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North Pole Ice On Track To Melt By September?

phobos13013 writes "Recently released evidence is showing the North Pole ice is melting at the highest rate ever recorded. As a result, the Pole may be completely ice-free at the surface and composed of nothing but open water by September. As reported in September of last year, the Northwest Passage was ice-free for the first time known to man. The implications of this, as well as the causes, are still being debated. Are global warming experts just short-sighted alarmists? Are we heading for a global ice age? Or is the increase in global mean temperature having an effect on our planet?"

978 comments

  1. You know who I feel sorry for? by AltGrendel · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The Polar Bears. No place to go any more.

    --
    The simple truth is that interstellar distances will not fit into the human imagination

    - Douglas Adams

    1. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by bsDaemon · · Score: 5, Funny

      But lack of polar bears is good for seals. screw those polar bears and their radical bear agenda!

    2. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by FireStormZ · · Score: 5, Informative

      Polar bears don't actually live 'at the pole':

      http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/Polar_bear_range_map.png

      They live in areas around which, according to the article, have plenty of ice...

      --
      "Ahh! Arrogance and stupidity in the same package, how efficient of you!" --Londo Molari
    3. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by ahugenerd · · Score: 5, Funny

      But lack of seals is good for cod. screw those seals and their radial seal agenda!

    4. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Sponge+Bath · · Score: 5, Funny

      Without these natural predators the population of Arctic researchers could reach dangerous levels.

    5. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Yvan256 · · Score: 1

      I feel sorry for Coca-cola, they'll have to make new ads instead of using the same ads they've been using for the last decade.

    6. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by MrHanky · · Score: 1

      No, it's not. Lack of predation just means there will be a seal overpopulation, leading to further stress on the already overfished oceans ... and seals suffering in trawls, destroying trawls, etc. Not that the seals don't need the ice about as much as the polar bears do.

    7. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by lazyDog86 · · Score: 5, Funny

      They live in areas around which, according to the article, have plenty of ice...

      Damn...That must be why my freezer keeps growling at me.

      --
      my insights may be modded Funny, but at least some of my jokes are modded Insightful
    8. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by bsDaemon · · Score: 2, Funny

      Well, so much for my well-timed Colbert Report reference...

    9. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by FireStormZ · · Score: 5, Funny

      No, thats the half eaten carton of Ben and Jerry's from 1997, clean out your damn fridge..

      --
      "Ahh! Arrogance and stupidity in the same package, how efficient of you!" --Londo Molari
    10. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by flyneye · · Score: 2, Funny

      hmmm,well,what does seal taste like?
      I understand it makes very good coats.
      I think we can take care of "too many seals".

               

      --
      *Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
    11. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by lilomar · · Score: 1
      --
      The creator of this post (Jacob Smith) hereby releases it, and all of his other posts, into the public domain.
    12. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      Stop overreacting. With the opening of the Northwest Passage, additional trade routes will open. And you know what that means!

      More pirates!

    13. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by IdleTime · · Score: 1

      The point is to kill the person BEFORE you put him in the freezer... Geezzz... amateurs!

      --
      If you mod me down, I *will* introduce you to my sister!
    14. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by MrHanky · · Score: 1

      I've never had it, but it probably tastes controversial, like whale. Whale can be pretty yummy (but then again doesn't have to be). Apparently, orcas eat seals, so we can only hope orcas are delicious. It's our only hope.

    15. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by snowraver1 · · Score: 1

      I wonder how much longer skiing/snowboarding will be a sport. I feel sorry for future generations that may never have the chance to fly down a mountain at mach 3 with a board strapped to thier feet.

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    16. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by jcr · · Score: 4, Funny

      But the cod eat plankton. Screw those fish and their radical cod agenda!

      -jcr

      --
      The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    17. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by azav · · Score: 5, Funny

      Those seals are not radial! They exhibit bilateral symmetry!

      Note: the above is a marine biology joke. If you have not majored in Marine Biology, please go back to college and complete enough courses until the above is funny in context.

      --
      - Zav - Imagine a Beowulf cluster of insensitive clods...
    18. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by azav · · Score: 1

      More seals = more helminth worm eggs in your sushi.

      Mmmm. Intermediate parasite hosts. Mmmmmm.

      --
      - Zav - Imagine a Beowulf cluster of insensitive clods...
    19. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by WgT2 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Polar bears?

      If the "?" should be a "." then you 'might' need to feel sorry for yourself.

      But, I even doubt that seeing as how there is no massive coastal flooding already taking place AND the fact that the middle ages saw hotter weather than we are seeing now... meaning the Sun has caused these fluctuations before, is now, and will likely do so again.

    20. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For some reason the concept of a radial seal makes me think of a pancake.

    21. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by SBacks · · Score: 5, Funny

      And, plankton take solar energy and convert it into stored food energy.

      So, Global Warming = Less Polar Bears = More Seals = Less Cod = More Plankton = More Solar Conversion = Global Cooling!!!!

    22. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If only I had mod points...

      Yes, I studied marine biology.

    23. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by hostyle · · Score: 1

      More migrating Canadians too! And that my friend can only lead to more piracy according to the MPAA, RIAA and Bell!

      --
      Caesar si viveret, ad remum dareris.
    24. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Joebert · · Score: 1

      Damn hippies.

      --
      Wanna fight ? Bend over, stick your head up your ass, and fight for air.
    25. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      AC with mod points... I shudder.

    26. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Darkness404 · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Hmmm... Well considering that last winter was one of the coldest on record... And it snowed just about every other day... I think it will still be a sport. Global warming does not exist. Local warming does. All global warming is, is taken out of proportion local warming.

      --
      Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
    27. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      the middle ages saw hotter weather than we are seeing now...

      The middle ages also saw plagues sweep through Europe multiple times, along with blood-up-to-the-ankles holy wars. That doesn't mean I wouldn't find either alarming today.

    28. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Funny! Appropriate! Winner!

      In other news, pigs breed next to cows! Woodasaid!

    29. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by MadnessASAP · · Score: 2, Funny

      Yarrr! Eh!

      --
      I may agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to face the consequences of saying it.
    30. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Actually,+I+do+RTFA · · Score: 5, Funny

      If you have not majored in Marine Biology, please go back to college and complete enough courses until the above is funny in context.

      Or, go back and major in maths. You get all the jokes!

      --
      Your ad here. Ask me how!
    31. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by ibbie · · Score: 4, Funny

      So, Global Warming = Less Polar Bears = More Seals = Less Cod = More Plankton = More Solar Conversion = Global Cooling!!!!

      See? The planet is fine. It'll handle this whole global warming thing without a problem.

      The people living on it? Well, we're pretty much screwed. :D

      --
      The wise follow a damned path, for to know is to be forsaken.
    32. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What do you have against gaskets?

    33. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by fm6 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Jeez, this is the most asinine thread I've ever read. We start with some tasteless jokes about dying animals and end up with the argument that it's all no big deal because a little coastal flooding now and then is good. Let's not deal with the hard stuff, like the extinction of thousands of species, the loss of cropland, the reversal of the carbon cycle, increase in catastrophic weather, and the faint (but real) possibility that the whole thing will cycle out of control and render the planet uninhabitable. No, that would require giving up some smugness. And we at Slashdot value our smugness!

    34. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Torvaun · · Score: 3, Funny

      Nope, that's Zuul.

      --
      I see your informative link, and raise you a pithy comment.
    35. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by electrosoccertux · · Score: 4, Informative

      Citation?
      So many people toss around opinions without backup here I've given up on listening since the whole thing is such a hotpotato.

      And anyways, massive coastal flooding only happens if the south pole melts (because it's actually on land). If you fill a glass with water and ice, just to the point of overflowing on the edges, and cubes are sticking out the top, when that ice melts, does your glass of water overflow? Same concept with the north pole here.

    36. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by JWSmythe · · Score: 4, Funny


          You sound like you plan on being part of the 99% who fail to survive the first 6 months. Tough luck.

          It will be a wonderful and renewed world afterwards.

      --
      Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
    37. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      AC shuddering at an AC with mod points... I shudder.

    38. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Those seals are not radial! They exhibit bilateral symmetry!

      Note: the above is a marine biology joke. If you have not majored in Marine Biology, please go back to college and complete enough courses until the above is funny in context.

      Okay, but what about those of us who get it but just don't find it funny?

      --
      #DeleteChrome
    39. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by moogleii · · Score: 3, Funny

      Isn't that just general bio?

    40. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 1

      But, I even doubt that seeing as how there is no massive coastal flooding already taking place AND the fact that the middle ages saw hotter weather than we are seeing now... meaning the Sun has caused these fluctuations before, is now, and will likely do so again.

      This makes no sense. Just because the end result is the same doesn't somehow prove that the cause is the same. You can have multiple causal pathways that lead to the same end result.

      --
      #DeleteChrome
    41. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by dgatwood · · Score: 5, Funny

      ... what does seal taste like?

      It's kind of gamey... like spotted owl and bald eagle.... :-D

      --

      Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.

    42. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by JamesP · · Score: 2, Funny

      Just in time for everybody to have the right to bear arms!!!111

      But I'm not sure if it's only regular bears or polar bears as well.

      Oh wait...

      --
      how long until /. fixes commenting on Chrome?
    43. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Shinmizu · · Score: 1

      No, Zuul doesn't live in refrigerators anymore, she's in the Matrix. Don't you remember? "There is no spoon, Neo, only Zuul!"

    44. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

      Jeez, this is the most asinine thread I've ever read. We start with some tasteless jokes about dying animals and end up with the argument that it's all no big deal because a little coastal flooding now and then is good.

      This was no mere dumb Slashdot thread. What you just observed is all the thought and intellect and serious debate that goes into any global warming deniers meeting. The next step is for them to provide their insightful report to the Bush government, turn up the A/C and wait for their checks from the oil companies to roll in.

    45. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, and less ice = more sun to the plankton = even more solar conversion = cooool !!!! :-)

      It's not even funny, because that's how it works. Well, at least in tendency.

    46. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Keill · · Score: 1

      I haven't majored in Marine Biology - in fact, I haven't 'majored' in anything - (I'm in the UK) - but I still get it :)

      Do I get a cookie? ;)

      --
      'Stupidity is an often fatal disease' - R. A. Heinlein
    47. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Narpak · · Score: 2, Interesting

      A polar bear was apparently sighted in Norway two years ago http://www.dagbladet.no/nyheter/2006/05/19/466637.html I for one welcome our new white (and furry) overlords!

    48. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by kesuki · · Score: 2, Interesting

      it's counter-intuitive, but just as timberwolves are good for deer, polar bears are good for seals.

      because there are polar bears eating the slow, weak seals, the strong healthy seals have better feeding grounds, and are less likely to go hungry.

