What is Digg?148 Comments
- wonderchemist, on 10/12/2007, -9/+52It all depends on which definition of "the world as we know it" you are using.
If you live on a 1 foot high pacific atoll then it's quite easy for global warming to change "the world as you know it". if you live in a large city well above sea level and earn a high enough income that you are immune to changes in the price of food/fuel, then "the world as you know it" is very hard to change with global warming. - CaptMonkey, on 10/12/2007, -6/+24While I tend to believe that the world won't come to an end from global warming (or a plague, or nuclear war, or whatever) any time soon, I do think that climate change is not in our best interest. The reason behind this is simple, our cities, farms, etc. are all set up for the current climate. While rising temperatures might make land in the northern places like Canada a lot nicer, it's going to be a bad thing for the guy in the southwestern US whose farm is currently on the edge of a desert.
Like the article said, it will require "reshuffling" and that's going to hurt a bunch of people financially. I don't think anyone arguing for or against global warming has thought out all of the effects it will have, positive and negative. But I think our climate is pretty nice how it is now and throwing dice, hoping global warming will give us something better just seems to be asking for trouble. - reflex768, on 10/12/2007, -11/+28Good comparison with the medieval apocalyptic rhetoric of the early Catholic church in that piece. It's also rather sad, as it tends to demonstrate that a thousand years later, mankind has not yet learned how to identify manipulative, bogus hysteria when they encounter it.
- Aceanuu, on 10/12/2007, -12/+26State of Fear by Micheal Crichton
Good book, interesting viewpoint to say the least. - zelig, on 10/12/2007, -25/+36Will this story too, be ignored by the Digg Trolls?
- blapierre, on 10/12/2007, -6/+16We do not currently have the technology to create a perfect climate for ourselves. The best we can hope to do is adapt to changes in climate and try to make the best of it.
- cliffzdude, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10The supposition that global warming is real, man made, and will be catastrophic has many problems, but lets just assume its real and man is causing it. The article posted here disagrees that the warming of the world's climate is patently catastrophic. The assumption is made, incorrectly, that fairly arid land in TX for example will simply become more arid. But that idea ignores that IF we do dramatically increase the world's temps, releasing more water into the atmosphere via evaporation many arid lands will begin to receive more rainfall. The areas that are supposed to become deserts were lush in the past, in the WARMER past that is. That point seems to evade the doom-sayers, the simple fact that in warmer times in the earth's history deserts were far less common. In fact the colder the world's climate, the dryer the world's climate becomes. The largest deserts in the world are covered by snow.
If there is a discussion to be had about global warming being real, and being caused by man, and the end result being catastrophe then its in everybody's interest to have an open mind to all points of view. The responses here today show that a large number of people have patently accepted the theory of catastrophic, ma-made global warming being real and true. The tendency to be skeptical of this theory, accepting it at face value no matter where the argument stands shows its become a political issue and not one of science. - republicker, on 10/12/2007, -6/+15As long as the beer is still cold, I'm good.
- kibiz0r, on 10/12/2007, -5/+13Of course global warming isn't the end of the world. We've known that for a while.
The disappearing bees are the real end of the world. - Decimator, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10Well, at least one of the "alternative fuels" creates more smog than gasoline: ethanol.
- Schlaze, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Cite ONE article from a PEER-REVIEWED scientific journal, that supports your claim.
Even if you manage to pull it out of your ass somehow, there are dozens of articles from as far back as the 80's saying quite the opposite. - nreynolds, on 10/12/2007, -10/+17Greenhouse gases MIGHT be doing nothing. Global warming MIGHT be entirely caused by nature. But if it's caused by man (which we'll probably never know for sure), we can do something to stop it. And even if we're not sure it is caused by man, we have the responsibility to at least try something.
- noblepassenger, on 10/12/2007, -4/+11this story is clearly forgetting that a major problem is pollution. we DO need to reduce our waste and live cleaner lives whether or not one computer simulation tells us the end is just a little further away than we thought.
- drafhk, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8So long, and thanks for all the... pollen?
- poorman04, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7I know the solution to Global Warming! All we need is 1 giant ice cube from Halley's Comet, and then put it in the ocean.
- joshtj, on 10/12/2007, -4/+10So what if most of the critics end up being wrong, and global warming is barely affected by mankind, is it that wrong to treat our environment with a little more respect? And hell, if they are right, we could even make a difference.
- cankillar, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7I'm predicting tomorrow's climate will be mid to high 60's, with little clouds and a 20% chance of rain.
- tkstock, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Global warming is happening. So what.
There are theories that the weather will get worse. Well, those are just theories. There are also theories that say that global warming will lessen the impact of storms around the earth.
The fact of the matter is that global warming is happening, with or without our help. Man's contribution to global warming is relatively insignificant. We could throw TRILLIONS of dollars at the problem, ruin the world economy, and have ZERO impact on the climate. Or, we could do what humans have done for thousands of years - adapt. Advances in technology will be a part of that adaptation, and some of those advances will lend to "greener" lifestyles (such as electric cars, alternative fuels, etc). The free market will take care of most of this, but I'm sure that won't stop government from stepping in and MANDATING how we have to live our lives.
