“I’m Not a Climatologist, But I Play one on TV”

We’ve noted a recent upsurge in medical doctors’ writing essays on climate change. The last time we checked, climatology was not part of the curriculum for second-year med students.

This becomes clear in a recent British Medical Journal paper by MDs A.J. McMichael and A. Haines in which they make the usual misdiagnosis of terminal warming. The editorial that accompanies this article may be even worse: “The rich populations of the north are not sufficiently exercised by the plight of small island states that may not exist by 2050, by the aggravation of the food crisis in Africa, or, indeed, by the spread of vector-borne diseases.” (Rebuttal: The global sea level rise, much of which is the result of the earth’s climate rebounding from the “Little Ice Age,” is something the earth can easily adapt to over the course of several decades. The “food crisis” in Africa has been common for centuries, since summer African monsoonal rains are highly undependable. And vector-borne diseases proliferate in areas with poor sanitation, where the influence of weather is completely swamped by other “factors.”)

The editorial also proposed higher energy taxes to force people to walk and bike more, improving health worldwide. Perhaps this will relieve the traffic jams in Niagara Falls, where Canadians cross the border in droves seeking unrationed U.S. health care in nearby Buffalo.

Speaking of Canadian health, a recent press release from the Climate Action Network that appeared in several Canadian newspapers claims the future health of Canadian citizens is being compromised by the inactivity of Environment Ministers on the climate change front.

According to the report, “Canadians will suffer from the physical and psychological health effects of increased smog, heat stress, new diseases, and dislocation from evacuations as a result of flooding and forest fires because Canada’s environment ministers are falling for the lies of the fossil fuel industry.”

It’s strange that these Canadians are so het up about this issue, since in every cost/benefit analysis of global warming that we’ve seen, Canada comes out on top. Given that most of the warming is predicted to be concentrated in the high latitudes, Canadian agriculture would gradually switch to more southern crops. which will yield more colourful Canadian dollars per acre. What’s the problem here?

In an astonishing exaggeration, the article then claimed that, “If greenhouse gases are allowed to double in the atmosphere (expected by 2050), Toronto could suffer temperatures in excess of 30 degrees Celsius [86F] about 53 days a year, compared to the average of 10 days now.” This scenario is highly unlikely, simply because summer maximum temperatures will be relatively unaffected.

Figure 1 shows the number of summer days that exceed given temperatures at Buffalo, N.Y. (the closest U.S. station to Toronto, it has essentially the same climate). Note that 76F is exceeded an average of 53 days each year, so this change would require a 10-degree F warming of maximum summer temperatures in 50 years. This rise would far exceed any observed warming anywhere on the planet in the last hundred years, in the season when little warming is expected to occur.

Figure 1.  The number of summer days that exceed given temperatures at Buffalo, N.Y.

Why is it that the fossil fuel industry is continually blamed for lying about this issue, yet environmental organizations can make up any data they want to drive their message home?

Reference:

McMichael, A.J., and A. Haines (1997). Global climate change: the potential effects on health. British Medical Journal, 315, 803–809.

Attend the Tale of Swedish Todd

Talk about taking energy conservation too far. Those progressive Swedes have found a true alternative fuel source. A new government program has them burning their dead in high-tech crematoria and using the output to generate electricity.

One Helsinborg crematorium official cheerily applauded the efforts as “only sensible” and “environmentally friendly.” “Relatives can console themselves that the death of a loved one benefits the whole community,” he said.

We don’t know how many BTUs (Body Toasting Units) old Uncle Sven generates, but is the Swedish death rate high enough to support this initiative?

Think about it. If the entire populace of Sweden is wiped out tomorrow by a sneak attack from the dreaded Norwegian horde, the net impact on the global CO₂ budget would be imperceptible.

We couldn’t help thinking of the Stephen Sondheim musical “Sweeney Todd,” in which a murderous barber slits his clients’ throats and then dumps their corpses in the incinerator. Perhaps these latest antics will prompt state theater to bring the play to the Swedish stage.

In a country famous for bringing the world massage, meatballs, and easy-to-assemble “furniture,” this has to go down as a national embarrassment.

With a government that supports wild ideas like this, it’s no wonder their suicide rate is astronomical. We always thought it was a byproduct of their high marginal tax rate. But maybe they’re really making an environmental statement.

The whole episode simply punctuates the difference between Americans and Swedes. We might think of Grandma Ingrid as an old fossil, but they apparently see her as fossil fuel.

Reference: