What's so bad about climate change, anyway?
Discussion
Whenever I hear or read about climate change, the debate/article/statement/question is always about whether or not recent climate change is man-made or not, but I can't remember the last time I heard about why it was a particularly bad thing.
If temperatures rise and the ice caps melt, we'll lose a few penguins and polar bears, which is all very sad and everything but given that 98% of all species which have ever existed on the planet are now extinct, is it really anything to cry over? On the plus side, I'll be able to wear shorts more often.
If we get a bit more stormy, that's cool, we have the technology and knowledge to physically engineer around these problems. Even if it is a 'biggie', some natural purging of the human population isn't anything to worry about; there are billions of us, we can spare a few.
Again, we can spare a few billion humans if we're unable to feed the world due to changes in crop harvest cycles.
Will the planet ever cease to exist because of climate change?
If temperatures rise and the ice caps melt, we'll lose a few penguins and polar bears, which is all very sad and everything but given that 98% of all species which have ever existed on the planet are now extinct, is it really anything to cry over? On the plus side, I'll be able to wear shorts more often.
If we get a bit more stormy, that's cool, we have the technology and knowledge to physically engineer around these problems. Even if it is a 'biggie', some natural purging of the human population isn't anything to worry about; there are billions of us, we can spare a few.
Again, we can spare a few billion humans if we're unable to feed the world due to changes in crop harvest cycles.
Will the planet ever cease to exist because of climate change?
To understand who he was, you have to go back to another time
when the world was powered by the black fuel
and the deserts sprouted great cities of pipe and steel.
Gone now swept away.
For reasons long forgotten, two mighty warrior tribes went to war
and touched off a blaze which engulfed them all.
Without fuel they were nothing. They'd built a house of straw.
The thundering machines sputtered and stopped.
Their leaders talked and talked and talked
but nothing could stem the avalanche.
Their world crumbled the cities exploded.
A whirlwind of looting
a firestorm of fear.
Men began to feed on men.
On the roads it was a white-line nightmare.
Only those mobile enough to scavenge
brutal enough to pillage would survive.
The gangs took over the highways
ready to wage war for a tank of juice.
And in this maelstrom of decay
ordinary men were battered and smashed.
Oh no wait thats the opening of Mad Max......
Uhh well I'm sure things will change but I can't see what all the fuss is about, I'm sure we'll cope.
when the world was powered by the black fuel
and the deserts sprouted great cities of pipe and steel.
Gone now swept away.
For reasons long forgotten, two mighty warrior tribes went to war
and touched off a blaze which engulfed them all.
Without fuel they were nothing. They'd built a house of straw.
The thundering machines sputtered and stopped.
Their leaders talked and talked and talked
but nothing could stem the avalanche.
Their world crumbled the cities exploded.
A whirlwind of looting
a firestorm of fear.
Men began to feed on men.
On the roads it was a white-line nightmare.
Only those mobile enough to scavenge
brutal enough to pillage would survive.
The gangs took over the highways
ready to wage war for a tank of juice.
And in this maelstrom of decay
ordinary men were battered and smashed.
Oh no wait thats the opening of Mad Max......
Uhh well I'm sure things will change but I can't see what all the fuss is about, I'm sure we'll cope.
Despite all the alarmist hysteria a rise of, say, 2c will not be particularly bad. Some places may suffer from more droughts, but on a global scale, that will be counter acted by many Northern regions becoming more habitable (do you think they are worried by global warming in Siberia?)
JagLover said:
Despite all the alarmist hysteria a rise of, say, 2c will not be particularly bad. Some places may suffer from more droughts, but on a global scale, that will be counter acted by many Northern regions becoming more habitable (do you think they are worried by global warming in Siberia?)
Apart from everything in the sea will die.Including the water.
Rawwr said:
Will the planet ever cease to exist because of climate change?
Saving the planet???? Yeah, right.We're so self-important. Everybody's going to save something now. "Save the trees, save the bees, save the whales, save those snails." And the greatest arrogance of all: save the planet. What? Are these people kidding me? Save the planet, we don't even know how to take care of ourselves yet. We haven't learned how to care for one another, yet we're gonna save the planet?
I'm getting tired of that stuff. I'm tired of Earth Day, I'm tired of these self-righteous environmentalists, these white, bourgeois liberals who think the only thing wrong with this country is there aren't enough bicycle paths. People trying to make the world safe for their Volvos. Besides, environmentalists don't give a damn about the planet. They don't care about the planet. Not in the abstract they don't. You know what they're interested in? A clean place to live. Their own habitat. They're worried that some day in the future they might be personally inconvenienced! Narrow, unenlightened self-interest doesn't impress me.
Besides, there is nothing wrong with the planet. The planet is fine. The PEOPLE are f****d. Big difference. The planet is fine. Compared to the people, the planet is doing great. Been here five and a half billion years. Did you ever think about the arithmetic? The planet has been here five and a half billion years. We've been here, what, a hundred thousand? Maybe two hundred thousand? And we've only been engaged in heavy industry for a little over two hundred years. Two hundred years versus five and a half billion. And we have the CONCEIT to think that somehow we're a threat? That somehow we're gonna put in jeopardy this beautiful little blue-green ball that's just a-floatin' around the sun?
The planet has been through a lot worse than us. Been through all kinds of things worse than us. Been through earthquakes, volcanoes, plate tectonics, continental drift, solar flares, sun spots, magnetic storms, the magnetic reversal of the poles...hundreds of thousands of years of bombardment by comets and asteroids and meteors, worldwide floods, tidal waves, worldwide fires, erosion, cosmic rays, recurring ice ages...And we think some plastic bags, and some aluminum cans are going to make a difference? The planet...the planet...the planet isn't going anywhere. WE ARE!
