Global warming: what did we do?

[Tellenbach]

It's probably solar flare activity or ancient aliens roasting marshmallows under the Antarctic ice.

 

[Ace_]

I read a post about most coastal areas having massive problems in 5 years, the Maldives being completely drowned, half of Bangladesh being flooded in the next decade, and at the end it says this text was written 30 years ago.

Global warming is real, but the scare mongering is often too much.

 

[Virtual ghost]

I read a post about most coastal areas having massive problems in 5 years, the Maldives being completely drowned, half of Bangladesh being flooded in the next decade, and at the end it says this text was written 30 years ago.

Global warming is real, but the scare mongering is often too much.

Well, that is typical media sensationalism, since that sales and average person know little to nothing about climate and related systems. Although I once went through the article that says that this is actually a strategy to discard the global warming as an idea, creating a straw man is actually one of the oldest tricks in the book. Not to mention that Hollywood didn't make a single realistic movie about this, since that wouldn't sell.

 

[Virtual ghost]

Plus I would like to say that even the term global warming itself is a straw man to some degree and better term is climate change. Which is because temperature is only one component of the issue (but important component). However in the mix you also have precipitations amounts and how they are scattered through the year, changes in average snow cover, species moving into what is now better environment for them (and therefore chaos in food chains), you have ocean acidification problem (what is toying with food for billions of people), you have increased pressure on infrastructure from "freaky weather", you have more energy in the system and therefore more turbulence (to the point of braking polar vortex, what creates very cold spells), ... etc.


In my book "global climate destabilization" would be the best term for what we have at this point of the process. First you have to brake the system in order to make another one.

 

[Bush]

The thing is that I don't agree with people who claim this is all in the air. Here there are actual pictures of glaciers taken in the past and a more modern version. At this point the problem isn't even "abstract" anymore.

Etc. etc.

I find that this works best when paired with

 

[Lark]

Capitalism is destroying the earth's capacity to support life.

 

[Jaguar]

.

 

[Virtual ghost]

Capitalism is destroying the earth's capacity to support life.

Perhaps, but over last few centuries we didn't have a major political system that truly cared about nature. So destroying nature is more of a general human thing than Capitalism thing.

 

[Virtual ghost]

Something I ran into.

 

[Lark]

It's probably solar flare activity or ancient aliens roasting marshmallows under the Antarctic ice.

I dont think its either of those things but I do think that alternative explanations for some of what is being discovered should be taken a lot more seriously than it is being taken.

For instance, its only recently that I've heard discussion of alternative explanations for the decline of fish in british coastal fishing waters for reasons other than over fishing and disputations of European Union regulation of fisheries, probably because those explanations of depletion of fish stocks dont matter so much with the exit of the European Union.

Now the explanation is that climate change and temperature changes of the coastal waters has resulted in fish stock changes, the usual Cod and Haddock are finding it too warm and moving out, Lobsters and Crabs are moving in.

I've also read some interesting things about the "weaponization" or at least "exploitation" of pollution, including acid rain and other pollutions, the factories spew it out, the main negative consequences are beyond the borders of the nations which are producing it and so they dont care about it but will allege any regulation of them is "dirty protectionism" and a "cap on development". If that where not sinister enough there actually is some evidence to suggest that some first world nations actually ARE looking upon it as a form of "dirty protectionism" and "cap on development" (!).

Its an interesting topic, I also like some of the eco-socialist thinking about things but it can be pretty whack, like I mean predicting ecological apocalypse which will probably leave the majority of the world back in the stone age dependent on mono-crops of corn or potatoes.

 

[Tellenbach]

Capitalism is destroying the earth's capacity to support life.

You wouldn't be saying that if you see the fricken traffic jams here in the city. If anything, capitalism has greatly increased the earth's capacity to support life.

 

[Lark]

You wouldn't be saying that if you see the fricken traffic jams here in the city. If anything, capitalism has greatly increased the earth's capacity to support life.

What happens when you have infinite demand upon finite resources?

 

[Tellenbach]

What happens when you have infinite demand upon finite resources?

