Analysis of Great Global Warming Swindle

The Great Global Warming Swindle (GGWS) is a controversial documentary on climate change by British television producer Martin Durkin1. It first aired on the BBCs channel 4 on March 8, 20072. This documentary argues against conventional scientific understanding of the degree and cause of recent, observed climate change. The overwhelming view amongst climate scientists is that twentieth century global warming is largely due to an increase in atmospheric greenhouse gases resulting from increased industrialization during the last 100- 150 years.His program collides sharply with the premise outlined in former Vice President Al Gore’s Oscar-winning documentary, â€Å"An Inconvenient Truth,† which presents a bleak picture of how a buildup in greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide affects the global climate, with potentially disastrous consequences. Durkin presents an alternative view that recent global warming is neither significant nor due to human activity.The documentary does not attempt to argue the latter view through any critical deconstruction of climate science orthodoxies. Rather, it contends that modern climate scientists are at best seriously misguided in their collective opinion on the nature and causes of global warming, or are at worst guilty of lying to the rest of the community. Publicity for the documentary leans heavily towards the latter, stating that global warming is â€Å"the biggest scam of modern times†.The documentary uses a series of techniques to shake the viewer’s belief in current orthodox understanding and to present an amenable contrary viewpoint. Several experts, labeled as ‘authoritative’, are interviewed to lend credibility to the documentary.These commentators are presented as ‘insiders’ who cast doubt on the integrity   of climate change science and the IPCC assessment process that has led to current orthodox understanding. Alternate scientific contentions are presented in a credible way by selectively presenting facts and heightening uncertainties without context or by specious reference to the actual published science. The motivation and morality of scientists driving current orthodox understanding is questioned through aspersions that are conspiratorial in nature.Many of the people that were interviewed did not have the proper credentials and were under qualified. For example, Patrick Moore is a Canadian Professor who has no training in climate science. He makes public statements in favor of genetic engineering and logging in the Amazon. In 1986 Moore had an altercation with Greenpeace and has since put most of his energies into undermining the arguments of environmentalists, particularly his former colleagues. His main claims involve the idea that environmentalists ‘treat humans as scum’.In the 1990s, Moore worked as a consultant for the British Columbian Timber Products Association, undermining the attempts of Greenpeace to preserve fo rests. Also various large corporations and companies paid many of the people that were interviewed off. Fred Singer is a retired Professor from the University of Virginia and has never had an article accepted for a peer reviewed scientific journal in the last 20 years. He has argued that CFCs do not cause Ozone Depletion. There are numerous scientific studies that disprove his ludacris assertion. In 1990, Singer founded ‘The Science and Environment Policy project’, which contradicts climate science and has received direct funding from Exxon, Shell, Unocal and ARCO 2000.Patrick Michaels is another such person interviewed in The Great Global Warming Swindle. He is one of the most prominent climate change skeptics in the US and made the claim (in the movie) â€Å"I’ve never been paid a nickel by the old and gas companies†. This is actually not true as according to journalist Ross Gebspan, Michaels has received direct funding from German Coal Mining Associatio n ($49,000), Edison Electric Institute ($15,000), and the Western Fuels Association ($63,000), which is one of the post powerful funders of Global Warming Skeptics in the US. However, one of the more credible people interviewed in the movie was Richard Lindzen.He is a meteorology professor at MIT and is known as one of the most reputable climate change skeptics in the US. Some of his most notable claims include those published in the Wall Street Journal in June 2011 maintaining that â€Å"there is no consensus, unanimous or otherwise, about long-term climate trends or what causes them†. Lindzen is known to charge oil and coal interests 2,500 USD a day for his consulting services and in 1991, he testified in front of a senate committee, after receiving funding from the company Western Fuels. He is a member of the  Advisory Council of the Annapolis Center for Science Based Public Policy which receives a large proportion of its funding from Exxon Mobil.In summary the documenta ry is not scientifically sound and presents a flawed and very misleading interpretation of the science. While giving the impression of being based on peer-reviewed science, much