KEY POINTS:
Michael
Um hello? Anybody listening out there? What is the population of New Zealand? The same as one city in Australia or any number of other cities around the world. I highly doubt the whole 4 million of us Kiwis are creating that huge an impression on the
global system that we should be paying for it, or even considering that it is our fault.
4 million of us. Thats kinda small isn't it?
Stan Coveney
I am biding my time. When the nervous nellies start selling prime beach side real estate I will be buying up at discounted prices.
Bill Guy
Once again the Government spin Doctors are doing what they are paid to do with a lot of unsubstantiated garbage about climate change. When are the people going to wake up and see that this scare mongering is for the benefit of the politicians that put them in the job in the 1st place. I would rather listen to the experts that are not paid by Government Agencies, as they seem to know what they are talking about. Once again Political Correctness Gone Mad.
Andrew Atkin
Whether or not climate change is happening as a consequence of carbon output is beside the point - it's probably happening anyway. So, rather than guessing, why not do a costing on the adaption? For example, we could build a 1 meter dike for low-lying residential areas. The cost of that would be non-existent compared to the massive project in the Netherlands, because the cost of a dike goes up exponentially with the height (1 meter is tiny). However, you could still get the bathtub effect after a storm surge, so how much would rapid pumping equipment cost? Or the cost of moving houses to higher ground? Again, we should do some solid adaption-costings to get a clearer picture.
Goby
You know its funny really 20 years ago they were talking about how we could have another ice age and we should put heaters into the sea to warm the planet now its the other way around, well so they say. Lets concentrate on how we can make NZ a better place, we were in the small numbers years ago as one of the best places to live now all we talk about is the Government, climate change, what the Maoris want, smacking kids. See what I mean in that last sentence we talk and focus on non-relevant subjects. Come on NZ lets work together and put our country back in the top ten!
Raj Subramanian
Land plates are drifting all the time, mountains and valleys formed all the time. This is the geography of earth. We know land is only 1/4th of earth and the rest 3/4th is Oceans. Half of the 1/4th land is inhabitable. That makes the habitable land portion of earth to 1/8th of the globe. Only 1/3200 portion of earth contains drinkable water. Only 1/32 portion of earth supports food growth. Through millions of years he demographies change by plate changes. But the proportions of land and water never changed. I understand the depletion of ozone layer and climate change may alter the proportion, but my arithmetic says when h20 evaporates because of more temperature then more land should be released. If these people prove right,in 2030 or 2050, please look forward to new islands that should crop up near New Zealand and grab a parcel of real estate, certify that as not affected by climate change and make 10 times more money than any land lost in eastern portion of north island. Thank me for the forecast and vote for me as your Independent MP in the commonwealth of those islands.
Les
So its only the property owners who should be held liable, and not the rest of the population? This does sound kind of wrong. But then New Zealanders will sit back and take whatever nonsense is dished out.For instance, did anybody ever question the fact that we pay GST on our rates? We are being taxed on our taxes, and nobody says boo.
San
Truth is you/we don't have a choice. Reality is it's payback for a unpriced cost/externality that should have been correctly priced (ie higher price) all these years. And as per Stern report the more we procrastinate the greater the cost will be to fix.That said, I honestly feel that most people want the money to be spent on such great and green initiatives. The real problem is we no longer have trust that any government body will do the work well or spend the necessary monies wisely. Eg. we own a house in northland. we receive no services at all, ZERO. yet our rates are easily the highest in the country and in terms of community endeavours - seriously lacking. It is a sad situation. NZ has a great opportunity (once again) to lead the world into an era of clean energy & technology. yet sadly it seems to be the world capitol for climate change deniers. And so another great opportunity to be missed. There is nothing to be gained from a dead planet.
Shane Olsen
Out of all the research and debate that has gone on, the most significant point is not whether humans have caused this problem and how! It is that the climate is changing in a considerable way at the present time. This will have an impact on the way we live in such ways as the water we source to drink, the food we grow and eat, the diseases present in our communities, and the qualities of the ecosystems we live in and manage. The first step is in making people aware of these issues and influencing our leaders to put forward policies to adapt to these changing times. Sincere thanks go to those who are helping with this first step.
Garrett Rossini
Even if we do follow the Kyoto Protocol to the letter, costing billions to do so and introducing stupid taxes on forestry and farming, the backbone of our economy, the effects on climate change will be negligible. If the IPCC is right, all the effort put in to achieve these goals produces very little change to the outcome. Why not spend the money adapting to any problems, if and when they arise, rather than shooting ourselves in the foot in the hope that the rest of the world will think we're special?
Graham Keye
Why should ratepayers pick up the bill? Industry is what causes the pollution. Make them clean up their act. Also, if people chose to live by the sea, the Insurance industry should charge them more and leave ratepayers alone.
Pdm
Of course there is Global Warming or if you want to be politically correct Climate Change - it has been around since the earth was created. The best phrase for it is 'Nature Taking its Course' and no amount of posturing by Scientists and Politicians will have any effect on it.
Ken Shock
Persons who believe that the objectors to the climate hysteria have got no science behind them need to search Google for videos under "global warming catastrophe cancelled". It is an eyeopener regarding the warming propaganda, and the $multibillion "warming" industry.
