On Global Warming
Ken Spreen introduced the guest speaker Lorrie Goldstein of the Toronto Sun. Lorrie has been at the Toronto Sun for 30 years; he is the Senior Associate Editor. This is his third visit to Rotary and he thanked President Jim for inviting him.
Lorrie spoke on Global Warming. The economy is the biggest issue but global warming and the economy are related. Carbon dioxide is one of the green house gasses that cause climate to warm unnaturally. We are causing an enormous warming in the atmosphere by burning carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is not a pollutant. It is necessary for life on earth. Without carbon dioxide, the average temperature would be about minus 20 degrees Celsius. Lorrie has been writing about this for two years.
Germany is a leader in fighting global warming. Canada contributes 2-3% of man-made carbon emission in the world. If you were in a tropical country, green house gas emission would go down enormously.
Here in Canada, we are a large country that needs lots of energy to survive. Thirty Eight countries have agreed to lower emissions to 6%, however, many other countries, including the USA have not agreed. There was a 95-0 senate vote and the US will not buy in until the whole world joins in.
Al Gore said that the last few years have been the hottest years on record and temperatures should be going up, however, we cannot look at one or two years, we need to look at about 30 years of observation.
Lorrie ended by saying that common sense has been lost, we should be responsible stewards. Let's stop pretending that we fully understand global warming because we don't.
District Governor Norm Bindon thanked the speaker for a very informative speech.