the great global warming swindle

[dozeydo]

Having watched this programme, I just wondered what people thought of the points made - the data on CO2 increase following rather than preceding temp rise was very interesting and the explanation for this appeared logical. Do you agree?

[Bev2007]

I expect you'll get a lot of debate on this one....

My personal opinion for some time has been that the data we are presented with is carefully selected, and too much emphasis is placed on models - I can think of no other field in science where model predictions are regarded as such infallable truth. I also am suspicious of the lack of debate - it took scientists about 50 years to agree that smoking caused lung cancer, yet we have concensus on a climate model in about 10 years? Come on.....

Having said that though I am concerned that the world is heavily populated. Climate 'change' will occur (whether cyclical or man-made) and people will suffer, and inevitably it will be the poor who starve or freeze first. The division between rich and poor is the scandal of recent and current generations, not whether I have a 4x4 or a hybrid...

[Hugh Spencer]

The scientific evidence in the programme was very convincing but what annoys and angers me is that the UN and other organisations are not accepting the truth, even challenging the integrity and careers of eminent scientists who are prepared to put their names to their views and not hiding behind an organisation. Listening to the news today, many people in power are behaving like lemmings, following the current lead and not questioning, unprepared to consider that a gigantic fraud has been perpetrated.

[hubblebubble]

The time has come for a world government to form and global laws to be introduced in relation to global warming!

[jake-the-peg]

I think you'll find that this program was made by the same Director who made "against nature" for Channel 4.

That one had similar claims and ened up with Channel 4 having to make a lengthy formal apology on air.

This program had a real mixture of mis-information and deliberate distortions.

There's a rundown on it point by point here:

http://inthegreen.typepad.com/blog/2007/03/dec onstructing_.html

If you are wondering why the world leaders aren't suddenly sitting up and taking notice of this program - it's probably because they don't take scientific advice from Channel 4 TV shows!

[boobesque]

its like watching a criminal trial. You hear the evidence from the prosecutor and it sounds very convincing. Then the defence say their part and you realise that the prosecution left out some very important facts. Then the prosecution comes back and very convincingly oppose the defences argument etc... You could probably make a tv show blaming global warming on french actors if you selected the right 'facts'.

I believe that we are contributing to global warming. Whether we are making a significant difference is beyond me to say, but surely in 100 years time we will either look back and say 'Oh. We arent effecting climate change. Whoops' or we will be saying 'Oh crap. I wish we did more. Now our grandchildren are screwed because we wanted a cool SUV'.

[kwicky]

I believe the problem stems from having too many bodies on our planet, now 6.5 billion. Each of us consumes valuable oxygen and we breathe out the noxious carbon dioxide. The tipping point has been reached!

[kwicky]

I see today the government have set a target of 60% reduction in carbon emissions. A BBC reporter went through certain options necessary to achieve this figure. If it wasn't so tragic it would have been laugable. Give up the car; remove all electrical appliances from the home; remove the central heating and all the radiators; and cancel all foreign holidays.
I think I would prefer to keep all these and suffer in the balm tropical air we are currently experiencing. John Redwood is the only politician who you could call a realist, the others are living in cloud cuckoo land.

[EDLEE]

Didn't see the program in question. Didn't need to. The debate goes on endlessly. Who is right and who is wrong? Doesn't really matter anyway. We, humans, are here. We will do as we have always done, and that is to change the world. Good......Bad..... ????? Who is to say that the warming of the planet as a whole may not end up being a good thing? Compared to what we will be in a few hundred thousand years ( if we're still here) we are , even the brightest of us, just hairy apes beating our chests and screaming at the sky.

[Bob A Job]

I think natural progression is leading to CO2 increase, milions of years ago Oxygen was a toxin that was destroying the ecosystem. But mankind's actions has been a catalyst, given the atmosphere a kick up the arse that it wont have the chance to deal with from evolutionary point of view. BRING ON THE NEXT ICE AGE, i could do with a skiing holiday

[Hugh Spencer]

I have just been listening to a radio report on BBC World Service from a panel of industrial experts on how they are planning to reduce CO2 emissions in the coming years. However no mention was made of the basic world cycle of climate change, periods of increasing and decreasing temperatures experienced during the past thousands of years. This subject was thrashed to death a few weeks ago but when experts discuss and 'pontificate' this matter and don't mention basics, it is unsettling.