Peter
That climate change is caused by man is just a political con and I'm sure it will go down in history as just that. The sole purpose is to tax us more and a money maker for the likes of Al Gore. If you believe in man made global warming, then who caused the medieval warm period, when the earth was warmer than it is now and Greenland was farmed? It's interesting that Al Gore still used the 'Mann Hockey Stick' graph in his movie, even after it had been proved to be incorrect by the two Mac's report and the follow up peer review(which I don't think this paper was prepared to publish). Go Augie!
Mary
If we don't pay monetarily now to try and clean up our environment and stop our selfish use of resources and careless acts of pollution, we will all pay in the future when the environment we are used to living in changes so much that it becomes unlivable. There is no point to sticking your head in the sand and pretending it isn't happening. Wake up.
Thom Grey
If evolution, as they tell us, really is true, I don't know what you're all so worried about. Grow some backbone and put some faith in your theory (which, incidentally, was retracted by the guy who drafted it). If the theory of evolution is sound, I'm sure we will adapt. If it's not, God help us. On the bright side, we've been asking for proof either way for years.
Doug Forsyth
Like many writers who comment on the subject of global climate change I have a deep concern that good science is being hijacked by junk science. When the outcomes from a field of scientific research are deemed by its supporters to be of such certainty that further debate or research is pointless, then it ceases to be science and enters the realm of propaganda.
The issue of global warming has become such a political and scientific football that those of us who point to the ever growing body of evidence that man-made CO2 is probably not the primary cause of global warming are labeled as ignorant, environment hating heretics. In truth I am as supportive of the environment as the next man but I take issue with those who would have us spend billions trying to prevent a natural phenomenon over which we have little or no control.
I side with those who postulate through scientific evidence that the sun's variability is possibly the most likely primary cause of global warming, not CO2. Dansgaard, Oeschger, et al discovered physical evidence that points towards a solar induced climate change cycle, but nowhere do politicians or the media raise this fact or the conclusions of their work. Instead we are bombarded almost daily with dire apocalyptic forecasts of man induced global warming outcomes that almost always do not eventuate.
A case in point. Remember the Maldives, much ballyhooed as slowly sinking beneath the waves because of anthropogenic warming? In 2003 before members of the Geological Society of America, Nils-Axel Mörner, a geologist from the University of Stockholm presented a paper that clearly demonstrated through solid physical evidence that the sea level around the Maldive Islands has risen and fallen repeatedly over the millennia and most recently from 1790-1970 the sea level rose by about 30 cm to then fall 30 cm in the 1970s to today's level, which is the statistical norm. He concluded that the Maldives will probably not sink anytime soon.
We need honest assessment of the situation by scientists, politicians and the media, not sycophantic agreement with those who have a political or financial axe to grind. I do not have a problem with a concerted effort to encourage and establish new clean sustainable energy sources. I do have a problem with the effort being based on a theory that is now being slowly disproved and the spending of billions unnecessarily on carbon credits and other such nonsense.
I look forward to the day when we can take a balanced, considered approach, to the issue of climate change and encourage an honest appraisal of its effects. I also look forward to the public support of any scientist who wishes to come forward with new evidence in support of any climate theory and not have him or her manipulated, threatened or silenced by those with whom they disagree.
Ray Eyre
Personally I think it is just another case of hysteria. Weather patterns are always changing and always will. Man is not happy unless there is something to complain about, So lets all get on the bandwagon and try to generate a new hysteria each week. Lets have a new theme for next week, Lets say that sex causes death.
Barry
Climate change really comes down to your beliefs - you either believe the science or not. There is also so much disinformation about this subject, and no wonder. It is really complicated stuff, far more complicated than your average journalist can grasp. However, how can changing a few of our "greenhouse gas emitting" behaviours - like driving your car less, turning lights off, using renewable energy - be a bad thing? If climate change turns out to be a crock, then at least we have stopped creating as much pollution in our daily lives.
Sharon
It's not as though, if change comes to pass, that its going to be sudden, so we can adapt. Read articles on website www.predictweather.com and you will realise what a money-spinner this is.
Martin
Look, if people want to live near the water,let them, and also let "them" pay for getting rid of the water when it comes . If I buy a home up on higher grounds,away from places where Nimo can visit me, than I should not be ask to pay for people that want to live next to the beach . User pays , bring it on !
G. Rogers
The Earth has been a lot hotter (and colder) than present, and will be again. This has happened in recorded history, ie: the Medieval warm period and the following Little Ice Age. If the Vikings could farm in Greenland during the warm period, surely we can cope with a warmer planet, especially as our tech base is far superior.
Philip
The astonishing leap from carbon emissions to global warming is alarming. And if the dramatic effects of Carbon emissions have this effect on NZ why aren't countries with populations many many times that of NZ not underwater already?
Dan
I find it funny that not one expert has mentioned or raised the thought that land masses are moving. Some areas are getting warmer and some are getting colder. What ever happened to common sense? I guess chicken little will always be with us. (the sky is falling!) and chicken little is good ole Al Gore.
Chris
What a lot of pessimists! Yes, there will be environmental challenges with higher sea levels and increased lowland flooding. But why don't we hear about the advantages of a warming interglacial period. For example, New Zealand can promote itself as the new Gold Coast, with mild winters and hot summers. The increased tourism can subsidize the infrastructural adjustments required by government and councils, plus the cost of more planting in the hill country to act as a sponge and minimize flooding.
>> The debate continues here
