Changes

==Global warming==

==Global warming==

 

* In Australia, the 2010-2011 Queensland floods resulted in 35 deaths and over $1 billion dollars in damage. Some senators and academics asserted that the floods were caused by global warming, and in particular, the coal industry. This link was used to justify calls to tax the coal industry as a higher rate, however the assertion of the floods being caused by global warming was revealed to be a selective and incomplete use of historical scientific data. Peter Westmore wrote:

Recently, in a partial victory for science over politics, the UN's [[World Health Organization]] reversed a 30-year ban on [[DDT]], but without admitting that the ban had been politically motivated.

{{cquote|The clearest evidence that the floods are part of the normal cycle comes from the data collected by the Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology, which has been available for years on the bureau's web site. It has a page devoted specifically to the history of ''Known floods in the Brisbane and Bremer River Basin, including the cities of Brisbane and Ipswich''. The record shows that since 1840, there have been five floods higher than that which recently inundated parts of Brisbane, three of them in the 19th century, long before there was any suggestion of global warming.<ref>Westmore, P. [http://www.newsweekly.com.au/articles/2011feb05_g.html ''CLIMATE CHANGE: Floods caused by global warming: Bob Brown'']; News Weekly; 5th February, 2011</ref>}}

==Pesticide use==

==Pesticide use==

 

The best documented case in American history is the banning of [[DDT]] immediately after a hearing from the 1970s, in which it was shown to be safe when used as directed. In small quantities, DDT can even be eaten by human beings{{fact}} - it's not a poison like arsenic or cyanide but it is accumulated in bodies through the food chain affecting especially birds (see closer article [[DDT]]). The new EPA administrator disregarded the hearing results and unilaterally banned DDT. The ensuing U.S. ban put pressure on foreign governments to stop using DDT for mosquito control and ultimately led to a worldwide rise in the number of malaria cases, which thwarted efforts to control the [[Malaria epidemic|spread of the disease]]. When the UN's [[World Health Organization]] reversed a longstanding ban on [[DDT]] in 2006, it did not admit that the ban was politically motivated, but instead labelled the cause as "increased health and environmental concerns" from the 1980s.<ref>World Health Organization, [http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2006/pr50/en/index.html ''WHO Gives Indoor Use of DDT a Clean Bill of Health for Controlling Malaria'']; September 15th, 2006</ref>

The best documented case in American history is the banning of [[DDT]] immediately after a hearing in which it was shown to be safe when used as directed. In small quantities, it can even be eaten by human beings - it's not a poison like arsenic or cyanide but it is accumulated in bodies through the food chain effecting especially birds (see closer article [[DDT]]). The new EPA administrator disregarded the hearing results and unilaterally banned DDT. The U.S. ban put pressure on foreign governments to stop using DDT for mosquito control and ultimately led to a worldwide rise in the number of malaria cases; thwarting efforts to control the spread of the disease (see [[Malaria epidemic]]).  

Many other chemicals have been considered dangerous and banned for political reasons, often involving health scares. Also nuclear power and even the internal combustion engine have been targeted by partisans using [[junk science]]. Most recently, [[environmentalist]]s refer to [[global warming]] to get internal combustion engine banned (see [[IPCC Summary for Policymakers]]). <ref>http://www.ipcc.ch/SPM2feb07.pdf IPCC, Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis, Summary for Policymakers</ref>

Many other chemicals have been considered dangerous and banned for political reasons, often involving health scares. Also nuclear power and even the internal combustion engine have been targeted by partisans using [[junk science]]. Most recently, [[environmentalist]]s refer to [[global warming]] to get internal combustion engine banned (see [[IPCC Summary for Policymakers]]). <ref>http://www.ipcc.ch/SPM2feb07.pdf IPCC, Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis, Summary for Policymakers</ref>