Just imagine . . . that
the enormous power that “student strikes” have to offer the world was
redirected to improving our understanding of climate change.
1,743 Civil conflicts
293 Civil conflicts with
foreign state intervention
117 Colonial or imperial
conflicts
126 Conflicts between
states
1,001 Non-state conflicts
907 Incidents of
one-sided violence
2,279 State-based conflicts
The objective of the United
Nations is to coerce free world nations into spending heavily to
subsidize third world nations. While that appears a worth-while
endeavour, it cannot change human nature and our instinct to secure
safety for our family, tribe and community.
Tribes vie for power over
other tribes and nations covet the assets of neighbours. World powers
seek a geo-political advantage over their rivals and engage in proxy wars
to improve their position.
China and the US are engaged in
a conflict over financial, intellectual and trade dominance. The trade
tariff tiffs are a visible symptom of a much deeper and wider conflict of
interests and quest for power. The Russian incursions into Crimea and
eastern Ukraine as well as conflicts between Pakistan and India are more
indicators that world powers are not about to cooperate.
We face enormous problems in
getting foreign aid to the people who most need it. Dictators, tyrants
and war lords intercept aid supplies and funds for their own use.
It is awkward when reality
conflicts with Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predictions, but no nation can hope to lift
itself out of poverty without plentiful and reliable sources of energy.
Energy drives water and sewage pump and treatment plants, allows small
businesses to flourish and the construction of manufacturing and
processing plants which provides for meaningful employment and
kick-starts a robust economy.
The demand for energy will
continue to increase faster than we can develop sufficiently reliable
non-carbon energy sources to change the trend.
The IPCC, governments and the
media have tried to make climate change and the environment synonymous
which they are not. Climate change is not an environmental issue. Climate
change may change our local environment, but the effect will vary from
place to place and continent to continent.
Atmospheric carbon dioxide is
essential to life on earth. Without adequate levels of atmospheric CO2,
plants cannot live. Without plants to process CO2 and produce
oxygen, animal life, which includes humans, cannot survive. We have gone
overboard claiming that carbon dioxide is a dirty and evil pollutants
when it is a necessity for life on earth.
Squadrons of internet savvy
students have the power and ability to establish the realities of our
changing climate. There are tens of thousands of scientific papers that
deal with various aspects of our climate and environment.
Scientists have studied the
effects of solar radiation and have mapped out the effects of solar
storms and flares on our climate.
Our sun has effects on
everything from charging the upper atmosphere to create northern and
southern light displays to changing the shape of the earth through
gravitational pull.
As our earth gradually cools
internally, the core shrinks but the mantle is rigid creating underground
voids that eventually rise to the surface. When a void is close enough to
the surface, sink holes are created as the mantle adjusts to global
shrinkage.
Our earth is not the round
globe depicted in classroom models. The equator bulges and shrinks
somewhat depending on our orbital proximity to the sun causing the earth
to elongate at times which in turn puts pressure on our tectonic plates
that can trigger earthquakes.
Today’s students are our future
scientists and political leaders. They need to arm themselves with
critical thinking, skepticism and closely examine the conventional
wisdoms they have inherited. Our advances in science over the past quarter
century are breathtaking. We have better understanding of our earth and
how it works than ever before.
It is disturbing that the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change has ignored all scientific
research and strictly adheres to theories on the link between atmospheric
carbon and global temperatures it developed thirty years ago.
Our political class has ignored
IPCC warnings and have not given warnings the attention they deserve.
That attention includes a serious study of how the IPCC reached the
conclusions it did.
Governments and politicians
will not be motivated to act by protests and strikes. They are deeply
entrenched in following past political patterns based on a four-year
election cycle. While they talk of improvements by 2025, 2030 or 2050
... they do so without conviction. Their primary concerns are upcoming elections,
and whether they will survive to remain in
office.
The IPCC has been sounding the
alarm for thirty years and we are bogged down in avoidance and lethargy.
The IPCC accords and plans are stalled and dying. Rather than wasting
another decade trying to coerce nations into working together, we need to
produce a better plan that people can understand and get behind.
Our leaders are leaders in name
only. They have acquired the positions of leading nations, but their main
motivations are focused on (1) retaining their positions and power
without the risks of making unpopular decisions; and (2) improving their
image on the national and international stage.
Our students and youth can do
the world a great service by throwing their energies into a better
understanding of the forces that drive climate change and how we can best
adapt to the inevitable effects.
They can map out a bright
future for themselves, their peers and all the world without depending on
politicians and governments.
Our students and youth can
educate themselves, and older generations, on topics where our education
system is failing us.
Knowledge is power.
Education and research lead to
knowledge and that knowledge empowers people to change the direction of
societies and the world.
Are we up for it?
The Way I See It
~~ John Feldsted
Political Commentator, Consultant & Strategist
Winnipeg, Manitoba
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