of the material presented is either out-of-date, already discredited or of uncertain origin. A number of the graphs and figures used in the documentary are not based on any known or published climate data, while others are presented schematically, and hence may confuse and mislead the viewer.The general arguments in the movie are; that climate change is a natural occurrence, that Global temperature actually dropped during the period of greatest anthropogenic Greenhouse Gas Emissions, that carbon dioxide is not a significant greenhouse gas that the greenhouse effect isn’t being enhanced and that carbon dioxide concentration increases do not cause increased temperature. The format of the documentary itself is sound in that it shows the opinions of various source, the problem is that the interviews were taken out of context and visual imagery was often manipulated.The documentary attempts to support the claim that temperatures were higher in the recent past with the graph ‘Temp – 1000 Years’ – attributed to the â€Å"IPCC†. This graph purports to show global average temperature between AD 900 and â€Å"now†, with the highest values recorded between about 1100 and 1300 (labeled as â€Å"Medieval Warm Period†).The graph is actually reproduction of a schematic diagram published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its First Assessment Report in 1990 (Figure 2). It is important to note that this schematic is largely based upon early reconstructions of European temperature changes such as that of Lamb (1988). Critically, the 1990 IPCC Report cautioned, â€Å"it is still not clear whether all the fluctuations indicated were truly global†, and underlying the fact that neither regional temperature averages nor tem perature records from single locations can be used as proxies for global temperature.This 17 year-old graph has been superseded by numerous more recent studies, with the IPCC successively publishing updated records of â€Å"near global†Ã‚  temperature in its Second Assessment Report in 1995, its Third Assessment Report in 2001, and its Fourth Assessment Report in 2007. The most up-to- date figure for the Northern Hemisphere, from IPCC (2007), is reproduced in Figure 3, which shows 12 different reconstructions. These consistently show that, for the Northern Hemisphere, the past century is exceptionally warm, and that the warmth of recent decades clearly exceeds that of the Medieval Warm Period in all cases.The United States National Academies published a report in 2006 (NAS 2006) that reviewed the published scientific evidence on surface temperature reconstructions for the last 2000 years. It found that â€Å"evidence for regional warmth during medieval times [centered around AD 1000] can be found in a diverse but more limited set of records including ice cores, tree rings, marine sediments, and historical sources from Europe and Asia, but the exact timing and duration of warm periods may have varied from region to region, and the magnitude and geographic extent of the warmth are uncertain†.Based on a review of the scientific literature, the report concluded â€Å"none of the large-scale surface temperature reconstructions show medieval temperatures as warm as the last few decades of the 20th century.† Very clearly, the documentary has misrepresented the early IPCC figure, and ignored all IPCC updates to this figure. The analyses published by the IPCC strongly contradict the documentary. Another such scientific inaccuracy is the claim that the rising temperatures of the planet stared to plateau around 1940 and then didn’t continue to rise again until 1970, and therefore that this represents evidence that human activities don’t influence the climate.This is clearly a tactic employed by the movie’s makers and interviewees to manipulate the audience as the logic behind this is very flawed. The years leading up to and during the second World War were a time of great industrialization for many countries in the northern hemisphere (which contains a majority of the Earth’s landmass), causing large amounts of carbon dioxide to be pumped into the atmosphere. This industrialization also created a large amount of pollutants that stayed in the lower atmosphere which reflect incoming sunlight back into space, thereby causing temporary cooling.These lower level pollutants, including sulphate aerosols only have residency times of a few months (as opposed to about 100 years for  C02) and therefore warming resumes (refer to figure 1 in appendix). The current data from the IPCC shows that since then, the temperature has been increasing faster than it has in the last 10,000 years17. While there were clearly many attempts at manipulations and scientific errors in the Global Warming Swindle, there were a few valid points that were made. The argument that Global warming is (in some cases) being used in such a way that keeps developing countries from the rapid development needed to create better standards of living for the general population in a valid one.It is very simple for the theory to be used in a way that makes actions such as