Discussion: Global Warming and Other Environmental Issues

[OverMyHead]

so.... it's... to late


gonna have to think long and hard about that suicide note again

 

[mightiest_mortal]

Im sticking with the Pirate theory.

Its just as statistically possible than any other theory people have come up with.

 

[DorkyFresh]

so.... it's... to late


gonna have to think long and hard about that suicide note again

i don't wanna say it's too late but time is running out fast...


...i think we will start to see drastic changes in the masses that matter (America and China) once these huge scale natural disasters start hitting the US more and more. once the world's population is reduced to half of what it is now, i think people will start to realize "hey, we really DID f*** up...we need to change our ways".

the sad thing is that we have to wait for the bad in order for the change to happen. like i said...we, as humans, are REactive, not PROactive. 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina are 2 examples of this. we're too comfortable living in the present to take precautions for the future...

 

[Taiwarriorz21]

I just rented Al Gore’s video on global warming and had to comment.

Do I believe humanity can mess up our environment to the degree that we make our planet actually inhospitable to life? Yes, I do!

You see, like everyone on this forum, I have an opinion. But the world is so complicated today I can’t possibly know enough to develop an informed opinion on every issue impacting my life. So, I rely on faith. The question is whom do I believe? The scientist or the politician. The scientist examines and tests data to arrive at studied conclusions. The politician manipulates data to support their self serving conclusions. It’s the spin, I believe, that confuses people and prevents intelligent well thought out and executed solutions.

Certainly, Al Gore is a politician, not a scientist. Yet, I believe he is truly serious about protecting the environment. His, is not a politically profitable fight. He would have little hope of winning elections proposing changes that might negatively impact peoples lives. Sadly, he is nothing more than the messenger of doom.

Al Gore’s message is indeed frightening. I accept the legitimacy of the warnings proffered by the scientific community. The data they’ve collected is indeed overwhelming. The planet is certainly getting warmer. There’s no doubt that the ice caps are melting. The data firmly establishes that the atmospheric changes are unprecedented and not part of normal fluctuations. The danger is evident. Yet, there are still many that refuse to believe that we will soon have a day of reckoning.

Why? Why do people choose to accept the words of politicians and industrialists over scientists? I believe its because they fear change. Change can impact their lives taking away that with which they’re familiar. Change can damage industries, lose jobs and lower standards of living. It’s far easier to ignore warnings and continue blindly on assuring each other that danger doesn’t lurk ahead.

It’s so convenient to disbelieve warnings and do nothing. That appears to be what we’re best at, doing nothing especially if any action might cost us something or cause us to lose something. We can, without any knowledge of the facts, dispute anything we wish. We can find a thousand reasons not to accept the “experts” opinion. That doesn’t make us safe. Even inaction is an action when not moving prevents other things from happening or, as in the case of global warming, causes real events to continue unabated.

So, as Al Gore plainly put it--would you rather have money or the world? Who will you serve: Earth or Benjamin?

The Global Warning film was great. Yes Global Warning is real. But Scientist say that it affects the atmosphere over long periods of time. Yes we need to stop polluting the sky with our chemicals, and exhausts, and so forth. The temperature around the world keep changing and rapidly. We need to really look before we leap into new technology. We need to try to pro-long Global Warming. We can't stop it, but we sure can slow it down.

 

[OverMyHead]

Christ--what can we as human being, flesh and blood, do about this crisis that is slowly rising out of the embers of ashes?

 

[DorkyFresh]

right now all we can do is try to educate people by spreading the word. sometimes slapping people over the head is required but all we CAN do is do what you can with what you know. that's all us normal folk can do...just educate the uneducated.

and i don't mean just preach, i mean read up on it...educate YOURSELF so that way if they ask you a hard question you're not stuck answering "um...i dunno."

 

[Taiwarriorz21]

exactly Thank you for spreading the word that we must EDUCATE.

 

[OverMyHead]

Now, how are we, as a nation, going to do that?

 

[Locs]

Well scientist and such are thinking about "terraforming" Mars or something. Lazy option, if at all possible IMO. Folks acting as though people were born with gasoline cars and the like and thus it is rully, rully hard for us to flip the script. I can't allow myself to wallow in the dramatic doom and gloomy POV some people harbor simply because the Earth *can* heal itself but if people destroy it faster than it can repair itself then there's a problem.

 

[Gotendbz-2]

Its too late to stop Global Warming, its already happening. We must listen to that wheel chair guy and go to another planet. Stupid people.

 

[Gotendbz-2]

I think we should destroy automobiles and walk everywhere like good ol' days. Sure would get rid of the fat people.

 

[DorkyFresh]

Well scientist and such are thinking about "terraforming" Mars or something. Lazy option, if at all possible IMO. Folks acting as though people were born with gasoline cars and the like and thus it is rully, rully hard for us to flip the script. I can't allow myself to wallow in the dramatic doom and gloomy POV some people harbor simply because the Earth *can* heal itself but if people destroy it faster than it can repair itself then there's a problem.

good on ya mate...i like your train of thought. we need more people like you and less people like the ones who ignore the warnings or have the passive mindsets.

 

[Locs]

I have nothing against fat people, it's just the obese ones that need a firm slap between their sense and nonsense. Destroying automobiles isn't the only option especially since it is proven that vehicles can function in an environmentally safe way i.e. electricity. Although personally I prefer bicycles. Now I feel like a tree hugger...

