Revere, at Effect Measure, demolishes the nonsense going around that avian flu is essentially a fraud so Donald Rumsfeld could make some bucks [The Rumsfeld - Tamiflu meme]. His conclusion is especially important as we confront this potential catastrophe. Clear thinking is one of the few weapons we have.
“And maybe tagging Rumsfeld with deliberate bird flu profiteering is good politics. I don’t know. But we have some responsibility not to mislead, even when misleading serves what seems a politically useful purpose. It is always hard to think clearly in a crisis. Let’s not make it harder.
That’s what it means to be part of a Reality Based Community.”
We simply cannot afford to let ourselves get carried away with easy conspiracy theories.
March 13th, 2006
Not only is global warming continuing, but the rate of increase in Carbon Dioxide [changed] appears to be escalating, according to this BBC report of US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) findings: Sharp rise in CO2 levels recorded.
We don’t see any sign of a decrease; in fact, we’re seeing the opposite, the rate of increase is accelerating,” Dr Pieter Tans told the BBC.
The precise level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is of global concern because climate scientists fear certain thresholds may be “tipping points” that trigger sudden changes.
The UK government’s chief scientific adviser, Professor Sir David King, said the new data highlighted the importance of taking urgent action to limit carbon emissions.
“Today we’re over 380 ppm,” he said. “That’s higher than we’ve been for over a million years, possibly 30 million years. Mankind is changing the climate”.
March 13th, 2006