preventing the use of fossil fuels in developing countries seem valid, despite the fact that this often a necessary step in the development process. Developed countries currently emit a vast majority of global greenhouse emissions and the media frequently depicts countries such as China and India as the colloquially termed ‘bad guys’ because they refuse to maintain the necessary reductions in greenhouse emissions. The movie showed a short clip of an interview in a hospital in a rural area of an developing countries where the power from a solar p anel was clearly not enough to power the hospital. Such instances are common in rural areas of Africa where NGOs, in an attempt to reduce Global emissions, install inappropriate technologies.The movie is also has a sound format in that it is in documentary ‘style’ (disregarding the validity of the points presented), and it shows clips from various different scientists and Climate skeptics in different fields. Climate change Skeptic Bjorn Lomborg has been criticized for using very few researchers belonging to a very narrow spectrum of fields to validate his claims18. In comparison, The Global Warming Swindle has presented a decent number of sources and ‘experts’. The general format was also such that it intertwined interviews, narration and visual aids. This method is quite effective in maintaining the interest of the audience throughout the movie.The inaccuracies presented in Al Gore’s ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ needed to be responded to an d the general idea of creating a documentary to address this issue was a good one. Al Gore only barely presented the other side of the argument and there are some very valid cases relating to the fact that Global Warming may not have anthropogenic causes. In fact, if the Global Warming Swindle is correct in its assertion that Global warming isn’t manmade then there really isn’t much  that can be done and our resources really would be better spent elsewhere and any real action would mean convincing every nation on Earth to cut down on fuel emissions-which data suggests, is unlikely.Despite these valid points, arguments can be made to the contrary, especially with consideration to their presentation and the omission of certain information. The Global Warming Swindle implies that there are official expectations for developing countries to cut emissions by the same amount as developed countries. This isn’t true. The Kyoto protocol explicitly stated that there was nothing expected from developing countries in this regard.This was yet another attempt to manipulate the audience into believing the producer’s agenda. The inclusion of this fact may have made the movie seem a little more credible and balanced but this information is omitted. For the most part, it is now understood that economic development has to go hand in hand with climate policy. There is currently no legitimate environmental movement that says that the worlds less developed should have their access to energy restricted. There is also a very valid argument to the effect that sustainable development is a possible route towards economic development.Regardless, even if sustainable development doesn’t occur, the use of fossil fuels for development in developing countries wouldn’t have a significant effect on the environment. Costs estimate that the upper bound for the annual cost of emissions reductions consistent with the stabilization of CO2 levels would equal about 1% of the world’s GDP by 205020. This shows that, despite the cost, continual development is possible and that these actions will prevent the possible occurrence of Global Warming related phenomena that could have a detrimental effect to global development. The issue about how scientists now use the theory of manmade global warming to fund their research is completely true. On the other hand, this is not a new phenomenon.In order to prove or disprove a theory, scientists need to find sources of funding for their research. Obviously using arguably the most in ‘vogue’ scientific issue of our time is an easy way to get funding. Before the theory of Global Warming was being researched, scientists still had to present their research and find modes of funding. Therefore using this as a way to argue that Global Warming isn’t the result of anthropogenic greenhouse gases seems a weak argument that is rather off topic.The Great Global Warming Swindle does not represent the current state of knowledge in climate science. Skepticism in science is a healthy thing, and the presence of orthodox scientific skepticism in climate change is ubiquitous. Many of the hypotheses presented in the Great Global Warming Swindle have been considered and rejected by due scientific process. This documentary is far from an objective, critical examination of climate science. Instead the Great Global Warming Swindle goes to great lengths to present outdated, incorrect or ambiguous data in such a way as to grossly distort the true understanding of climate change science, and to support a set of extremely controversial views.

