Monday, August 04, 2008
Global Warming? Here we Go Again - Half the Facts
The climate gods have been predicting the disappearance of much of Bangladesh for the past 30+ years. Quotes from a recent article on the demise of Bangladesh's land mass include these:
Maminul Haque Sarker, head of the department at the government-owned centre that looks at boundary changes, told AFP sediment which travelled down the big Himalayan rivers -- the Ganges and the Brahmaputra -- had caused the landmass to increase. (deltas)
Mahfuzur Rahman, head of Bangladesh Water Development Board's Coastal Study and Survey Department, has also been analysing the buildup of land on the coast. He told AFP findings by the IPCC and other climate change scientists were too general and did not explore the benefits of land accretion. "For almost a decade we have heard experts saying Bangladesh will be under water, but so far our data has shown nothing like this," he said.
"The land Bangladesh has lost so far has been caused by river erosion, which has always happened in this country. Natural accretion due to sedimentation and dams have more than compensated this loss," Rahman said. "If we build more dams using superior technology, we may be able to reclaim 4,000 to 5,000 square kilometres in the near future," he said.
Gee, who would have thought that man just might be able to improve situations? Humans can adapt and societies that allow free thinking create free market ideas that solve the problems. Maybe it's time for the doomsayers to include ALL the facts before pushing their so-called predictions.
The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has predicted that impoverished Bangladesh, criss-crossed by a network of more than 200 rivers, will lose 17 percent of its land by 2050 because of rising sea levels due to global warming.Well, turns out the doom and gloomers are only partially correct. While Bangladesh might lose land because of rising sea levels, it is gaining land as you read this. Turns out Mother Nature actually has a compensating solution - called deltas. You know, the silt that collects at mouths of rivers. This land is incredibly good farm land, and Bangladesh is experiencing the benefits from these silt deposits.
Director of the US-based NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, professor James Hansen, paints an even grimmer picture, predicting the entire country could be under water by the end of the century.
Maminul Haque Sarker, head of the department at the government-owned centre that looks at boundary changes, told AFP sediment which travelled down the big Himalayan rivers -- the Ganges and the Brahmaputra -- had caused the landmass to increase. (deltas)
Mahfuzur Rahman, head of Bangladesh Water Development Board's Coastal Study and Survey Department, has also been analysing the buildup of land on the coast. He told AFP findings by the IPCC and other climate change scientists were too general and did not explore the benefits of land accretion. "For almost a decade we have heard experts saying Bangladesh will be under water, but so far our data has shown nothing like this," he said.
"The land Bangladesh has lost so far has been caused by river erosion, which has always happened in this country. Natural accretion due to sedimentation and dams have more than compensated this loss," Rahman said. "If we build more dams using superior technology, we may be able to reclaim 4,000 to 5,000 square kilometres in the near future," he said.
Gee, who would have thought that man just might be able to improve situations? Humans can adapt and societies that allow free thinking create free market ideas that solve the problems. Maybe it's time for the doomsayers to include ALL the facts before pushing their so-called predictions.
Labels: global warming????