    49. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by kesuki · · Score: 1

      non-stop siberia to iceland, in the same time it takes to get from new york to england!

      i'd think all the iceburgs would make it a bit risky, think of all the drowned pirates!

    50. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by cez · · Score: 5, Funny
      Ohhhh yeah... studied Marine Biology have you? Well then... answer me this:


      What do Walruses and Tupperware have in common?











      ...they both like a tight seal!


      sorry...last day, won't be here all week =(

      --
      Walk with Music;
    51. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by tobiasly · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Isn't that just general bio?

      I think it's actually just basic geometry.

    52. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by kesuki · · Score: 1

      the ice that's melting is all sea ice, the sea water is melting the ice..

      thus there has been no flooding, ice floating on top of water, is already in equilibrium.

      Besides, i've always banked on plate tectonics preventing costal flooding, you could say i'd wager the combo of all that wight coming off land, with the effect of putting all that weight on the sea, will cause geological shits in heights and depths of tectonic plates.

      the amount of geothermal energy available in iceland and greenland would tend to vie for my theory, that all that volcanic activity is a result of the ice having melted in the past, or as a result of the weight of the ice etc...

      coastal flooding is just fear mongering, we don't have the science to prove it, and unlike global warming we don't have any evidence of it already happening.

    53. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Sporkinum · · Score: 0, Troll

      Crazy Ernie sez....

      If nobody comes down here and buys a car in the next hour, I'm gonna club this baby seal. That's right! I'm gonna club this seal to make a better deal. You know I'll do it, too, cause I'm crazy.

      --
      "He's lost in a 'floyd hole"
    54. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by kalirion · · Score: 1

      Or, go back and major in maths. You get all the jokes!

      No, you get the binary code of the characters of the words of the jokes. Gotta do some applying to get to get it to make any sense....

    55. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by smoker2 · · Score: 1

      But lack of humans due to global warming is good for just about everything else on the planet. screw those humans and their radical human agenda.

    56. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Mike+Savior · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I would like to suggest two ideas for you:

      1: Don't be so serious. This is slashdot.

      2: Also, catastrophic ice ages have obviously happened before. Who cares if humans get wiped out? That doesn't mean the planet is uninhabitable for the species that exist after the fact and those that will eventually adapt for later.

      --
      space is pretty cool.
    57. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Penguinisto · · Score: 1

      Citation?


      Well, there is the medieval British Grape/Wine industry, the medieval Viking coastal settlements (with everything including agriculture) in Greenland, and numerous other examples that would have been impossible to have happen, even in recent times. IIRC, the Viking settlements died off in Greenland awhile later when temperatures started dropping again. I guess I could go scrounging it up, but we both know about Google and I hope I've provided enough to serve as a starting point.


      Massive coastal flooding I believe was a scare that was thrown around quite a bit (see also "Waterworld", with Kevin Costner). I do agree with your argument on that matter as concerns the North Pole.


      That said, err, when summer returns to Antarctica, does this mean that a more-than-appreciable amount of its ice dissolves, which (barring the ice shelves around it) means higher sea levels? If so, that would be easy enough to measure - I wonder if anyone has tried to do that...

      /P

      --
      Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
    58. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by z-j-y · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Without humans, there is no "good" or "bad". Unless there's some overlord above humans that defines moral standards.

    59. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by deathy_epl+ccs · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The Polar Bears. No place to go any more.

      Ya know, I grew up in Barrow around Polar Bears, and I gotta say... I never did like them bastards.

      While from an intellectual standpoint, I appreciate that it is a shame they're on the verge of extinction, the emotional part of me that grew up with them being a part of my everyday life can't help but be glad to see them go.

      On the other hand, I've never even met some of the other uber-deadly creatures in the world, and I hold no love for them either. Scorpions, Piranha, Sharks, and so on... again, the emotional part of me is scared silly of the lot and that seriously colors my opionion.

    60. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by fm6 · · Score: 1

      It's a not a matter of planning.

    61. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by smoker2 · · Score: 1

      Bah, you know that bears actually dig the seal pups out of the ice burrows ? It would have to be a really unhealthy seal not to be able to get in the water when it sees a bear. This is why the bears go to the edge of the ice in the summer, to catch seals where they are breeding. If there is less ice, then the bears won't have to go so far, as the seals will have to come to land somewhere. The bears don't swim for the sake of it, just to get across patches between floes.
      But don't let me detract from the general green credential pumping debate going on.

    62. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Poltras · · Score: 1

      You sound like you plan on being part of the 99% who fail to survive the first 6 months. Tough luck.

      It will be a wonderful and renewed world afterwards.

      So, you seeing many dinosaurs these days?

    63. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Poltras · · Score: 1

      I'm as much a Marine biologist as the next George Costanza, but I fail to find this joke funny...

    64. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by anexkahn · · Score: 1

      if this smug cloud mixes with the one over San Francisco, were looking at a smug storm of epic proportions! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smug_Alert!

      --
      Curious about Storage and Virtualization? Check out
    65. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think it's about time we invoke the right to arm bears.

    66. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No marine bio needed, that's just funny

    67. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by JWSmythe · · Score: 3, Insightful

            I lived in Florida for years. Land of alligators and cockroaches. Yes, I've seen plenty of things that can live through anything. :)

      --
      Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
    68. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dude is it From Russia with Buzz? It may be a collector's item since they discontinued the flavor. Put it on ebay and see whatcha get.

    69. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You know who *I* feel sorry for? You.

    70. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by jlarocco · · Score: 1

      Citation?

      Here. There's more if you google for it, but I happened to read that just a moment ago when somebody else linked to it.

    71. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by electrosoccertux · · Score: 1

      Yea thanks that's great; I'm quite rusty on history. Wouldn't have thought of that.

      I don't believe we're in much danger from Antarctica. It's significantly cooler there than the North pole. Consider:

      At the South Pole (Amundsen-Scott Station), the average temperature of the coldest month (August) is approximately â"76 F (â" 60 C), and the average temperature of the warmest month (January) is â" 18Â F (â"28.2 C). Records go back at the South Pole to 1957. At the North Pole, long term temperature records aren't available, but in 2003 a live weather camera and an unmanned weather station were installed on the sea ice. During the last 3 years, the daily temperatures have vacillated between about â"40Â F (-40Â C) during December and January to a little above freezing (0Â C) in June, July and August. The seawater below the ice provides enough heat to keep winter temperatures from falling much below about â"40Â F (-40Â C). I suppose all the activity of Santa and his mischievous little helpers, plus 8 or 9 tiny reindeer might be responsible for boosting the temperatures here a little too.

      Taken from NASA.

    72. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by phizix · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Who cares if humans get wiped out?


      Me.

    73. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      We start with some tasteless jokes about dying animals and end up with the argument that it's all no big deal because a little coastal flooding now and then is good.

      oh, it's a big deal... for us. Oh, and for the species that are going to go extinct, of course. But to the Earth, almost all of this stuff has happened before, and basically all of it is recoverable.

      In the long run, it's no big deal. There will be just as many species after we're gone. However, if we kill everything back to insects and lichens through atmosphere change (and subsequent acidification of the oceans) then it's going to be a long time in between.

      Enjoy your holocaust! Stock up on MREs now...

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    74. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by antdude · · Score: 1

      Dharma Initiative">Dharma can take care of that, especially in a tropical jungle!

      --
      Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
    75. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by drinkypoo · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yeah, I'm not going to go into a frenzy of misquoting here or anything, but George Carlin (may he rot in peace) had a whole routine about how the idea that humans are ruining the planet is the most arrogant thing imaginable. The planet's fine. The people are fucked. That about sums it up...

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    76. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by statemachine · · Score: 1

      Good or bad has always been subjective and local in scope to a species. Probably, the more communicative the species, the more this concept becomes defined. Note that I did not say "intelligent."

    77. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Actually,+I+do+RTFA · · Score: 1

      They live in areas around which, according to the article, have plenty of ice...

      Recent events prove wikipedia incorrect.

      --
      Your ad here. Ask me how!
    78. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Bah, you know that bears actually dig the seal pups out of the ice burrows ?

      Not for long.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    79. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      And anyways, massive coastal flooding only happens if the south pole melts (because it's actually on land)

      But global warming happens why ANY ice melts, because ice reflects more energy than seawater.

      Ice in the water melting increases the energy absorption of the whole earth, which leads to ice everywhere on earth melting faster.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    80. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by snoyberg · · Score: 1

      No.

      --
      Thank God for evolution.
    81. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by superslacker87 · · Score: 1

      Hey! You watched Mr. Wizard's World as a kid too?

      --
      I run Ubuntu skinned to look like a Mac on a PC. Go figure.
    82. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Tassach · · Score: 1

      There's one perched outside my window singing right now. Birds == dinosaurs that survived and adapted to climatic change.

      --
      Why is it that the proponents of "one nation under God" are so eager to get rid of "liberty and justice for all"?
    83. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by LWATCDR · · Score: 1

      "nd the faint (but real) possibility that the whole thing will cycle out of control and render the planet uninhabitable. No, that would require giving up some smugness. And we at Slashdot value our smugness!"
      How about giving up our panic attacks.
      1. Will we loose crop land or will it just shift?
      2. The extinction of thousands of species? What date do have for that number? Or is just a guess?
      3. increase in catastrophic weather? That one I really question. Most catastrophic weather are basically heat engines. What most people don't get is that heat engines are not driven by heat but by heat differential. Since the heat increase is greater at the poles than the tropics it would tend to equal out the temperature differentials of course the question then will be what effect it will have in the temperature differentials in the vertical column.
      The thing is that climate does change over time. Life adapts and some life will do better and some worse if global warming predictions hold out.

      Am I saying we shouldn't worry about global warming or that we shouldn't cut our CO2? Not at all I think it is the prudent action with the data we have.
      Do I think it is a proven fact? Not really.
      Of course the problem is out of our hands. China and India will do nothing to cut there emissions. China has already exceeded the US in emissions (not per person but in total emissions) and I would bet that India isn't far behind. If it is real I doubt that we can even really slow it at this point

      --
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    84. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by geekoid · · Score: 0, Troll

      It's not the God Damn son, you lying son of a bitch.
      Countless studies show that.
      Prick.

      'hotter then Europe'. Yes, except it's hotter all over the damn world, not just Europe.This is not a local Phenomenon, it's a global one. Notice how places that have had ice for 1000's of year are loosing ice. Ice the predates 'Europe hotter period' by 10,000 years is going away.

      Yes, there are normal cycles, the only people to doubt that are the ignorant young earthers.
      The massive amount of CO2 in the air is having a strong impact on the enviroment. Out side of politics and religion, this is the accepted fact. It has mountains of evidence.

      I want to puty my fist through a wall every time one of you ignorant SOBs spout off this disproven crap. You are confusing the issue with your lies, stop it.

