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© Thomson Reuters 2023.Climate change costs: Which countries will foot the bill?
By Kate Abnett and Valerie Volcovici BRUSSELS/BEIJING©2025 GPlusMedia Inc.
32 Comments
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virusrex
To mitigate the effects of the human activity derived disaster? any country that can, because if not enough is done on time every country of the planet will pay a much higher price.
Algernon LaCroix
Everyone will cop it, except for the usual suspects of course - the same ones enforcing the ESG scam but wealthy and powerful enough to ignore or absorb and pass on the costs of their own edicts.
People in developed countries will cop it through ever-escalating energy costs for unreliable, expensive "renewable energy" produced with raw materials mined by what's essentially slave labour in poor countries and that pollute indefinitely once discarded. These high energy costs push up the price of everything else too, so everyday items will cost much more. And with nuclear being a dirty word, reliable baseload power is out of the question unless we can change the minds of governments and the fearful that new nuclear plants are very safe and produce very little waste, which can be securely stored.
People who can't afford to trade in their old car for an EV will also be at a huge disadvantage because crooked governments are trying to legislate petrol and diesel cars out of existence, making their current cars worthless. In the meantime they'll be gouged with higher taxes on fossil fuels and charged for driving on urban roads, think the UK's ULEZ and the UN's utopia of 15-Minute Cities. Sounds nice on the surface, but dystopian when people won't be able to afford to go any further! So they'll have to rely on public transport. "You'll own nothing and be happy!" Where have we heard that before...
Poor countries will cop it as well if they abide by any of these accords or agreements because the people there will be denied the cheap, reliable energy that's essential for development that raises standards of living, which in turn makes environmental protection affordable. In any case, China will do what China does, claiming developing nation status while building fossil fuel-powered power stations at home while raping the resources from Africa to see their unreliable junk solar panels and windmills overseas to coutnrties determined to undermine their own economies.
So, nobody wins but the scammers right at the top.
Or you could just stop complying with this BS and fight back by first going after the local councils and choosing to deal with companies that reject the ESG scam, and give carbon credits the finger next time you fly.
Garthgoyle
It all comes down to money and not to environmental responsibility and impact.
Raw Beer
They have contributed much of the man-made CO2, which is a very small fraction of the total CO2 in the atmosphere.
Human influence on climate is minimal, if any. Any measure that will be adopted will have no significant effect on climate, it will only transfer wealth to a select few...
Sven Asai
Of course everyone will pay and suffer one way or another. If all burden is now put onto developed countries, go ahead, than there’s of course less left for humanitarian aid or vaccines production etc and they will die or starve in masses in the underdeveloped world too or even more than now. The new saying will go, If the cat’s away also the mice won’t play.
virusrex
The point is that the CO2 produced by humans is what originates climate change, that is not disputed and is a well recognized fact by the scientific community (again, you have repeatedly failed to produce a reference where any recognized institution of science in any country of the world disagrees with this).
No, it is not as recognized by the scientists, against which your personal appeal to authority to contradict them is not valid. They also say measures can effectively mitigate the changes, once again they are a much more trust worthy source of scientific information.
gcFd1
There might be some agreement on this issue if climate change ever comes to take effect.
kohakuebisu
ULEZ is about children not dying of asthma, not about climate change. Air pollution is known to have severe health effects, like impairing brain activity. Hands up everyone who wishes Tokyo and other Japanese cities had dirtier air, that they hadn't banned conventional diesel cars twenty years ago? No, me neither.
Raw Beer
It certainly is disputed. Just because scientific associations and journals have been captured (as demonstrated by the Climategate scandal), doesn't mean we have to accept their conclusions.
virusrex
There is already agreement about the most important issue (that climate change is real and something needs to be done to limit its impact), and climate change is already causing negative effects around the globe.
Raw Beer
Yes, good point. I'm all for doing everything we can to reduce air pollution.
I just have a problem when people call CO2 pollution.
virusrex
There is no need to call CO2 a pollutant to make the argument that its emissions have to be controlled.
albaleo
NASA data says CO2 in the atmosphere has increased from 280 ppm to 412ppm since the start of the industrial age (and from 370ppm since the year 2000). I think even those who are somewhat skeptical of the effects of that increase (sometimes called lukewarmers) don't dispute the increase is mainly from human activity. While nature produces lots of CO2, it also removes it from the atmosphere. It is the increase in the leftover amount that is of concern.
Raw Beer
Yet, only about 5% of the CO2 in the atmosphere is derived from human activity....
albaleo
I don't get your point. About 5% of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere is from human activity. But the important issue is surely how much CO2 remains in the atmosphere after most of it is removed by natural processes. That amount has increased over the years (see the numbers in my previous post). That increase is due to human activity.
virusrex
That is completely false, 5% of the produced CO2 is produced by humans, but that is an extra 5% that is not part of the natural cycle so it accumulates. that is how 280 ppm becomes 412 ppm, that is NOT a 5% increment.
The scientific community of the worls say this is a real issue, obviously they are much more likely to be correct that nameless people on the internet that just claim to know better even without ever presenting any evidence.
virusrex
Because the scientific consensus is antiscientific? that is obviously not the case, this applies only to people that present zero evidence while pretending the best experts of the world are wrong.
That is not an argument, is an excuse for not having one, the same as trying to avoid dealing with the arguments and instead attacking the commenters, as if anything used as an argument was not what the experts of the world are saying, they are the ones that you have to demonstrate as wrong to defend your claim.
