We all know about the Climate Commission’s report, which came out last week.
It continues with the usual narrative, that we are destroying the planet, and we all have to live like Stone Age people if we wish to survive.
The prime minister jumped in with her usual dose of terror, and stated that, if we don’t do something, thousands will die.
Her implication is that thousands of New Zealanders will die, but there is no reason to believe that – not for one second.
Climate change alarmists always jump on the bandwagon every time there is a serious weather event such as the recent Canterbury rains, but none of them ever admit that, if councils did their job properly and cleared drains and maintained bridges, the effects of these events would invariably be much diminished.
I am no scientist and it seems that science is often missing in these claims and in the report. It states that our emissions have continued to rise every year until 2019, which is where, it seems, the figures stop.
How convenient. 2020 was the year that the world went into lockdown. New Zealand was in full lockdown for 4 weeks, mostly locked down for the next 3 weeks and then sporadically into lockdowns after that.
Many other countries were in lockdowns for much longer – people in Britain have scarcely been able to leave the house since the latter half of last year. International travel is reduced to a fraction of what it used to be, and even local travel has taken a hit. More and more people work from home nowadays, and many people, particularly in the USA, have moved to different states where congestion is less and there is more open space because they can work from home full-time.
Is Rod Carr, our very own Santa Claus in reverse, really trying to tell us that none of this has made any difference? That emissions will rise and continue to rise, even though we all stayed home last year?
Everywhere I look, the reported emissions keep rising. Take a look at CO2 Earth – a website that reports daily and monthly carbon dioxide emissions. It tells us that in September 2019, atmospheric CO2 levels were 408.55ppm, and in May 2021, they were 419.13 ppm. Even worse, in June 2020, in the middle of global lockdowns with air travel reduced by something like 90%, atmospheric CO2 was 416.65 ppm, and is now 419.38 ppm.
So let’s just recap on that.
September 2019 – 408.55 ppm
June 2020 – 416.65 ppm
June 2021 – 419.38 ppm
So they are telling us that global lockdown had absolutely no effect on carbon dioxide emissions? Air travel ground to a halt, everyone stayed home, the roads were deserted, restaurants and theatres closed, large gatherings were forbidden for a large part of last year and yet emissions just kept rising, as before?
Something doesn’t feel right here.
There are only two conclusions that I can come to. You may think of others, but to me there are only two. The first is that, if lockdowns made no difference to emissions last year, then there is little or nothing we can do to mitigate global warming and its effects.
We are always being told that the effects will be devastating, of course, but that is not necessarily true; there is a lot of evidence that warming and greening can have positive effects on food production and on human habitation. Melting tundra in the Arctic and Siberia is worrying because the effects of large scale releases of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere from these areas are mostly unknown. But if the lockdowns had no effect, then it seems to me that fossil fuels are making little, if any difference to global warming.
In other words, there is nothing we can do to stop the process; it is simply a part of the planet’s natural cycle and we cannot do anything about it.
The second conclusion is a more sinister one. We are being lied to. These numbers are not correct. They are deliberately fabricated, to try to make everyone scared for their lives so that they can be controlled.
I try my absolute utmost not to buy into conspiracy theories. There are plenty of those about COVID, and the common theme seems to be that world governments have banded together to create a fake pandemic to bring us all under control. But do you really think that a government that can’t build even a thousand houses, or one that can’t control Islamic terrorism, or one ruled by a geriatric could really be capable of exacting such a sinister plot? Most politicians are fools. They might be arrogant and narcissistic fools, but capable fools they are not. I don’t believe these theories for one second.
And yet, I cannot get away from the idea that we are being lied to over global warming. It is fearmongering. Anyone with even a very basic knowledge of science knows that science is never, ever ‘settled’. There are always changes to theories and new discoveries in science. And yet, the science of global warming is the one and only area where the science cannot be questioned? Science progresses all the time, and to imply otherwise is dishonesty of a serious order. We are being manipulated by media and politicians who dare not question the stated position for fear of being ridiculed out of office.
None of it makes any sense. I don’t know what to think.
Please share this article with others