They say those who don’t learn from history are condemned to repeat it. Read this article in the Vancouver Sun, May 1982, and tell compare to the sorts of news stories we are seeing today about the same topic with the same overhyped warnings:
Hauntingthelibrary writes:
The trouble with the alarmists is that they don’t seem to realize that people are capable of looking back over what they said before, and judging them by their past record.
Perfect example: In 1982 Mustafa Tolba of the United Nations Environment Program excoriated the world’s governments for failing to institute “ecologically sound management” and warned them, in an “official forecast” that if they didn’t mend their ways,
by the turn of the century, an ecological catastrophe which will witness devastation as complete, as irreversible as any nuclear holocaust
Vancouver Sun, May 1982. Ecological Disaster Feared.
Mustafa tolba went on to become Executive Director for UNEP.
Mac says:
January 19, 2011 at 5:16 am
[Africa] Sounds pretty bad to me….although I’m sure it’s fine if you’re an armchair pundit.
Mac, I just want to know how you’ve managed to solve all of your own problems, and those of anyone within your non-armchair striking distance, so that you can now turn your attention to trying to solve Africa’s!
Another perfect example of the Doom in 20-30 years theory that has continued to be taught to the world for the past 50 years, I want my apocalypse already Damn it.
“Mac says:
January 19, 2011 at 5:16 am”
Seems obvious to me you’ve never been to Africa. By far the biggest issue in Africa is political corruption. And as usual, with all the “Greening” of the western world, the poorest are most affected.
We were heading for disaster in the 80’s- but not from deserts. text to click on
Whoops, could someone more computer literate link this up please. http://www.jonmega.com/gallery/LOLpics/Why_the_80_s_had_to_end.jpg.html
Note to Dena, about those Northern African deserts: the Sahara is shrinking.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/07/090731-green-sahara_2.html
OH dahlvseen:
“Yes Mac but do you really think all that is caused by an atmospheric increase of CO2 from 0.029% to 0.039%?
Draw your armchair up closer to the fire and tell us. – Judging from later comments, there is by now quite a crowd of us here waiting to learn how the magical CO2 has already managed to ravage Africa. -I assume Africa is only for starters! ”
Sorry, I can’t find any mention of CO2 in the newspaper article, or in anything I wrote, could you elaborate?
David Corcoran said:
“Did the world end and I missed it? Was there a world-wide nuclear war and nobody noticed? Africa’s problems are fundamentally local and political. Unless a consortium of 1st world nations take over that region and sets up effective governments, there’s nothing effective to be done. Surely you’re not advocating a return to colonialism?
The world didn’t end, nor did it come close. You and Roger Samson maintain that the prediction was part-right. It was flat wrong. There’s a world of difference between an oil-covered pelican, deforestation in Africa, and world-wide nuclear apocalypse.”
So, there seems to be a lot of semantics on this thread, you for example mention ‘world-wide nuclear apocalypse’ where the above article simply says ‘nuclear war’ which could mean anything – a small tactical exchange or a couple of nukes. It seems it’s not only the above article exaggerating.
Take the two nukes that went of in Japan for example, 300,000 people killed or thereabouts?
A lot more have died in Eastern Africa due to drought.
Having a group of police doesn’t mean their culture upholds high standards of justice. Ever heard of institutional racism in the police? What are the police known to do when they are accused of abuses? They close ranks; group dynamics.
What is a “consensus” other than a social dynamic? A social pattern? A group culture? A group of scientists doesn’t mean the culture upholds high scientific standards.
If anything, the existence of a consensus is more cause for worry, not less, because once the group dynamics take over, individual objectivity has less chance to be heard.
Science is respected because of its standards of objectivity, but group dynamics can override that, just like how we respect the police for their public service to justice, but group dynamics can corrupt that.
Some deluded guy wrote
Wow, I didn’t expect petty name calling to start so soon, what a cogent argument you manage to express.
It is good to call a spade a spade .
He confuses a global planetary nuclear holocaust with some partial situation in some African countries . This is as cogent an argument as cogent arguments go .
