Heads are in the sand

IT was only about 250 years ago that James Watt started up the world’s first workable coal-fired steam engine.

This one machine represents the start of the Industrial Revolution that subsequently swept across Britain, Europe, America and the rest of the world.

It also represents the start of the use of ever increasing amounts of fossil fuels by humans.

In the 1950s scientists were becoming concerned about the effects of the relentless ejection of gas waste into the Earth’s atmosphere and began collecting data and information about this aspect.

What mainly concerned them was the possibility these human activity gases could cause major changes to the natural functioning of our planet.

As a result, in the 1990s there was enough data and evidence for them to collectively state that rapid climate change was a distinct possibility unless drastic actions were taken.

When large, wealthy and powerful vested interests saw the danger to their operations, they began an outpouring of misinformation, denigration and lies to counter the science.

Very similar to the previous tactics of the tobacco industries. So, we are now witnessing climatic changes such as rapid polar ice melting, sea level rises, unprecedented fires and temperature variations.

Changes that naturally occurred over hundreds, thousands and even millions of years are now happening in decades.

Unfortunately future generations are going to have pay even more for our “heads in the sand” attitude on such a critical issue.

One further comment. The science behind climate change uses the same investigative methods as in medicine, astronomy, evolution and all other scientific endeavours.

Alex Blair, The Esplanade