Twenty years ago, on this day, August 12th, 2006,
August 12 2006 Globe and Mail “meet Mr Cool” article by Charles Montgomergy, about Tim Ball.
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was 382ppm. As of 2026, when this post was published, it is 430ppm. This matters because the more carbon dioxide in the air, the more heat gets trapped. The more heat, the more extreme weather events. You can make it more complicated than that if you want, but really, it’s not. Fwiw, I have a tattoo of the Keeling Curve on my left forearm.
The broader context was that climate was back on the agenda because of the ratification by Russia of Kyoto, the EU emissions trading scheme, and especially Al Gore’s film, An Inconvenient Truth. And so, as sure as night follows day, the denialists were being given puff pieces and free air time, because, in part of journalistic “balance”, see balance as bias, but also because the people who own the networks and the newspapers want it that way, (it’s never just one thing, or very rarely)
What I think we can learn from this is that empty suits who were saying things that are useful for the millionaires and billionaires will get lots of free air time, and that many journalists are basically stenographers to power with delusions of integrity and competence.
What happened next Canada pulled out of the Kyoto Protocol. Its emissions continue to skyrocket, thanks to the tar sands, and, like Australia, it is suffering the physical consequences of climate change faster than other nations. And of course, the people and species suffering those consequences tend to be the ones who didn’t cause it. Well, certainly the other species.
On this topic, you might like these other posts on All Our Yesterdays
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You can see the chronological list of All Our Yesterdays “on this day” posts here.
What do you think? Does this pass the ‘so what?’ threshold? Have I got facts wrong? Interpretation wrong? Please do comment on this post, unless you are a denialist, obvs.
If you want to get involved, let me know.
If you want to invite me on your podcast, that would boost my ego and probably improve the currently pitiful hit-rate on this site (the two are not-unrelated).
Also on this day:
August 12, 1970 – US Senate warned about climate change
August 12, 1990 – Channel 4 shows crackpot documentary “The Greenhouse Conspiracy”
August 12 2003 – French heatwave
August 12, 2009 – Deutsche bank enters modelling war in Australia