It seems to me with his ‘rocket scientist’ linr he’s sort of trying to fluff that point. It sounds to me like he’s an accountant - working out the economic carbon accounting model.

Always wise to listen to the accountants for a full and reasonable assessment of the scientific data in these situations.

The blog Deltoid has a refutation of Evan’s article.

So, where were we?

Speculation on my part purely…

The reference to the Pope, after the University of Regensberg’s theological address in 2006, for apologising is a misinterpretation of his remarks and had been wrongly reported in the media whereas what he was merely expressing was regret for the misinterpretation of his remarks by the Muslim world and with that expression of regret it did have the effect of taking some of the more dangerous steam out of the reaction before any more violence could be carried out. When the violence did take place those protesting that Islam had been insulted by being called a violent faith failed to grasp that their own actions were graphically proving that very point and when Tasnim Aslam of the Pakistani foreign ministry said absurdly –‘’Anyone who describes Islam as a religion as intolerant encourages violence.’’ - clearly indicates such people need an irony transplant.

In that theological Regensberg address the Pope was arguing whether holy war could ever be justified and quoting an obscure 14th-century Christian Byzantine emperor, Manuel II Paleologos, who had said:

‘Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.’

While these remarks did not reflect the Pope’s own opinion he cited these remarks merely by way of introduction to a scholarly consideration of the relationship between reason and faith. Christianity, he argued, was indelibly associated with reason, and he contrasted this with faiths that were promulgated instead through the sword.

In fact, the Pope’s real crime surely lay in speaking a truth that is denied by the many who claim that Islam is a religion of peace. On the contrary, Islam does indeed have a long history of imposing its faith on the world by the sword. The Emperor Manuel II Paleologos whose quoted remarks sparked this uproar had spoken in despair when his empire was under siege from the Ottomans.
It is that religious tradition of holy war, historically firmly embedded in Islamic jurisprudence and acted on today, which is precisely what is driving global Islamic terrorism and which is why the Pope’s observations were a contribution to a crucial worldwide debate which must be had.

“The atmospheric greenhouse effect is a flea on the back of an oceanic elephant and the influence of CO2 but a microbe on the back of the flea and the influence of anthropogenic CO2 but a molecule on the back of the microbe.”