Speaking at a Conservative party conference on Sunday, Secretary of State for Environment Owen Paterson, who attended the National Leathersellers College and as such is fully qualified to comment on climate change, very rightly identified the many benefits that come from global warming. "People get very emotional about this subject and I think we should just accept that the climate has been changing for centuries," he said. "Remember that for humans, the biggest death is cold in winter, far bigger than heat in summer. It would also lead to longer growing seasons and you could extend growing a little further north in some of the colder areas."
Paterson added, "I think the relief of this latest report is that is shows a really quite modest increase, half of which has already happened. They are talking one to two-and-a-half degrees."
In his speech Owen Paterson missed out on many other benefits of global warming, however; for example, the increased variability in weather could lead to more conversation topics in Britain. Scientists have previously found that thunderstorms, tornadoes, droughts, and forest fires may all be on the rise as a result of climate change, and most of us would agree that talking about the 'frightful fire tornado that tore through London yesterday' is a far more interesting topic to be had over tea and biscuits than 'isn't it wet'.
During the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923 a fire tornado killed 38,000 people in 15 minutes.
Climate change could also lead to an increase in jobs in the construction industry and rescue services. For example, the flash floods in Colorado this past month have seen the destruction of 1,800 homes, 200 miles of road, and 50 bridges. Sandra Pastel of the National Geographic believes that climate change could have contributed to the severity of the floods, as the long-term drought in Colorado would have led to hardening of the soil, which means less water would be absorbed into the ground. With the total cost of re-building estimated at $760 million, what many see as a tragedy could lead to the creation of many new jobs. Similarly, if the Thames were to overflow and destroy thousands of homes, new construction projects could help solve the unemployment problem in Britain. While critics may view the people killed as a result of this tragedy a drawback, as Owen Paterson very rightly points out, if it's happening anyway why make any effort to stop it?
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