Politicizing Climate Change is dangerous for PNG

This article was published under "letter from China" column with Sunday Chronicle on Sunday August 23, 2009.
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By Gene Drekeke Iyovo, Wuxi

THE issue of climate change is a new science even though it is taught and discovered recently due to phenomenal changes since the beginning of time.

In Papua New Guinea (PNG), it is totally new. Government, statutory bodies, private and individuals need to understand some real basics of science before partying in camps.

Firstly let’s look at the causes of temperature rise in the world. According to real science, the only factor that makes the earth warm is the sun.

More than 90 % of the causes causing temperature rise in the past century was only 0.8 ºC and was due to sun while 10% of which accounts to natural variations prone to vegetational changes governed by environment variability and planetary energy balance.

Many focuses has being laid on carbon dioxide and methane as green house gas while over looking the water vapor which is the greatest concentration known and is one of the green house gas planetary climate.

Energy is not needed to drive the water cycle; the energy comes from the sun evaporating- cooling in stratosphere region and transpiration in plants.

Without arguing the heat conductivity or heat capacities of carbon dioxide, methane or water vapor, consider from equilibrium point of view. In equilibrium concept, a concentration of same kind move to lower concentration, now carbon dioxide still remains 0.03 % in the atmospheric composition since science was invented! This is due to equilibrium and natural laws of balance.

All plants are satisfied with the 0.03% carbon dioxide concentration in the air. Water vapor at its current routes either via its normal water cycle or by plants through transpiration for exchange of oxygen keeping animals alive. In other words, we need carbon dioxide and water vapor if we need oxygen to live.

So what are all these stories and fears about climate change on Carbon dioxide? Can man save the planet? How many fauna and flora can be saved planting trees? These are the fears that are instigated by half baked individuals on the subject and those hungry for rich, power and influence taking advantages of the poor uneducated mass.

This is not ruling out that there is no climate change and everyone else go to sleep! There is change but gravely misunderstood and it’s already a government and people’s liability. It’s already a global universal god or religion.

Take away the intense politics surrounding the global warming debate. Take away the self-interest groups, business interests, legal, bureaucratic and mass media influences that all seek to make a buck out by driving public hysteria over the fads and fashions of the age. Let’s focus on real science.

Ocean temperatures are these days measured by 3,000 automated Argos buoys deployed in the seas. These buoys present a challenge to global warmers. They have failed to detect any imminent signs of climate change.

According to Dr. Josh Willis who worked for NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory indicated that only a slight cooling over the buoys’ five years of observation, but that drop was not anything really significant

Added to this finding is the evidence produced by NASA’s eight weather satellites totaling 7,000 land-based stations. They take more than 300,000 temperature readings daily over the surface of the Earth.

In 30 years of operation, the satellites have recorded a warming trend of just 0.14 degrees Celsius—well within the range of normal variations

The results concluded that global warming campaign was inconclusive hugely exaggerated.

The sinking islands are figured as one of the causes of climate change. This may be a grave mistake either. To consider the issue of rising sea levels and sinking islands, one has to consider the change of ocean currents, apart form mini currents with a set region like Guinea current.

There is this huge global ocean currents called the Themohaline circulation (THC) or ocean conveyor belt which is driven by global density gradient created by surface heat of fresh water fluxes.

This is known to change direction in a space of time in decades or centuries which can also be influenced by elevated salt concentration due to increasing land use and earth’s heat from sun due to routine tilt and rotation over time.

This means any island or a little land mass in its new direction will experience heightened level, over flooding or sinking. This does not mean ice in the North and South poles will necessary melt to overwhelm the islands!

The West industrialized since 1800’s and for the past 200 years industrialization rigorously destruct forest, huge minings, increased petroleum usage that increases their increasing luxuries, glass house and skyscrapers for these long years until effect find them out if there may be. All these times, PNG has contributed none!

This will be supported by the fact that our atmosphere contains 730 billion tons of CO2. Each year about 120 billion tonnes of carbon are cycled via plants on land and 90 billion tonnes via oceans.

