Gobal yawning

THE "After 8 debate" on SAFM this morning supposedly dealt with global warming. Jeremy Mags must have thought he was on to a winner. Alas, it was a damp squib. A Sasol spokesman tiptoed through the obvious minefields. A self-appointed expert from GroundWorks droned on against the usual suspects ( anyone richer than him) and -- at least while I listened -- no one challenged the basic assumption that human activity causes global warming. Oh, incontrovertible evidence of global warming, being a dire threat to the planet, was offered by an earnest young lady who claimed that Kokerboom trees were dying in the drier areas of South Africa. She did, grudgingly admit that they were thriving in not so dry parts. Since global warming believers are at the forefront of attacks on the energy industry, Spigot recommends that readers scan the Internet for antidotes to these latter-day Luddite arguments. Googling "Global warming skeptics" turns up some interesting sites which, whatever the Greenies say, does at least prove that the subject is not as cut and dried as they make out. The Heritage Foundation also has a marvellous quiz on what causes global warming. Yes, Spigot does concede that the climate may be changing. It always has. And long before anyone dreamed of filthy capitalism.