Don't buy Beachfront Property

(This post is reproduced from my other blog Bryan's Cafe)

Unless it's perched high up on a granite cliff or you enjoy snorkeling in your living room.

It seems that an ommission in earlier reports on global warming painted a misleading picture of the crisis. To quote this Guardian article "Climate change: scientists warn it may be too late to save the ice caps",

"The revelation comes as a new report points out that greenhouse gas emissions running into hundreds of millions of tonnes have not been disclosed by Britain's biggest businesses, masking the full extent of the UK's contribution to global warming."


An earlier IPCC report (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) is now seemingly erroneous as only 16 of Britain's FTSE 100 companies met disclosure guidelines of CO2 emissions, meaning that about 200m jaw-dropping tonnes of damaging CO2 is estimated to be missing from earlier estimates, an amount more than "annual reported emissions of Pakistan and Greece combined."

This discovery pretty much lobbed a grenade into the kitchen. Forecasts are now more onminous with the prospect that "there is "a significant probability that some large-scale events (eg deglaciation of major ice sheets) may no longer be avoided due to historical greenhouse gas emissions and the inertia of the climate system"."

"Areas such as the Maldives would be swamped and low-lying countries such as the Netherlands and Bangladesh, as well as coastal cities including London, New York and Tokyo, would face critical flooding...Such melting would raise sea levels by four to six metres, the scientists say. "

Would island nations like Taiwan, Sri Lanka and Singapore lose precious land mass to the water and see their countries shrink dramatically? It would pose a national defense issue like no other, something no missile or warship could avert.

"New studies of Greenland and Antarctica have forced a UN expert panel to conclude there is a 50% chance that widespread ice sheet loss "may no longer be avoided" because of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.... The previous official line, issued in 2001, was that the chance of such an event was "not well known, but probably very low"."

That's what happens when politics stands in the way of scientific objectivity and countires thumb their noses to the cries of panic in the name of economic sustainability. We do get what we deserve.

But there is an opportunity in every disaster.

"...average temperatures would probably increase by 4C this century if emissions continue to rise. Even under its most optimistic scenario, based on a declining world population and a rapid switch to clean technology, temperatures are still likely to rise by 1.8C."

Maybe I should invest in companies that build cooling systems and tree nurseries?

"Very large sea level rises that would result from widespread deglaciation of Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets imply major changes in coastlines..."

I'll avoid investing in beachfront property and in companies building beachfront resorts. But mountain resorts like Genting should be ok.

The IPCC report which assesses the likely impacts of global warming and will be published in April. I will be anxiously waiting.