If he said that to a doctor , the doctor would probably not call the guy deluded but I am afraid that he wouldn’t like the clinical term better .
Food in my country comes from Africa,
In what country do you think the deluded guy lives ?
It is actually one of the defining factors of Africa that their agricultural balance is negative and this is a part of the problem – too many people , not enough food .
Just some essentials :
Top 3 wheat exporters : USA , Canada , France
Top 3 rice exporters : Thailand , Vietnam , India
Top 3 potato exporters : Netherlands , France , Germany
Top 3 worldwide food exporters : USA , France , Germany
No african countries in the essential food exporters , on the contrary , they are in the top food importers .
clothes are manufactured there, metals and elements for computers and phones come from there.
Sure they manufacture also some clothes . And some metals can be found in Africa too. Good for them . Nothing essential though . China makes clothes too . Mine are made in Italy (just checked) . Totally irrelevant to the discussion though .
I am a citizen of the globe.
Last I checked this doesn’t exist . What exists are a few arrogant people who think that they have the right to impose their wrong and superficial opinions on everybody .
Prophets of ecological apocalypses who make their living with propaganda .
The short of it is that the article posted here is wrong and ridiculous even if some deranged minds might believe such rantings and try to propagate them .
Where did you get this ‘global planetary nuclear holocaust scenario from, because it’s not mentioned in the above article’.
Who mentioned essential foods? Luxury fruits, teas, coffees etc are all exported from Africa.
As you rightly say, there are too many people compared to the amount of food available. At the same time, western companies are buying up vast tracts of land or leasing at minimum price to farm in order to send food and goods back to western countries. In this respect, of course we affect development and food supply.
No important metals come from Africa? You mean stuff like cobalt, essential to the mobile phone market? and er…uranium, that not-at-all important nuclear fuel.
Citizens of the globe don’t exist? What does that mean? I myself have lived in a number of countries, and have family and friends around the globe. We are connected by a shared experience.
Take the two nukes that went of in Japan for example
For the record, they didn’t just “go off”. They were dropped and set off intentionally.
I like clarity in communication, even if I don’t necessarily agree with the point being made. “went off” comes across as PC wiggle words.
Alarmists are certainly capable of hindsight; just not simple logic.
They fail to deduce that: “Worst xxx in yyy decades” means there were worse times well before the AGW scare started. What is worse is that some still can’t see it even after having it pointed out to them.
Romm is a classic case in point, although he probably just ignores or censors you.
“Prediction:
Tobacco companies say smoking doesn’t cause cancer.
Summary:
Tobacco use leads most commonly to diseases affecting the heart and lungs, with smoking being a major risk factor for heart attacks, strokes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), emphysema, and cancer (particularly lung cancer, cancers of the larynx and mouth, and pancreatic cancer).”
There is absolutely NO proof that tobacco CAUSES cancer. They (the scientists) have NEVER been able to produce cancer in mice by smoking. It is a “risk factor” for sure, but is not proof that it causes cancer. Otherwise, please explain why only 10% of smokers get lung cancer – if it were to CAUSE it, then every smoker would “catch” it.
@Mac “western companies are buying up vast tracts of land or leasing at minimum price to farm in order to send food and goods back to western countries. In this respect, of course we affect development and food supply.”
Everything is connected. But which is the biggest reason why Africa is poor?
I think you have to look at European history 4000 years ago, when Europe was tribal (or Scotland today (tee hee)) and look at what it takes to develop out of tribal conditions and culture.
Compare Africa post-Colonialism to India post-colonialism. Compre them before Colonialism. Compare Europe post-Enlightenment to Europe pre-Enlightenement. Just start to get a broad sense of human development over thousands of years…
The reason (I postulate) that Africa is always in such rotten shape is that it’s where man evolved, and is continuing to evolve fastest. For this to occur, heavy survival pressures on various population segments must be maintained.
So God keeps the heat on, just so the genetic pot doesn’t go off the boil.
🙂