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Bjorn Lomborg

@BjornLomborg

Jul 17, 2024 • 7 tweets • 4 min read • Read on X

Scrolly

Another environmental scare debunked:

Acid rain killing all forests was the main environmental scare in the 1980s

A new half-century study shows acid rain doesn't kill trees

— actually, trees grow more with acid rain!

sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

Acid rain scare in the 1980s delivered full-on panic

No more so than in Germany, where papers claimed "the forest is dying," called it an "ecological Hiroshima" and claimed ‘‘the dying of the forests will have a greater impact on our country than World War II’’

All false

The 1980s Acid Rain scare we know now was mostly false

New study: acid rain actually makes trees grow faster

Yet, a majority of Germans in 1985 believed "all forests will be dead by 2000" because of acid rain

We were misled

bibliothek.wzb.eu/pdf/1986/iiug-…
sauerlaender-verlag.com/CMS/uploads/me…

https://x.com/BjornLomborg/status/1424475720835899392

Environmental scares abound — and most are wrong or exaggerated

We are constantly being told that the world is ending — like the forests were "4 minutes to midnight" in 1980

Except it wasn't

Experts constantly tell us that "we have just 10 years left"

https://x.com/BjornLomborg/status/1424475720835899392

One peer-reviewed study shows 67% of apocalyptic environmental claims are wrong

because they never happened

Like when King Charles in 2019 told us about climate change that "we have 18 months to save the world"

telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2…
inderscience.com/info/inarticle…

Here is a good academic overview of the Acid Rain scare

Conclusion: The real forests didn't die. The forests only died in the minds of people

sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

For a wonderful example of utterly wrong environmental predictions, see Life magazine from January 1970:

By 1980, we'll all have to wear gas masks to survive air pollution

They don't know if CO₂ will cause mass floodings or a new ice age

But they know it will be bad

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More from @BjornLomborg

Bjorn Lomborg

@BjornLomborg

Apr 30

Two days ago, Spain lost 55% of its power, most from solar

Perception: Everyone wants to blame anything but renewables

Reality: With renewables, the grid gets vulnerable (missing inertia, mainly from fossil fuels) so we need more costly renewable management

So Reuters deceptively tells us, "don't blame renewables," blame "management of renewables"

reuters.com/business/energ…

https://x.com/JavierBlas/status/1917192789097435598

https://x.com/JavierBlas/status/1917192789097435598

"By continuously reducing inertia, Spain’s policymakers engineered a vulnerability."

"Spain’s electrical grid was operating with very little margin for error, a risky game that the Spanish government has been playing more aggressively each year since energy-transitionist ideologues took power two decades ago."

archive.ph/eonJR

Read 5 tweets

Bjorn Lomborg

@BjornLomborg

Jan 25

The myth that the green energy transition is inevitable and will make cheap electricity for everyone is one of the most dangerous self-delusions of the global elite

My piece for Sunday Telegraph

archive.ph/EufH0

Globally, fossil fuels supply 81% today (2022)

only marginally down from 81.2% in 2000

On current trends, fossil fuels are not on track to end in 2050
but in 4-9 centuries
iea.org/data-and-stati…

You are told that solar and wind are cheap

But cramming in more solar and wind just makes power more and more costly

because solar and wind are worthless when not sunny and windy

iea.org/data-and-stati……

x.com/i/web/status/1…

Read 4 tweets

Bjorn Lomborg

@BjornLomborg

Oct 31, 2024

Spanish floods are tragic — as they are everywhere

But remember flood deaths down dramatically

Globally, floods now kill 5,400/year, down from 400,000/year in 1930s

Deaths from European floods down 7-fold to less than 100 per year today

nature.com/articles/s4146…

Despite breathless climate reporting,

not only are European floods causing fewer deaths (tweet above) but

Losses from floods in Europe are declining, not increasing

nature.com/articles/s4146…

Death from flooding declining (2nd row)

not only for rich countries but for poor countries

Deaths declining for almost all extreme weather for rich and poor

for flood, flash flood, coastal flood, cold and wind

and for all extreme weather

sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

Read 5 tweets

Bjorn Lomborg

@BjornLomborg

Sep 15, 2024

New study: Climate change saves 282,000 babies

Higher temperatures mean more heat, and more babies dying from heat

but it also means less cold, and many more babies not dying from cold

In total, higher temps saved 282,251 babies in 29 poorer countries from 2000-19

Did you read that anywhere?

nature.com/articles/s4146…

https://x.com/BjornLomborg/status/1680966007148498945

As we have come to expect from studies of heat and cold, they use unequal scales, which makes heat and cold look about the same

— they're not, as you can see on the right

nature.com/articles/s4146…

https://x.com/BjornLomborg/status/1680966007148498945

The study is very explicit in pointing out that the change in extra heat deaths and fewer cold deaths is caused by climate change

nature.com/articles/s4146…

Read 6 tweets

Bjorn Lomborg

@BjornLomborg

Sep 11, 2024

EU climate policy has enormous costs

Industry electricity prices have increased 70% in real terms since 2000

EU industries now pay 2.7x the electricity price in the US (and 1.9x in China)

EU households now pay 2x US electricity price (and 3.3x China)

iea.org/data-and-stati…

EU climate policy causes high electricity costs

Consequently, EU can afford much less electricity per person

In this century, the EU has managed to get access to almost as much electricity per person as the US got in 1968

iea.org/data-and-stati…
data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.P…

EU climate policy has enormous costs

Electricity prices for industry have increased 78% in real terms since 1978

EU industries now pay 2.5x the electricity price in the US (and 1.9x in China)

EU households pay 2x US electricity price (and 3.3x China)

iea.org/data-and-stati…

Read 5 tweets

Bjorn Lomborg

@BjornLomborg

Aug 30, 2024

Outrageously misleading climate scare from the UN

Today, 85% more old people die from heat

What they don't tell you:

There are now 86% more old people

un.org/sg/en/content/…
thelancet.com/journals/lance…
population.un.org/dataportal/