Shell Knew Too. Oil Giant’s 1991 Film Warned of Climate Change

Props for making the film.

Somewhat deficient in follow up.

Guardian:

Climate change “at a rate faster than at any time since the end of the ice age – change too fast perhaps for life to adapt, without severe dislocation”. That was the startling warning issued by the oil giant Shell more than a quarter of a century ago.

The company’s farsighted 1991 film, titled Climate of Concern, set out with crystal clarity how the world was warming and that serious consequences could well result.

“Tropical islands barely afloat even now, first made inhabitable, and then obliterated beneath the waves … coastal lowlands everywhere suffering pollution of precious groundwater, on which so much farming and so many cities depend,” says the film’s narrator, over disturbing images of people affected by natural disasters and famine. “In a crowded world subject to such adverse shifts of climate, who would take care of such greenhouse refugees?”

The film acknowledged the uncertainties in the computer model predictions at the time, but noted the various scenarios had “each prompted the same serious warning, a warning endorsed by a uniquely broad consensus of scientists in their report to the United Nations at the end of 1990”.

“What they foresee is not a steady and even warming overall, but alterations to the familiar patterns of climate, and the increasing frequency of abnormal weather,” it cautioned. “It is thought that warmer seas could make destructive [storm] surges more frequent and even more ferocious.”

“Whether or not the threat of global warming proves as grave as the scientists predict, is it too much to hope as it might act as the stimulus – the catalyst – to a new era of technical and economic cooperation?” the film concludes. “Our numbers are many, and infinitely diverse. But the problems and dilemmas of climatic change concern us all.”

Below, my video on What Exxon Knew.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aannOZw2shY

27 thoughts on “Shell Knew Too. Oil Giant’s 1991 Film Warned of Climate Change”


  1. Having worked for an oil operations outfit, jointly owned and operated by ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, Total and Partex (partnered with a host country), I always thought Shell was (by far) the most enlightened out of all the stakeholders. The film is excellent and shows the knowledge we had in the 1990’s. Also James Burke (British broadcaster, science historian, BBC) did a very good job in the very same era.

    Yes It seems Shell did know, it is hard to forgive them, but at this late hour they can still make amends.

    Having just read about the Members of Congress hearing on carbon pricing, seems they want to send the subject back to the 1940’s and pretend it is still up for debate.

    Do they not have the required attention span to watch videos like this one, to listen to 97% of Climate Scientists. Do they think they are more wise, or do they simply not care about our future generations and the poor folks who live in low lying plains near the coast.

    I reluctantly say that mankind (and remaining species) will be far better off when that stubborn ignorant generation is buried and gone and people with more youthful ideas are running the show.

    “Shell confident Trump will not derail renewable energy growth

    Donald Trump will not derail the “unstoppable” growth in renewable energy, according to the chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell, which plans to gradually lift spending on green technology as the world reduces its dependence on fossil fuels.

    Speaking after Shell’s fourth-quarter earnings fell short of expectations, Ben van Beurden said “climate change is real [and] action is needed”, in response to questions about the impact of the new US president on energy policy.”

    https://www.ft.com/content/0c73a690-e91d-11e6-967b-c88452263daf


  2. Oh my God, the end of times, hell is here and the flames are coming in “1991”. Unfortunately hell never arrived, the islands did not sink beneath the waves and no action was actually necessary. Since the current ocean rise is 3 inches in the next 100 years, and temperature rise actually measured was 0.034F due to increased CO2, hell will not arrive for quite some time. Never mind the tiny fact a warmer planet has more rain, a warmer planet helps plants grow better, and a higher CO2 level helps plants grow even more, about 8 percent better so far. That means 415 million people are alive would otherwise would have starved to death in a colder, less rainy and lower level CO2 world.


    1. Same old, same old, from the mental onanist. Booooooring!

      ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzz………..!!!!!!!!


