Interesting Graphics

[jtsailjt]

Originally Posted by DeepFrz

Coops said:


For those who think that a mere 73 ft. is not going to cause massive change in our societies, re-think that situation. Yes, it may take a long time for it to reach that level but it is not going to take long before there is massive upheaval in the world. Maybe you could listen to this Radio Series | Gwynne Dyer about climate wars.

Of course 73 feet of change in sea level will demand many changes, but aren't they talking about it being spread out over 5000 years?! I wouldn't worry too much about how that might affect our society because there's never been a society that lasted even close to that long and I'm sure that one way or the other, ours will be no exception to that. Hopefully there will still be people living on earth in 5000 years but whether they live where I do or their lifestyles resemble mine or whether their Atlantic Seaboard is located somewhere in the Appalachians isn't something I can get too worried about. I expect they will adapt just fine.

[perchance]

If all the ice melts what the hell am I going to put in my drinks?

[jtsailjt]

Originally Posted by laika

May 2013 - NASA: "The global concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere – the primary driver of recent climate change – has reached 400 parts per million (ppm) for the first time in recorded history, according to data from the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii."

Even if we assume human-driven climate change is just liberal scaremongering, the slight chance that it is real really ought to be enough to at least try to do something about it.

As the world continues to develop, it's absolutely imperative that we be better role models for a developing world that looks to us for the lifestyle they want to live. It just takes a little re-prioritization and perhaps the swallowing of a little pride.

"-the primary driver of climate change-" IF we knew this to be true, then we MIGHT be able to do something about it, but it's probably not even possible to reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere below present levels in our lifetimes.

The argument that even the slight chance that it is true ought to be enough for us to at least try to do something about it is a tempting, albeit misleading one, because "trying to do something meaningful about it" will mean that energy prices soar all over the world, not just here. In order to have a meaningful cutback in CO2 levels that might affect climate, it won't help a bit if we in the developed world all start walking to work and never drive another car or ever again fly to the Caribbean or Europe on vacation, or remove our diesel engines from our sailboats, as long as the hundreds of millions of people in the third world keep burning coal for all their energy needs as they struggle to achieve something even close to the standard of living we all enjoy and take for granted. Are YOU willing to tell these hundreds of millions of poverty stricken folks in the third world who are struggling just to survive, that their energy needs will now have to be met by MUCH more expensive "green" sources so they won't be able to afford feed their families or stay warm or afford medicine, in order that they do their part to cut back on CO2, just on the off chance that we might be able to keep the Atlantic Seaboard (where?) right where it is now? I'm all for not polluting unnecessarily "just because," but the idea that we are going to lower the CO2 in the atmosphere below existing levels just isn't going to happen, so we better just prepare for whatever the consequences of that are as best we can. But on the "bright" side, most of us won't even be alive when/if most of the noticeable changes occur.

[Coops]

This thread is in cruising news. All there has been in it is another discussion about climate change. As stated in one of the posts there are better avenues to chase this subject down than on here. We are closing this one.

Coops.