      Let me know if you ahve some evidence contrary to what is happening, otherwise STFU, dickweed.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    85. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by geekoid · · Score: 1

      sun is bright, son is my child.
      Just to prove I can actually spell it right.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    86. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by sunwukong · · Score: 1

      But lack of college education makes the internets funnier! Screw those marine biologists and their bilateral symmetric agenda!

    87. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Meccanica · · Score: 1

      Note: the above is a relatively simple joke. If you know what the words 'radial' and 'bilateral' mean, you should be fine.

      --
      You live and learn. At least, you live.
    88. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by camperdave · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Ice displaces a volume of water equal to it's weight. So (discounting the whole mass vs weight thingy) a chunk of ice weighing a kilogram will displace a volume of water weighing a kilogram. Conveniently, this is a litre. So a kilogram of ice displaces a litre of water. Now when a kilogram of ice melts, it becomes a kilogram of water, which has a volume of one litre, which is exactly what was displaced by the ice. Thus the level does not go up or down.

      Except that the above assumes fresh water. Salt water is denser than fresh water, so a kilogram sized chunk of ice will displace LESS than a litre of salt water. When that kilo of ice melts, it adds a litre of fresh water to the salt water. Thus the overall quantity of water goes up. So, when the Northern ice cap melts, there will be a rise in the ocean levels.

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    89. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by rrkap · · Score: 5, Funny

      Hey, if I'm getting wiped out, I'm taking as many other species with me as I can!

      --
      I like my beverages with warning labels!
    90. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by PJ1216 · · Score: 1

      AC shuddering at an AC shuddering at an AC with... ah nevermind...

    91. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Troed · · Score: 2, Informative

      "The massive amount of CO2 in the air is having a strong impact on the enviroment. Out side of politics and religion, this is the accepted fact. It has mountains of evidence."

      No, no and no. Maybe you just need to read up on the subject?

      To start with; http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=23387

      followed by;

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDX2ExKYyqw&feature=related (see the sidebar for the other three parts)

      and;

      http://www.griffith.edu.au/conference/ics2007/pdf/ICS176.pdf

      Happy studying!

    92. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by speedingant · · Score: 1

      And what happens when you add salt to the water? There's a little more than just fresh water in that ice...

    93. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Ren.Tamek · · Score: 1

      Didn't the centre of the pole used to have the densest ice before we melted it? Bears hunt seals by breaking through the ice to get at breathing holes, which wouldn't be possible if the ice was 50m thick. They're great roamers, and they're increasingly finding it difficult to feed themselves, so i'm sure they would hunt wherever there was food. I'm sure we will see differences in their hunting behaviour if accessible food exists closer to the poles.

      You can't just make such a colossal change to their habitat and say it will have no effect based on a snapshot of their behaviour in said habitat *after* the change. Maybe the real reason they don't hunt there is because there's no ice to stand on any more. How do you know?

      --
      "If you want a vision of the future, Winston, imagine a boot stamping on a human face forever." - George Orwell, 1984
    94. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by pfleming · · Score: 1

      Which means - according to the Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster by Bobby Henderson - that global warming is on the way out.

    95. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by phatlipmojo · · Score: 1

      College? I got this joke after 7th grade Life Science.

      --

      Nice things are nicer than nasty ones.
    96. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Look. The joke was inspired. I loved it even though I have only a physics background. Don't explain the joke. Don't ever explain a joke. The right people will get it and you'll be a comic god (well one of the pantheon of lesser deities) for a short time.

    97. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by frogzilla · · Score: 1

      Interestingly, the proper name for polar bear is ursus maritimus. In any case the adjective polar in this case refers, as it often does, to that area of the Earth north of the arctic circle. There is of course an equivalent area south of the antarctic circle but alas there are no bears there.

    98. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Ruthless+Evolution · · Score: 1

      uhm... fm6... lighten up, you're going to fall off that high horse and hurt yourself in the process

    99. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by fm6 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Ah yes, the post-modern slacker approach to global crisis. If you worry at all about the impending extinction of the human race, or (more likely) its continued existence in a degraded state on planet that's become a very unpleasant, well then, you're just taking yourself too seriously.

      Alas, I hail from an earlier time, when people thought that what they did mattered, and that the future was somehow our responsibility. I find the idea of pursuing a life of social onanism and moral solipsism too depressing for words.

    100. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by jwilcox154 · · Score: 1

      hmmm,well,what does seal taste like?


             

      Good question as I do not eat human flesh. Plus, I highly doubt anyone will be able to say anything as he still seems to be recording and touring ;)

    101. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by electrosoccertux · · Score: 1

      So as devil's advocate, that means more water is exposed to the sun and more water is evaporating into moisture, which means more clouds which reflect more sun.

      You see we can go on for hours in circles, we just don't have enough data to conclude what's going to happen.

    102. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by fm6 · · Score: 1

      I'd rather go extinct than subsist on MREs.

    103. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Skratchez · · Score: 1

      Actually predators regulate their prey species, weeding out the sickly and unfit. You never wonder why the people ruling over you aren't too big into social services?

    104. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by arth1 · · Score: 1, Informative

      Who cares if humans get wiped out?

      Me.


      No, you won't, because you'll be wiped out. Wiped out individuals are beyond caring.

    105. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, but currently the seals run rampant and poo all over the place, infecting the water and damaging food supplies. Meanwhile, European organizations protest killing the seals because they are cute, ignoring the fact that the kill countless other species when their populations are unchecked.

    106. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by HJED · · Score: 1

      you forgot the fact that this is likely to lead to an ice age. So at that point
      More Solar Conversion = Global Cooling = BAD

      --
      null
    107. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by fm6 · · Score: 1, Informative

      I could argue with you point by point, but I don't feel like rehashing all these issues One More Time. If you google around, you can find the standard arguments on both sides. Every issue you raise has been answered before, so If you really want to hear counterarguments, they're there for you to examine.

      On the other hand, if you just want to do the standard ignorant sniping that's the favorite sport in the blogosophere, then dude, you are certainly part of the problem.

    108. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Poppa · · Score: 1

      And people accuse the Republicans of fear-mongering.

      There's a big difference between theoretical climate change impacts vs. people hijacking jets and crashing them into buildings.

    109. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by electrosoccertux · · Score: 1

      I was a Beakman's World fan. And of course Bill Nye.

    110. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by fm6 · · Score: 2

      That seems to be a popular strategy these days: if an argument makes you uncomfortable, just insult the person who makes it. But how can I be properly chastened when your insults are so unimaginative? Come on, you can do better than "lighten up" and "high horse". That's grade school stuff!

    111. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Sylver+Dragon · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Alas, I hail from an earlier time, when people thought that what they did mattered, and that the future was somehow our responsibility.

      Really? 'cause it looks like you guys dropped the ball from this side of the generational divide.

      --
      Necessity is the mother of invention.
      Laziness is the father.
    112. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by HJED · · Score: 1

      "nd the faint (but real) possibility that the whole thing will cycle out of control and render the planet uninhabitable. No, that would require giving up some smugness. And we at Slashdot value our smugness!" How about giving up our panic attacks. 1. Will we loose crop land or will it just shift? 2. The extinction of thousands of species? What date do have for that number? Or is just a guess? 3. increase in catastrophic weather? That one I really question. Most catastrophic weather are basically heat engines. What most people don't get is that heat engines are not driven by heat but by heat differential. Since the heat increase is greater at the poles than the tropics it would tend to equal out the temperature differentials of course the question then will be what effect it will have in the temperature differentials in the vertical column. The thing is that climate does change over time. Life adapts and some life will do better and some worse if global warming predictions hold out.

      Am I saying we shouldn't worry about global warming or that we shouldn't cut our CO2? Not at all I think it is the prudent action with the data we have. Do I think it is a proven fact? Not really. Of course the problem is out of our hands. China and India will do nothing to cut there emissions. China has already exceeded the US in emissions (not per person but in total emissions) and I would bet that India isn't far behind. If it is real I doubt that we can even really slow it at this point

      Look up the great ocean conveyor and try to figer out what would happen if it stoped

      --
      null
    113. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by fm6 · · Score: 1

      Dude, if the "theoritcal climate change" happens, were talking deaths in the millions. Nobody will even remember the fall of the twin towers.

      And we're way beyond theory now. The polar cape is almost gone. That hasn't happen any time since the end of the last ice age.

    114. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Hojima · · Score: 1

      Enjoy your holocaust! Stock up on MREs now...

      Or we could start learning how to colonize the sea. The way things are going, we will just be living under the ocean with our crops growing above us. It's not just a matter of pollution. It doesn't matter if we cut down to any fraction of waste emission if there are too many of us to count.

    115. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by fm6 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I said that we cared. I didn't say we cared effectively.

      Or maybe we did. Look in your wallet, see if there's a draft card. There isn't? Are any of your co-workers non-white? Women in traditionally male jobs? Openly gay? So maybe we did accomplish a thing or two.

    116. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by susano_otter · · Score: 1

      By this logic, melting ice is good for polar bears, because it eliminates the weak and stupid bears, freeing up more resources for the stronger, more adaptable bears.

      --

      Any sufficiently well-organized community is indistinguishable from Government.

    117. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I also would rather you go extinct.

    118. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Chris+Burke · · Score: 1

      It's kind of gamey... like spotted owl and bald eagle.... :-D

      I knew it! None of the animals on that list are really endangered, it's just another Nanny State program designed to prevent us from eating animals that aren't tasty!

      --

      The enemies of Democracy are
    119. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by statemachine · · Score: 1

      you forgot the fact that this is likely to lead to an ice age.

      MYTH: Warming will cause an ice age.

      Read the entire article.

    120. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm a human, you insensitive clod!

    121. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by aled · · Score: 1

      I know a good place for them; a tropical island in a non disclosed location accessible only by air crash...

      --

      "I think this line is mostly filler"
    122. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Gilmoure · · Score: 1

      No, I'm an art major and it's still pretty funny.

      --
      I drank what? -- Socrates
    123. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Gilmoure · · Score: 1

      An invisible overlord? Ok, now you're just making funny noises.

      --
      I drank what? -- Socrates
    124. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      You're right. We should finish with a tasteless joke about dying animals too...

      A baby seal walks into a club...

    125. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by ConceptJunkie · · Score: 1

      No kidding... a "biology major"? All you need to be is someone who speaks English.

      Reminds me when I was discussing a CS project in college with someone. It was a memory management simulation and I was comparing a FIFO scheme. Someone present at the conversation who was an accounting major or something said, "FIFO? You must be studying accounting."

      Yeah, like a term as generic as FIFO couldn't apply to different fields.