There is no such thing as infinity, but if we had a huge demand and finite resources, we could just invade Canada.

 

[Virtual ghost]

The numbers don't look good and we are looking at another record low Arctic sea ice cap at the end of the summer melt season in September. Especially since 2019 is in the lead for a current date. Also less ice means more open water that is much better at absorbing energy.

Or how that looks like a map.

The ice thickness is actually ultra alarming since there just isn't any thick multi-layer ice left. So the sun will hit none stop the thin ice for the next month and a half until melt season ends in September and that should melt away huge surfaces. For years scientist are speculating about the possibility that the ice will melt away in third dimension from below and that the ice cap will suddenly disappear. After all this is extremely thin object at the moment, in diameter it is in thousands of miles and in thickness it is just a few dozen centimeters.

 

[Tengri]

From May '19: Climate change may make the Arctic tundra a drier landscape

"Lake drying may be one of the most significant consequences of Arctic climate change given that the majority of the world's lakes are in high latitudes," explained lead author Rebecca Finger Higgens, a graduate student in the ecology, evolution, ecosystems and society program at Dartmouth. "Much of the drying of lakes in Kangerlussuaq has been occurring from 1985 until now, a period during which we've also seen a 2.5 Celsius increase in the mean annual temperature. Our results demonstrate that warmer temperatures in western Greenland over the past 30 years have accelerated lake decline," she added.

Over the past week: Wildfires Ravaging The Arctic Right Now Are So Intense, You Can See Them From Space

Thomas Smith, an environmental geographer at the London School of Economics, told USA TODAY that the magnitude of these fires has never been seen in the 16-year satellite record, and because they are burning carbon stores, they are inevitably feeding a vicious warming cycle.

"These are some of the biggest fires on the planet, with a few appearing to be larger than 100,000 hectares (380 square miles)," Smith said.

 

[1487610420]

it seems like models might be way off in predicting the amount and speed of fubar

 

[Virtual ghost]

Speaking of disappearing lakes:

There is a number of big lakes around the world that are disappearing due to combination of: changes in rainfall, desertification, disappearance of glaciers that provide water source, use of water for drinking and agriculture. What creates clear deficit in "inflow and use of the water in the lakes" ratio.


Lake Chad - central Africa

What leads to this

What in the end fuels regional instability and refugee crisis in Europe. Since Sahara is spreading into the region.





Chennai lake - India
Not enough rain/inflow and water supply is in problems.

Aral sea - central Asia

This used to be the 4th largest lake in the world just decades ago. But messing up the river paths for agriculture and increased temperature/desertification have dried the huge lake, that wasn't that shallow.

So today you can find fishing ships in the middle of a desert there.

Lake Popoo - Bolivia

From what I understand glaciers that were feeding the lake melted away.

Even in USA there are troubles with water reservoirs lately

Etc.


In the future this will surely be one of bigger problem through out the world, since water is vital resource. Human hand can evidently change the whole landscape.

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

You'd think the anti-immigration people in the USA and Europe would be more alarmed. Climate change refugees are going to make the current immigration crisis look paltry in comparison.

Consider the strain on our infrastuctures under the weight of millions of climate refugees, consider the shrinking reservoirs Virtual mentioned above and ask where the hell these people are going to get enough drinking water.

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

 

[ceecee]

You'd think the anti-immigration people in the USA and Europe would be more alarmed. Climate change refugees are going to make the current immigration crisis look paltry in comparison.

Consider the strain on our infrastuctures under the weight of millions of climate refugees, consider the shrinking reservoirs Virtual mentioned above and ask where the hell these people are going to get enough drinking water.

I'm sure the current administration and ruling party is simply hoping they die before they get here. Or mowing them down at the border, which has also been suggested. Unless they are coming from Norway or some other white people country. All of this has actually been said so anyone who has an issue with it, take it up with Trump.

In the end, doing something requires mass organizing on a global level. We live in Fortress America now, this is never going to happen. My suggestion is to start donating money to and voting for every candidate that also puts this problem front and center., that grasp the global size of the problem and are willing to move away from a solely capitalist economy to make it happen.