Overkill

You have probably spotted that in the effort to get news out, the media always assumes the worst possible case. Blow things out of all proportion and it’s a great story. By the time sense has prevailed, there is a new story. Peoples memories are short. Examples are:

Swine Flu

It started off with “we are all going to die”. Now it’s a mild dose of flu and there is no need to take Tamiflu. At the time of writing this, I don’t know anyone who has caught it.

Hole in the ozone layer

Big hole on ozone layer. CFC’s to blame. New gases in fridges and freezers, aerosols etc. Remember all that? Well, the hole has gone. It repaired itself. The scientists admitted that over 5 years ago. They confessed they had about 40 years of data and got it wrong. The hole was in fact a natural phenomenon. Did you spot this on the news? Me thinks not.

But you still recycle and pay for it don’t you? You are still concerned, right? Because you can never be too careful……

Oil reserves

We need new energy sources as oil is running out. Well yes it is. But on current growth rates and known oil deposits throughout the world, we will run out in not less than 300 years time. Yawn. The big question is the price we pay for it. There are huge known but untapped, oilfields. But they are all in very awkward places – great depths of the ocean (off the coast of Brazil or on outer edges of the Gulf of Mexico), or in Siberia, so politics kick in.

And did you know that the largest exporter of oil is now……Russia.