      Reminds me of watching a business major using the computer. This was back in the DOS days and he was dutifully typing in a huge list of commands, but apparently had screwed up something early on and was still at the DOS prompt that would launch the program he was supposed to be using, so he would type in a command and it would respond "Bad command or file name" over and over and over, completely oblivious to the obvious error messages.

      I would have offered to help, but so often when I tried to help an obviously non-computer-literate person, and politely, not in the usual sarcastic way you often expect of computer geeks, they would get very snarky about it, so I just quietly watching him make an idiot of himself. (If he'd been a she, I probably would have spoken up anyway.) CS students on the other hand were more than happy to be helped, and I developed quite a reputation among classmates as someone who could fix your problems. I was convinced you could get a CS degree without actually being able to know something because there was so much help available.

      Fortunately, I was able to make a career out of fixing people's problems.

      --
      You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
    126. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by AmiAthena · · Score: 1

      hmmm,well,what does seal taste like?

      Ask Heidi Klum.

    127. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by ConceptJunkie · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Meh. Chicken Little types have short attention spans. I'm sure they will be forget about "global warming" in a few years and be wailing about some completely new reason the world will end in the next three months.

      --
      You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
    128. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Original+Replica · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Alas, I hail from an earlier time, when people thought that what they did mattered, and that the future was somehow our responsibility.

      Fear not my contentious friend, when a massive die off of humanity roles over our planet it will take such slacker attitudes with it as it passes. The fewer other humans are left, the more important the contributions of each remaining human become. Reputation, not just for quality of work, but for quality of character will be far more important in a world where it is possible to know everyone who lives in your community. When a person's best and worst qualities both get lost in the crowd the slacker approach makes sense. A few decades of stringent, nature enforced Darwinism might do well to counter our current trend of dysgenics. Humanity thrives in challenging situations... at least the survivors do.

      --
      We are all just people.
    129. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Original+Replica · · Score: 1

      it's counter-intuitive, but just as timberwolves are good for deer, polar bears are good for seals.

      Ah, excellent. Then the coming food riots should be good for humanity. I think I should move to a small farm before then...

      --
      We are all just people.
    130. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      nah, it's kinda like dark hamburger...with some cod liver oil mixed in after it was cooked.

      gawd I wish I was kidding.

    131. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or just Biology, period. And of course, this will make the joke funny: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symmetry_(biology)

      Maybe cute, at best.

    132. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by kramulous · · Score: 1

      Cool ... does that mean I don't have to hit the breaks for jaywalkers?

      --
      .
    133. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by geekoid · · Score: 0

      Actually there would be a change in the water.
      Fresh water has different density then salt water.
      Granted, The change wouldn't be much as all.

      Contrary to what the deniers say, the IPCC report is very accurate. For a rule of thumb test of it's accuracy consider this:

      Even the countries that would have a lot to gain from global warming NOT being strongly influenced by CO2 agree it's happening.
      This isn't like a small group of scientists is daying this, it's a vast majority of scientist ..a consensus, if you will.

      Some things to note that you can look up to confirm:

      Only around half of the CO2 generate by man is reabsorbed into the eco system.

      Half the CO2 plants bring in is out back into the atmosphere at night. The other half enter the eco system through rot.

      Ice core samples, going back 750k years do not ahve as much CO2 in the atmosphere as we do now.

      This 'debate' is largely being pushed by the same groups that think the world has only been around 6000 years.

      There are a metric butt load of studies and evidence that backs this up.

      Finally, when looking at the data closely, temperature changes over the last 100 years do not correlate with sun cycles.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    134. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes it does.
      I'm assuming you live in a dry climate where some of the H20 will skip the liquid stage and become water vapor directly.
      In more humid climates (such as south Louisiana, where I live) the glass does overflow. Every time.

       

    135. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by geekoid · · Score: 2, Interesting

      If the poles melt, I believe the estimate is up to a 30 meter rise.
      As for "warmer in Europe":
      http://environment.newscientist.com/channel/earth/climate-change/dn11644

      I suggest reading the entire story:
      http://environment.newscientist.com/channel/earth/dn11462

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    136. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by HolyCrapSCOsux · · Score: 1

      So...
      Totally a Kodak moment then?

      Look kids, when I was your age, Santa wore a fur coat instead of shorts and flip-flops!

      --
      0xB315AA8D852DCD3F3DCA578FD2E0BF88
    137. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But lack of seals is good for cod. screw those seals and their radial seal agenda!

      But lack of cod is good for brine shrimp. screw those cod and their radical cod agenda!

    138. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by kjots · · Score: 3, Insightful

      ... and the faint (but real) possibility that the whole thing will cycle out of control and render the planet uninhabitable.

      There is absolutely nothing, nothing, that the human race can to that will render this planet uninhabitable. Too believe otherwise is supreme arrogance.

      Even if we simultaneously launched every nuclear, chemical and biological weapon and dumped every ounce of toxic waste, a million years later there would be no indication that we had done anything at all except for a thin radioactive smear in the fossil record.

      The only things that could end life on Earth are the Sun (which will do so in about a billion or two years when it gets so hot it will boil away the oceans) or a collision with another celestial body (and it would have to be a big one - the last few didn't do squat in the life-terminating department).

      Simply put, life is the most powerful force in the universe. The human race, however, is another matter...

    139. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by prennix · · Score: 1

      Jeez, this is the most asinine thread I've ever read.


      It is?

      When doesn't a /. story start off with an attempt at humor/rush to be first, followed by a a few more jokes and a complaint?

    140. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by geekoid · · Score: 1
      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    141. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Global Warming > Polar Bears > Seals > Cod > Plankton > Kevin Bacon

      My god, what's he doing there?

    142. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Shit! Reached the bottom of the food chain- can't score another "radical agenda" joke

    143. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are a thinker.
      Not many Thinkers speak their minds at the right time. Power to change things is a cause. Cause and effect is inevitable. Change is a certainty.
      We all have a bit of coward in us. A vestige of our primate ancestry. Without it we would never have evolved into the great species of planet eaters.

    144. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Muad'Dave · · Score: 1

      Meals Refusing to Exit, I'm told.

      --
      Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.
    145. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by v(*_*)vvvv · · Score: 1

      But Global Cooling eat Al Gore. Screw plankton and their radical Global Cooling agenda!

      And what does Al Gore eat...
      He's been eating a lot lately :)

    146. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by kesuki · · Score: 1

      you might want to take a lesson in the great African war, that has been going on (no the press don't cover it much, they're just black folks killing other black folks, after all, it's not newsworthy... )

      the war has made it very hard to be a civilian, even one on a farm. food shortages are very serious, and any food sent in for aid is confiscated by military groups.

      when the technology to feed billions falls apart, with no way to sustain it, it will involve war, not half starved masses. after all gunpowder is a renewable resource, and any easily melted metal can be used for slugs.

      besides, technology to feed people isn't about to collapse any time soon, yeah the price of food is up massively, and globally, but the actual resources needed are not even close to running out.

      the oil companies are claiming that if America would drill more wells in places where we have oil there would be 60 years of supply... but some of those resources are expensive to tap, which is why they haven't been tapped when oil was cheap, and the current oil predictions assumes that people won't develop these reserves, some of which the DOE hasn't even categorized, because the resources were not being tapped for environmental concerns...

      anyways, i doubt a massive world war is about to break out anytime soon, unless Africa is some how unified, despite everyone trying to kill everyone else...

      Besides, there is more than enough wind energy, and solar to power all the machines needed to support massive mechanized farming, if conventional energy becomes too expensive it only makes renewable energy seem cheaper by comparison.

      people starving because they cant afford food at the 'new' prices, might not cause massive riots etc, and it certainly won't cause massive starvation especially in first world nations... well except America, where there Is a poverty cast who can barely feed themselves..personally i live far enough from the cities that could have riots over food and energy price problems to not have to worry, and besides, riots are just riots, they can't persist if they starve to death.

      it sucks to be poor, especially if you are working and don't meet requirements for food stamps etc...

    147. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by rpj1288 · · Score: 1

      Dude, you know no one leaves a carton of Ben and Jerry's half empty! It's gotta be the casserole.

      --
      Marvin knew: "Think of a number, any number..."
    148. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Watson+Ladd · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Yeah we do. We know all about K. And what K tells us is that more CO2 means lower pH in the oceans, means the coral starts to dissolve and the fish start to die. It's basic chemistry.

      --
      Inventions have long since reached their limit, and I see no hope for further development.-- Frontinus, 1st cent. AD
    149. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by FleaPlus · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The Polar Bears. No place to go any more.

      That actually makes me wonder though... since polar bears have been around for a couple of hundred thousand years or so, what did they during the periods when the planet was warmer than it is today?

    150. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Beryllium+Sphere(tm) · · Score: 1

      >there is no massive coastal flooding already taking place

      Which doesn't disprove the climate models. IPCC estimates are for a sea level rise of 110 to 770 mm by 2100.

      >the fact that the middle ages saw hotter weather than we are seeing now

      Only in the North Atlantic area. The global average was lower:
      Raymond S. Bradley, Malcolm K. Hughes, Henry F. Diaz (2003). "Climate in Medieval Time". Science 302 (5644): 404-405

      >the Sun has caused these fluctuations before, is now, and will likely do so again.

      Compare the temperature trend over the last thirty years to the direct satellite measurements of solar irradiance at the Earth's orbit.

    151. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by ResidntGeek · · Score: 4, Insightful

      What the fuck does it matter? Some women can work as managers and there are black accountants now, great. Do you think that's a victory on the same scale as stopping your generation from annihilating the human population of Earth?

      --
      ResidntGeek
    152. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Original+Replica · · Score: 1

      Yeah, the situation in Zimbabwe is all the more depressing when you consider that it used to be "The Breadbasket of Africa". Somehow I find revoking Mugabe's knighthood rather underwhelming. I can't say I'm surprised or proud our (USA) inaction, but it would be really nice to see the other UN nations with a humanitarian bent take some real action.

      --
      We are all just people.
    153. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by fatmal · · Score: 1

      What's a fur seals favourite drink?

      Canadian Club on the rocks

    154. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by BlueParrot · · Score: 0

      Meh, once you study some philosophy you can screw up the notion of ranking diciplines rather easily. Observe:

      The laws governing mathematics is merely a consequence of the way our world works, making them essentially a matter of the laws of physics. Mathematics is thus applied physics.

      On the other hand, the laws of physics are not fully understood, and you could very well argue that the present understanding is merely a consequence of our tendency to make extrapolations of observed trends. Hence our tendency to believe there is a fundamental set of physical laws is a matter of psychology. Physics is merely applied psychology.

      Of coruse, psychology only makes sense if you assume there are other conscious beings in the world, and this is a belief that cannot be tested experimentally. One could therefore question if assuming that there is a real world is any less irrational than assuming there is a god, and depending on how you answer that question you may well argue that all knowledge is merely religious beliefs that we adhere to with various levels of conviction.

