This Saturday, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) wants to shut off the lights for an hour around the globe as a gesture in favor of Earth and against global warming. In Spain, many cities will take part in this initiative officially, including Barcelona, \u200b\u200bMadrid, Zaragoza, Granada, Bilbao, Valencia and Segovia. The lights of monuments such as the Giralda, the Torre del Oro, Triana Bridge, Royal Palace, the Congress of Deputies and Alcala Gate will stay to the English oscuras.A been encouraged also to the lights in their homes.
These efforts are fraught with good intentions. But unfortunately, this initiative is a purely symbolic gesture that gives the erroneous impression that there is easy and instant formulas to solve climate change. Even assuming that this Saturday 1,000 million people turn out the lights, the whole operation as a whole would suspension equivalent to the emissions of greenhouse gases in China for only six seconds. In economic terms, environmental benefits and humanitarian efforts throughout the developed world amount to no more than £ 10,000 [about 10,752 euros at current exchange rates].
The campaign does not ask anyone to do something that will cost more, and without heating, air conditioning, telephones, internet or hot food. Presumably, if someone sits at home watching television, with heating and the computer running, you can claim to have taken part in a response to global warming ever to keep the lights in your home. The symbolism is almost perverso.Además, the initiative could lead to higher pollution together than if we just leave the lights on.
When asked to dispense with electricity, people resort to candles. The candles seem very natural, but they are almost one hundred times less efficient than traditional incandescent bulbs and more than 300 times less efficient than fluorescent lights. If a candle is lit each bulb goes off, that will not go into reducing CO2 emissions at all and even if you light two candles, emit even more CO2. To make matters worse, candles contribute to air pollution indoors between 10 and 100 times the level of pollution produced by all cars, industry and electricity production.
There is no cheap substitute for carbon we burn. This is the reason why many promises of drastic reductions in CO2 are simply empty commitments contenido.Una serious solution to global warming must necessarily focus on research and development of clean energy instead of engaging in empty promises reducing carbon emissions.
is essential to urgently get to solar energy and other resources more innovative technologies cheaper than fossil fuels, so we can free ourselves from the traditional sources of energy for much longer than one hour, while maintaining the planet funcionamiento.Todos countries should agree on spending 0.05 % of its GDP on research and development of energy with low carbon emissions.
not without irony that acts purely symbolic at this time leads us back to other times darker.
Bjorn Lomborg is a professor at Copenhagen Business School, environmental popularizer and author of The Skeptical Environmentalist. Bjorn Lomborg
http://www.elmundo.es/opinion/tribuna-libre/2009/03/2619995.html