Kenya on Education Essay

Many countries are faced with poverty in this lifetime. Some are more deprived than others. Kenya, a third world country is one of the most deprived areas in the world. The contributions to this issue are: poor education, lack of nutritional foods, high unemployment rates, and insufficient medical needs. Kenya has a very poor education system that are has affected so many young children in the Kenya school district. Many of the children in Kenya should are in primary and secondary schools which should are be funded by the government education free program. The misuse of education is preventing so many children from attention school. Many of these children are very fortunate that their parent can afford to send them to a private school to get best a better education. Many parents are arguing that they believe sending their children to a private school would give themn m better opportunities to their education. The pupil in Kenya reported that most of the private school ss are doing as well as they should and the secondary school s are doing much better. than the TAccord to the center of evaluation for global action stated that the primary and secondary education has poor learning environment, shortage of learning materials ,and teachers due to unemployment,. congestion in classrooms has led to the poor performance. The article also argues that Private schools have all that they need, sufficient learning materials, adequate staff, provision of a good learning environment hence the better results for these school children. The{CEGA}also argues that the usually in Kenya, private primary schools perform far way better than government schools schools ,while in the contrary government secondary schools perform better as compared to the private schools. The article also stated that many of the primary and secondary school s that which are funded by the government are lack of insufficient learning materials such as school libraries, text books, chalks, exercise books , and access to computers which is a key facility since the current world is technology oriented. The school children in Kenya are omitted out of their education, because of the government misuses of donations that whiuch was given toward the childrens education school program, so they can have a brighter and better further future in the world that their theiry are living in. The pundits also argue that the government should not favor pupils from government schools, but to provide a better environment to allow the complete favorably with their counterparts from private schools. The (CEGA) argue that the government had not been employing any teachers for a while since the misuse of school funds. The revenue that that was also collected is was either pocketed by a few or used in political campaigns. This is what the children in Kenya is facing when it comes their education, because most of the citizens in Kenya really do not care if they get an education at all. Also Also sSsome of the private colleges and higher learning institutions were declared illegal and offered substandard education. Pundits all argue that education has been commercialized in Kenya due to the number of new institutions coming up in every building and street in the capital city. It asks the question who is going to registered all these schools?

Autobiography – My earliest memories

It was a beautiful summer's day and the birds were singing sweetly like a church choir of angels. My elder brother, Narvair suggested to my mother and father to go birthday shopping for presents as it was nearing my fifth birthday. As we sauntered down the long drive to the blue Vauxhall Cavalier, the blazing sun almost blinded us. We could feel the intense heat so much that sweat was pouring down our faces. As we travelled and approached the motorway, I enquired about our destination, but I was informed that it was a surprise. On the way we passed many fields where there were numerous horses, sheep and cows were grazing. In the far distance I could see the roofs of many houses and the tall pointed steeple of a church. Through the sun roof I could see the cloudless calm blue sky. As we left the motorway, I realised that we were heading for Meadow Hall. At this moment I was full of excitement, but this soon fizzled away, as it took such a long time to find a parking space.  Like read about memories? Read also  Flashbulb memory! Eventually we entered the large, brightly lit shopping mall, jam-packed with people hustling and bustling in and out of the shops. I immediately held my mummy's hand in case I strayed away. As we tried to pass the people I peeked through any small spaces in between the busy bodies looking for toy shops. Further along the mall, my grip loosened on my mum's hand, as my attention drew towards my brother. Whilst playfully tussling with my brother, I kept a close eye on my mum and dad's whereabouts. My mum entered the clothes shop and my dad browsed the sports shop adjacent to it. As we were playing, a bouncy ball fell out of my pocket and rolled down the precinct. Without hesitation I let go of my mum's hand and sped after the ball not realising I had soon left my parents and brother well behind. The ball bounced and rolled on being kicked by the on going people. In the long run I caught up with the ball as a gentleman trapped it under his foot. I thanked him and aimlessly ran in random directions seeking my mum and dad. Suddenly I discovered I was all alone and began to shed tears running in and out of shops bellowing for my mum, to no avail. Some time later, I saw a lady clothes shop where there was a lady wearing Indian garments. At this moment I felt relieved and hoped I had found my mum. Spontaneously I dashed towards her, only to find it was a shop window dummy. Amidst the confusion and the strangers, I began to cry and screech but no one would help. Further on the shopping mall I stepped onto the escalator leading up to the top floor. Looking over the railings I had an overview of the ground floor; however I could not see any members of my family. At this point I decided to ask all the passing people of my parent's whereabouts, but nobody knew. With exhaustion and blurry eyes I sat on the cold hard floor with my legs through the railings, eager to locate my parents or my brother. Suddenly a security guard crouched down beside me and informed me that it was not a good idea to have my legs dangling through the railings. He then asked me why I was crying. Having told him I had ran away from my parents to find my ball and now was lost. The guard offered to help, comforted and escorted me to the customer service desk. Here he announced over the shopping mall's tanoy system: â€Å"Can Mr and Mrs Birdi please come to the customer service desk immediately?† On seeing my parents coming I darted towards my mother and clung to her with a tight grip. My parents were very much relieved and delighted to see me. â€Å"Sandeep, where have you been? We have been looking for you,† exclaimed my dad. â€Å"I ran after my ball dad,† I replied sobbing. â€Å"Don't ever do it again, let us know where you are going. Now stop crying,† my mum said hugging and kissing me. After comforting me, my parents and my brother marched on towards the toy shop. I ran into the toy shop like a charging bull with my brother, but my mum insisted that I calmed down. Still excited I tried to take in all the toys around but eventually I carefully chose a special edition Action Man. It was a large present with many gadgets such as recording radio and a firing machine gun. I had been longing for this present and could not let anyone else handle it. I was really proud and could hardly wait for my birthday, so that I could play with it amongst my other toys. This made me the happiest five years old in the world. To this day I have still kept the Action Man in excellent condition and working order. Even now it is a pleasure to play with it, although I remember how I found my self lost in the huge shopping Mall.

