Julian Morris | Tom Nelson Pod #386
Julian Morris presents slides on climate change: global temperatures have risen since 1850 and human greenhouse gas emissions plausibly contribute via radiative forcing, but he argues harms are not worsening. Using the EM-DAT disaster database, he notes reported extreme-weather disasters rose while geophysical disasters rose similarly, suggesting reporting and population effects; meanwhile climate-disaster mortality has fallen over 90% since the 1920s due to adaptation, technology, trade, infrastructure, warnings, and better buildings. He highlights long-term declines in energy and CO2 per GDP and potential decoupling, attributing progress to innovation and institutions like free markets and property rights. He critiques democratically unaccountable NGO–foundation–intergovernmental coalitions, discusses perverse incentives in conservation (rhino horn trade bans), ethanol mandates, and possible blockchain tracking for wildlife products.
00:00 Meet Julian Morris
01:02 Is the World Warming
01:33 Are Humans Causing It
02:24 Disaster Counts Rising
04:51 Why Disasters Get Counted
06:21 Deaths From Disasters Fall
07:46 How Humans Adapt
11:03 Should We Worry Next
11:34 Efficiency Cuts Emissions
13:57 Energy Decouples From CO2
16:20 Fuel Shifts Over Time
21:13 Tech Efficiency Breakthroughs
23:18 Projecting To Net Zero
24:37 Environmental Kuznets Curve
27:24 Institutions Drive Decoupling
29:48 Policy Takeaways And Tradeoffs
31:54 Global Carbon Intensity Trends
32:22 Hurricanes And Alarmism
32:47 Lighting Progress Metrics
33:44 Segmented Sleep Debate
35:07 Democratic Deficit Ecosystem
37:32 Climate Coalition Incentives
39:39 Declining Climate Credibility
42:13 Availability Cascades Explained
43:35 Perverse NGO Incentives
46:10 Rhino Horn Trade Ban Fallout
50:42 Saving Species With Trade
51:59 Ethanol Baptist Bootleggers
54:54 Blockchain For Provenance
57:26 Wrap Up And Resources
https://reason.org/author/julian-morris/
Defending Democracy from the DoDOs: How Power Escapes Democratic Control: https://laweconcenter.org/resources/defending-democracy-from-the-dodos-part-i-how-power-escapes-democratic-control/
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