How Dare She! Such Blasphemy!

[o no b]

Global Warming as Seen From Bangladesh

November 9 2009

QUOTE: Mrs. Begum's biggest challenge is not what the sea level may do in
five or 10 decades. She has a more modest request: "It would be a heaven's
gift if a proper drainage system could be arranged in this area where all
the drains are covered and do not overflow."

QUOTE: Getting basic sanitation and safe drinking water to the three billion
people around the world who do not have it now would cost nearly $4 billion
a year. By contrast, cuts in global carbon emissions that aim to limit
global temperature increases to less than 2�C over the next century would
cost $40 trillion a year by 2100. These cuts will do nothing to increase the
number of people with access to clean drinking water and sanitation. Cutting
carbon emissions will likely increase water scarcity, because global warming
is expected to increase average rainfall levels around the world.

QUOTE: For Mrs. Begum, the choice is simple. After global warming was
explained to her, she said: "When my kids haven't got enough to eat, I don't
think global warming will be an issue I will be thinking about."

QUOTE: "So many people like you have come and interviewed us. I have not
seen any improvement in our conditions," she said.

It is time the developed world started listening

The following article is part of a series leading up to the December United
Nations conference in Copenhagen on how ordinary people in different
countries view global warming.

When the monsoon rains come, Momota Begum and her husband and children must
take turns sleeping in their tiny concrete house's one bed to escape the
waste and human excrement that can wash in from outside. They live in a
three-decade old refugee camp in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is run for
Urdu-speaking people who found themselves on the wrong side of the border
after Bangladesh won its independence from Pakistan in 1971.

Late last year, campaigning politicians and journalists visited the 20,000
residents of the camp. This visit gave many of the refugees hope that their
living conditions would soon be improved.

"They saw our living conditions here," 45-year-old Mrs. Begum told a
Copenhagen Consensus Center researcher in June. "It gave us hope every time
these people came, but now I understand that even if people know about us,
it doesn't matter."

As a cart-puller, Mrs. Begum's husband earns about $44 each month. The
family has no savings. Mrs. Begum believes that education could help her
children achieve a better life. But her eldest daughter dropped out of
school at age 13. The family could not afford the $22 annual fee for books
and uniforms. "It's better that she stays at home and helps out," Mrs. Begum
said.

Bangladesh provides camp residents with water and electricity, but not
proper sanitation. Mrs. Begum cooks the daily meal next to an open drain.
Diarrhea is common. Mrs. Begum's family cannot afford the $2.90-$4.30 cost
of going to a private health clinic when someone in the family gets sick.

In the developed world, when we consider how best to help Bangladesh, our
minds quickly turn to policies that would reduce the amount of carbon
emissions to lessen the risk that global warming will lead to rising sea
levels over the next 50 or 100 years.

Mrs. Begum's biggest challenge is not what the sea level may do in five or
10 decades. She has a more modest request: "It would be a heaven's gift if a
proper drainage system could be arranged in this area where all the drains
are covered and do not overflow."

Getting basic sanitation and safe drinking water to the three billion people
around the world who do not have it now would cost nearly $4 billion a year.
By contrast, cuts in global carbon emissions that aim to limit global
temperature increases to less than 2�C over the next century would cost $40
trillion a year by 2100. These cuts will do nothing to increase the number
of people with access to clean drinking water and sanitation. Cutting carbon
emissions will likely increase water scarcity, because global warming is
expected to increase average rainfall levels around the world.

For Mrs. Begum, the choice is simple. After global warming was explained to
her, she said: "When my kids haven't got enough to eat, I don't think global
warming will be an issue I will be thinking about."

One of Bangladesh's most vulnerable citizens, Mrs. Begum has lost faith in
the media and politicians.

"So many people like you have come and interviewed us. I have not seen any
improvement in our conditions," she said.

It is time the developed world started listening.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704402404574523493799731188.html

Warmest Regards

Bon z0

"It is a remarkable fact that despite the worldwide expenditure of perhaps
US$50 billion since 1990, and the efforts of tens of thousands of scientists
worldwide, no human climate signal has yet been detected that is distinct
from natural variation."

Bob Carter, Research Professor of Geology, James Cook University, Townsville