Re: Rain

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

David Welch:
>Because growth and social progress under capitalism is limited, so some
>explanation is required. It's notable that the European countries who have
>been the strongest advocates of anti-global warming measures have the
>weakest growth, while their strongest opponent, the US, is the fastest
>growing.

This is all wrong. The European countries tend to be more environmentally
aware because there are powerful social democratic parties and trade unions
that give lip-service and more to green issues. The German Greens and
Social Democratic Party have been engaged with such issues since the early
1970s, from opposing nuclear power plants to reducing traffic in the inner
city.  All this was taking place when European economic growth was much
more vigorous than in the United States.

In any case, the government that has taken the most powerful stand against
global warming is just south of Florida and is certainly dedicated to
growth and social progress.

----
Everyone knows this past decade has been the hottest in the last 100 years
and it includes six of the seven hottest years in history. According to
existing records, 1990 was the hottest year in history. This global warming
phenomenon, a result of the so-called "greenhouse effect,'' entails
important ecological, economic, and social consequences.  According to
certain estimates, given the lack of limitations on the current emission of
gases that cause the greenhouse effect, the amount of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere will double between now and sometime in the 2025 to 2050 period,
causing an increase of between 1.5 and 4.5 degrees Celsius in the world's
average temperature. A direct effect of this phenomenon will be an increase
of between 30 and 50 cm in the sea level by 2050, and approximately 1 meter
in 2100, which would result in the flooding of many densely populated
coastal areas. It would also affect many inland states.  Other forecasts
are much more worrisome and on a shorter term.

Weather changes would bring, among other things, changes in the rainy
seasons and marine ecology. They would increase the probability of
phenomenons such as hurricanes, tropical cyclones, and typhoons. Likewise,
this would increase the temperate zones' vulnerability to tropical diseases
such as malaria, dengue, and yellow fever; and many of the area crops, such
as wheat, would be critically affected.

Fidel Castro, 1992 speech


Louis Proyect
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