Human emissions account for about seven billion to 10 billion tonnes, or less than 5 per cent, of the annual CO2 flux. This means 95% of the emissions follow the natural law of equilibrium dynamics while 5% emitted are sucked up by oceans increasing acidity due to weak carbonic acid formed by soluble state of the carbon dioxide increasing plant growth in seas and oceans.

Comparably if Australia is said to contribute 3.5 % of that component from 5 % (10 billion tones) coming from human emissions and New Zealand at 0.34 %, what is PNG’s contribution?
According to National Climate Change Policy Framework released by the Climate change and sustainable development office in PNG is stated that PNG has contributed 1.8% of the forest degradation!

That means we are better industrialized than developed New Zealand or about to size great Australia. It is also stated that the emission is projected to go 127 % of which 42% is from Asia Pacific region while the under developed transport sector with 1 in 2000 with cars are blamed for 20 % of the green house gas emission. Ridiculous!

More over, land use and increasing industrializations was blamed for increasing the emissions when no industries like those in Australia are found in PNG. This is a laughing matter when people are still burning firewood to fry flour balls for ten toea and are blamed and taxed.

Scientifically speaking, to give data as such mentioned is done by proven methodology and machines by experts and interpreted as intended. For PNG to be responsible for gas emission since the first fire and flour ball era is worth the argument.

Huge industries like metal refining, steel making, nuclear power plants, coal, etc are not here that shake the atmospheric gaseous composition to detection, unfortunately we have none and yet we will pay tax!

Amazingly, global warmists have even measured cow fart and said to stop cattle rearing due to methane production from their digestion and wish to turn everyone to vegetarian kind of population.

They have imposed tax on them by forcing money out of people for fear of unknown about global warming making it more subject to vigorous argument. This is robbery. Soon, there is expected global taxation system in the name of global warming.

Politicians who find difficulty in gaining consensus between political parties on issues of vital importance are suddenly finding common ground on the global warming issue. One prime example was Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel.

When faced with great divisions within the European Union on a range of issues during her leadership of last year’s EU summit, she cleverly played the global warming card, raising that issue to the top of the summit agenda.

Predictably, all parties fell fashionably in line behind her on this one single issue. Thus achieving consensus on what the media has seized upon as an issue of vital global importance, Merkel was able to snatch victory out of the jaws of what may well have otherwise been billed as a debacle. Leaders using global warming cards are not necessarily scientists but for greed of power.

But there is a cost to such politicking. Governments are imposing crushing tax burdens on industries and individuals in efforts to “solve” this illusory problem.

Finally, if PNG was serious with global warming and emission, if they said that 20 % emission comes from vehicles and fuel burning, I find it contradicting when no mention of alternative biofuels was emphasized, and still advocated to get coal powered energy supply which is the worst in light of global warming!

It was also a failure, when and how and by what means were test and analysis obtained to convince the tax payers as to its validation of the data.

PNG climate change office has a vital role to play, but when it plays wrong, we will have serious consequences. I believe it will play the game to sustainably and help the lives of the natives and not to serve foreign interest or personal gain.

Look at China who’s being blamed for huge pollutions, is now going green by more eco friendly industries and biofuels while vigorously developing its industries to high tech level.

This is her right as an independent sovereign state to dirty, clean and minimize manipulations without outside control on its internal activities. China has 1.3 billion people to give better life then a couple of useless fauna or floral under going mutation some where in Alaska!

For PNG to be misguided while claiming to be a Christian country is so funny when God said in the book of Job 26:7 that “God hangeth the earth on nothing. He knows climate change better than man, Sciences proves the magnificent work of God (Psalm8:3) and knows every changes when he called each star by name (Psalms 147:4) or know each of our problem when every hair on our head is numbered (Mathew 10:20).

Aren’t the almost 20 minings not enough for PNG’s developmental progress? Leave the forest along!

Note: Gene Drekeke Iyovo is a Post Graduate (Masters) students whose research is on Sustainable Energy Development at Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China. Contact Mathew Yakai on m_yakai@hotmail.com or SMS 71489901 for comments.