Jul 2, 2021 07:48 PM
https://gizmodo.com/bbc-lists-positive-c...1847218954
INTRO: The BBC is getting widespread criticism for creating a study guide for teens that includes arguments about how climate change could make our world better, actually.
On Thursday, climate writer George Monbiot tweeted a link to a webpage that lists “positive impacts” of climate change housed on the BBC’s Bitesize. According to the site, it exists to provide “simple-to-follow lessons and videos for pupils aged 4 to 14.” The copy in question was part of a study guide on climate change, which was included in a section of study guides for the GSCE exam, tests in different topic areas that British teenagers take to qualify for university.
The BBC has since edited the copy out, but you can see a version here, courtesy of the Wayback Machine. The section is titled “Positive and negative impacts of climate change,” and gives a list of possibilities of what’s going to happen as fossil fuels keep warping our planet. A lot of it is familiar to anyone keeping track of the eco-apocalypse, including rising seas, extreme weather, desertification, and widespread disease. But those familiar catastrophic scenarios are accompanied with neat bullet lists of “positives” that feel like they were lifted from the Heartland Institute’s website. Here’s bullet list of the joys of climate change, according to the BBC:
INTRO: The BBC is getting widespread criticism for creating a study guide for teens that includes arguments about how climate change could make our world better, actually.
On Thursday, climate writer George Monbiot tweeted a link to a webpage that lists “positive impacts” of climate change housed on the BBC’s Bitesize. According to the site, it exists to provide “simple-to-follow lessons and videos for pupils aged 4 to 14.” The copy in question was part of a study guide on climate change, which was included in a section of study guides for the GSCE exam, tests in different topic areas that British teenagers take to qualify for university.
The BBC has since edited the copy out, but you can see a version here, courtesy of the Wayback Machine. The section is titled “Positive and negative impacts of climate change,” and gives a list of possibilities of what’s going to happen as fossil fuels keep warping our planet. A lot of it is familiar to anyone keeping track of the eco-apocalypse, including rising seas, extreme weather, desertification, and widespread disease. But those familiar catastrophic scenarios are accompanied with neat bullet lists of “positives” that feel like they were lifted from the Heartland Institute’s website. Here’s bullet list of the joys of climate change, according to the BBC:
- warmer temperatures and increased CO2 levels, leading to more vigorous plant growth
- some animals and plants could benefit and flourish in a changing climate
- new shipping routes, such as the Northwest passage, would become available
- more resources, such as oil, becoming available in places such as Alaska and Siberia when the ice melts
- energy consumption decreasing due to a warmer climate
- longer growing season leading to a higher yields in current farming areas
- frozen regions, such as Canada and Siberia, could be able to grow crops
- new tourist destinations becoming available
- higher year-round temperatures and longer growing seasons could mean that new crops such as oranges, grapes and peaches flourish in the UK
- higher yields of many outdoor crops such as cereals, potatoes and sugar beet due to a longer growing season and higher temperatures
- warmer temperatures would reduce winter heating costs
- accidents on the roads in winter could be less likely to occur
- warmer temperatures could lead to healthier outdoor lifestyles
- some plant and animal species would thrive and be able to grow and survive further north and at higher altitudes
- growth in the UK tourist industry, particularly seaside resorts, with warmer, drier summers