Global marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Global marketing - Essay Example Free trade members lack common external tariff unlike in customs union meaning they have different customs and quotas. Free trade area is aimed at reducing barriers to easy exchange so that there is development of trade as a result of division of labour and specialization. Custom Union are normally characterized by generally imposing a common external-tariff on imports from countries who are not members (Sharan). Another characteristic of custom union is that there is no free movement labor among members as well as capital. Custom Union is mutual agreement among the participating neighboring countries to reduce or eliminate customs duty and remove trade barriers on mutual trade. Participants in Custom Union come up with a common external trade policy. In economic integration, Custom union is the third stage and is normally established through trade pacts. Common Market is a formed by countries in the same geographical area to enhance capital among it members and duty free labor movement. It is aimed at bringing economic integration and a common market to the involved member countries. Custom market is characterized by imposing common external tariff on imports from non-members. In Political Union, there is a consolidated and a larger group of countries that share an internationally acknowledged joint government. Political union can be established in a various ways such as; mixed unions incorporating union, and federative annexation. It is characterized by having a common currency and no trade barriers for the member countries. The key provisions of NAFTA which would challenge inclusion of Brazil and Chile is Prohibition of standards as free trade barrier, this is because some product from brazil and chile may not meet U.S. standards may be denied access to market. Another reason is that including Brazil and Chile may lead to changing standards to accommodate their needs whereas NAFTA does not require the United States to change

Power and Privilege Observations of McIntosh and Flagg Essay

Power and Privilege Observations of McIntosh and Flagg - Essay Example There are two major problems with Ms. McIntosh's ideas. First, she projects her own world on that of everyone else. While her 46 conditions are insightful, they are not representative of whites; because whites, like every other race and culture, cannot be summed up into a generalized expression. If someone were to make such sweeping observations about Hispanics, they would be racists; yet apparently McIntosh believes that it is okay to racist as long as your prejudice is directed at yourself. Take some of the language of the list, e.g., arguments with colleagues absent advancement limitations based on race, and apply that to whites living in Appalachia; there is no comparison at all. Under her analysis, McIntosh is failing to add the privileges relative to a highly-educated and moneyed academic. Secondly, McIntosh's own list evidences the contradictory nature of self-projection. For example, number 35 refers to employment. In reality, there are many places where the hiring of a white female academic would be complete tokenism; say, at Howard University in Washington, D.C. The point is that making racial generalizations, even on oneself, is an illogical and inaccurate approach to power or privilege. That which is observable is not necessarily causative. Discussion Point Two.