 

[Locs]

good on ya mate...i like your train of thought. we need more people like you and less people like the ones who ignore the warnings or have the passive mindsets.

People are like domesticated animals, you either gradually or forcefully make them change their direction. Gradually: It took abit over 90 years for gas-powered cars and such to become almost a dependant in people's lives. I can imagine that'll it take about the same time to remove it from their lives also. Forcefully: Perhaps Katrina type disasters need to declare their rath more often for folks to step up their game. And since both scenarios are in the process of happening(hybrid cars and the scary weather patters etc) all hope is not lost contrary to what many may believe.

 

[OverMyHead]

Let us pray...


Our Father who art in Heaven, hail e by thy name...

 

[Kritish]

Yes, we do need to be terraforming other planets so that if everything goes wrong the Homo Saipens have a chance to survive.

 

[DorkyFresh]

Yes, we do need to be terraforming other planets so that if everything goes wrong the Homo Saipens have a chance to survive.

terraforming takes centuries, maybe even millenniums...moving to another planet is not an option right now. even if it were, it'd be much more realistic and convenient to just preserve our current planet. if we move to another planet we have to add up the unthinkable cost of moving everyone over there, the monumental exodus, and we'd still have to get used to Mars as a planet (less gravity, potentially more dangerous bacteria, etc).


in other words...terraforming/moving to a different planet is not going to happen for a loooooooooooooooooong time. even if it does, we need to learn to from our past mistakes of abusing our power w/out knowing the consequences.

 

[redmarvel]

Indeed. Before we can move to another planet we would have to build a spaceship capable of keeping multiple people alive for the duration of the trip. Considering that there is no nearby habitable planet, that would be a HECK of a long trip. Might have better luck upgrading the spacestation to be independent of Earth, or building a Moonstation (or 10). However, you would never be able to evacuate the whole population of the planet. Heck we can't even feed all the folk on the planet now, even though the food is there, we just can't seem to get it to the people who need it.

We have to learn to think differently. We have to learn to think about the "we" (earth as a whole) instead of the "me" (doing whatever we want because it makes us happy).

 

[Kyalesyin]

^ Asimov wrote a book covering this exact topic under slightly different terms [mass evacutation of earth] called Nemesis. I suggest looking it up.

 

[GoldenAgeHero]

^ Asimov wrote a book covering this exact topic under slightly different terms [mass evacutation of earth] called Nemesis. I suggest looking it up.

what happened in the book?

 

[Kyalesyin]

what happened in the book?

Apart from an imminent threat to the saftey of the earth, a lot of debating about how lazy humans are and how we could never motivate ourselves on time, even when lives are at stake. Very complex. Good read. One of his later ones.

 

[Arkady Rossovich]

Why are you brainwashed by the politicians and oil companies? that's what I don't understand.

The oil companies have every right to brainwash the people,because if oil production stops.Trillions of dollars will stop going into their pockets,they will do anything to stop,deny or pretend to keep that money going.

As for those who dont care,i see a lot of those are Americans.Well..i have something to tell you,if the ocean levels rise.Guess which land mass is going to decrease in size,the North American contient.Its ironic that America refuses to belive this,but if anything does happen,they will suffer.Justice,since the USA refused to do the Kyoto Protocal.Or should i say Bush.

 

[Halcohol]

The oil companies have every right to brainwash the people,because if oil production stops.Trillions of dollars will stop going into their pockets,they will do anything to stop,deny or pretend to keep that money going.

No. No they don't.

As for those who dont care,i see a lot of those are Americans.Well..i have something to tell you,if the ocean levels rise.Guess which land mass is going to decrease in size,the North American contient.Its ironic that America refuses to belive this,but if anything does happen,they will suffer.

Global warming will have a global effect. It won't be just North America that shrinks; can you imagine the damage a rise in sea level would do to the British Isles? Or to low-lying areas like India and Bangladesh? How about the rice fields in East Asia that grow food for billions of people? It won't be justice, it will be billions of people (who are already living below their means) being eradicated by the refusal of the USA to take responsibility for its pollution.

Justice,since the USA refused to do the Kyoto Protocal.Or should i say Bush.

There was a big news report up here a few weeks ago how the United Nations condemned Canada for being one of the worst environmental offenders. I had no idea, but that didn't stop me from getting angry at my government for so blatantly disrespecting the rest of the world. It's not just Bush, it's a lot of people with powerful corporate connections. The Conservative Party of Canada has a lot of big name supporters from the oilpatch out here, so they're more similar to the Republicans than you know.

 

[Galactus]

String of Warm Years Continues in 2006

By LiveScience Staff

posted: 15 December 2006
12:28 am ET



The average annual temperature in 2006 for the contiguous United States will likely be the third warmest on record since 1880, according to scientists at the NOAA National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C.

The average temperature for this year, based on preliminary data, will likely be 2 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th century average.

Globally in 2006, the annual temperature for combined land and ocean surfaces is expected to be sixth warmest on record.

Including this year's global data, six of the seven warmest years since 1880 have occurred since 2001, and the ten warmest years have occurred since 1995.

 

[Kritish]

What are the neo-cons going to say when the ocean levels raise two-hundred feet?