nytimes.com — There are so many stories we can tell ourselves to justify doing nothing, but perhaps the most insidious is that, whatever we do manage to do, it will be too little too late. Climate change is upon us, and it has arrived well ahead of schedule.
Apr 21, 2008 View in Crawl 4
andy314159piApr 22, 2008
Right, but all of the carbon that you are made of was fixed by sunlight and recently taken from the atmosphere, unlike the *massive* amounts of carbon dioxide that are being introduced into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels, which were removed from the atmosphere many millions of years ago.
kosserApr 22, 2008
i'll post this to you as i posted to someone else. some scientists even say the earth is in a carbon deprived era compared to earth's history.The head of the ipcc (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) has actually acknowledged it [that the Earth has cooled since 1998]. He talks about the apparent plateau in temperatures so far this century. So he recognizes that in this century, over the past eight years, temperatures have plateaued. … This is not what you'd expect, as I said, because if carbon dioxide is driving temperature then you'd expect that, given carbon dioxide levels have been continuing to increase, temperatures should be going up.
shintriadApr 22, 2008
Nice article, but this push to "grow your own food" is getting absurd. I live in a 400 sq ft high-rise bachelor in downtown Toronto. I'm not going to grow vegetables anytime soon. I don't even eat that many vegetables -- I consider them side dishes, not a primary form of sustenance. Unless you want to be a skinny, gaunt wuss, you need some protein in your diet. And I'm not gonna start raising chickens either.Expecting me to go to the "local community garden" is similarly ridiculous. The closest one is about about 5 km away, and it's already packed with old ladies in sun hats growing their own crap. The local "garden center" is...you know, I don't think I've ever seen one. Plus, do you know how long the growing season is up here? Not enough to last you more than a couple months. And I really want to eat vegetables that were grown in one of the smoggiest cities in North America? Better to walk five minutes to the supermarket and get something grown relatively nearby.Let's face it: If you're growing food as a political statement, it basically serves as a hobby for the rich, idle and self-conscious. It's a poor solution to our problems.If we all lived in tiny s**tbox condos like I do, which is so small and insulated that I didn't even "bother" to turn on the heat all winter, our planet would be much better off. If you have room for a backyard garden, you're part of the problem.
vincenoirApr 22, 2008
Funny that your "avatar" image is rather fitting for you. You live in fear. You try to instill it in others. And yet, you do this all by claiming to inform people. You are a fool. It doesn't matter who makes it into office next. Even if that assh**e Ron Paul was elected, he'd have little effect on the forces behind what the U.S. really is. That you think the N.A.U. is rather telling of just how much of a stupid idiot you are. You're probably stocked up on supplies and have your guns ready for the coming "jackbooted thugs". Personally I wish I was one of the people in your feverish fantasies just so I could put my boot on you.
vikingcoderApr 22, 2008
I'm sure that the people of India will have no problem with tens of millions of refugees, who are carrying all their possessions in the world on their back, walking onto their land.<a class="user" href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bg.html">https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world ...</a>Population: 153,546,901 (July 2008 est.)
daz3Apr 22, 2008
What exactly don't you understand about the greenhouse effect?
daz3Apr 22, 2008
You should have listed hypothesis above theory to further reinforce that a hypothesis progresses into a theory :)
wholesumMay 6, 2008
and always keep in mind that weather conditions are different from climate change.
texnateMay 22, 2008
OK......in you view, can you tell us how old is the earth? Seriously.My thought is this: The reality is the actual age of the earth is disputed among some very well educated scientists, geologists, archeologists, etc. Even the origin of the earth is disputed, i.e. big bang vs. Creation.The earth has been going through some very dramatic changes throughout its history.... since it's first day of existence! I find it quite arrogant of us as humans to think that we are fully capable of completely destroying the planet we live on. It has been here what...10k yrs, 100k, 10mil, 100mil?? Fine, grow the garden. It's a good idea. Does the government need to make it a law for all of us to do it? If you think the earth is a dump, then by all means... go clean it up! Obviously the laws in place aren't getting it done for you.... so grow up and clean up!
texnateMay 22, 2008
In the early 1970's, according to the (vast majority) of "expert scientists", the whole planet was going to be one solid frozen block of ice by the year 2000. All caused by the dirty rotten human race and the results of our activities. Less than 30 years later, and the earth faces burning up at the hands of mankind--of course! What a nice eco-reality we have.Yeah, growing the garden is highly recommended. The growing season is going to last 11 months under the "natural" sunlight, even in NYC. I know this because Al Gore said so. Thank God, because the trucking/shipping/airline industries need the corn to burn the ethanol to ship my new laptop to me and my fellow evildoers. My homegrown veggies are indeed a thing of "virtue".