JUGGLE-BANDHI

Unfounded fears?

Jug Suraiya, 26 January 2010, 08:43 PM IST

Second Opinion (This piece is a comment) Is a subtle change of climate taking place about the 'proven fact' of man-made climate change? The claims of India's most visible eco-crusader and proponent of climate change, R K Pachauri, have come under critical scrutiny after it was revealed that the alarms raised about melting glaciers in India could have been based on a literally Himalayan blunder. It seems that our glaciers are not melting after all. Or at least not doing so at an abnormal or disquieting rate.

The 'prediction' that the Himalayan glaciers would melt away by 2035 was apparently based on an 'approximation' made by an Indian expert in 1999 which had been 'misquoted' in the New Scientist. As the expert -- whose 'expertise' should be put within the inverted commas of doubt -- never bothered to correct this 'misquotation', the false prophecy became a 'factoid', a fact manufactured by the media and other public agencies.

Environment minister Jairam Ramesh has taken to task the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for fobbing off 'speculation' as scientific fact, and thereby doing a grave disservice to the environmental movement as a whole. For the real fact is that humankind -- and in particular the so-called First World -- has done perhaps irreparable harm to the health of our planet through profligate consumption of the Earth's resources. However, to raise a needless scare about man-made climate change -- which has been elevated to the status of an unquestionable religion -- is to divert attention, and funds, from other more immediate environmental issues to which practical solutions can and must be found. It is as though a patient suffering from fever is told -- on the basis of pure 'speculation' -- that what he has is in 'fact' terminal cancer. The fever -- which could, and should have been treated -- is neglected while various cancer treatments, from surgery to chemotherapy, are endlessly discussed. Eventually the poor patient dies, either because of the neglected fever, or fright, or both. This is the real danger of the false theology of man-made climate change. By making scary claims based on 'speculation' (for which read 'unreasoning faith') instead of provable data, it jeopardises the environmental movement as a whole.

Man-made climate change is not the only man-made bogey recently raised to frighten us. Reports suggest that WHO 'experts' deliberately created the H1N1 -- or swine flu -- scare at the behest of international pharma companies, who could potentially reap huge profits from selling preventive vaccines or antidotes for the disease.

Why are such groundless, or at least exaggerated, fears created? One of the obvious reasons of course is money. When people are frightened they stop thinking critically and are ready to believe in any snake oil salesman who offers a talisman which will exorcise the demon of fear. In the case of climate change, the antidotes on offer include the lucrative trade in carbon credits and an array of supposedly 'clean' technologies and processes that have to be purchased by industries and individuals at substantial cost. That Al Gore, the world's foremost advocate for climate change, has become a multi-billionaire overnight speaks for itself.

Money-making apart, fear is also the most effective tool with which to make people blindly obedient to authority, be it governmental or corporate. Fear can turn thinking human beings into mindless robots, ready to follow orders and instructions, no matter how unreasonable, intrusive or oppressive they may be.

Fear is the secret ally of all dictatorships, and the hidden enemy within all democracies. To ensure safety and survival, all of us need to be alive to dangers, be they in the form of environmental catastrophe, disease or anything else. But let's try and ensure that our fears are founded on fact, and not on 'factoids'. That our fears are real, and not manufactured for us, the better to exploit us with. That is the truly frightful fate.

8 Comments | Comments are closed

Bookmark / Share

Hotklix this	Google Bookmarks

Facebook	Buzz up!

StumbleUpon	Reddit
	More

Rated

Related Blog Posts

A tale of two castles

The idiocy of India's higher education

Disappearing act

Subscribe to comments on this Post Comments:

Sort by: Oldest | Newest | Recommended (8) | Most Discussed | Author´s Responses (1)

Sharda Bhargav - The Confiscated Soul says:

January 26,2010 at 09:25 PM IST

Awesome, enlightening article. There are so many uses of fear but best is its benefit for commercial gains. By inducing fear, one can find easy way to riches.
It is amply and wisely advised to fear only when adverse findings are founded on facts. Thus traps laid by business persons to make quick money, can be avoided.

Jayant Rajimwale says:

January 26,2010 at 11:02 PM IST

Respected Sir,
everybody would agree with you on above article. it is rightly said that this man made climate change talk and exact prophacies these scientists are making is nothing but( may be called) a marketing strategy to keep the world in fear and place their products for sale . Melting of Himalayan glaciers by the year 2035 too was a speculation which was found wrong now . Sunday times London published a report which has Creataed another hole in climate theory for wrongly linking global warming to natural calamities such as floods, hurricanes etcetra. First world tries to put pressure on undeveloped and developing nations by creating hype and hoopla over enviornment sothat new industries dont come up and their business go smooth and straight. Unfounded fear is dangerous for the health of nations like us.Only a fearless society can move forward others not .i agree with message and spirit of the article. Thank you for this one .
WITH REGARDS.

