Global warming, resulting in climate change is, or should be, at the top of the list for politicians. But because of lobbying by large companies dealing in fossil fuels and the reluctance of governments to antagonise voters who are employed by these industries, the issue is set aside or, despite irrefutable scientific evidence, is reframed as an endless debate. The driving force of global warming is the progressive accumulation of CO2 in the atmosphere, which is the result of the burning of fossil fuels – coal, petrol, gas, and the removal of trees and other plants which sequester carbon. But there is a cause which precedes these – overpopulation. There are too many humans in the world and they are using the electric power produced by burning the fuels and felling trees to produce more food. So one way to solve the climate problem would be to stop any further increase in the numbers of people born.
Another prior cause is poverty. Poor people burn cheap fuels, usually wood, to cook and keep warm, and aspire to become affluent and use electricity. They also have more children than the well-off families as they are needed for work to ensure their survival and contraceptives are expensive..
But there are yet other prior causes which receive little or no attention. Firstly Capitalism, which believes solely in the continuous economic growth of societies without counting the cost to the environment, and Religion, of many varieties, with belief in the sanctity of the family unit and its primary importance to produce children. Capitalism is responsible for global warming by encouraging the mining and burning of more and more fossil fuels: Religions for denying its adherents control of their fertility and encouraging the uncontrolled breeding of more and more children.
Climate change cannot be controlled through paying attention to just one cause – the accumulation of CO2 in the atmosphere, but only by an awareness and control of the other causative factors
An old codger's comments 