David Miliband

Foreign Secretary

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Thursday 29 October, 2009

Climate Change – Believe the Science

An article in the Huffington Post reports on a recent poll – apparently only 57% of Americans think there is solid evidence that the world is getting warmer – down 20% from three years ago.

This is alarming. We need to do more to make sure people – and governments – know the science behind climate change. Hence the map we commissioned from the Hadley Centre, launched at the Science Museum last week.

The article argues that some of this drop is explained by people’s preoccupation with economic issues. This could well be true. But it is a false dichotomy. If we don’t solve the problems of climate change today; the depression of tomorrow – once the full economic effects kick in – would eclipse the current recession.

Lord Stern has said that the economic effects of climate change could cost us more than two world wars and the great depression combined. We must heed such warnings, we must listen to the science, and we must ensure that the Copenhagen Summit heralds an ambitious global deal to limit temperature rises to two degrees.

Posted at 14:26 29 October 2009 by David Miliband  |  Comments[7]

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It’s very good that the British government offers its support to those Muslims attending the Hajj. Its good efforts are, however, undermined by its poor support for human rights in Palestine. Why, for example, did the British government fail to back the recent UN sponsored Goldstone report, which detailed serious human rights abuses committed by Israel? Who can really blame those Muslims who say that the British government has double standards? If the victims of these human rights abuses had been white Europeans, I guess the British government’s response to the report would have been different. Unfortunately, the British government’s foreign policy sends out totally mixed messages to Muslim communities, both in the UK and overseas.

Posted by Richard Hopper on October 29, 2009 at 04:56 PM GMT #

We do believe the science...it's about time you caught up with it and understood that science. The science that indicates CO2 has very little to do with global warming and is more likely a by-product of warming rather than the cause. Bush understood more than you, he understood the science and the economics...you seem to not grasp either. Your determination to milk British business for every penny whilst not only letting other countries continue to 'pollute' but also to send them large quantities of our money is astonishing in its naivety....or stupidity. I can only hope you are not just a product of your family political traditions. Capitalism and Democracy...uneasy bedfellows for the son of a Marxist?

Posted by Alan Stoddart on October 29, 2009 at 06:22 PM GMT #

Respected Sir, thanks for this excellent article. World Community should take the issue of global warming seriously. Copenhagen Summit is less than 40 days far, so world citizens should be serious towards this. This Summit is giving us a chance to frame and implement the strict environment policies to control the global warming and save the life on this blue planet. Excellent Work has been done by HADLEY CENTRE in developing an unique 4 degree map. Sir, you and Ed both are among the "few world leaders" who are really dedicated towards global warming and climate change.

Posted by Prabhat Misra, District Savings Officer, Etawah, U.P., India on October 30, 2009 at 01:31 PM GMT #

You should look outside your window. We and many places in the US have had some pretty miserable weather in the last three years. It's your job to explain that this is part of the inconsistent weather pattern that accompanies climate change.

Posted by OwenE2 on November 01, 2009 at 12:20 AM GMT #

Dear David,your excellent report is very important to me.I've understood the full meaning instantly and the consequences for all of us.Of course is the fact of the climate change within the context of the global warming clear.I'm only wondering why 43 of Americans don't think so.Didn't they know Al Gore's documentary? Didn't they trust their own 18 scientific organisations-according to Huffington Post's "Steep decline.." report?Nevertheless:To me are these facts not only "alarming"-they are a slap in the face of many thousands of people who are working very hard for a successful result at Copenhagen's Summit next month:A fair global deal.So you better trust the science -for next generations also want to live in a clean environment.Best wishes, Ingo-Steven Wais

Posted by Ingo-Steven Wais on November 02, 2009 at 09:40 AM GMT #

A map from an organisation that has invested heavily in anthropogenic climate change being real and presented by politicians who have committed themselves to a policy based on it being real, whatever the science may or may not say. Forgive me if I don't regard it as representing the science. This is priceless: "While some climate models suggest rainfall may increase, some of the more realistic models project severe drying in the Amazon, increasing the risk of major droughts." The science is supposedly settled but climate models don't agree. More realistic models are presumably those that support the Hadley Centre's doom and gllom projections. If the science is settled and certain, there would only be one model. Another pearler: "At the beginning of the 21st Century, an estimated 600 million people live no more than 10 metres above present sea level." No mention of how much the sea level will rise due to a 4 degree rise. There is a subtle implication that these people are under threat, suggesting in readers' minds that sea levels may rise by 10m. If challenged on this totally unrealistic suggestion, they can then say, "we never said sea levels will rise 10m". Do you keep abreast of the science? If I say Keith Briffa and Yamal series, do you know to what I am referring? Do you know why there is so much discussion about the Tiljander proxies? Do you follow global temperatures, hurricane frequencies, arctic sea ice extent, etc? The simple reality is that there is no science behind the theory of anthropogenic climate change. It only exists in models which can't agree and in the minds of those who desperately want it to be true, either because they have invested so much in it being true or because it is a useful tool to achieve other agendas. You are going to have to accept that more and more people are going to discover that the emperor has no clothes and when they discover just how much those non-existent clothes have cost them, they might be a tad miffed.

Posted by Paul Buddery on November 02, 2009 at 10:50 AM GMT #

Sir, 4 degree map by Hadley Center is an essential achievement before the world community to understand the possible impact of climate change. This map will certainly change the view of those countries which are not taking climate change as a serious problem. This is the compulsory responsibility of current generation to save the future by tackling climate change in the present and make outline for ecofriendly development for the future. [Prabhat Misra, District Savings Officer, Etawah, U.P., India.]

Posted by Prabhat Misra on November 04, 2009 at 02:31 PM GMT #

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