Has Channel 4's production "The Great Global Warming Swindle" proved carbon emissions are not the problem?

Question

The night after Martin Durkin's excellent documentary appeared to me to prove totally, convincingly and comprehensively that global warming has been happening since time immemorial and that it is caused by solar activity and NOT by any activity by man in 20th/21st Century, and that the whole arguments put out by Tony Blair and others at the EU are grossly flawed, we hear the EU has agreed on measures to limit carbon emissions. Have others who saw this programme expose the true facts also had their opinion on this issue totally changed like mine have been?

Answer 1

I watched it and I believe this excellent programme which interviewed a wide range of experts in climate and other related sciences, as well as top politicians like Nigel Lawson and the founder of Greenpeace convincingly exposed the facts and the flaws in the point of view uttered by the likes of Al Gore and Tony Blair on this issue. The statistical data the programme highlighted, and going back hundreds of years, utterly demolished the theory that carbon emission causes global warning and in fact proved the converse to be the truth.

I noted this morning that Tony Blair, who is trying to portray a reaction that "he" has convinced European governments of the need to limit carbon emissions throughout Europe stated he will now take the matter to the G8 Summit.

My suggestion is, as Tony Blair has clearly not seen this excellent documentary he and everybody else attending these Summits, instead of being wined and dined at huge expense, should be locked into a small room and made to watch a repeat of "the Great Global Warming Swindle" so that they understand the subject better.

In particular they need to understand how much harm and misery they are bringing to people in Africa and elsewhere in the under developed world, as so clearly shown in this programme, by their mistaken understanding.

Answer 2

The Earth has warmed and cooled and warmed again many times without any help from Man. For 7,000 years after the last Glacial Period it was warmer than now. About 3,000 yrs ago there was a cooler period lasting till about the yr 800 when it again became warmer than now. Vikings grew wheat in Greenland. About 1200 the Earth cooled until the Baltic Sea froze over in winter in the 1400's. We are still coming out of that cold period naturally. Most of the warming has occured since 1800 and records began to be kept by thermometers about 1850. Some scientists noticed that the CO2 in the air was increasing, as it usually does in warming periods, but they attributed it to industry. As the natural warming continued some alarmist scientists blamed Man for producing too much CO2. Then the political Left saw an opportunity to gain power and money from the Global Warming cause.

The Left is not a conspiracy, but a group of people who think alike and support each other. They deride any scientist who disagrees that Man is causing GW, they see to it that they lose funding, lose jobs, cannot publish. Basically the Left says "Shut up!" to any who disagree with them.

What is the normal temperature, normal climate, 7,000 yrs of warmth or the last 150 yrs of warming that has not yet reached those temperatures? The Left says the last half of the 1800's was normal and ignores all the centuries of higher temperatures.

If the EU and other governments are committed to zero CO2 emissions or reducing them by laws and taxes then they may go to an extreme, simply because they can and it will generate money they can use in governmental spending to buy votes. When people breathe they emit CO2, which plants use in photosynthesis to make oxygen. However the Left classifies CO2 as a pollutant which must be controlled or taxed. When will they impose a breathing tax? What will they do to those who cannot pay the tax? Stop them from breathing of course, and they will do it with a clear conscience , because they are "saving the world" and doing it for the "greater good of all the people" and because they are doing "the right thing".

Everyone needs to wake up and think about all the ramifications involved and not be led by scare tactics and emotional hype.

Answer 3

No, it just presented one point of view. The scientists featured, although credible, are in a significant minority. And that fact that environmental villains like Exxon (Esso) are funding the anti-global warming theory lobby is is an issue that should, at least, slightly concern us.

The bottom line is: if the Global warming theory is wrong, attempts to reduce carbon emissions doesn't matter, but hasn't done any harm. If it is right and we do nothing, we are extinct.

In the words of somebody famous (but not famous enough for me to remember who they were): Don't only read one book.

Answer 4

Are you saying that that Durkin has disproved CO2's ability to influence the planet's climate? I find that strange for the following reason: any grade-school science textbook will tell you that post ice-age CO2 concentrations have kept our planet from looking like frozen tundra for millennia by trapping heat energy from the sun. Solar energy alone is not enough to make the earth as warm as it's been all these years--the planet needs its "warm blanket" of greenhouse gases.

Answer 5

perhaps no one is lying, but like all scientific theories, it takes a while for one to be proved correct etc..

It could well be that, different elements of each theory is correct, making a new one. That is the nature of science.

I saw the programme, they had some good facts based on hard data. It does not takeaway the point of view that fossil fules are going to run out etc.. regardless of what we do, and vehicles fumes in cities are bad for our health, but does change the motives for improving things.

It is like most things in life, it comes down to money. There was a good thatcher connection to, with the unions etc..

ps. the arguements were never put by Blair, he just jumped on the band wagon, to try and distract people from his other disaster going on and gain some credit with society.

Answer 6

Well, let's put it another way - since we have scientific records dating back thousands and thousands of years - it has already been proved that the Earth goes through a period like this every twenty thousand years or so. After each event - the Earth repairs itself - true, some species die out - but that has been and will be forever and a day a fact of life!

Yes, we have contributed to this and may have to change our outlook on things and the way we use power BUT - the fact that Blair and his EU counterparts blame humans in general is by far, wide of the mark for being correct!

Car owners are blamed - however, ONE jet taking off emits more pollution at this time than ONE car does all YEAR! Yet, because of the might and power and of course the financial clout of big airlines - nothing (or very little) is done - except to tax those wanting or needing a holiday by adding charges to the flight costs - ASK YOURSELF - where has all the money gone from fuel tax and where is the aircraft flight tax going - then judge Tony Blair and Gordon 'Mugger' Brown - coz the money isn't going where it should be going.

For one, I would rather have seen a tree tax - pay for your flights and you have to pay a tax to plant trees - it would soon add up to a global reconditioning of the air!

Answer 7

Nope not been swayed 1 bit,i always new this was a crock of ****,all this goverment is looking to do is fleece the general public out of more money.

Answer 8

I find it best to not get my information about earth shattering scientific debate from television shows. There are many resources available to use to learn more about climate change, its causes and its effects. It shouldn't be a debate between "The Great Global Warming Swindle" and "An Inconvenient Truth."

Answer 9

The problem is we don't really know what's causing global warming and if temperatues will continue to rise long term. However most scientists agree that humans are probably causing it. Reducing emissions should be a top priority. If they're wrong what do we have to lose?

Answer 10

i thought it shed some good points on the subject but the jury is still out as far as I'm concerned. To all those who have said they
take there facts from TV; where do you take them from the left-wing pamphlets you pick up???.