The idea that global warming will cause food shortages is bunk - longer growing seasons will enable greater crop yeilds. More land will actually be able to be farmed without it freezing over every winter. Instead of it being 80 degrees in Hawaii, it will be 82.
Environmentalists use the popularity of Global Warming to push their agenda, and guess what: it's all about MONEY. - storm8956, on 10/12/2007, -5/+10@railer
Dude, way to broadcast the LOW temperature! You know the average temperature for Edmonton right now is 31F? You were 8 degrees warmer than normal. You should consider yourself lucky. - drafhk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Then again, that works both ways. Now places like Siberia and Canada will be more productive and nicer places to live, whereas already-insufferable places like Arizona (where I live) will... just get more insufferable. It won't really hurt anything, it's all dead to begin with.
- bil4l, on 10/12/2007, -7/+11In the 90's all these conspiracy theorist's were claiming that the next Ice Age could be imminent. Al Gore is a typical left winger trying to gain approval of all the tree hugging dem's. Has the world warmed up in the past 100 years? Yeah it has, barely and it's not anyone's fault, despite what Gore and his cronies would have you believe.
If anyone watched the Glenn Beck special on CNN Headline News in the last week they were saying that the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere actually goes up AFTER the temperature goes up, therefore making the CO2 a moot point. - brink668, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5and if the computer is wrong?
- Aremith, on 10/12/2007, -19/+23@flippinjeremy
Of course. All those greenhouse gases we are pumping into the atmosphere must be doing so much good. /sarcasm - NiGHTSChao, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I don't know about you, but its about 120 here in Arizona during the summer, I don't want to make it any ***** hotter..
- Spo8, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4"Greenhouse Gases, which we pump into the atmosphere pile up. The Sun rays go to the earth, and, instead of bouncing off the Earth and going back into space, they bounce off the arth, and then off the greenhouse gases in the air, and then back to the Earth, creating a warmer Earth."
Yes, I realize this is what Al Gore's highly scientific 3D arrows did in the presentation, but this lacks proof. First, UV rays pass through whatever the ***** they want. You get the same UV exposure on a bright cloudy day that you would if it was a clear blue sky. So thick clouds don't have an effect on UV rays, yet minute changes in the composition of the atmosphere do? An interesting theory...
I'm not a pollution advocate. Far from it. I'm all for cleaner air, as it sure as hell isn't going to hurt to clean up manufacturing processes and ween the world off its dependency on fossil fuels, but I sure as hell don't advocate ***** environmental hysteria. - directedition, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5And if Greenpeace gets its way. The world population would not exceed 1 billion and would be composed of isolated communities that use little to no electricity. Tyler Durden would be their hero.
- w00t4me, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4this is a decent article about average temperatures of the past 2 millienia:
http://www.marshall.org/article.php?id=141
it points out that there was a warm period from 800-1300 ad that was on average warmer that it is now, and that we entered a "mini-ice age" from the 1300 - 1900 that peaked in the 17th century.
google climate change of the past 1000 or 2000 years and there are several more articles like this. - directedition, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6Support of the theory of man-made global warming = more funding.
Opposing the theory of man-made global warming = funding revoked.
The scientific community isn't always driven by fact. Unfortunately greed plays a roll too. Standing up to the idea of man-made global warming takes some serious balls, because you could land your scientific ass on the street if the people who write your checks don't like it.
Oh, and there's no one disputing that global warming is occurring. The dispute is over what's causing it. - kiloWatt, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I hate when people pull the "100 years ago" card. If you want to seriously look at the problem then look at post WWII consumerism (ie throw away culture, unsustainable American dream *****!). 1946 is more relevant than 1907! You're probably one of those people that believes that the US entered WWII to combat German racism, even though you conveniently forget that American forces were segregated 'til JFK's time!
@wachter1: "ostrich crowd" Give me a break...Lemme introduce you to my friend Mr. Kettle. - directedition, on 10/12/2007, -16/+18That 1 foot high island will go away no matter what. Humanity's contribution to temperatures is minute at best. Increased solar activity is the #1 cause of global climate change. Even if we never burned anything ever, those ice caps are going to melt. Just like the ice caps on Mars are slowly disappearing.
- hiikeeba, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4And ignore the NASA studied that showed temperatures on Mars have risen about the same amount as they have on Earth. Why is Global Warming on Mars a natural event, and not on Earth?
- Aremith, on 10/12/2007, -7/+9Yes, but the warm peak is higher than it has ever been in the last warming periods.
- Lnomis, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4I don't think the real worry is that there will *definitely* be catastrophic consequences from global warming, there might not be.
However, we are running an uncontrolled experiment on our own environment.