A sharma, Canada says:

January 27,2010 at 12:24 AM IST

Mr Jug Suraiaya i really liked your article, as a medical personnel i could really see what was going on in the name of H1N1 epidemic and that too in so called first world, and now in the name of Haiti relief, i really doubt Haiti becoming any better in next 15 years solely because of these efforts.

Koushik Halder says:

January 27,2010 at 01:33 AM IST

May be R.K.Pachuri led IPCC commit some fraud or may be it commit some wrong during estimation of time of melting of glacier in Himalayan region but it's a fact that glacier in Himalayan region starts melting .At this moment we should take preventive measures.But,not taking any preventive measures we only focus at the secondary things.

Yes i also agree with you that 1st world countries tries to spread fear in the name of climate change,carbon emission to become the dictator of the world becuase they know well that the 3rd world countries are rising and these countries may become the supreame of the world in near future.

rishi says:

January 27,2010 at 01:48 AM IST

I think the phenomenon of climate change emcompasses not only the melting glaciers but also an array of other noticible, dangerous, and unprecedented events, that are really the focus of people and organisations clamouring for brisk action to counter climate change.

Not only is the sea level rising and swallowing the coastal regions, there is an unprecedented increase in frequency,intensity and distribution of earthquakes, cyclones, floods, droughts and other natural calamities. Also, the temperature cycles of the land and seas have undergone a dramatic change in the last decade.

These changes need not be brought up by some article in a Scientific journal, but they are for everyone to see, feel,compare and analyse.

The quantum of change that is taking place is, ofcourse debatable. Small variations of opinion always do exist even between scientists, who use differnt calcualtions and mathematical models to predict the state of the planet at a certain point in future. However, most of the studies do point singularly in the direction of a perceptible, rapid change in the earth's biosphere.

I'm not too sure about the 'cash flow' or 'money-minting exercises' in the climate change awareness campaign, but I firmly belive whosoever have been the benefactors of creating such mass publicity, have been rewarded for good.

Mark says: Bookmark this discussion

January 27,2010 at 01:42 PM IST

I see inconsistency in your reaasoning. Once you say that the First World is responsible and then you say that climate-change is not man made. You haven't come up with a definite claim as to what causes climate change and how to resolve it.

(Reply to Mark)- Jug Suraiya says:

January 29,2010 at 02:43 PM IST

Dear Mark

There is no inconsistency in my reasoning. I agree that humankind – particularly the First World – has harmed the environment. We have polluted our seas and rivers, cut down forests, made species extinct. These ought to be reversed, if possible. But it is doubtful if we have changed the global climate. Where temperatures have risen is largely because of the ‘heat island effect’ (too much concrete, no greenery) which is purely localised and not a result of planetary climate change.

Jug

Gautam Sehgal says:

January 28,2010 at 01:09 AM IST

Balderdash!! Most ridiculous reasoning I have ever read.

Smog is bad, no one can argue with that, period. Will glaciers melt? Maybe, Maybe not. Will islands drown? Maybe Maybe not. Is breathing polluted air bad for humans? Most certainly and emphatically yes.

There can be no justification for not using better and cleaner energy. It's in everyone's interest.Should India try to give our children and grandchildren clean air and water? Would Jug Suraiya argue with that? Would you make children breathe exhaust fumes to make the country richer?

Did pharmaceutical companies kill young 30 year olds and manufacture a diagnosis of H1N1? I am a doctor and I saw young children being placed on ECMO because their lungs had completely failed.I ensured both my kids got the vaccine. Maybe it did not become a devastating epidemic, but the potential was there. It would ne inexcusable to be unprepared if you could easily make the vaccine.

Jug Suraiya should not comment irresponsibly about matters out of his field of expertise, or at least accuse experts in the WHO of corruption based on mere speculation.

Living in India where we see so much corruption, we think everyone is corrupt. It is better in the First World. You can get a telephone connection without a bribe, your kids can get admission to a school without a bribe, people show up to work when they get a salary and some people actually help their fellow human beings for no selfish reason.

Sound familiar? Most people in India do that too. Just because some people are corrupt, you can't stop believing in everyone.