6 posts were split to a new topic: Converting CO2 into fuel
Iād be very careful about the source. Forbes has a patchy record on the environment. The author, Michael Shellenberger, is a nuclear power lobbyist and anti renewables campaigner. Heās deeply involved in a number of groups with green-sounding names, such as Environmental Progress and the Breakthrough Institute. I donāt have time to research the issue, but the Forbes article looks to me like classic cherry-picking. That would be consistent with Shellenbergerās history.
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If the information is correct, there still has been a significant area subject to vegetation fires, albeit the area is less than that which occurred ~15 years ago.
This could be a result of a number of factors such as government policy, weather conditions or even due to loss of vegetation cover (namely, as the area of vegetation diminishes, the value or attractiveness of remaining land to burn for other uses becomes less - viz. the land may be marginal for other uses).
What is also important is that due to higher residential spread over the past century(s), the impact of a fire on humans has increased as there has been a move into higher fire risk areas. An example could be Australia where there has been a more recent lifestyle choice to live on forested acreage, which due to fire risk, increases the impacts on such residences in the time of fire. Humans have also modified the environment in come areas (California is an example) to also increase fire risk in and adjacent to fringe urban areas.
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Probably a bit off-topic, but one effect Iāve noticed is an increasing tendency of those in denial to respond to any mention of climate change with the trite āclimateās always changedā. Itās almost as if thatās the sort of thing that Frank Luntz had in mind when he recommended the term.
Adding anthropogenic before climate change sometimes works, but Iāve taken to using global warming instead. Not exactly synonymous, but close enough - and it avoids the annoying deflections. Have we passed peak climate change (in one sense, at least)?
Thanks to all those who contributed to the discussion about climate change and what potential impact it could have. It remains as one of the most difficult topics to discuss in a civilised manner, but members of the CHOICE Community have proven they are in a different calibre.
The intial discussion has evolved and continues to be popular, so weāve created a new thread for capturing climate change consumer related news. Alternatively, we encourage you to start new threads where you feel a discussion is warranted, just remember that it should be relevant to consumer issues.
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