(Posted by John Goetz)
Saturday, August 30, 2008 by: David Gutierrez
The weight and consumption habits of the overweight and obese are worsening the pace of global warming, said two researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in a letter to the medical journal Lancet.
It takes more fuel to transport people who are obese and therefore heavier, Phil Edwards and Ian Roberts wrote. In addition, heavier people do not just tend to eat more food: they actually require it. The researchers calculated that it takes an obese person 1,680 calories per day just to maintain their body functioning and another 1,280 to sustain their daily activities. This is 18 percent higher than the caloric intake required for a person with a normal body mass index (BMI).
BMI is a measure of weight relative to height that is used to calculate healthy body weight. A BMI of 18 to 25 is considered normal, while a BMI above 25 is considered overweight and one of 30 or more obese.
But according to Edwards and Roberts, 40 percent of the global population has a BMI in the neighborhood of 30 or more.
“We are all becoming heavier and it is a global responsibility,” Edwards said. “Obesity is a key part of the big picture.”
The production and transportation of food is a major source of greenhouse gases, the researchers noted, with agriculture responsible for a whopping 20 percent of global emissions. They also faulted the overweight for contributing to global food shortages.
“Promotion of a normal distribution of BMI would reduce the global demand for, and thus the price of, food,” the researchers wrote.
Tim Church of Louisiana State University questioned Edwards and Roberts’ focus on obesity, noting that 25 percent of the food produced in the United States is thrown away.
“We throw away far more food than the extra 460 calories per day [that Edwards and Roberts] point out,” Church said. “In other words, most of our food overproduction is due to waste, not overeating.”
Sources for this story include: www.reuters.com, telegraph.co.uk.
So Al Gore is responsible for global warming after all (the picture of Al Gore was not part of the original article).
This is absolutely ludicrous, when or where will it end. I’m just so sick and tired of these fools spewing this outrageous propaganda. I mean come on, how foolish can be these people be? They waste time on senseless research such as this, just because global warming is the trendy idea of the day. It’s just sickening.
What’s just as bad or worse, is that many people are stupid enough believe this stuff. I mean people are just so gullable. I’m not a very smart person, don’t know much about science, but do know and have common sense. This is only my second posting on here becuase I’m intimidated by others intelligence, but this really struck a chord with me. Just absolutely ludicrouse!
Humans, like other animals, are not stupid when it comes to genetic memory. The natural rhythm has turned. The world is getting colder and for a while yet.
Like a squirrel stashing its nuts humanity is setting aside some insurance and gaining weight to see it through the coming hard times.
It had to come.
I’m surprised they haven’t started blaming smokers yet.
Welcome to the brave, new world…
Yow! C’mon, Anthony. It’s a holiday. I’m trying to relax here. I click on your blog and am greeted by the visage of Al Gore.
Not good for my old ticker.
I’ll check back later.
How about pixes of melting icebergs, crumbling glaciers . . . anything but this.
REPLY: Sorry, but blame John Goetz, I’m just the landlord for this one.
Ya Al Gore is just stashing his nuts, give him a break already.
He looks like Dick Morris got merged with Fred Barnes . . .
Japan and 2 US States have obesity monitoring as part of state government employment regulations, with heavier people (BMI 30 +) having to agree to counciling and diet first and if no progress is made they face higher health care over the group premium and additional penalties for other group plans like life insurance. There is also partial payment for gastrial by-pass surgery available ( your tax dollars at work ).
No weight loss in Japan can mean job loss regardless of performance.
Welcome to the future of humanity, and you thought eugenics was dead when it only changed its hat and put on a save the whales t-shirt and flip-flops.
The Lancet. Aren’t those the same bozos who doped out that the Iraq War killed seven (or was it fifteen?) times as many people per year as the 1980 – ’88 Iran-Iraq war?
A number of months ago I read an article (perhaps it was at http://junkfoodscience.blogspot.com/ ) how the so-called obesity epidemic in the U.S. really came about after the CDC changed weight standards. One day your weight was healthy and, after the new standards were published, you were obese.
Just think of how well prepared those folks with extra BMI will be as the climate cools over the next few decades.
News –
Crude Oil down FOUR BUCKS a barrel today, finally below $112
“RBOB” – reblended unleaded gasoline (New York market price) down ten cents a gallon today.
All thanks to Gustav being far less damaging than hyped.
(and that was because I’ve been on a diet, so, you’re welcome y’all)
It is always frightening when the most sensible remark comes from a university.
Tim Church of Louisiana State University:
“We throw away far more food than the extra 460 calories per day [that Edwards and Roberts] point out,” Church said.
Obese people aren’t responsible for food not eaten? I sure hope Church has tenure.
But, in his defense, Church does realize too much food is produced.
“In other words, most of our food overproduction is due to waste, not overeating.”