Internship Report on Pricewaterhouse Coopers Research Paper

Internship Report on Pricewaterhouse Coopers - Research Paper Example epartment 1 Executive summary 2 Acknowledgment 3 Introduction 6 Company Background 6 Company Activity and Size 8 Organizational Chart of PwC Middle East 10 A SWOT analysis of PwC 11 Strengths: 11 Weaknesses 11 Opportunities 11 Threats 11 Vision 12 Mission 12 Marketing Strategy 13 Organizational competitive strategy 14 Job history 14 Conceptual framework 15 Global structure of PwC 15 Services offered by PwC Middle East 16 Consulting activities of PwC Middle East 16 Technical aspect of PwC Middle East 17 Evaluation of the internship experience (Form) 19 Summary of findings and recommendations 19 Conclusion 20 References 21 PwC (n.d.). PwC Middle East Corporate Responsibility Annual Report 2010 / 2011. Retrieved December, 20, 2011, fromhttp://www.pwc.com/m1/en/publications/crannualreport.jhtml 21 Introduction PwC is an internationally recognized company with numerous firms that are in partnership with it, with its many years in the field of accountancy, consultancy and even tax related issues it has proven to be one of the world’s most reliable firm. Their aim has been to support its clients in designing, managing and executing lasting beneficial change. Change management is an essential operation factor for any given company. In this regard, PwC’s diversity and dynamism over time is stronghold in the activities undertaken by the company. Globalization has impacted on many international firms, and so has it on PwC. The consistent process of converting the world into a global village has been realized through the contribution of many internationally competitive firms. The role played by PwC in that process cannot be ignored. Client welfare and success in the pursuit of the desired goals and objectives has been the primary line of business for PwC. Its major operations... The intention of this study is PwC as an internationally recognized company with numerous firms that are in partnership with it, with its many years in the field of accountancy, consultancy and even tax related issues it has proven to be one of the world’s most reliable firm. Their aim has been to support its clients in designing, managing and executing lasting beneficial change. Change management is an essential operation factor for any given company. In this regard, PwC’s diversity and dynamism over time is stronghold in the activities undertaken by the company. Globalization has impacted on many international firms, and so has it on PwC. The consistent process of converting the world into a global village has been realized through the contribution of many internationally competitive firms. The role played by PwC in that process cannot be ignored. Client welfare and success in the pursuit of the desired goals and objectives has been the primary line of business for Pw C. Its major operations are focussed on how effective the company meets the demands of its clients. Bringing affiliate firms on board has been a key driver of how well PwC manages its client base and operational portfolio. PwC is known to host most of the knowledgeable and experienced staff members that offer the necessary help one may require in handling complex financial accounting related issues, this may comprise matters such as share plans, valuations, pensions, listings, conversion of IFRS, corporate treasury functions and company secretarial functions.

Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 9

Research - Essay Example Research based solutions are beneficial because they take into account the most recent advancements in the medical field in question while also coming up with practical solutions on how to confront the existing problem. A good example of this is the use of virtual doctor’s assistants in order to leave more registered nurses free to perform the existing duties. Virtual assistants will not just be helpful in ensuring that a lot of medical personnel are liberated to fulfill other duties, but will also contribute towards the streamlining of the use of information technology in various respects by medical organizations. Many hospitals still struggle to implement electronic records that function well. Virtual assistants will help in ensuring that there is better tracking of the records of patients’ health every day. This will in turn reduce the number of doctor visits on a daily basis, empower the patients in terms of their healthcare, and reduce the incidence of serious medi cal problems. The use of virtual assistants is not a reality in many parts of the world and its practicality is still doubted by many healthcare experts (LittleJohn, Campbell, Collins-McNeil, & Khayile, 2012). In addition, there is not much research that has been conducted to substantiate the claims that this is one subject that can help in dealing with staff shortages among other problems. However, it is evident that the use of virtual assistants has more potential benefits than any other solution to date. A virtual assistant will even be able to monitor doctor prescriptions, reducing the incidence of visits to the doctor and thus saving costs. In recent times, health-related developments such as health-monitoring and data tracking have began to be accepted in the mainstream as viable health care solutions. Virtual assistants also need to begin being seriously considered as a serious answer to the majority