      Of course, at this point I have to destroy the entire basis for my argument by questioning the properties of logic that allowed me to make this argument in the first place.

    155. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by shellbeach · · Score: 1

      Jeez, this is the most asinine thread I've ever read. We start with some tasteless jokes about dying animals and end up with the argument that it's all no big deal because a little coastal flooding now and then is good.

      Please come back when you're either

      a) Not drunk, or
      b) Gained a sense of humour

      Seriously, dude -- lighten up! Just because the planet's screwed, doesn't mean we can't have a bit of fun at its expense ...

    156. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by BuddyJesus · · Score: 1

      Except Greenland's in the north, and it has a lot of ice itself.

      So...Greenland's ice melts and coastal towns are flooded. Granted, it's not as much as the South Pole's, but it'd still probably be significant.

    157. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Kompressor · · Score: 1

      Meals Rejected by Ethiopia, or so I've heard.

      --
      kmem russian roulette: Aquillar> dd if=/dev/urandom of=/dev/kmem bs=1 count=1 seek=$RANDOM
    158. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      it would be really nice to see the other UN nations with a humanitarian bent take some real action.

      Sending in peacekeeping troops wouldn't help. And if you sent a cruise-missile in the direction of RM's palace, the generals and war-veterans would get all would up - maybe it would start infighting or maybe they would just announce themselves president.

      You would have to get rid of the war-veterans first - they are ones that have to paid off first (or at least after the generals).

    159. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I figured all the Polar Bears should have died in 1906, since Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen sailed the entire Passage from E to W. Also, in 1940's it was ice free, hmmmmm.

      Your probably too stupid too realize that the Kool-Aid your drinking is spiked with the media's demand for sensational stories regardless of accuracy or not. By the way Polar Bear populations are up WAY up over the past decade. Just ask Dr. Mitchell Taylor or Davis Strait research biologist specializing in Polar Bear research.

      Also, I am not saying screw the environment here, I am just pointing out facts.

    160. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by dwguenther · · Score: 1

      Support your right to arm bears!

    161. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by jamesh · · Score: 1

      Correct. I'm quite sure an amphibious bear-frog will be evolving over the next few years, just as Darwin predicted.

    162. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by WgT2 · · Score: 1

      Hmmm, I suppose there could then be multiple pathways that lead to global warming as well.

      In any case, there have been ice ages and not-ice ages without the hand of man and I suppose that's more at what I'm getting at.

    163. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Radical bear agenda is indeed a great threat but once we are all underwater we will not see the great threat of the seal armys!

    164. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by greg_barton · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      And anyways, massive coastal flooding only happens if the south pole melts...


      Greenland.

      You fucking idiot.

    165. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by 6350' · · Score: 1

      Whoa wait, you grew up in Barrows? That's a small town, and most readers probably don't get the significance of that local - Barrows is the northernmose town in America. And by northernmost, I mean "on the northern coast." Barrows is the extreme extreme far north of the States - 55 is a toasty warm day for this lot.

    166. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by deathy_epl+ccs · · Score: 1

      It wasn't the most pleasant place in the world to grow up, that's for sure. They used to sell T-Shirts that said "It's not the end of the world - but you can see it from here." Nobody seemed to like my idea, which was "Those who use the phrase 'When Hell Freezes Over' have never been to Barrow." heheheheheheheheh

    167. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ruling out the ice capes melting, meteors becoming crashed into us, the ozone layer leaving, and the sun exploding... we're definitely going to blow ourselves up. H'okay!

    168. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by bizard · · Score: 1

      yes, but then most of the jokes are about you.

    169. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by jnork · · Score: 1

      I majored in Computer Science and dropped out after 1 year. But the joke was funny to me.

      Now what should I do? OMG! The stress is killing me!

      --
      Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult.
    170. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by NeilTheStupidHead · · Score: 1

      There are already problems with seal overpopulation in somuchas if we don't cull part of the seal population every year, they have an additional negative impact on the already deplete cod populations in the North Atlantic.

      What does this mean? Everyone needs to eat more delicious seal flipper pie.

      --
      Lose: misplace or fail || Loose: not bound together
    171. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by jcr · · Score: 1

      Jeez, this is the most asinine thread I've ever read.

      It's a joke, son. Get over yourself.

      -jcr

      --
      The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    172. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by TapeCutter · · Score: 4, Informative

      "China and India will do nothing to cut there emissions"

      I used to read this propoganda all the time in Australian papers, less so since the change of government. In reality the US is now the only nation on Earth not willing to sign up to an international treaty. For the past several years China and India's simple negotiating strategy has been..."we want what the same deal as the US plus the compenstation for past emmisions the rest of the world has already ageed to".

      Two basic ideas of the draft treaty...
      1. Cap and trade (based on tonnage not GDP as the US wants) is the way to go, currently we emmit 10Gt/yr of GHG and the best scientific advise says it would be prudent to reduce that to 3-4Gt/yr by 2050-60. The best economic advise says the sooner we take our medicine the better. The obvious way to do this is start with 10Gt of permits in year 1 and reduce that to 3-4 by mid-century, the hard part is not the technology it's the allocation and accountability of permits. Permits are allocated to national governments once a year who then auction/sell/hoard them ( a decent government would use it to offset other taxes ). For those caught cheating sanctions/tarrifs are applied to their inputs/outputs. Estimated cost per ton of the permits varies between $20-200 depending on what global development senario you belive in.
      2. The treaty is designed to account for the fact that early FF users (US/Russia/EU/Japan/Au) have already benifited from past emmisions. The per-capita emmission curves for different nations are drawn to account for these past emmisions and merge into a single curve by ~2030. Between now and 2030 China and India will have steep curves, OTOH if they can flatten out their curves by undertaking huge renewable efforts earlier rather than later then they will be compensated by auctioning their permits to other nations.

      The basic problem with the draft treaty...
      Creative accounting.

      "How about giving up our panic attacks."
      Agreed, but for a while there it looked like "the economy would be ruined".

      --
      And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
    173. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by lymond01 · · Score: 1

      Hey, if I'm getting wiped out, I'm taking as many other species with me as I can!

      Yes. Yes you are.

    174. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by pipingguy · · Score: 1

      Shame on you for pointing out an inconvenient truth.

    175. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You left out the effects of carbonic acid on plankton. So there will be much less plankton.

    176. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by HJED · · Score: 1

      That is one article with little to no evidence or proof in it against millions of scientists and a pre-historic event

      --
      null
    177. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by statemachine · · Score: 1

      Wow. Just wow. You didn't bother reading or following the links, did you?

      And now you're just making stuff up. How can anyone take you seriously at this point?

      That is one article with little to no evidence or proof in it against millions of scientists and a pre-historic event

      Millions? You're a comic genius, Mr. Borat. Funny how I have another article that refutes you.
      MYTH:Many leading scientists question climate change

      Put up or shut up. Link or GTFO.

    178. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Phroggy · · Score: 2, Funny

      Jeez, this is the most asinine thread I've ever read.

      You must be new here...

      --
      $x='S24;r)>63/* h@<5+oZ)32"5cz';$me='phroggy'x$];
      $x=~y+ -xz+\0-Tx+;print$_^chop$me for split'',$x;
    179. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Phroggy · · Score: 1

      A logged-in user shuddering at a bunch of ACs?

      --
      $x='S24;r)>63/* h@<5+oZ)32"5cz';$me='phroggy'x$];
      $x=~y+ -xz+\0-Tx+;print$_^chop$me for split'',$x;
    180. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Phroggy · · Score: 1

      If that becomes a problem, we could always just send them another shipment of these...

      --
      $x='S24;r)>63/* h@<5+oZ)32"5cz';$me='phroggy'x$];
      $x=~y+ -xz+\0-Tx+;print$_^chop$me for split'',$x;
    181. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by statemachine · · Score: 2, Informative

      I'm not sure why you were modded flamebait.

      But, in any case, here's the article you should give out:
      Climate change: A guide for the perplexed

      It links to peer-reviewed research while rebutting the myths we're tired of seeing perpetuated. It doesn't guarantee the horse will drink, but you'll soon find out who is in the closet and who is simply misinformed.

    182. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, thanks for hiring all the mexicans, making my girlfriend feel it's OK that she can't cook, and making gays think it's OK to march around naked in their little parades.
      And for, you know... destroying the environment.
      I look forward to you destroying my social security, too! I know you've got it in you.

      posted anonymously because it's only half tongue in cheek..
    183. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by HJED · · Score: 1
      I did read it thank you very much and the second article was from the same website and appeared to be to be neutral and had nothing about ICE AGES in it anyway.
      FACT: global warming exists
      FACT: global warming is very likely to cause an ice age.

      show me an article which explains why global warming will not cause an ice age and why theories saying it will are incorrect

      the above linked articles did neither and had no evidence connected to them.

      --
      null
    184. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Kreigaffe · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Don't tell me China and India didn't benefit from past emmissions.

      Unless they're completely independently going to develop their industrial complex.

      They're not? Gonna borrow from what the rest of the world has already learned? You're benefitting from past emmissions. BUCK UP KIDDO, it's a hell of a lot cheaper to BUILT a modern, low-pollution industrial plant and transportation infrastruction, than it is to RENOVATE that shit.

      --
      ... still waiting for this free-as-in-beer free beer I keep hearing about. :|
    185. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Kreigaffe · · Score: 1

      I would imagine pretty close to Manatee.

      --
      ... still waiting for this free-as-in-beer free beer I keep hearing about. :|
    186. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by statemachine · · Score: 1

      Wow. I'm not trying to insult you, but is English your first language? How old are you? There's obviously something wrong with you, because you're failing to read the articles and follow the links inside.

      Because you would then see the parent article: Climate change: A guide for the perplexed

      Which then links to this article (like magic, see? tada!): Climate myths: Warming will cause an ice age in Europe

      the above linked articles did neither and had no evidence connected to them.

      Since *all* the articles link to peer-reviewed research, all you're doing is saying "Nuh UH!"

      Where are *YOUR* links? Where is your peer-reviewed research? I provided mine.

      Put up or shut up.

    187. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by seandiggity · · Score: 0, Troll

      My ancestors were radical cod, you insensitive clod!

      --
      Geeks like to think that they can ignore politics, you can leave politics alone, but politics won't leave you alone.-rms
    188. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Ornedan · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Actually, altering the atmospheric composition really is one way we could render the planet uninhabitable for all but maybe some extremophiles. A runaway greenhouse effect is what happened to Venus.

