Live Earth

Alright.. .Live Earth happened on 7/07/07. The aim to increase global awareness of global warming. And they did this through the entertainment industry. I guess that that was probably a good idea, but did it work. What will it accomplish? Hasn't everyone already heard about Global Warming?

So what if every Tom Dick and Harry know about Global warming? Knowledge is useless without action. I think that one of the greatest things that has happened in regards to the environment is what was put in place by town councils..

Recycling bins.

Not much effort on the part of Tom, Dick or Harry, no significant extra cost for them either. All in all a good effort. I think that this is one of the criteria if people really want to combat the Global Warming "crisis", it needs to be easy, and cheap. I'm not a rich man, I care about the environment, but I can't afford to buy stuff at a premium because it's good for the environment. I just can't. I think that instead of spending squillions on a 24 hr global concert, each country should have spent that money and started systems similar to council provided recycling.

This does not even touch on the fact that global warming itself is a human induced problem. It may actually be a sampling problem. Looking at the graph below shows a sharp rise in Carbon Dioxide (CO2) in the 1900s (approximately). But, how did they get the CO2 levels from prior to 1900s...From ice core measurements. After the 1950s (thereabouts) they used direct measurements. Is it possible that the direct measurements are higher than the ice core readings? Honestly, I don't know, but I would hesitate to compare apples with oranges. I mean doesn't the meaning of some phrases change when you go from one language to another? I see this as a similar problem.

Another bit...Look at the graph, notice the UNITs on the that's parts per million. Currently, we are sitting at 0.0383% CO2 in the atmosphere. So 0.0383% of the gas in the atmosphere is CO2. Pretty bloody small percentage there.

Also, if this was such a real phenomenon, why don't all scientists agree that this is a human induced problem? Wikipedia even mentions that (independant) scientists have put forth other hypothesis that explain Global Warming, that, "the warming is caused by natural fluctuations in the climate or that warming is mainly a result of variations in solar radiation".

I think that the best example of this may be the last ice age. The planet warmed up quite alot back then didn't it? And there was no human intervention either. There were no humungous factories spewing forth gases into the atmosphere, or cars, or blah blah blah. Yet the globe warmed on its own....

There was also, apparently, a Little Ice Age which began around 1650AD and ended around 1850AD. Is it possible that the miniscule temperature increase since 1850 (about +0.8 degrees C) might be due to the ending of said Little Ice Age?

ALSO, (yes it goes on) we have no idea of how the climate or weather patterns behave. You can't predict the weather next week let alone what it will be in 2100. Any prediction about what the future weather will be is only a prediction based upon some computer model with well-defined variables, which were initially designed by a person. If they leave out a variable you get a different result, if you weight one variable differently, you get a different result. Simply put, it's a prediction. Only that. Like the call-centre psychics, they predict based on assumptions. A little harsh there I know, but I'm trying to drive a point home.

The atmosphere is a complex entity, constantly changing, and we are not sure if the change is actually even due to human activities.

So, I would have liked Live Earth to have addressed the scientific merit of global warming, greenhouse gasses, and the proof that we are at fault, or that we can even change what the Earth may be doing of its own accord.

I do not want to sound anti-environmental or anything... Because I'm not, I believe in trying to protect the environment as a responsibility of ours. BUT, I do not like the idea of jumping on a band wagon which uses fear as its only weapon (the fear of climate change causing natural disastors etc... which is apparently unproven and spouted forth as shock media).

Ummm.... That's all I have to say about that.