Read this interview with James Lovelock:

James Lovelock: 'enjoy life while you can: in 20 years global warming will hit the fan' | Environment | The Guardian

there is not much more to be said really. Although I don't agree with his belief that nuclear power will help us.

The problem, IMHO is the Earth is grossly over populated with people and the consequential effect is climate change and mass extinction of other species. The change is taking place now and so it will continue.

As for independent travel by motorcycle / car etc. I think that has a limited future. So enjoy it while you can.

Thanks for the reminder; it's been a while since I heard about his Gaia theory, and I see that he is now aged 88.

I guess Lovelock doesn't get too much public scrutiny nowadays, whereas the guy who runs the web site below has had that very thing in some quarters of the UK, recently.
Welcome

It has been said that the UN has a policy about the world population; I haven't gone too far into that but there is a very interesting presentation by a Swedish medical doctor and statistician about population growth - it's worth a look; along the way he touchs on the subject of ignorance especially among university graduates fed on conventional "wisdom".

Hans Rosling is the docs name and the video is called something like "Don't panic" (he is an optimist).

ps
His 1 hour vid is named Don't panic and it can be seen via various outlets (thanks internet!).
Gapminder is one source of the vid which also tends to bring up reference to the short talks produced under the moniker "TED" - they can also be of interest.

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Dave

Rather weirdly, no one appears to have argued, strongly anyway, about "man made" global consequences (anthropomorphic effects).

I saw a report recently - apologies, I didn't take much notice at the time - to wit all of the planets in our wee solar system are currently changing "climate".

I'll leave the astrophysicists among the HUBB to discuss further, but is Pluto getting warmer or colder?

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Dave

Piers Corbyn is very likely getting more media attention due to his brother becoming Labour Leader! heaven forbid politics come into it :Lol:

Here we have "Scientist" who refuses to publish the methodology of his forecasts for independent review. Appeared on Channel 4's The Great Climate Change Swindle as Dr Piers Corbyn despite not actually holding any doctorate.

Peer Review of his forecasts concluded

"The results provide little evidence to dismiss the observed success rates as being attributable to mere chance or good fortune"

And the final stunner he has been funded by the oil industry to counter climate change science. Not like there's an agenda behind the oil industries funding is there!

Oh Ok, but the "green movement" is not an industry itself? Do you really think all these billion dollar green plants are built by people who want nothing more than to help the planet? Hell no, those investments are made by people who want to make money as well, and so they do, big money some are evn *Shudder* the big oil companies themselves.

Some history for ya, market dictates more than anything else, that means YOU!
Big Oil And Renewables: Not So Strange Bedfellows - NASDAQ.com

I also attached a picture of early climate change, you know, before mankind.

Attached Thumbnails

 

 

Lol Having studied Climate Science a long time ago I don't need any lectures on natural climate change although it seems some of the deniers do.

To be fair I suspect any Geologist would debate if your 2 photos are evidence of climate change or rather geology in action

Some interesting points made here. Without wanting to target individual replies, I would like to remark on the following...

- Some people may have difficulty in appreciating the difference between what they themselves don't know and what science itself doesn't know;

- The media twist and exaggerate all stories, there is always an agenda. It is indeed always necessary to see who funds what research. Academia is of course subject to market forces and differences in opinion;

- I'm not sure if science is a belief system, I think this depends upon how the individual approaches it; there is plenty of bad science out there (e.g. the pseudo-science theories that appeal to certain types of 'believer'), but somehow, as has been observed, the better science tends to last. Unlike religion, science relies on evidence and can evolve;

- Anyone coming from a religious standpoint is obviously happy to believe in certain things without having any evidence for them, so it seems odd to then come to the dialectic criticising others for their lack of evidence;

- I think we can all see that the climate is changing; most likely augmented to some unknown extent by anthropogenic activity, flippancy is easy in those whose homes and livelihoods are not affected by an increase in climate variability or rising sea levels.

- People have been predicting a 'population bomb' since at least the 1960s: mass famines, armageddon etc etc but so far it has yet to come to light. Almost everywhere in the world people are living healthier, longer lives now than ever before.

But back to the original thought; no, I don't think this will have any real effect on overland travel!

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EurasiaOverland a memoir of one quarter of a million kilometres by road through all of the Former USSR, Western and Southern Asia.

Hans Rosling expounds on this very eloquently.

Meanwhile, Geldof the showman, et al other "celebrities", have a lot to answer for.

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Dave

Matt Ridley's 'The Positive Optimist' is a good read, showing how various catastrophes have entered the public mind (e.g. the Millennium Bug), never to appear, and that despite all this, people are still better off living today than ever before.

Worth a read!

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EurasiaOverland a memoir of one quarter of a million kilometres by road through all of the Former USSR, Western and Southern Asia.

He has published quite a lot I think including some TED talks.
"The rational optimist" perhaps?
Rational Optimist Book | Matt Ridley

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Dave

To add to a couple of those points.

The belief systems of homo sapiens have evolved and will continue to do so.
In most places I think we have stopped making blood sacrifices, including of humans, to the Sun and Moon every so often; but somewhere in the world some kind of witch doctor status geezer may be doing something of that nature right now.
Education has to be a key element in this, but by who and for what ends?

I haven't seen flippancy so far in this discourse; it is possible I suppose and black humour can be an antidote in itself in "difficult cases".

Much of what Lovelock has written in the past deals with this IMO: "mankind is very adaptable and will muddle through one way or the other" might paraphrase him in the proverbial nutshell.

Ideologies; all of them, there lies the enemy.

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Dave

Thanks for that. I found it rather an eye opener. It's a bit lengthy but very well explained and I'd advise any one a look at that.

Don’t Panic – The Facts About Population

An eye opener for me also.

While it is very easy to forget specific statistics, I particularly recall his reference to both washing machines and the pedal cycle.

I think he does have some shorter presentations in the TED series, but the 1 hour version remains the bees knees.

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Dave

Here's the full length version of the homage to the washing machine and much else besides (from page 2 of this thread).

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Dave

Lovelock is now aged somewhere into his 90s.
The earlier ref to him was an article from a few years ago so apols for getting his age mixed up.
I do like his approach to critical thinking, even though we could all disagree with one or more aspects of his conclusions.
Also, he is quite prepared to modify his views based on further evidence which is the essence of the good science of the past few hundred years of "the enlightenment".
From 2013:
James Lovelock: A man for all seasons

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Dave