And no, impossible global conspiracies are not a valid argument either.
GreenPeas
@albaleo
But the important issue is surely how much CO2 remains in the atmosphere after most of it is removed by natural processes.
It’s not a big deal. Why? CO2 is denser than the surrounding air so it eventually falls back to the earth within a relatively short time and is reabsorbed back into the oceans or used as plant food etc. This is the reason for it being a trace gas in the atmosphere. When CO2 levels are at 280ppm plant life starts to die. Even an increase to 412ppm is nothing in the big scheme of things. CO2 levels have been much higher in the past (via ice core samples), and mans’ contribution of approx 5% of the 412ppm is tiny. The molecules are so far apart in the atmosphere that any warming effect is negligible and probably unmeasurable.
The biggest greenhouse gas by far is water vapour. It is water vapour which is responsible for regulating Earth’s temperature. Without it this place would be unliveable. So even though CO2 is a greenhouse gas it pales in comparison to H2O. There are many drivers of climate but almost everything is a result of the Sun’s activity and its cycles. We’re currently in an interglacial. Warmer temperatures mean more CO2 being released from the oceans over time as they become less frigid. When that cycle changes then CO2 levels will start coming down again. I know this goes against the narrative but ice core data show that CO2 levels follow temperature, not the other way round.
Raw Beer
So how is my statement completely false?
So according to you: 5% of the CO2 in the atmosphere is not derived from human activity, it is produced by humans.
gcFd1
True- an amount according to the experts that is negligible.
Strangerland
There is a lot of gas in that statement...
TaiwanIsNotChina
Do you think that the plant and animal life today is compatible with CO2 last observed 4 million years ago? Do you think the clear shooting upward trajectory to even higher levels of CO2 is troubling?
albaleo
I don't think that is disputed. But the main argument is that increases in water vapor are a consequence of increased CO2.
https://climate.nasa.gov/explore/ask-nasa-climate/3143/steamy-relationships-how-atmospheric-water-vapor-amplifies-earths-greenhouse-effect/
Not sure, but I think that is one of the reasons that predictions of increased temperatures are higher than Arrhenius' original theory about CO2 effects.
virusrex
By misrepresenting the excess amount of CO2 in the atmosphere as if it was the same as the excess amount produced, which is obviously not the same thing. The excess produced accumulates, so it is factually wrong to say the almost double concentration is only 5% produced by humans.
As demonstrated, this is completely false, an increase on the concentration to almost double is not negligible and instead is what causes the climate change.
GreenPeas
No. On the contrary it’s to be welcomed because it means a greener earth and bigger crop yields. The small increase in CO2 from 0.028 to 0.04% over the past 150 years or so is mostly due to the effect of the Sun on the oceans. Warmer temperatures due to solar activity = more CO2 released. Around 93% of all CO2 is said to be sequestered in the oceans.
As for the effect of water vapour on air temperature think of the difference between night-time temps and day-time temps in places with high humidity vs low humidity. A dry place like a desert can be scorching during the day then freezing at night, and all because there is no water vapour to hold the heat/energy from the daytime sun. In places with high humidity like a jungle or Japan it’s the opposite.
Evaporation, cloud cover, humidity, ocean currents, volcanic activity and on and on have a far bigger influence on climate than CO2. The climate is self-regulating and changes naturally over time with Sun activity, so there's nothing to be concerned about. CO2 and “climate change” is political, it’s not an environmental or man made problem.
GreenPeas
Of the three places where carbon is stored—atmosphere, oceans, and land biosphere—approximately 93 percent of the CO2 is found in the oceans. The atmosphere, at about 750 petagrams of carbon (a petagram [Pg] is 10 15 grams), has the smallest amount of carbon.
http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/Bi-Ca/Carbon-Dioxide-in-the-Ocean-and-Atmosphere.html
virusrex
The scientific consensus is that this is false, climatic change is not projected to result in bigger crop yields.
Also false, no evidence indicates this is the case. There is no increase of solar activity nor a mechanism which this would increase the CO2.
The scientist do not think that, what evidence do you have to prove they are wrong and failed to consider this very basic variable?
If it was political you could bring a reference where any recognized institution of science in a related field says CO2 is not important and climate change not real, right? If you can't find any that means the problem is real and not just a political issue as you misrepresent.
No, they dont. You claim they do but have never been able to bring any reference to prove it, which indicates this claim is false.
Raw Beer
Nah, the increase in CO2 has resulted in a greening of Earth. Many studies show that, even NASA says so.
virusrex
Many studies from which you bring none? any reference where a scientific study concludes crops will increase with climate change?
NASA do NOT say "so".
https://climate.nasa.gov/news/3124/global-climate-change-impact-on-crops-expected-within-10-years-nasa-study-finds/
Why make such an easy to debunk false appeal?
Wick's pencil
Not hard to find. Just Google NASA greener earth and you'll find lots.
One even mentions:
"Study Finds From a quarter to half of Earth's vegetated lands has shown significant greening over the last 35 years largely due to rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, according to a new study published in the journal Nature Climate Change"
virusrex
There is a link already in the comment, the NASA do NOT say crops will increase as the claim was made, it is even quoted saying some of the crops are projected to decrease very importantly.
This explicitly contradicts the original claim, not bigger crop yields.