    189. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by neumayr · · Score: 1

      Nah. A kilogram of ice has a volume of 0.917 litre, according to The Internets.
      Which might explain why it floats ^_^

      --
      Truth arises more readily from error than from confusion. -Francis Bacon
    190. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by uassholes · · Score: 1

      With a quick look at Wikipedia, I find this: "According to both fossil and DNA evidence, the polar bear diverged from the brown bear, Ursus arctos, roughly 200 thousand years ago. The oldest known polar bear fossil is less than 100 thousand years old. Fossils show that between 10 and 20 thousand years ago, the polar bear's molar teeth changed significantly from those of the brown bear." The key there is that glacial periods last 90ky and the inter-glacial periods, like we've been in for the last 12ky are about 100ky apart. Apparently they are an evolutionary experiment that branched off from brown bears during the last glacial period as an adaptation to all the ice. They were screwed as soon as the current inter-glacial period started. If they can hang in there until the next glacial period starts and we go back to ice-age conditions, which should be soon, they may make it, but otherwise, as a species, they were a bad idea.

    191. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by peragrin · · Score: 1

      That is actually one of the things that I hope for. There are too many people who think they are important on this world. a good solid flood to cleanese the earth or other major disaster is what will bring us back on track. maybe next time we can get it right from the start.

      --
      i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
    192. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by peragrin · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Can i saw one minor nitpicking point.

      More species have died in the millions of years before man than exist currently.

      Life goes on, whatever forms it may take it always goes on. massive ice age, a planet that is warm enough for the dinosaurs to come back Life will go on.

      Unless you plan on living forever you won't see any of it either. no matter what happens.

      --
      i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
    193. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by thommym · · Score: 1

      You should love the polar bears and help them move down to the south pole so they can eat all the penguins. Then we might get rid of that stupid Linux and have real UNIX instead.

      --
      Don't feed the penguins
    194. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by jdevivre · · Score: 1

      And we at Slashdot value our smugness!

      Screw those Slashdotters and their radical smug agenda!

    195. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by eugene+ts+wong · · Score: 1

      You sound more generous than I. I think that they don't even bother passing the ball, yet this still expect us to catch it. :^D

    196. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by YttriumOxide · · Score: 1

      Global warming may seem like a "chicken little" fad where you are (I assume part of the US somewhere), but in most of the world, it's been an ongoing topic of serious research for decades.

      --
      My book about LSD and Self-Discovery
      Also on facebook as: DroppingAcidDaleBewan
    197. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by kesuki · · Score: 1

      "it would be really nice to see the other UN nations with a humanitarian bent take some real action."

      yes but 'officially' the war has been over since 2003, i mean having 11 bands of roving armed militias killing and raping wherever they please isn't a 'war' after all they're not taking over territory, just raping, killing and looting... even if they've been doing it for 5 years running...

      they even hold elections you see, and they kill people for not voting, even though there was only one guy on the ballot to vote for..

      why ever would the UN do anything about several countries that have fallen into anarchy, even if they were places that once fed much of africa...

    198. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by tuxgeek · · Score: 1

      Yep, after the 99% kill off, land will become pretty cheep once the water recedes, me thinks

      --
      "Suppose you were an idiot...and suppose you were a member of Congress...but I repeat myself." Mark Twain
    199. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Penguinisto · · Score: 1

      Oh, I didn't mean if all the ice melted off both poles... I meant the differential - as in, there should be one as things get more 'melty' (heh - 5 hours' sleep last night).


      The North Pole melting entirely should see just a little rise (save for what Greenland, Alaska, and the Canadian islands contribute). Antarctica OTOH? It'll be a huge contributor, since the ratio of land-ice to sea-ice is (rough guess) the opposite of what you would find on the North end of things.


      Re: New Scientist. I hope you don't mind my skepticism, but I find myself viewing them not so much as a scientific journal as an editorial one. e.g. they assume the premises of the "myths" they set to dispel as being extreme at best.

      --
      Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
    200. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by njh · · Score: 1

      No, ice has a density of 0.917 kg/L. a kg of ice has a volume of 1/0.917 = 1.09L. It's easy when you understand http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimensional_analysis .

    201. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Screw the polar bears, seals, and cod! What about Santa Claus?

    202. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by svank · · Score: 1
      please go back to college and complete enough courses until the above is funny in context.

      Or take required high school biology...

    203. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't speak for "we" at slashdot, but given the choice, I'll take "smugness" (gallows humor) over self-righteousness any day.

    204. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Technician · · Score: 1

      Ice displaces a volume of water equal to it's weight. So (discounting the whole mass vs weight thingy) a chunk of ice weighing a kilogram will displace a volume of water weighing a kilogram.

      This is true for ice that is displacing it's weight in water volume by floating. Melting ice on land will then add to the volume of water without removing it's volume displacement while ice.

      Melting floating ice does nothing to the level of water when it melts. It does not add mass as it melts. Melting glaciers on the mountain valleys add mass to the water below.

      --
      The truth shall set you free!
    205. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by PrayerlessApostle · · Score: 0

      You're extremely misguided. Even a regional nuclear war with the large thermonuclear weapons prevalent now, would emit enough radiation to obliterate the whole ozone layer. The subsequent UV radiation would kill mostly everything on earth except very hardy bacteria, and deep marine life I suppose.

      And anthropogenic climate change causing a runaway greenhouse effect, like what's on Venus, is a possibility. Humans potentially do have the power to trigger the release of large quantities of methane from the methane hydrates in the seabead, the permafrost of Siberia, etc. Eventually if the temperature gets high enough carbon sequestered away in rocks could sublimate and the oceans could boil. The CO2 and H2O emitted from these events into the atmosphere would almost certainly make the temperature increase permanent. Whether we'll ever make the temperature high enough to release the large amounts of methane in the first place is uncertain but it's a possibility.

      So while the runaway greenhouse effect may not be high on the list, the destruction of all life on earth due to nuclear weapons certainly is.

      Chemical and biological weapons, of course are harmless in the grand scheme of things. But lumping nuclear in with them is ridiculous. The consequences of nuclear weapons are devastating.

    206. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by OldManAndTheC++ · · Score: 1
      --
      Soylent Green is peoplicious!
    207. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "The people" are fucked passive to the fuckers. I say raise the heat a bit more with a few good ol fashioned 500million person killing bombs, extinct the inline four auto engine, and bring back the boxer scarier than a hitler claiming it to be the peoples car... Hows that for global warming? Rock on little plankton, rock on! Bears learn how to shave or die... get a frickin haircut! Oh My God. I sound like a supremicist...
          I love to be crazy. Crazy is fun. Better than insane...

    208. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by JWSmythe · · Score: 1


          It won't all be flooding that takes care of the 99%. When the tides rise, the ports become unusable. All the power plants along the shores shut down. Core cities shut down. The infrastructure breaks down, not only due to the lack of electricity on the national grid, but the inability to fuel the land transit vehicles (trucks and trains run on diesel).

          People will survive in pockets of civilization, not in our widespread connected civilization as we know it. The surviving pockets will suffer plagues due to the inability to get vaccines and medical supplies. Others will suffer famine. Water quality will suffer due to encroachment of sea water and less than desirable conditions upstream in the water supply.

          Still, some will survive. They will be the survivors who bring our civilization back over the following decades. Hopefully, they'll do it better, and they will document the cause, effect, and hardships for future generations to know.

      --
      Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
    209. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by LWATCDR · · Score: 1

      You link actually supports my statement about the strength of storms.
      What I find most amusing is the fact that I simply said that I would not put human caused global warming as proven. Yet I also said that it would be prudent to reduce our CO2.
      As to my belief that China and India will not cut there emissions. Sorry but I put that down to knowing too much history.

      --
      See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
    210. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Strange+Quark+Star · · Score: 1

      Simple solution: relocate the polar bears to the other pole.
      Same applies for all the other endangered arctic animals.
      There's lots and lots of ice down there.

      What could possibly go wrong?

      --
      There is no sig.
    211. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by PJ1216 · · Score: 1

      I suppose I would feel sorry for a logged in user shuddering at ACs as well. Good thing I didn't say I shuddered.

    212. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by fm6 · · Score: 1

      And the thread gets stupider by the minute. Most predicted disasters end up not happening, therefore there's no need to worry about disasters? I assume you don't live in Iowa.

    213. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by fm6 · · Score: 1

      The destruction of civilization seems to be kind of a high price to pay to get rid of a few smug idiots. And while it's true that humans adapt to adversity, that's not necessarily a positive thing. Consider, for example, our large brains. They're a survival trait only as long as we're able to consume enough food to maintain them (I think something like 25% of the calories we consume go to keep our brains working). In the resource-challenged future, big brains might well cease to be a survival characteristic.

      In any case, the future looks to be a highly-constrained place, with less leisure, freedom, and interesting life forms to share the planet with. And yet this is not a future that's particularly hard to avoid. What is hard is persuading anybody to make the sacrifices necessary to avoid it. Forgive me if I find that a tad frustrating.

    214. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by fm6 · · Score: 1

      A second response to your secondary point: I personally have never accused the Reps of "fear mongering", and I don't know anybody who has. Perhaps some left wing TV pundit? Or perhaps some right wing TV pundit is fond of accusing left wingers of accusing right wingers of fear mongering? Either way, IDGAS: I have no interest in the retarded antics of TV pundits.

      As a matter of fact, when Dubya decided to invade Afghanistan, I was all for it. Removing the Taliban from power and bring Osama to justice both seemed worthy goals. Alas, he's managed to do neither: the Taliban, though technically out of power, still control much of the country. And Osama is still out there. Dubya has been too busy Bringing Democracy To Iraq to find him.

    215. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by fm6 · · Score: 1

      When I said "uninhabitable" I meant "by humans". Speciesist of me, I know.

    216. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by fm6 · · Score: 1

      So, there are a lot of asinine threads. Some are more asinine than others. This one is way at the top of my list.

    217. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by ConceptJunkie · · Score: 1

      Yeah, I'm sure China, Russia and India are lying awake at night worrying about the possible long-term effects of pollution.

      --
      You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
    218. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by fm6 · · Score: 1

      I never said it was.

    219. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by fm6 · · Score: 1

      I like a sick joke as much as the next guy. But this one started with one that wasn't particularly funny, beat it to death, and wound up with a guy who quite seriously suggested that global warming was a good thing, because it would temporarily flood New York. Too many nigger and kikes? He didn't say.

    220. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by fm6 · · Score: 1

      Yeah, and the racist quip about New York was particularly hilarious.

    221. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by fm6 · · Score: 1

      OK, the crazy weather connection remains unproven. But forgive me if I show no interest in refuting the "shifting crops" fallacy every single time somebody trots it out.

      As for the China/India argument, you're probably right. So what? Because the problem's insoluble, we should make stupid jokes and pretend it's not there?

    222. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by HJED · · Score: 1

      perhaps you should search for
      "climate change" , ice age there is so much information your punny brain won't be avail to proses it anyway
      yahoo search
      here is some info
      this makes it realy clear if you read all of it!