Body mass index is such a poor system. I’m 5’8.5″ 170 lbs with less then 10 percent body fat, and according to BMI I’m overweight.
Global Cooling – Cloud Seeding to Avert Catastrophic Global Warming
Off topic but I heard a guy called Dr Alan Gadian from Leeds University
on the radio earlier today.
“We propose to assess and develop a scheme for mitigating global warming by producing a controlled enhancement of the reflectivity of low lying maritime clouds for incoming sunlight by spraying into them seawater particles from a fleet of wind-powered satellite controlled unmanned vessels. These particles will create additional droplets in the clouds, thereby increasing their albedo.”
http://www.planetwork.net/climate/cooling/
If I heard right the wind-powered satellite controlled unmanned vessels would cost £1 million each.
I have to agree, [snip no calls to action like this please]. As far as I can see, Al Gore would probably fall into the category of Morbidly Obese.
The themes are quite interesting. Consumption, greed, original sin. Being expelled from the Garden of Eden, the fall from grace, the separation from Nature.
This article illustrates the damage to science in general. An exposition of the faux science of AWG is used an excuse or justification for practically everything we see and hear these days. The up-side may be that people will tire of hearing the cry of the wolf. You can find the good and bad effects of AGW at: http://www.numberwatch.co.uk/warmlist.htm
Stefan, I’m shocked! Global Warming a religion???? Does that mean we can boil the animals in the Global Warming holy water and eat them in holy communion to cross over the River Styx to to enjoy the high priest’s remaining 72 virgins?
M White (13:20:44) :
“These particles will create additional droplets in the clouds, thereby increasing their albedo.””
I expect we’ll soon have an albedo surplus, so they need to get their government grant money in hand quickly.
“…If I heard right the wind-powered satellite controlled unmanned vessels would cost £1 million each.”
At the current exchange rate, you’re talking about real money there.
And the oceans are actually pretty big in my opinion, so they’ll be wanting a rather large fleet.
Reminiscent of the proposals in the 1970s to spread soot over Arctic ice and snow to “combat global cooling.”
Wait, doesn’t global warming CAUSE obesity? People are stressed out from worrying about GW, and all the attendant climate catastrophes. The result is
stress-Induced overeating. It’s a positive feedback loop.
I’m more concerned with over weight people breaking my furniture because in reality that’s the only way they effect my life.
I do however think that its despicable that they are using the Global Warming Hoax to guilt trip people into slimming down. I think that most fat people feel bad about their weight, and certainly have to suffer the physical discomfort and social embarassment of being fat. What’s the point of making the ludicrious claim that fat people are causing more global warming.
Reminds of something that I saw, saying that people who live in first world countries should not have more than one child to help stop global warming. Never mind, that these same first world countries need fresh bodies to work to continue economic growth, and will import people when they do not have enough workers to sustain growth.
Ah, how great would the world be if all these would be social managers would find a real job. Certainly, ditch diggers and dish washer are providing a far greater benefit to society than these armies of idiots trying to “change” things.
Here’s the culprit: click
I reckon these guys are having a laugh, They were down the pub one night arguing about which was the stupidest thing they could pin global warming on and came up with this one. The sums were done on the back of a beer mat and the whole thing was sent of by mobie phone.
They picked the Lancet for their prank because they figured if anyone would fall for it they would. The bonus is a nice swipe at
Fat AlAl Gore as well.I checked on http://www.numberwatch.co.uk/warmlist.htm and obesity isn’t listed. Whew! We could have had serious positive feedback.
Hey, I don’t think Gore is responsible for global warming for being portly. I’m sure he planted a few trees somewhere when his weight exceed 200 Lbs…
This doesn’t exactly fit the main topic, it does in a way relate to the pictured hero of AGW. Mr. Gore’s scientific expertise is measured by a number called “relative ignorance.”
If CO2, especially ACO2, is so efficient in retaining heat to warm the globe, why is it so inefficient in the deserts? Here is an interesting note on desert temperature extremes.
name Tyra
status student
grade 4-5
location GA
Question – Why is it so hot in the daytime in deserts and so cold at
night?
Dear Tyra-
The main reason there are such big temperature differences between day and
night in the desert is there is very little moisture in the air in the
deserts. We measure the moisture in the air with a number called “relative
humidity.”
Moisture in the air “holds” the heat, much like a blanket over you holds
your body heat when you sleep. So, places like islands in the tropics, or
in jungles, where there is lots of moisture in the air, have small
differences between daytime and nighttime temperatures. These differences in weather conditions, like desert weather and jungle weather are called
“climate.” The jungle climate is much different from a desert climate.
Wendell D. Bechtold, Meteorologist
Forecaster, National Weather Service
Weather Forecast Office, St. Louis, MO
Can this possibly be true. Wendell completely ignores the other GHGs. Oh well, he is probably just a denier in the John Coleman camp of AGW deniers.