The wait and see is over. The people who do the science have measured the effect, it is real, it is now. The only question left is what to do about it.Imperioratorex Caprae said:
Global Warming Has Accelerated and Will Go On for Centuries
- Thread starter Rhykker
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Actually, not really. There's plenty of science backing global warming. It's pretty much universally accepted amongst experts that humanity is having a significant effect on the climate. Though one should note that I said "significant", not "large", or "massive", or whatever. Humanity's contribution to the current warming trend is miniscule compared to the natural cycle, but it is very much there and could be very bad. Even a one degree change in overall global temperature could potentially have catastrophic environmental impacts.thewatergamer said:
The only part of global warming still in contention amongst the scientific community is precisely what effect it will have on the environment, and that's because the kind of interactions there are hellishly complicated. There's billions of variables involved in determining a specific region's climate, from proximity to the equator to surrounding terrain to meteorological effects over the closest roughly 70% of the planet's surface, etc etc. No one's quite sure how all those disparate pieces will come together to effect the climate, only that major climate changes could very easily be catastrophic for humanity.
I know exactly how adaptation works. You missed my point entirely. My point was that the climate is changing, and we as a species will either adapt to it and survive the change, or we will not and we will then go extinct, and regardless of which, the universe will continue to give no fucks about it.Ipsen said:
If we die, we die. Everything dies eventually, it's not something to fear or dread. There's no sense in kicking up a fuss over something like global warming, because if it's not that, it'll be nuclear war, or a robot apocalypse, or maybe even simple time. Someday, somewhere down the line, humanity will go extinct, and something will take our place. Then they will die, and something else will take their place. Then that something else will die, and another something else will take their place, ad nauseum. The cycle will only stop with the heat death of the universe. We as a species are nowhere near special enough to justify freaking out so much about our inevitable extinction, regardless of its form. There's replacements waiting in the wings.
I'll count myself glad I missed the point then; you've hardly stated anything that's not obvious to the point of uselessness. Of course us fleshy bodies can die out from a variety of circumstances, but that doesn't mean that we don't 'kick up a fuss' over it. We are at least one species that CAN acknowledge the circumstances that would destroy its own livelihood, so we MIGHT be able to avert or adjust the circumstance with collective work or resources. As things are now, civilization is tending to get in the way of people working towards the common-for-all-life goal of survival. In this case it's hampering work towards maintaining survivable climates for the world (or at least for humans). And for the record, yes, if the next ice age was seen as imminent, I think we would work to avert that as well.Agayek said:
It's not that you post was wrong, it just doesn't serve a point towards human survival, which all alive work towards in at least some degree.
It's not even a matter of you making a point or being free to post, just that the point, as agreeable as it is, at least prompts my own (I hope).
There's actually an interesting contrast there:thewatergamer said:
Global cooling was a case of slight downward trends in temperature being blown way out of proportion by the media. It had very little support within the Scientific Community.
On the other hand, Global Warming is supported by almost the entire Scientific Community, and there is not a single national or international Scientific body which disagrees. This has been the case since 2007.
And now I'll just throw this up:
Well, that would be because the difference made by a single individual changing their lifestyle would be negligible in comparison with a change of policy or regulation.lacktheknack said:
Pointing to figures such as Gore and Suzuki as representative of climate science has always been ludicrously simplistic. The vast majority of scientific institutions internationally recognise AGW, and a huge amount of research is done into it across the globe. Pointing at two public figures and ignoring the colossal is bizarre and reductionist.thewatergamer said:
Most people tend to care about the future of the species. If you don't, that's fine, but don't expect to influence the dialogue.thewatergamer said:
We have a pretty good idea how it will affect life on Earth. Rise of sea level for starters, more disastrous weather, impact that weather will have on flora and fauna which means that a lot of species can go extinct. Species we depend on for food among other things.Avaholic03 said:
How the fuck can you say something like this with a straight face? We're mortal so it's OK if we all die? No, it's not OK. Don't pretend that it is. Your continued existence proves that you don't actually believe that. Why didn't you commit suicide yet if you truly believe that? We may not be important in the "grand scheme of things" but the grand scheme of things can go fuck itself. The grand scheme of things is irrelevant for us just like we're irrelevant for it. We're pretty important to ourselves because we're fuckin' alive and there is NOTHING wrong with that.Avaholic03 said:
Except that we are the most intelligent species we know of, by far. We have a huge amount of potential and to think that this,today, is the peak of humanity, and it's downhill from here is a sad thought, wouldn't you agree?Avaholic03 said:
OT: Politics is whats dealing the most damage here. Everything takes far too long to get done.
Cancel private air travel.
Except via solar powered zeppelins.
It will bring back the joy of taking a train ride. Or travel by ship.
This really has become a question of "Is your convenience today worth more than the life of the people of the future who will inherit the earth you helped shape?"
As long as people snort to that answer and give a wide "fck the future people" then this whole thing is doomed.
Except via solar powered zeppelins.
It will bring back the joy of taking a train ride. Or travel by ship.
This really has become a question of "Is your convenience today worth more than the life of the people of the future who will inherit the earth you helped shape?"
As long as people snort to that answer and give a wide "fck the future people" then this whole thing is doomed.
If history shows anything, it's that people don't change their behavior on a mass scale until the hammer falls on their heads, followed by everyone going "Lets never do that again". Case in point, World War II and Vietnam. We'll probably have to wait until global warming is causing some kind of global catastrophe, at which point everyone is probably screwed because the thing that got messed up happens to encompass the whole planet.
So is it time to start building space mirrors to reflect the heat away? Or seeding the oceans with iron?
