Monday, September 30, 2019
A declaration on climate to help scared children<>/b>
Some children and young people are obviously genuinely scared by the climate propaganda they have been exposed to by their teachers and others who should've known better. Being scared about the future is a rotten way to move towards the world of work and achievement. These youngsters urgently need our help. Getting them to read the declaration below would be an easy start to what may be a long process:
'There is no climate emergency
A global network of 500 scientists and professionals has prepared this urgent message. Climate science should be less political, while climate policies should be more scientific. Scientists should openly address the uncertainties and exaggerations in their predictions of global warming, while politicians should dispassionately count the real benefits as well as the imagined costs of adaptation to global warming, and the real costs as well as the imagined benefits of mitigation.
Natural as well as anthropogenic factors cause warming
The geological archive reveals that Earth’s climate has varied as long as the planet has existed, with natural cold and warm phases. The Little Ice Age ended as recently as 1850. Therefore, it is no surprise that we now are experiencing a period of warming.
Warming is far slower than predicted
The world has warmed at less than half the originally-predicted rate, and at less than half the rate to be expected on the basis of net anthropogenic forcing and radiative imbalance. It tells us that we are far from understanding climate change.
Climate policy relies on inadequate models
Climate models have many shortcomings and are not remotely plausible as policy tools. Moreover, they most likely exaggerate the effect of greenhouse gases such as CO2. In addition, they ignore the fact that enriching the atmosphere with CO2 is beneficial.
CO2 is plant food, the basis of all life on Earth
CO2 is not a pollutant. It is essential to all life on Earth. Photosynthesis is a blessing. More CO2 is beneficial for nature, greening the Earth: additional CO2 in the air has promoted growth in global plant biomass. It is also good for agriculture, increasing the yields of crops worldwide.
Global warming has not increased natural disasters
There is no statistical evidence that global warming is intensifying hurricanes, floods, droughts and suchlike natural disasters, or making them more frequent. However, CO2-mitigation measures are as damaging as they are costly. For instance, wind turbines kill birds and insects, and palm-oil plantations destroy the biodiversity of the rainforests.
Climate policy must respect scientific and economic realities
There is no climate emergency. Therefore, there is no cause for panic and alarm. We strongly oppose the harmful and unrealistic net-zero CO2 policy proposed for 2050. If better approaches emerge, we will have ample time to reflect and adapt. The aim of international policy should be to provide reliable and affordable energy at all times, and throughout the world.'
This has been signed by hundreds of scientists and climate policy experts. Monckton of Brenchley describes them as follows: 'The Global Climate Intelligence Group, whose objective is to put the science back into climate science, comprises scientists, professionals and researchers from many nations, has already attracted some 500 signatures for what began life scant weeks ago as the European Climate Declaration.
The group, and the declaration, are the brainchild of Professor Guus Berkhout, emeritus professor of Geophysics in the Delft University of Technology. Professor Berkhout is a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.
SOURCE
See here
Climate Rhetoric Begets Child Abuse ... and Suicide
Alarmists have convinced young people that there is no hope for earth.
Greta Thunberg’s prominence is sullied by the incredibly unfortunate reality that the teenager has been grotesquely proselytized and exploited by a cabal of opportunistic adults intent on leveraging a fraudulent climate crusade to elevate globalism, dispense with capitalism, and rupture the fossil-fuel industry.
Thunberg has made two particularly inauspicious remarks this year, starting at January’s World Economic Forum in Davos, where she conveyed, “I don’t want your hope. I don’t want you to be hopeful. I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. And then I want you to act. I want you to act as you would in a crisis. I want you to act as if the house was on fire, because it is.”
Then, at this week’s United Nations Climate Action Summit, she intoned, “You all come to us young people for hope. How dare you! You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words, and yet I’m one of the lucky ones. People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is the money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth.”
Ricochet editor-in-chief Jon Gabriel observes, “None of this is healthy, neither for Ms. Thunberg nor for anyone else. Especially other kids.” Indeed it’s not.
As foolish as it may sound to rational thinkers, climate anxiety is blighting the impressionable minds of our youth. An extremely disheartening tweet is currently floating around Twitter in which a man informs us that a 14-year-old kid at his wife’s school took his own life due to overwhelming fear related to climate change.
Furthermore, Gabriel notes, “According to the National Institutes of Health, nearly one-third of all 13- to 18-year olds will experience an anxiety disorder. The numbers continue to go up; between 2007 and 2012, anxiety in children and teens rose 20 percent. The suicide rate for young Americans is now the highest ever recorded. Between 2000 and 2017, the number of suicides has doubled for females aged 15 to 24. Males between 15 and 19 killed themselves at a rate of 17.9 per 100,000, up from 13 per 100,000 in 2000.”
In other words, while committing suicide over something as nuanced as global warming should be incomprehensible, child anxiety isn’t all that unusual. And it can come in any form. Child suicide “is no joke,” says Greenpeace co-founder Patrick Moore, who broke ties with the organization in the 1980s. “Young people have always been vulnerable to feelings of hopelessness. Greta is fueling those fears.”
And yet it’s very important that we peg the real catalyst of that fear. It’s not Thunberg. It’s those who have convinced her and others that “mass extinction” is underway. The corollary is more suicides.
