John: I hope you don’t mind some feedback on your column titled “Carbon and real estate: Looking for some beach front property?”.
Firstly, you incorrectly use the term “carbon” throughout your piece which is misleading, technically incorrect and should be avoided given the importance of this debate as it pertains to public policy, public opinion and our entire economy and way of life.
You mean to say “carbon-dioxide” which is an odourless, colourless, trace gas in the atmosphere. Water vapour (and clouds) are the biggest and most influential component of green-house gases in our atmosphere, but you wouldn’t refer to them as “water” if you wanted to have meaningful discussion about climate change.
Carbon and carbon-dioxide should not be used interchangeably – one is a solid, the other is a gas. Doing so is a disservice to your readers and school-aged children everywhere.
With regard to “vanishing cities” why is important to look at the worst case scenario? That’s non-sensical. The notion that sea-levels are rising faster due to fossil fuel use has not been established in the scientific literature, and in fact, has been strongly refuted just this week:
“At least in some regions, sea level was higher than present around 5000 to 7000 years ago. After several centuries of sea level decline following the Medieval Warm Period, sea levels began to rise in the mid-19th century.
Rates of global mean sea level rise between 1920 and 1950 were comparable to recent rates. It is concluded that recent change is within the range of natural sea level variability over the past several thousand years.” – Judith Curry, Ph.D., Climatologist, Former Chair of the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Georgia Institute of Technology, “Special Report: Sea Level and Climate Change” November 25, 2018.
“Local sea level in many regions will continue to rise in the 21st century – independent of global climate change. There are numerous reasons to think that projections of 21st century sea level rise from human-caused global warming are too high, and some of the worst-case scenarios strain credulity.” – Judith Curry, Ph.D., Climatologist, Former Chair of the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Georgia Institute of Technology, “Special Report: Sea Level and Climate Change” November 25, 2018.
So again, why is important to look at the worst case scenario?
“(Climate economist) William Nordhaus shows that more ambitious policies like the Paris Agreement target of 3.6 degrees would cost some $134 trillion, much more than the associated climate benefits. Such prescriptions for climate change are worse than the disease.”
I think we can relocate some utility cables for a lot less than $134,000,000,000 – in fact, I’m certain it can be done.
In the meantime, let me know if you have any beach front property for sale – I’m interested!!!
Darcy Ulmer – RegWatch Contributor – December 03, 2018
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