Leftists would like to think that carbon taxes and climate accords would diminish the impact climate change has on the world, despite the fact that the U.S. only contributes about 16% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions annually. I liken the current climate crisis to the issue of the day over two hundred years ago: the Malthusian trap, in which pioneering economist Thomas Malthus predicted our fate would be due to unsustainable population growth. Both global warming and the Malthusian trap are exacerbated by positive feedback loops and triggered by economic development and technology and, in my view, both solved by the very mechanisms that cause them.
Sources
- Crowther, T. W., Todd Brown, K. E. O., & Bradford, M. A. (2016). Quantifying global soil carbon losses in response to warming. Nature, 540, 104-108. doi:10.1038/nature20150
- Dr. Crowther's comments: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/donald-trump-climate-change-policy-global-warming-expert-thomas-crowther-a7450236.html
- The world has surpassed the 400 PPM CO2 threshold: http://www.climatecentral.org/news/world-passes-400-ppm-threshold-permanently-20738
- The United States' emissions compared to other countries: https://wri.org/blog/2014/11/6-graphs-explain-world%E2%80%99s-top-10-emitters
- There's enough food to feed 12 billion people: https://www.theguardian.com/world/poverty-matters/2012/oct/05/jean-ziegler-africa-starve
- Human population by the year 2100: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/08/17/5-ways-the-world-will-look-dramatically-different-in-2100/?utm_term=.fa41e05371e3
- GM crops are good for climate change and the environment: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/genetically-engineered-crops-are-safe-and-possibly-good-for-climate-change/
- Spreitzer, R. J., & Salvucci, M. E. (2002). RUBISCO: Structure, Regulatory Interactions, and Possibilities for a Better Enzyme. Annual Review of Plant Biology, 53(1), 449-475. doi:10.1146/annurev.arplant.53.100301.135233
- Tobacco plant engineered for more efficient photosynthesis: http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2014/09/plant-engineered-more-efficient-photosynthesis
- Growing more efficient plants could offset 5-8 gigatons of CO2 by 2050: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/genetic-modification-carbon-sequestration/
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