The question is, are we past the point where accelerating global warming is causing the accelperation or not. are we past the point of no return. should we start working on terraforming soon?
I dread to think the climate changes here considering my country is heated by Gulf current and if that stops the temperatures will drop drastically, then the temperatures will raise due to the warming again. our plant/animal life probably wont survive this, as well as our economy.
nothing got done.
I dread to think the climate changes here considering my country is heated by Gulf current and if that stops the temperatures will drop drastically, then the temperatures will raise due to the warming again. our plant/animal life probably wont survive this, as well as our economy.
you had a proper winter in US this year, thats true. but the only reason people say "they onyl forget" was because the climate was getting so much warmer that proper winter was not something you woudl expect anymore. But you were lucky and got a proper winter, while here at Europe we had pretty much none. winters are gone and snow is retracting. go to any country that has many sky resorts and you will see how weather changes. heck, they are pumping out nearby lakes dry to create artificial snow to even sustain tracks DURING WINTER. you used to be able to sky right to your cabin, now the snow ends several kilometers from it.Imperioratorex Caprae said:
Hydrogen cars wont catch on. They are very dangerous due to explosive nature of hidrogen. very unsafe thing to have considering the driving accidents statistics.SKBPinkie said:
how do you suggest we reverse what happened in, say, chernobyl?Nimcha said:
what they are suggesting is that natural events cause so much emission that human emission is insignificant in comparison adn thus nothing we do can have an effect. they are wrong.McMullen said:
60 years? yeah, your going to feel it. if you were 60 and had 15 years to live (average life expectancy in US is bellow 75) then i would see your point of "dont care whats after me, yay selfish". but with 6 0years your certainly going to feel it.Undomesticated Equine said:
no. Same mistake as with radioactive material. it should be sent into space instead.JoJo said:
peoples feet are already wet. people are already loosing money (for example holland spent billions trying to keep its shoreline from being overrun by ocean).Nimcha said:
nothing got done.
You see, some people actually want us to survive it.Agayek said:
There is. Here a government buys any power you generate with wind energy at 3 times the market price, and then it rusn that power thgohu the regualr lines. This means the coal and gas plans need to work less since there is other sources. They are goign backwards on it now because a lot of people started abusing the subsidiy though.Kajin said:
a nice example of why you should never use generalization.lacktheknack said:
So you're willing to ride along on the carbon train until you're specifically forced to stop?Silvanus said:
That's... that's like a pastor saying that gays should be allowed to be married, but then refusing to do ceremonies for them until the law is passed in that forces him to do so.
You deny that the vast majority of them do these things? OK, bro.Strazdas said:
Erm, storms ARE new in some regions. and those that aready had it has an increase of rate. For example there was a storm last autumn here that literally tore some buildings apart. this has NEVER happened in recorded history of my country. it was a record breaking storm. and i live in a region where "A storm that does not allow you to walk on a street" is something that doesnt exist, not even close. my whole house was literally whining during that storm. I saw people driving cars that would lift off from the wind (thnakfully not enough to flip them). we were, of course, completely unprepared for this since this has never happened. the weather is intensifying, whether you beleive it or not.hentropy said:
But but but, then they would not be allowed to take millions in bribes from the oil companies! Surely you can understand that thier personal greed is more important!Shaidz said:
Yes i do. Have any proof to the contrary?lacktheknack said:
Facebook, infamous environmentalist "scandals" (having a private jet plane is just asking for all of the trouble), failed searching for consistent environmentalists. I literally can't find any. I can't even find any active hippie communes.Strazdas said:
I have absolutely no reason to believe they don't do what everyone else does any more than I have reason to believe a yeti is stalking me.
If you're going to be one of those insipid contrarians who expects my "proof" to be an account for literally every environmentalist, please don't. You convince no one if you do that and only further alienate me.
I walk to work, don't own a car, hardly ever fly anywhere, buy my paper from responsible sourcing and recycle almost everything. And I usually use blankets or jumpers instead of heaters.lacktheknack said:
I do use a laptop for most of the day and I do use utilities, but I'm not in a position to change the entire energy industry, so I don't see why I shouldn't. I at least try to use greener energy companies. I do eat animal products - but animal produce is tiny compared to what the energy industry is contributing to Climate Change.
Congratulations, one-of-several-million! You've got it mostly right!The_Darkness said:
Also, <link=http://epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/gases/ch4.html>you'd be horrified.
If the stats are right on then we've basically fucked ourselves so what is there to do about it? Not to be a pessimist. I also have heard a lot of weird things from the eco-zealot wing of the world that make me shake my head. Some have reversed their standings on Nuclear energy saying things like "if we'd stuck with it we wouldn't be in this mess" others who used to throw themselves in front of tree-cutters when rare trees are about to be destroyed not even lifting a finger to save a rare 50ft albino sequoia that has both colorings and is but one of a handful of trees like it that was about to be leveled for a commuter rail somewhere in the Pacific Northwest.Amir Kondori said:
I hear a lot about climate change and how its all our fault, and maybe it is. What can we do? Well put in perspective there's one thing I can think of and thats stop using it as a political weapon.
<link=http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/global.html>Right back at you. Okay, so maybe the word tiny was an exaggeration, but still, see the 14% methane part of that pie chart? That's not even entirely agricultural, since it includes waste management, coal mining and natural gas leaks. And by the second chart - Agriculture gives a total of 14% contribution to global emission (CO2 and CH4). Energy, Transport, Industry and Forestry (which are all items that I do actively try to combat with my lifestyle) contribute about 75%.lacktheknack said: