Blaming man convenient excuse; UP prof cites Gore errors
By Jocelyn Uy
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:07:00 05/18/2008
HUMANS MAY BE TAKING TOO much of the blame for climate change when it is largely triggered by natural causes, a biologist from the University of the Philippines said, citing nine errors in former US Vice President Al Gore’s documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth.”
The award-winning and fourth highest-grossing documentary film ever showed the grim consequences of global warming with anthropogenic or human-caused greenhouse gases as the main culprit.
But Dr. Perry Ong, director of the Institute of Biology at the UP College of Science, said human-induced global warming was among many environmental problems that interacted in the “eternal tug of war” between global warming and cooling.
Popular explanations on the warming of the earth identified humans as being mainly responsible for influencing the climate through greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
According to the documentary, for which Gore was awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize (together with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change or IPCC), greenhouse gases emitted by humans were accountable for the death of polar bears, the melting of the snows of Mt. Kilimanjaro and the dehydration of Lake Chad, among others.
Ong said GHGs spawned by humans contribute merely 33 percent to global warming compared to the 67 percent traced to natural causes, which include changes in solar radiation, volcanic eruptions and the shifting of the Earth’s tilt and orbit.
“Humankind is guilty of a lot of crimes against the Earth and pumping greenhouse gases is just one among many,” Ong stressed.
The scientist echoed an unconventional and less popular view on such a “hyped up” environmental issue during his lecture at the UP Diliman on Wednesday.
Challenged in UK court
His talk, “Anthropogenic Global Warming: Beyond the Hype, Doing the Right Thing for the Right Reason” is part of the UP lecture series in celebration of its centennial this year.
Ong has a Ph.D. in science for behavioral ecology and evolutionary biology. He was given the Outstanding Young Scientist award by the National Academy of Science and Technology in 2000 for his contributions to the better understanding of Philippine wildlife diversity. He was a former representative of Conservation International.
Nine blunders
In his talk, Ong disputed Gore’s worst-case scenarios in the documentary, noting that its distribution as an educational material by the United Kingdom Ministry of Education has been challenged in court.
Later, a UK court declared the documentary as a political tract, citing nine blunders in the film.
Ong listed the errors followed by his contentions:
1. Sea level rise of 20 feet or 7 meters.
The 2007 United Nations IPCC reported in its fourth assessment that the harshest picture was merely .59 m at the extreme range with a 4-degree Centigrade rise.
2. Evacuation of Pacific islanders to New Zealand.
Ong said there was no evidence that this happened.
3. Shut down of the ocean conveyor.
The IPCC said anthropogenic global warming could slow down but not entirely shut down the ocean conveyor.
4. Humans, by releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, are causing global temperatures to increase.
According to Ong, temperature rises first, then CO2 increases.
5. Melting snows of Mt. Kilimanjaro.
Ong said this was caused by other reasons, not just human causes.
6. Drying of Lake Chad.
Ong said no sufficient evidence was presented to establish that anthropogenic global warming caused this.
7. Hurricane Katrina.
The magnitude of the calamity was apparently caused by the US government’s neglect to fix the levee (an embankment built alongside a river to prevent flooding) before it broke.
8. Death of polar bears.
Ong said only one study was presented with four deaths and this did not support Gore’s claim.
9. Loss of coral reefs.
This could also be attributed to overfishing and pollution rather than greenhouse gases emitted by humans, according to Ong.
Convenient excuse
“Climate change has become a convenient excuse when there are other [environmental] issues that need to be addressed,” Ong said.
“If we disproportionately blame ourselves for [climate change], our response will be different … we should look at the [bigger picture] and address other issues,” he added.
Citing American evolutionary biologist Jared Diamond’s book, “Collapse,” Ong said there are 12 serious environment problems that need to be addressed in order to effectively deal with climate change.
Among these issues are: The destruction and conversion of forest, ocean, fresh water systems and other natural habitats; overharvesting of wild foods; the loss of biodiversity; excess fossil fuel extraction; soil erosion and swelling human population.
Going back to basic science
Going back to basic sound science could help in understanding and eventually addressing bigger problems in the environment, Ong said.
The water cycle, for instance, would explain the frequent occurrence of droughts and flash floods rather than the concept of human-caused global warming, he said.
“When the forest is lost, the cycle is broken. Water is not retained and floods the lowlands during the rainy season. No water is released during the dry months because the storage tank—which is the forest—has been destroyed,” Ong explained.
“Climate change will exacerbate this alternating condition of drought and floods but [it did] not cause it,” he stressed.
The surging human population, he pointed out, must also be countered so as not to compound other serious environmental issues. More people would mean more deforestation, more demand for food and more loss of biodiversity, Ong said.
To illustrate, he gave the example of cell phones: Say, the country has 18 million households and each household has one cell phone. Each phone would need 5 watts of power to charge so the entire country would be consuming 90 megawatts of electricity, he said.
Changing the ‘map’
“Think of the other electronic toys like the iPod, MP3 players, laptops, which also need to be powered. Are we willing to give up these [toys] permanently to reduce power consumption and GHG emissions?” Ong said.
To ensure that the Earth will continue to support life, all environmental issues must be addressed in a “comprehensive and systematic manner ... No sacred cows, no ifs, no buts,” he said.
More importantly, Ong suggested a change in the “map” (mind-sets, attitudes and practices” of the world.
He said people should work together and bridge “gaps” (goals, aspirations and passion) to protect the environment.
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