If it goes wrong as experiments often do, we're screwed. - kiloWatt, on 10/12/2007, -4/+6Glenn Beck are you kidding me? he is an ENTERTAINER! he knows this. his network knows this. I'll take his word on ANY subject once Nancy Grace is the Chief Justice!
- Intangible360, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Because you know how accurate our ability to predict the weather and climatic patterns are...
- tehbored, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2What if the Atlantic current gets ***** up and Europe turns into an ice cube? I guess "the end of the world as we know it" depends on where you live.
- Floodle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Weather forecasters can't even get tomorrow's weather right most of the time.
- luther70, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Even if the worse case scenario is unlikely isn't it better to err on the side of caution. Not to mention switching to domestic renewable energy will make us more secure.
- directedition, on 10/12/2007, -5/+7When the poles change polarity and the van-allan radiation belt disappears momentarily, that will also be a problem. Both problems have something in common: There isn't a damn thing we can do about it but brace ourselves and prepare.
- spookyttws, on 10/12/2007, -4/+6German Sun worshipers are cute, but this resurgence of Ra could be trouble...
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2The local weatherman can't tell me for sure what it will be like outside next Wednesday, but you expect me to believe what someone says it will be like in 50 years. GTFO.
- directedition, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4@watcher1
Politics is a scale, and someone needs to apply the counter balance. If they want to talk worst case scenarios, then I will too. - storm8956, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@railer
That's cool, man. I know there are some ridiculous people out there who think that they can judge global climate change based on recent trends or current observations. I just thought I'd go on wunderground.com and see how far the temperatures you posted were from the real average high or low, but I was joking around myself since being above average one day tells you nothing about the next few decades. Hope you get warm! - JERRYTEMPLETON, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Here is how I see it. I am a boomer. I did the 60's deal, all of it except acid simply because I am a control freak and with acid.well you know. It gets hot and it gets cold. It rains a lot (6 inches here in OKC the last 48 hours) it dries out. We have been in a drought for the past 5 years. All the knuckleheads are running around saying the drought is over and it is going to be a cool summer. Yesterday in 1980 was the coolest day on record for May 8Th and it turned out to be the hottest summer in the history of record keeping with 59 days over 100 in Ks. & Ok. No real thinking person cannot truthfully predict the weather. We keep track sometimes of the 7 day forecast just to see how wrong they get it. It is about 50%. The same if you had a spinner. You know though, if man is really F-ing up the weather, it is not the US. We have to be the most clean of the industrial powers. If any of you got hooked o the amazing race, one can see other bizzar-o countries and how much pollution they put in the air. The guys in some India type place take old ships apart. The life expectancy is about 11 due to the lead and asbestos in the air. I think it sucks if the ice caps are melting and the Polar bears are in trouble as well as other species. I like animals a lot more than people but and here is the big word BUT I don't think we can change it. I think it is a cycle and it may sink LA and NYC but I don't think the 300 million people in the US and some of the other maybe 100 million other self conscious peoples of the world can do a frigging thing the other 19 zillion rain Forrest burning, coal burning, mercury dumping, people slaughtering and diamond mining, speaking of that, did anyone see the story about Madagascar and their "pretty rocks" they have discovered. They think we are building bombs out of them because we pay so much for rocks they dig out of the ground. That is another entire story. They have no idea what jewelry is. Global warming.........Who needs it? Denny Crane!
- hiikeeba, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3@Aremith
Yes, but the warm peak is higher than it has ever been in the last warming periods.
No, not yet. According to Brian Fagen's The Little Ice Age, in the 1400s England was producing wine of such quality that French monarchs passed laws prohibiting importation. In the 1500s the Little Ice Age dropped temperatures 7 degrees, freezing the English wine industry out of existence. Since the end of the Little Ice Age in the 1850s, temperatures have rebounded 3 or 4 degrees. Fagen supports the Church of Global Warming, and even he isn't making the claim that it warmer than ever. - luther70, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4Actually it was the 70's that all the conspiracy theorist's thought th next ice age was coming. No reputable scientist believed it by conspiracy theorist did. Todays conspiracy theorist's think that global warming isn't happening or think we have no impact.
Hmm Climatologist or Glen Beck. Who to trust? - pipsterpops, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Forget Global warming...Yes its an issue..
But the bigger picture, is "Drinking Water" and "Food" - there's too many people on this planet for it to keep supporting everyone !! - kiloWatt, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4A FALLACY ALERT has been issued for this area !!!
Reductio Ad 70sHippium
Go back to listening to "Barack the magic negro" on your iPod! - lopati, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1also see http://reason.com/news/show/119291.html - The Convenient Truth :P
"This argues not for passivity, and not for delay, but for _gradualism_: setting up policies that will tighten the screws on greenhouse-gas emissions over the next few decades. The convenient truth about global warming, then, is that radicalism is as pointless as it is impractical. Slow-but-steady is not only the easiest approach; it is also the most effective."
cheers! - yoda17, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1
Hahaha. I was there when it was 122 around 1990. That was awesome. As in being in awe thta I could actually still be alive.
I moved. -
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