Climate for Change

...But in An Appeal to Reason he examines only briefl y the problems he sees both with the science behind global warming and with the devastating economic impact of enacting international policies to curb greenhouse gas emissions...

...According to the IPCC, stabilizing “CO2-equivalent concentrations in the atmosphere” at 535–590 parts per million by volume (currently around 430) by 2050 could cost up to 4 percent “of that year’s global GDP...

...But he is more than credentialed to talk about implementing policy and, at the outset, he articulates exactly what is at issue—surprisingly easy to lose sight of—for policymakers addressing climate change: “What has been the rise in global mean temperatures over the past hundred years...

...why we believe this has occurred...

...Lawson suggests that a wiser and more plausible approach is “autonomous adaptation, buttressed where necessary with positive policy measures to assist it...

...This cessation was not predicted by the computer models that experts rely on for forecasts of future warming...

...Environmental concerns, while appropriate and of great importance, are “no excuse for abandoning reason,” and Lawson offers his “appeal to reason” to people who “have not yet made up their minds” about global warming...

...And acknowledging the seriousness of climate change warnings by discussing real policy solutions should ensure him the same treatment in turn...

...Environmental concerns, while appropriate and of great importance, are “no excuse for abandoning reason,” and Lawson offers his “appeal to reason” to people who “have not yet made up their minds” about global warming...

...Even if the global average temperature increases by 7.2 degrees—the upper end of the IPCC’s range—is it worth wreaking havoc on the global economy to prevent a level of warming to which we could adapt in the course of a century...

...Predictions have been adjusted to account for the pause, and warming is now expected to resume next year...

...Even if the global average temperature increases by 7.2 degrees—the upper end of the IPCC’s range—is it worth wreaking havoc on the global economy to prevent a level of warming to which we could adapt in the course of a century...

...and what are the consequences likely to be...

...If policy action were taken now in the interest of future generations, it would be unprecedented, Lawson says, pointing out that protecting against projected catastrophe and loss of human life in future centuries has never been the responsibility of today’s policymakers...

...Acknowledging that “the twentieth century ended slightly warmer than it began” (by 1.3 degrees Fahrenheit), Lawson points out that there has been no signifi cant warming since the beginning of this century...

...Lawson’s conservative approach undercuts knee-jerk reactions by accepting the legitimacy of warming concerns...

...Is there something so special about global warming,” he asks, “that it should receive this exceptionally lenient treatment...

...The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)—“far and away the most authoritative and infl uential” of existing climate change organizations, according to Lawson—predicts in its latest report that, by 2100, the global average temperature will have risen between 3.2 degrees and 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit...

...Nigel Lawson, Britain’s chancellor of the exchequer during the Thatcher years, is no exception...

...Instead, he chooses to “err on the side of caution,” accepting the worst predictions of the effects of climate change at face value and offering a measured assessment of how we could—and even should—realistically respond to the threats...

...But, says Lawson, “we shall see” whether it does...

...He is an outspoken skeptic about global warming...

...He is, as he emphasizes, not a scientist— and his approach also demonstrates a sense of what is appropriate for him to undertake...

...But the cost of mitigation would be extraordinary because of global reliance on carbon-based energy...

...the reduction of man-made carbon dioxide emissions, which create a greenhouse effect in the atmosphere...

...Lawson suggests that a wiser and more plausible approach is “autonomous adaptation, buttressed where necessary with positive policy measures to assist it...

...Mitigation would have an enormously negative effect on developed economies and would cause a serious setback for emerging nations—in the unlikely event that they agree to emissions reduction targets—because carbon-based energy is a major factor in rapidly growing their economies...

...BY CHRISTY HALL ROBINSON Among those daring enough to voice skepticism about global warming, most insist that the scientifi c evidence behind warnings about climate change is inadequate...

...Mitigation would have an enormously negative effect on developed economies and would cause a serious setback for emerging nations—in the unlikely event that they agree to emissions reduction targets—because carbon-based energy is a major factor in rapidly growing their economies...

...A slender volume written in a refreshingly rational—even reasonable!— manner, An Appeal to Reason is an excellent resource for anyone who wants a brief, logical education on the issues surrounding the rhetoric of climate change, and the implications of proposed cures...

...If policy action were taken now in the interest of future generations, it would be unprecedented, Lawson says, pointing out that protecting against projected catastrophe and loss of human life in future centuries has never been the responsibility of today’s policymakers...

...According to the IPCC, stabilizing “CO2-equivalent concentrations in the atmosphere” at 535–590 parts per million by volume (currently around 430) by 2050 could cost up to 4 percent “of that year’s global GDP...

...The general consensus for preventing this predicted warming is to enact policies that force the reduction of man-made carbon dioxide emissions, which create a greenhouse effect in the atmosphere...

...But this courtesy, he notes, is rarely extended to those in the doubting camp: Scientists and politicians who express skepticism about global warming are treated as heretics for questioning the received wisdom: “[I]ndeed, I have been able to write this book only because my own career is behind me,” he says...

...But the cost of mitigation would be extraordinary because of global reliance on carbon-based energy...

...Some assert that alarmism should not be allowed to prompt hasty policy decisions, particularly those with far-reaching, costly consequences...

...how much, on this basis, are temperatures likely to rise over the next hundred years...

...A slender volume written in a refreshingly rational—even reasonable!— manner, An Appeal to Reason is an excellent resource for anyone who wants a brief, logical education on the issues surrounding the rhetoric of climate change, and the implications of proposed cures...

...Is there something so special about global warming,” he asks, “that it should receive this exceptionally lenient treatment...