      --
      null
    223. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by fm6 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      More species have died in the millions of years before man than exist currently.

      Yes, and natural causes kills more people than Hitler ever heard of. Does that make genocide OK?

      Unless you plan on living forever you won't see any of it either. no matter what happens.

      So, because I'm mortal, I shouldn't give a shit about the future? Right now, our species is likely to die off in the near future or (just as bad, IMHO) continue to live with decreased vitality and happiness on planet that's had its natural resources and wonders used up and devastated. That's something that needs to be cared about.

      You know why the olive leaf is the symbol of peace? Because an olive tree takes over a century to become fully productive. Nobody plants an olive for their own benefit, it's something you do because you care about the future. I prefer to care, even if nobody else gives a shit.

    224. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by LWATCDR · · Score: 1

      You see that is what makes me crazy. So many statements about global warming and the effects are unproven but if anyone doubts any of them they are "unscientific tools of industry". I made no jokes about it and I don't doubt that the climate is changing. It is always changing and always will. How ever the fear that we will have a Venus style runaway green house is totally outside any reasonable climate model we have today. Before you start getting bent of what you see as a fallacy you should check you own fear mongering at the door.

      --
      See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
    225. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by TapeCutter · · Score: 1

      "Don't tell me China and India...[ are not ]....gonna borrow from what the rest of the world has already learned"

      I'm telling you about how the treaty negotiations are proceeding, if you want to know (as opposed to guessing) how the particular issue of technology transfer is being accounted for in the treaty then read the links I provided.

      --
      And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
    226. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      quality of character will be far more important in a world where it is possible to know everyone who lives in your community

      We've already seen worlds like that. They were notorious for barbaric enforcement of conformity. Eccentrics flourish in the relative anonymity of cities, and those are the only people who matter (in the sense of not being instantly replacable by another drone from the next tribe upstream).

    227. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Ruthless+Evolution · · Score: 1

      Wasn't an insult, simply a suggestion using the smallest words possible hoping you could follow along. Apparently I over estimated your level of intelligence and to how necessary it is to cope with tragedy with morbid humor. Nor will I engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed person. Sit at your screen, wring your hands and fret over the injustice the world has bestowed upon you and your station in life. "He is one of those people who would be enormously improved by death." Saki (1870 - 1916)

    228. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by fm6 · · Score: 1

      You're assuming that I get all my "fallacies" from the usual half-witted suspects. Not everybody gets their science from the talk shows.

    229. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by fm6 · · Score: 1

      Terms like "high horse" are considered insulting. If you didn't know that, maybe you need to to think more carefully about how you express yourself.

      And as for "lighten up", while it can be a friendly expression, when used in this kind of argument it always seems to be a rhetorical guerilla tactic: people who don't have an intelligent response accuse the other side of taking themselves too seriously. Rush Limbaugh seems to be particularly fond of it. When you use it in conjunction with "high horse", any claim that that you're just trying to be funny is not terribly honest.

    230. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Kreigaffe · · Score: 1

      That shit's so convoluted that I tried and couldn't find it.

      The larger the beaurocracy, the more obfuscated the details.

      In this particular case, I actually DID wind up finding it -- but not because it's clearly marked, nope.
      There's a link under "Methods and Science" listed simply as "The Brazilian Proposal". That's all.

      Oh, and the actual methodology they use to address that issue? I still can't find it, there's about a dozen links under "Brazilian Proposal" to all sorts of shit that have a dozen links each...

      That's gotta be one of the worst, least-informative, least-easily-navigable websites I've ever seen. Good lord. I'm quite sure it was Design By Committee..

      --
      ... still waiting for this free-as-in-beer free beer I keep hearing about. :|
    231. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by TapeCutter · · Score: 1

      Can't argue with your website review, after all we are talking about the UN (who's job here is to administer negotiations). One of the biggest hassles I have when posting on GHG politics is finding and re-finding things I have seen. One example is a graph showing the draft past/future emmission curves of various nations between 1950-2050, I spent 10 minutes looking for it to put in my post but gave up. :(

      BTW: I don't think the transparancy problem is confined to this treaty, sorting out the science was hard but sorting out the politics on any topic with this many vested interests is nigh impossible. That's why I think the treaty should keep it simple by limiting itself to regulating emmisions from fossil fuels and avoid dragging trees and polar bears into it.

      --
      And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
    232. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by WgT2 · · Score: 1

      What of the ice ages? What of the times between the ice ages?

      Man was never the cause of those fluctuations. Why the religious fervor (that man is the cause of the global warming) now?

      I think it's completely too soon to know for certain that we can have any significant impact on global warming. 'An Inconvenient Truth' is nothing more than advertising for a company that Al Gore is deeply involved with that sells 'carbon credits'; it just can't be taken seriously - it's a ploy for you money.

    233. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by fm6 · · Score: 1

      I take some responsibility for those other problems. But don't blame me for your girlfriend issues. If you want somebody to cook for you, go hire one of those immigrants you hate so much.

    234. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Poppa · · Score: 1

      We've done a great job in Afghanistan. OBL is impotent. There hasn't been an attack on our soil, since when? AQ is losing and is being driven out of Iraq. Iraq has elections. Libya gave up their WMDs. Bush's Democracy is working better than I expected.

      Perhaps you think we should have sent a big army in like the Russians did to Afghanistan? That didn't work so well for them. Now, *that* was a quagmire and we were smart enough to learn from that mistake.

    235. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by coopex · · Score: 1

      At 1 Earth atm on Venus, it's only ~14C hotter than blackbody calculations predict (69C vs 55C), while Earth (at 1 Earth atm) is only ~9C hotter than blackbody calcuations predict (15C vs 6C).

      Pretty much every step in: Humans cause increased CO2, CO2 is a greenhouse gas, Global Temperature Goes UP, etc has such a trivial major cause for being skeptical, though I still want to know what is the radiative balance of the Earth (Satellites have been using it is calculate temperature since 78, but I can't find any data on it)

      --
      The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
    236. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by TapeCutter · · Score: 1

      Ok, I had another look for something a bit better and found this link via melbourne university, still can't find the comparison graph but the .ppt slide-show (opens ok with OOo) gives you an idea of how they are proposing to "level the playing field".

      Note: .ppt slide show is the link under the heading "SBSTA Special Side Event on scientific and methodological aspects of the proposal by Brazil" on the "match" homepage.

      --
      And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
    237. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by LWATCDR · · Score: 1

      Well the earth turning into Venus is something that NO reputable scientist believes so I have no idea where you got that from. You suffer from the same problem that I see on Slashdot all the time. You have adopted global warming as a religion. If any questions the faith they are heretics and fools. THAT IS NOT GOOD SCIENCE. As I pointed out that I am all for cutting CO2 but at the same time I question the fear mongering and bad science that I see in the Church of Global Warming. I also call in to question the arrogance of the followers. They are so sure of the moral and intellectual superiority that it amuses me to no end.
      So where did you get your fallacy about the Earth turning in to Venus and that Global warming is causing more and stronger hurricanes. It is obvious from the facts that that source IS not better than the talk shows you like to mock.

       

      --
      See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
    238. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by fm6 · · Score: 1

      There wasn't an attack on our soil for some years before 9/11? Was OBL impotent then too?

      If you think things are great in Afghanistan, you need to stop listening to talk shows and start reading actual news.

    239. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by fm6 · · Score: 1

      Enough with your categorical nonsense. Plenty of reputable scientists believe the Venus scenario is possible. The consensus is that it's pretty unlikely, but neither is it impossible.

      In any case, you're focusing on trivia. You can find all kinds of fault with specific hypotheses about what might happen as the planet gets warmer. That's true for any theory.

      But here I am, doing what I said I wouldn't: repeating arguments you must have heard before. If you're seriously interested in the issue, go do some reading. If you just want to snipe, fuck off.

    240. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by LWATCDR · · Score: 1

      "Plenty of reputable scientists believe the Venus scenario is possible. "
      No there isn't name some. Really a reference to such an outlandish claim would be nice.
      As I said your arrogance is amusing. You will not even admit to yourself that you where fear mongering or that your claims that the "weird" weather was totally unproven. Now you resort to foul language and indignation.
      Get over it and treat Global Warming like what it is. A theory. A theory that does have some pretty good evidence but still just a theory.
      When you dismiss all questions you are no longer dealing with science.

      --
      See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
    241. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Drathos · · Score: 1

      Don't forget the 'dillos..

      Sure, they may not be able to live through everything (anything?), but they are more common than the gators. Even in prime swamp like Wakulla County. Especially on the side of the road..

      --
      End of line..
    242. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by fm6 · · Score: 1

      Stephen Hawking. Ok, he's not even a climate scientist. But, as I said, the scenario is unlikely. Stop beating that dead horse. It's not crucial to the argument, unless you rely on the "everybody who believes in global warming is an idiot" argument. And if you're going to go down that route, why should I even talk to you.

      Get over it and treat Global Warming like what it is. A theory. A theory that does have some pretty good evidence but still just a theory.

      People who say "just a theory" have a poor understanding of what science is. All of science is "just a theory". That's how it works: scientists propound theories, check them against facts, and discard or refine them.

      Newton's Laws are "just a theory". They've even been refuted! (By Einstein.) That doesn't change the fact that they describe reality well enough to be extremely useful.

      But what you're really saying is that the whole global warming thing hasn't been proven beyond a reasonable doubt. And (it may shock you to hear), I agree with you on that. But that's beside the point. When you have a theory that says that a disaster is likely to happen, it's stupid to demand that it be put to the ultimate test, just as it was stupid to put the Titanic to the ultimate test of its unsinkability. Your evidence needs to be strong (and many serious scientists believe it is), but not absolute.

    243. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by LWATCDR · · Score: 1

      "People who say "just a theory" have a poor understanding of what science is. All of science is "just a theory". That's how it works: scientists propound theories, check them against facts, and discard or refine them."
      No some people say just a theory knows what just a theory is. Some of us have actually taken classes if physics and even meteorology. That is why I am driven absolutely batty by people claiming the two really bad hurricane seasons where proof of global warming or claiming that it will drive stronger storms. As I explained storms are driven not by temperature but by differential just like any other heat engine. As I said time and time again I feel that cutting CO2 is prudent. BUT I will not allow people to use exaggerations, fear mongering, and bad science to push that goal. As to Steven Hawking statment, he was full of it. But statment that we could wipe out all life on earth by turning it into a new Venus is an exaggeration, fear mongering, and bad science. And it was a statment that you made.
      Frankly since China and India are going to do nothing but pump out more and more CO2 all I can say is we better think about how we will deal with what ever the new stability point will bring.

      --
      See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
    244. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by fm6 · · Score: 1

      Sigh. Does this discussion have any point beyond your telling me that I'm an idiot? Fine, I'm an idiot. Now fuck off.

