7. What we need is a climate justice approach.  Karl Popper indicated an assertion requires to be falsifiable to be credible.  Climate undergoes natural change.  Unless you can measure that, human induced climate change is not falsifiable.  Mary Robinson's arguments are based on - well, nothing.

 I am afraid the UNA needs a bit more rigour!