I find myself at risk of plunging this blog into monotony, because once again, this time by proceedings in Asia, I have been forced to revisit the topic of global warming and its effects.
In the wake of the Myanmar disaster it has occurred to me, in retrospect, that I might have appeared insensitive or appeared to trivialise the effects of global warming in my earlier posts (see covenient truth and convenient truth; the sequel). I would like to assure you that it was never my intention or goal. Indeed My heart goes out to the family and friends of the over 45,000 victims (over 15,000 dead and 30,000 displaced) of the latest manifestation of nature’s wrath.
It is important and indeed considered good technique in problem solving, to set emotions aside when analysing a problem. It is that technique that might have appeared to be insensitive or trivialising of the effects of global warming and in that same breathe it is that same technique I will employ now to analyse the human race’s greatest challenge yet.
There are two things that can not be denied. One is that global warming is happening, fuelled by human industrial and agricultural activity. There is no doubt that the human race (not the planet) faces one of its greatest menaces in global warming and its effects.
The second is that since global warming passed from being a theory whispered by stuffy foresighted but oft ignored scientist to a biting reality, we have come no closer to effecting or even devising an efficient strategy to combat it. The cutbacks in our energy largesse and emissions championed by most environmentalists are simply not a solution, because they ignore the primary root of the problem, our expansive human population.
There is a latent irony in the strategy of cutbacks that dooms it to failure in the long term. The cutbacks will provide temporary relieve from global warming and its effects and in essence recreate the environment that led us to prosper and grow in numbers in the first place and we will do exactly that. This increase in numbers will mean more industrial and agricultural activities, which will mean more emissions (enough to offset the cutbacks), which in turn will put us right back where we started; in the frying pan.
I do reserve hope, although un-rooted in reality, that a combination of energy and emissions cutbacks coupled with a world wide effort to check population growth will provide a lasting solution. But the reality is there is no way to put in place global policies to check population growth and even if you could we are all ready too many to begin with.
The real solution lies tantalisingly close, but just out of reach. The human population has to shed some weight. The answer is obvious, but there is no way to effect it outside of finding a new habitable planet and moving half the population to it.
The sad reality remains that we might suffer a few more of these disasters as our planet attempts to cull our numbers for us and we will be powerless to do anything about it, short of postponing the problem for future generations. The planet is serving us up like lambs for slaughter.
i kyambadde
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