Still a controversy
I am glad that Paul Deacon agrees with me that electric cars do not necessarily decrease carbon dioxide emissions (Letter, Oct. 3, page 8). In fact, they increase the emissions if electricity is generated from coal.
The belief in global warming should be respected even though Google has cited 1,370,000 references for “global warming controversy 2010” and 545,000 references for “carbon dioxide global warming myth.” Many of these controversies are scientific, while some political in nature, and exist in many countries.
There are also 101,000 references for “hockey stick graph controversy.” A sharp temperature rise is shown for the last century in a graph of the estimated temperatures over a period of 1,000 years — like a hockey stick. A reference mentions “The Hockey Stick graph — the foundation of global warming theory — has shown to be scientifically invalid, perhaps even a fraud.”
Fox News recently reported that a sharp temperature peak before the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide was shaved off from the hockey stick.
Last winter, many parts of the US experienced record high snowfall and the lowest temperatures in 100 years and this was claimed as part of the global warming phenomena.
Some criticized such a claim as “Heads, I win; tails, you lose.” Global warming is now used interchangeably with climate change.
Achim Steiner, head of the Nairobi-based UN Environment Programme, said that extreme weather this year, such as floods in Pakistan or Russia’s heat wave, was a “stark warning” of the need to act to slow global warming.
I hope he has not “confused local weather events with the global climate,” as Deacon has indicated.
Charles Hong
Columbus, Ohio
In the past month, two important developments are poised to equip Taiwan with expanded capabilities to play foreign policy offense in an age where Taiwan’s diplomatic space is seriously constricted by a hegemonic Beijing. Taiwan Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) led a delegation of Taiwan and US companies to the Philippines to promote trilateral economic cooperation between the three countries. Additionally, in the past two weeks, Taiwan has placed chip export controls on South Africa in an escalating standoff over the placing of its diplomatic mission in Pretoria, causing the South Africans to pause and ask for consultations to resolve
An altercation involving a 73-year-old woman and a younger person broke out on a Taipei MRT train last week, with videos of the incident going viral online, sparking wide discussions about the controversial priority seats and social norms. In the video, the elderly woman, surnamed Tseng (曾), approached a passenger in a priority seat and demanded that she get up, and after she refused, she swung her bag, hitting her on the knees and calves several times. In return, the commuter asked a nearby passenger to hold her bag, stood up and kicked Tseng, causing her to fall backward and
In South Korea, the medical cosmetic industry is fiercely competitive and prices are low, attracting beauty enthusiasts from Taiwan. However, basic medical risks are often overlooked. While sharing a meal with friends recently, I heard one mention that his daughter would be going to South Korea for a cosmetic skincare procedure. I felt a twinge of unease at the time, but seeing as it was just a casual conversation among friends, I simply reminded him to prioritize safety. I never thought that, not long after, I would actually encounter a patient in my clinic with a similar situation. She had
The election campaign for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chair is heating up, with only 10 days left before party members cast their ballots on Oct. 18. The campaign has revealed potential strengths for the party going into important elections next year and in 2028, particularly the desire among leading candidates to deepen cooperation with the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). However, it has also exposed the party’s persistent weaknesses, especially in formulating a policy on cross-strait relations that can appeal to the majority of Taiwanese. Six candidates are registered: former Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), 73; former legislator Cheng Li-wun
RSS