We're going away. Pack your s
t, folks. We're going away. And we won't leave much of a trace either. Thank God for that. Maybe a little Styrofoam. The planet'll be here and we'll be long gone. Just another failed mutation. Just another closed-end biological mistake. An evolutionary cul-de-sac. The planet'll shake us off like a bad case of fleas. A surface nuisance. You wanna know how the planet's doing? Ask those people at Pompeii, who are frozen into position from volcanic ash, how the planet's doing. You wanna know if the planet's all right, ask those people in Mexico City or Armenia or a hundred other places buried under thousands of tons of earthquake rubble, if they feel like a threat to the planet this week. Or how about those people in Kilowaia, Hawaii, who built their homes right next to an active volcano, and then wonder why they have lava in the living room.
The planet will be here for a long, long, LONG time after we're gone, and it will heal itself, it will cleanse itself, 'cause that's what it does. It's a self-correcting system. The air and the water will recover, the earth will be renewed, and if it's true that plastic is not degradable, well, the planet will simply incorporate plastic into a new paradigm: the earth plus plastic. The earth doesn't share our prejudice towards plastic. Plastic came out of the earth. The earth probably sees plastic as just another one of its children. Could be the only reason the earth allowed us to be spawned from it in the first place. It wanted plastic for itself. Didn't know how to make it. Needed us. Could be the answer to our age-old egocentric philosophical question, "Why are we here?" Plastic...asshole.
So, the plastic is here, our job is done, we can be phased out now. And I think that's begun. Don't you think that's already started? I think, to be fair, the planet sees us as a mild threat. Something to be dealt with. And the planet can defend itself in an organized, collective way, the way a beehive or an ant colony can. A collective defense mechanism. The planet will think of something. What would you do if you were the planet? How would you defend yourself against this troublesome, pesky species? Let's see... Viruses. Viruses might be good. They seem vulnerable to viruses. And, uh...viruses are tricky, always mutating and forming new strains whenever a vaccine is developed. Perhaps, this first virus could be one that compromises the immune system of these creatures. Perhaps a Human Immunodeficiency Virus, making them vulnerable to all sorts of other diseases and infections that might come along. And maybe it could be spread sexually, making them a little reluctant to engage in the act of reproduction.
Well, that's a poetic note. And it's a start. And I can dream, can't I? See I don't worry about the little things: bees, trees, whales, snails. I think we're part of a greater wisdom than we will never understand. A higher order. Call it what you want. Know what I call it? The Big Electron. The Big Electron...Whoooa. Whoooa. Whoooa. It doesn't punish, it doesn't reward, it doesn't judge at all. It just is. And so are we. For a little while.
(No, I didn't write it)
Why dont we just go to Africa, head into the desert, lay a few bombs under ground, blow them up... Use the dirt/mud/soil as building material and create housing for people in Africa, then channel the sea into the big crater thats left. Water runs in, sea level doesnt rise, Africa has a new source of fishing, we get hotter climate
problem solved, no?
Its a win win situation, we get warmer climates without drowning, Africans get free building materials, and a new fishing industry in the new sea, helping our selves by helping the third world
sorta.... probably wouldnt work, would it
problem solved, no?
Its a win win situation, we get warmer climates without drowning, Africans get free building materials, and a new fishing industry in the new sea, helping our selves by helping the third world
sorta.... probably wouldnt work, would it
ViperScot said:
If all the polar ice melted than sea level will rise about 65m. Pretty much the end of most major cities in the world. Then again, my house is at about 70m so I'll be near the shore and London will be a city consigned to history. So I agree, not all bad.
Dammit we're at 74... do I need to move to be closer to the next beachfront housing boom?V6 said:
Apart from everything in the sea will die.
Including the water.
How do you kill water?Including the water.
The water levels rising is a minor side efferct, According to a discovery channel programme i watched while bored offshore---
Apparently there are gases trapped deep under the oceans which will come up if the water temprature rises even 2/3c. over a number of years these gases will damage the atmosphere causing many things on the surface to die, including humans, end.
Apparently there are gases trapped deep under the oceans which will come up if the water temprature rises even 2/3c. over a number of years these gases will damage the atmosphere causing many things on the surface to die, including humans, end.
Rawwr said:
With regard to sea levels rising, and please bear in mind I failed GCSE physics but...
If you take a pint glass and fill it with ice cubes and then top up the glass with water, does the glass overflow when the ice melts?
No it doesnt, but if you filled a teapot full off ice, pointed over that glass and it melts, would the water in the glass rise If you take a pint glass and fill it with ice cubes and then top up the glass with water, does the glass overflow when the ice melts?
What about the Ice shelves on land, not in the sea??
OJ said:
Where do you get 70m from? Worst estimates I've heard are 35
It's a simple calculation based on the known volume of the ice sheets (mainly Antarctic and Greenland) that would become liquid and the thermal expansion of water in the oceans as the temp rises. This is not speculation but based on quite definite physics.ViperScot said:
OJ said:
Where do you get 70m from? Worst estimates I've heard are 35
It's a simple calculation based on the known volume of the ice sheets (mainly Antarctic and Greenland) that would become liquid and the thermal expansion of water in the oceans as the temp rises. This is not speculation but based on quite definite physics.pits said:
Rawwr said:
With regard to sea levels rising, and please bear in mind I failed GCSE physics but...
If you take a pint glass and fill it with ice cubes and then top up the glass with water, does the glass overflow when the ice melts?
No it doesnt, but if you filled a teapot full off ice, pointed over that glass and it melts, would the water in the glass rise If you take a pint glass and fill it with ice cubes and then top up the glass with water, does the glass overflow when the ice melts?
What about the Ice shelves on land, not in the sea??
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