Climate change confusion saved by the horsemen of the medical apocalypse.

Hot on the heels of reports that the possibility of increased catastrophic events due to global warming climate change may not be as accurate as first thought because of the random nature of such events, we have the suggestion that the effect of CO2 may not be as bad as first thought:

High levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere may have less of an impact on the rate of global warming than feared, a new study suggests.

The authors of the study stress that global warming is real and that increases in atmospheric CO2, which has doubled from pre-industrial standards, will have multiple serious impacts.

But more severe estimates that predict temperatures could rise up to an average of 10 degrees Celsius are unlikely, the researchers report in the journal Science.

The 2007 United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report estimates that surface temperatures could rise by as much as an average of 3 degrees with a doubling of atmospheric CO2 from pre-industrial standards. The new study suggests temperatures will rise on average 2.3 degrees under the same conditions.

So, on the same data its gone down from 10degrees to 2.3, or less than a quarter. It will be interesting to see how this plays out with Al Gore’s predictions of twenty feet rises in sea levels, and Tim Flannery’s augury of never ending drought being the normal climatic condition for Australia. Given the flood levels of the early part of this year, and the forced releases of water from dams for flood mitigation purposes currently happening, a guy could almost lose confidence in our climate gurus.

But not to worry, the Climate Change Commission has released a new report confidently predicting the imminent arrival of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, (Well three actually, Pestilence is favorite in the fifth at Doomben on Saturday.):

CLIMATE change is a threat to the health of Australians and will cause deaths, diseases, injuries and even post-traumatic stress disorder in coming years, a new government report claims. But climate change sceptics have called it "alarmist" and describe it as "nonsense." (bastards)

The Climate Commission's The Critical Decade: Climate Change And Health report, released today, states climate change - including rising temperatures, sea-level rise and extreme weather events - has "serious consequences on health" and scientists predict it will only get worse.

With Australia already susceptible to extreme weather conditions such as floods, bushfires and drought, the report states such incidents will be more intense and more frequent because of the changing climate, causing more deaths.

Other predicted health risks include water and food contamination from rising temperatures, mental health problems such as post traumatic stress disorder because of the physical and economic impacts of extreme weather on people, and the spread of infectious diseases such as dengue fever.

Perhaps those mental health problems will be post traumatic stress disorder among climate frantics unable to cope with their predictions going out the window.