Facts & figures
We’ve all seen climate sceptics on social media denying the existence of climate change and the environmental impact of the manufacture of solar cells, batteries, electric vehicles and turbines.
Some of the data they reference is correct (although the majority isn’t), but it doesn’t tell the whole story, and often makes assumptions that ignore vital related data, rejecting any long term benefit.
We have collected Green data resources to help you get a rounded view without spin.
Limiting the effects of Climate Change isn’t easy, but it beats the alternative of having increased mass extinction and massive levels of immigration from the hottest areas that are no longer habitable.
If you want to limit immigration, you have to limit your impact on the planet. The changes needed are going to be hard to accept but they are the only choices we have left. Hoping for a ‘Star Trek’ solution isn’t a risk we can afford to pin our futures on.
Frequently asked questions
The Royal Society in association with US National Academy of Sciences has created a comprehensive resource on all aspects of Climate Change.
How will climate change affect me?
One of the best breakdowns of immediate effects have been written up on Columbia Universities Earth Institute website. The slant is very American, and the solutions only give guidance on how to survive current levels of Climate Change. The predictions from 2019 are already being seen.
Are electric vehicles really green?
The answer isn’t that simple. In the long run, the answer is yes but it still has an impact – which is used by some people to dismiss the solution completely. There is a good breakdown of the impact of electric cars on the Get Green Now site.
This article from Clean technica gives a simple breakdown of the differences between electric cars and ICE (Internal Combustion Engine)cars with efficiency data.
Wind, solar & wave power – are they really so green?
This is a subject that many climate sceptics attack to win the ‘clean energy’ debate. There is no method of energy generation that is 100% clean. No one on the Green side would, or should, say that. Nothing is black and white in this debate. Zero carbon methods of generation require energy and materials to manufacture – particularly in manufacture of batteries and rare earth magnets in turbines.
Just as our impact on the climate has been a long term (in the history of our species – but short in global terms), so is the net impact of the methods of ‘clean’ energy production.
Wind Turbines – don’t they kill birds?
This is a regular criticism of wind turbine whenever there is an application to site them or as a veiled ‘green’ concern that they aren’t good for the environment.
An in-depth study was made by MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) in 2023 regarding the data in the US. Whilst there are bird strike deaths with wind turbines, the figures pale when compared with those caused by the domestic cat or legacy fossil fuel electricity generation facilities.
The full article can be read here