    2. Thomas, I don’t know how much time you devote to reading news each day or what you read, but I can assure you that Islands and homes have been lost to both erosion and sea level rise. It’s hard to miss, maybe out of sight out of mind and an illustration of what I meant by folks not caring about others earlier

      Methinks you live in a cocoon. Try reading more (and not just WUWT).

      A newly published paper by Australian academics reveals at least five reef islets in the Solomon Islands have been lost completely to sea-level rise and coastal erosion, and a further six have been severely eroded.

      http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/303337/pacific-islands-swallowed-by-the-sea


      1. Thomas, I don’t know how much time you devote to reading news each day or what you read,…

        I suspect our master bater is one of those who has been persuaded (by those with the most harmful agenda WRT education and learning) to only follow articles which reinforce his ignorance about all other areas. This is something I touched on in a response to Timothy Chase below the Facebook article:

        https://climatecrocks.com/2017/02/27/facebook/#comment-90927


    3. Tommy Poo,

      Have you figured out the difference between the troposphere and the stratosphere yet?

      And when are you going to retract your lies about the NASA/GISS global temperature results? You know, the lies that I was able to debunk by running raw temperature data through a simple gridding/averaging program?


    4. Apart from the fact that the geological record shows SLR occurs in pulses with a gradual rise in between as ice sheets collapse. Antarctica and Greenland starting to look a tad shaky.

      However apart from that still waiting for you to explain poor old (literally) Utzi’s situation as well as all the other statements you have been challenged to explain.


    5. Oh my God, the end of times, hell is here and the flames are coming in “1991”. Unfortunately hell never arrived, the islands did not sink beneath the waves and no action was actually necessary.

      Ignoramus.

      Read this Bates:

      OMG measurements of Greenland give us a glimpse of future sea rise

      and consider the following further points:

      Greenland is simplistically a bowl shape filled with ice due to isostatic depression but with many fjord like crevices through which glaciers flow out to sea and through which warmer underlying water can penetrate further into the continent. As Arctic sea ice continues its year by year decline the the opened water will absorb more energy from sunlight causing a more rapid loss of Greenland ice mass.

      As that mass loss accelerates so sea level rise will accelerate from increased volume. Volume will also increase from more thermal expansion.

      Now this is only the Northern hemisphere, the Southern is also showing signs of accelerated glacial change which with the sea level rise initiated by events up North will only exacerbate the rate of loss of Antarctic Ice mass.

      All this was not considered fully in the IPCC reports which are now widely recognised to have stated very conservative estimates of SLR. Things are beginning to move faster, and change earlier than previously allowed to be expressed freely by those scientists who did recognise this but who kept their powder dry unless they be accused of being alarmist.

      That latter is one of the crimes against humanity which could be pinned on all the fossil fuel shills, politicos and media opinion piece writers who have road blocked adequate mitigation measures. That they are still engaged in this unethical behaviour is signalled by Richard Lindzen’s latest ‘little list’.

      SLR – ‘It’s only just begun’.


    6. Continuing to issue lies I see. Look at the video before you continue with your night emissions, Master Bates, your stupidity and utter ineptitude do nothing for your case.

      Observed sea level rise 1990 – 2010 = 6 cm which is approaching your lie of 3″ in a century. What is more this rate is increasing, current projections give estimated sea level rise as between 1 and 2 metres by 2100


    1. There is plenty of data showing hell is not arriving.

      WUWT you gotta be joking right!

      There is plenty happening around the globe that demonstrates that things are deteriorating faster, and the speed up is only getting stated when you try to take in the WHOLE PICTURE starting here.


      1. Furthermore icebubbles does not resolve.

        weather warehouse is er, about weather in one location – Barrow Alaska and even then your 1902 cherry pick is bunk:

        1902 5 40 31 20 21.3 29.7 25.9

        2016 13 44 34 26 26.8 33.5 30.2

        as is the rest of your sorry Gish Gallop.

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