Deck chairs on the Titanic 3

While it's noble that people the world over are horrified by the human toll of the tsunami (Mozambique just donated $100,000 for tsunami relief), this outpouring of sympathy is not altogether logical. As Nicholas Kristof pointed out in the New York Times, malaria, AIDS, and diarrhea each cause as many deaths each month as the tsunami did in December. If it was the actual toll of human suffering that got to us (and not just the theatrics of destruction), maybe we as a species would be more concerned about climate change. But for now, we can at least read about why investing in infrastructure in low-lying coastal areas may not be such a smart idea. Here's an interesting analysis by The Australia Institute.

Shalini Ramanathan is a project developer with Africa Clean Energy and is based in Nairobi, Kenya.

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  1. da silva Posted 6:16 am
    10 Jan 2005

    irrational manAll true, Shalini. But, I have to say, it reminds me of Bjorn Lomborg's argument about global warming; namely, that if the world shifted the economic efforts of Kyoto to, say, AIDs, malaria and water treatment, it would exert a much greater net benefit for humanity. Say what you will about Mr. Lomborg, but he's not entirely wrong there. He is, however, ignoring the reality of how things work. That is, we are not so rational.

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  2. David Roberts's avatar

    David Roberts Posted 8:46 am
    10 Jan 2005

    third choiceHow about shifting the economic efforts of Kyoto to sustainable development and emerging technologies, which would a) save lives, b) lift folks out of poverty, and c) mitigate global warming.
    I'm more and more thinking that they way to fight global warming is not to take it head on -- i.e., concentrate directly on CO2 emissions -- but to change the background circumstances that lead to it.

    www.grist.org

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  3. McGee Posted 4:13 pm
    14 Jan 2005

    I agreeWe need to stop fighting about 'if' it's happening and do something about it.

    People don't want to admit we caused it and they don't want to see any proof that it is happening.

    So lets move on to figuring out ways to alter the causes. It all comes down to the way we live. The large portions of the CO2 emissions are commercial and out of our control, for the most part. However, I would like to see many more earth friendly practices becoming common place as recycling FINALLY has (at least in my area). Bring on the hybrid cars, real ones, not the fakes that shut down a valve or two while cruising. There is a difference between good mileage and a hybrid! sorry...kinda got off topic

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