We’re constantly being lectured that people will die from global warming. The irony is that people are dying over global-warming rhetoric.
SOURCE
How to stop Greta Thunberg and Co making your children sick with worry
Psychologists are warning that apocalyptic forecasts of climate catastrophe issued by Greta and groups such as Extinction Rebellion are triggering mental health problems among youngsters.
Last week psychologists at Bath University reported a ‘tsunami’ of children turning to doctors, therapists and teachers for help to calm their worries of impending doom, with some prescribed psychiatric drugs.
Child psychiatrist Dr Kathryn Hollins advises a frank discussion – because a desire to be more environmentally friendly is a positive thing. ‘Let them know they are not alone in having worries,’ she says. ‘Ask them what they are scared of and where they got these thoughts from.’
She says that reassurance will come from putting things into perspective. Rising sea levels might have an immediate effect on the lives of polar bears, but not on those living in the UK, she explains.
Teacher and psychoanalyst Emma Gleadhill warns against banning material but instead recommends researching together – to help children adopt a balanced view.
‘That way you can discuss concerns, information, distressing predictions and traumatising video footage, and encourage their response to be less doom-laden and more proactive,’ she says.
For younger children, perhaps watching a David Attenborough documentary in chunks, rather than the whole thing, will allow bite-size discussions to take place – which will be easier for them to cope with and digest.
Gleadhill stresses the importance of balancing horror stories with successes, saying: ‘Find the good news stories about the environment, where change in policy is having a fundamental impact on our planet in a positive way.’
A quick search online reveals that the ozone is healing, the second-largest coral reef is no longer endangered and air pollution in China is reducing.
One of the things children talk about as being most scary is the idea of being helpless. But there are examples of consumer power bringing about change, adds Gleadhill.
For instance, there’s the 5p levy on plastic bags introduced in 2015 thanks to newspaper and public campaigning.
‘This reduced the number of single-use plastic bags given out by major retailers by 85 per cent, way more than anyone anticipated,’ she says
University of Bath psychologist Caroline Hickman suggests talking about ‘wants’ and ‘needs’. She says that next time your child wants you to buy them something, stop to have a conversation that asks: do we really need it or could we get by without?
Whether it’s a pair of trainers, a toy or a snack, its production, delivery and disposal will affect our planet – and if we consume less, we can have a positive impact on the environment.
In more severe cases where children are catastrophising, and anxiety is affecting everyday life, it’s worth seeking professional help.
Cognitive behavioural therapy, which focuses on helping people change irrational beliefs can help.
Therapists also challenge the type of ‘absolute’ thinking that might make children think ‘I’ll never get on a plane again’ or ‘No one is doing anything – I can’t stand it!’
Wherever your child is on this spectrum, Hickman, Gleadhill and Hollins all recommend letting children go to marches – as it helps them feel their voices are being heard, and that they can make a difference. This, ultimately, is the message you want to give a child suffering from eco-anxiety.
SOURCE
Australia: Labor ‘dragging heels’ in drought efforts
The Labor party is in the grip of the Greenies, who hate dams. But building more dams is the only way to cope with drought
Deputy Nationals leader Bridget McKenzie has lashed the Labor state governments of Queensland and Victoria for “dragging their heels” when it comes to building new dams.
Senator McKenzie told Sky News on Sunday the lack of co-operation between the Federal government and their state counterparts meant “drought busting” infrastructure was being prevented from “getting off the ground.”
“This is one of the most frustrating topics I think as a National Party MP and somebody that cares about rural and regional Australia,” she said. “We’re a government that has been able to manage the economy well enough we’ve got money on the table to build infrastructure … that helps us to be able to droughtproof for the next time.”
“The reality is the Commonwealth government can’t just roll in with our diggers and graders and roll into a state and start digging,” Senator McKenzie said. “We have to have a partner in this in state because the sovereignty of states to actually build the things the money’s on the table.”
As revealed by The Australian, the Victorian government has ruled out building any new dams, saying climate change will mean not enough water will flow into them to make them worthwhile.
“At the end of the day if you’ve got Lisa Neville here in Victoria saying no more dams despite the CSIRO saying we should get on with it and you’ve got [Anastasia] Palaszczuk up in Queensland dragging her heels on Rookwood and other drought-busting infrastructure and you get NSW finally coming to the table today with $84 million dollars, which is fantastic news, the reality is we’ve been here this whole time waiting.”
Senator McKenzie also announced the Farm Household Allowance would be extended and made available to farmers for four years every decade instead of once over the lifetime of a farmer.
“Right now farm household allowance you’re only able to access for four years in your entire lifetime as a farmer, which is just ridiculous,” she said. “In this country every two decades we’re going through a period of significant hardship, as we are now, so we’ve made a change now that every decade, farmers will be able to access this payment for up to four years.”
It comes as Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced an additional $100 million in drought relief funding.
Of this, more than $50 million will be put towards expanding and simplifying the Farm Household Allowance, a payment for farmers struggling to pay bills. The latest package comes on top of the $7 billion set aside in drought relief funding.
Senator McKenzie said the subsidy program wouldn’t affect Australia’s free trade agreements.
“This is this is not an American or US-style farm bill subsidy program at all and as an exporter that exports 70 per cent of what we produce we don’t want to be doing anything here at home that puts us at risk our ability to trade.”
SOURCE
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