What “Climategate” Means for Us

Does the revelation of falsification of carbon dioxide data by renowned climatologists diminish the necessity for radically more “green”, sustainable living? In a word, “No”!

Does the false data on carbon dioxide that created an academic scandal for certain climatologists undermine the case for global warming? Not necessarily, though it certainly causes some conclusions of the most ardent believers in global warming to be regarded as premature, if not called into question. But, did the case and the imperative for more “green”, sustainable living ever depend on the premise of global warming? No! Not if you appreciate the significance of world population trends.


Here are global population data and projections as presented by GeoHive Global Statistics:
1950 – estimated global population of 2.556 billion people
2009 – estimated global population of 6.779 billion people
2050 – estimated global population of 9.538 billion people

Add to these numbers the facts that India and China each have a current population in excess of 1 billion people with emerging middle classes that equal the size of the current U.S. population. Appreciating that the emerging middle classes of these two countries alone want to live (consume and waste) like Americans; you are drawn to the undeniable conclusion that global resources are not equal to the task of enabling Americans, along with all who wish to live like us, to do so.

It’s, in part, that unquenchable demand for unrestrained access to resources that gives rise to global conflict and results in our engaging in resource extraction operations, whether in drilling or mining, where mistakes may prove catastrophic in terms of loss of lives, livelihood and environmental quality. Last time we checked, we have only one world on which to live and it’s beginning to look must less like the one we collectively aspire to pass on to our children and their children.

Deceased American cartoonist Walt Kelly, speaking through the persona of “Pogo”, had it right when Pogo said, “We have met the enemy and he is us”. Global warming or no global warming, we are compelled to embrace “green and sustainable” as the only path to a future that is far preferable to one which results if we and our fellow global citizens continue acting as if there are no constraints on what we and the world’s societies consume, deplete and discard.