    245. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by LWATCDR · · Score: 1

      No not an idiot but also not smarter and better informed than everybody else. I am just trying to bring some reason to Slashdot. Have a good day and no I don't think you are an idiot. At worst a zealot at best someone that is trying to do the right thing the wrong way.

      --
      See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
    246. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by fm6 · · Score: 1

      I am just trying to bring some reason to Slashdot.

      No you're not. You're picking nits with people who disagree with you and not really addressing the issues they raise. You've never even considered the possibility that I'm the one that's better informed: you've taken it as a given that I take the global warming thing seriously because I've fallen in with a mindless fad. That does not represent respect for my intelligence.

    247. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by LWATCDR · · Score: 1

      So when you make an error it is a nit? How very cute. Man I really thought you had learned something. As to you being more informed. The wiping out all life and the storms comment proved that to be simply not true.

      --
      See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
    248. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by fm6 · · Score: 1

      It's a nit if it's about a peripheral point. I was wrong about the crazy weather thing. Does that mean that all my opinions about climate change are crap? If not, you should accept my mea culpa and move on.

      But you don't. You keep harping on it. That says to me that your only interest is to demonstrate my stupidity.

    249. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by azav · · Score: 1

      Oddly, before that, I majored in Computational Mathematics.

      But I really only majored in one math. I can't handle more than one of them.

      --
      - Zav - Imagine a Beowulf cluster of insensitive clods...
    250. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by craagz · · Score: 1

      but the abundance of seals(?) is bad(?) for cod. Screw those seals and their radical(?) agenda!

    251. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Remember fat fucktard, anytime you post I will remind everyone how much of a fat fucktard you really are. Eventually someone in their right mind will mod your whole fucking account into fucking oblivion which is what fat fucktard like you should do by slitting your fucking wrists. Once all you fat fucktard do so, then there will not be a shortage of food ever again.

      If you flame me or ignore my post, then you will prove just how fucking right I am fat fucktard.

  2. santa? by Clay+Pigeon+-TPF-VS- · · Score: 5, Funny

    Oh no! What will happen to santa and his elves, and the reindeer? Won't someone think of the reindeer?

    --
    Viral software licensing is not freedom, it is in fact GNU/Socialism.
    1. Re:santa? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Think of the children! What will they do for Christmas?!

    2. Re:santa? by jellomizer · · Score: 5, Funny

      But Mommy I have been good this year.
      Sorry Billy Santa dies from global warming, and it all because you had to go back to the house from school because you forgot your lunch.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    3. Re:santa? by krystar · · Score: 1

      Santa will have to move his business to a new warehouse at the south pole instead. Oh noes!

    4. Re:santa? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dont worry [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Claus]Father Christmas[/url] is living in Finland
      They say we have [i]Polar bears[/i] wandering on streets also. Im not sure about that, Im too afraid to leave my computer.

    5. Re:santa? by inKubus · · Score: 2, Funny

      Santa has used an under(frozen)sea base for at least the last 20 years. It's attached directly to the physical core of the earth with elven chain. Don't worry about Santa, he'll be fine.

      --
      Cool! Amazing Toys.
    6. Re:santa? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What do we learn from this? Republicans aren't the only ones capable of spreading FUD.

    7. Re:santa? by arth1 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Santa's business has since long been outsourced. Just look at the gifts the kids get, and how many of them that are Made In China.

    8. Re:santa? by mhall119 · · Score: 1

      Santa's already outsourced his development to China and Taiwan. Don't beleive me? Just check the bottom of last year's gifts.

      --
      http://www.mhall119.com
    9. Re:santa? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But Mommy I have been good this year.
      Sorry Billy Santa dies from global warming, and it all because you had to go back to the house from school because you forgot your lunch.

      Don't worry. Your mommy kissed Santa, so I'm sure he'll give you presents this year.

    10. Re:santa? by hostyle · · Score: 1

      Modern? Whats that then? You do realise this is Slashdot? And get off my lawn!

      --
      Caesar si viveret, ad remum dareris.
    11. Re:santa? by hostyle · · Score: 1

      Mutated sea base? With fricken las... ^NO CARRIER. Errorist Detected.

      --
      Caesar si viveret, ad remum dareris.
    12. Re:santa? by clone53421 · · Score: 1, Offtopic

      <em>HTML tags available to all modern browsers<em>

      There, fixed it for you.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    13. Re:santa? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So you replied to him with nothing more than a slightly reworded version of his own post?

    14. Re:santa? by sumdumass · · Score: 3, Interesting

      That would explain all the recent volcanic activity in the area and the phenomenal eruptions being recorded.

    15. Re:santa? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think he only reworded the other guys post when making his reply.

    16. Re:santa? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He's actually called "San Ta" now, and he would appreciate it a lot. Btw, he's actually in Beijing, the northern city, and not the north pole.

    17. Re:santa? by Iloinen+Lohikrme · · Score: 1

      Santa lives in Lapland Finland everybody knows that. For crying it out loud, why would Santa live in some god forsaken place like North pole, there are no liqueur stores in the North pole! Santa loves booze that's why he lives in Finland...

    18. Re:santa? by Jason+Earl · · Score: 1

      I got coal. I think it was mined in Pennsylvania.

      Go America!

    19. Re:santa? by krystar · · Score: 1

      so does Santa have to charge vsales tax if he has a business prescene in China? or is he still operating on the Amazon business model and only putting wholly owned subsidiaries while maintaining corporate offices in the North Pole? http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/06/27/1544241

    20. Re:santa? by electrosoccertux · · Score: 1

      But Mommy I have been good this year.
      Sorry Billy Santa dies from global warming, and it all because you had to go back to the house from school because you forgot your lunch.

      Well shoot he had it coming, he was giving coal to all the bad people. Kinda self defeating, like giving criminals more guns. The "bad people" that are wasting away our environment get extra coal. They turn around and burn it too, and thus are on Santa's extra-bad list next Christmas, so on and so forth.

    21. Re:santa? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Did I say North pole? No honey, I meant to say Santa lives at the South Pole. S for Santa. for South.

      Won't someone please think of the children?!?!

    22. Re:santa? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So is most of the crap that's killing the earth but do they care? Alarmists are OK in my book. They just need to learn Chinese and crack the great firewall to get the REAL damage under control..

      We're pushing a warm turd up a mountain with our global warming / ozone efforts. For every product we have that is ozone safe, China has 40,000 products that aren't which are used daily by billions, not to mention the industrial crap..

      Once the largest population on the planet gives a rats ass, we might see some changes.

    23. Re:santa? by XHIIHIIHX · · Score: 1

      Well can't you sell the damn SUV Mom?

    24. Re:santa? by BOFHelsinki · · Score: 1

      Santa moved to Finland several millennia ago.

      Why not try Finland on your next vacation?

    25. Re:santa? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Awww crap... where's Santa gonna go?? What about Santa?? :(

    26. Re:santa? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Santa will move to Antarctica.

  3. A modest proposal... by cthulu_mt · · Score: 3, Funny

    That we carpet bomb the damn thing just to be safe.

    --
    Virginia is for lovers. EVE is for griefers.
    1. Re:A modest proposal... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I agree completely. Those damn northpolians must be hiding nukes factories under the ice, that explains the temperature rising!

    2. Re:A modest proposal... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Then we Nuke it from orbit "Just to be safe"....

    3. Re:A modest proposal... by Ungrounded+Lightning · · Score: 1

      Naw.

      Let's cover it with soot until it's much darker. That'll melt it all down and solve the whole problem.

      Fuel's getting expensive. Opening the northwest passage to shipping would result in a further cut in carbon emissions with less disruption to economies than just cutting international trade.

      --
      Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
    4. Re:A modest proposal... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You mean even the North Pole runs Safari?

      We can replace the missing ice with questionable downloads!

  4. 1421 by baldass_newbie · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Just read a great book about China's 'discovery' of the America around 1421 and they were able to get their junks around Greenland, a feat not otherwise possible, but it was warm that year.
    No idea how many SUVs were on the road back then, so I wonder how we can compare CO2 emissions?

    --
    The opposite of progress is congress
    1. Re:1421 by tgd · · Score: 4, Informative

      That book was powerfully bitch-smacked it was so debunked after it came out.

      I wouldn't take any details in it seriously... good book, interesting theory, but most of the evidence was fabricated or misinterpreted.

    2. Re:1421 by Mr.+Underbridge · · Score: 5, Funny

      Just read a great book about China's 'discovery' of the America around 1421 and they were able to get their junks around Greenland, a feat not otherwise possible, but it was warm that year.

      Just think how much they've progressed, now they can get their junks all the way to Walmart!

    3. Re:1421 by ahugenerd · · Score: 3, Informative

      Most of the 1421 theory revolves around a map that seems to detail North America in some fashion. However, that map was proven inaccurate as the mapping around the area it was purported to come from was WORSE than the mapping of North American, which makes no cartographic sense. People have better maps of where they come from and worse maps of where they just explored. Makes sense. Until somebody can find more proof to back up the 1421 claim, it is an undecidable as to its veracity.

    4. Re:1421 by the+eric+conspiracy · · Score: 5, Informative

      You do realize that book is widely considered to be poppycock?

    5. Re:1421 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      indeed, no to little human CO2 production back then, but again- the polar crossing, despite what you read in ONE book, most likely did not happen.

      not to attack the parent (i do not know their stance), but as an aside, this is the problem i have with global warming deniers. they do not do proper research, and desperately cling to anything, no matter how fancifal or fragile, to support their narrow world view. Don't like the IPCC report, then please offer up a point by point rebuttle!

      The 1421 hypothesis is moderately popular among the general public, but has been dismissed by most sinologists and professional historians.[2][3][4][5] Menzies has been criticized for his "reckless manner of dealing with evidence" that led him to propose hypotheses "without a shred of proof".[5] Critics have also questioned the extent of Menzies' nautical knowledge.[6]

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1421_hypothesis

    6. Re:1421 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      There is no evidence that supports that hypothesis.

      You picked a great author, btw:

      Menzies was born in London, England, though in his book he claims to have been born in China, which he has admitted is false. This has since been rectified in his recent books

    7. Re:1421 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I know it's very common in British slang (or is it even slang?), but I have never felt comfortable saying poppycock. Would almost feel like staring somebody in the face and with slight chuckle telling them "That idea is just complete pussydick!". Doesn't matter how much history that word might have behind it elsewhere, it ain't gonna sound right here :).

    8. Re:1421 by neurojab · · Score: 2, Insightful

      >Until somebody can find more proof to back up the 1421 claim, it is an undecidable as to its veracity.

      Undecidable? Hm... If I claim to be the true King of Spain without a shred of proof, is that equally undecidable?

      Sorry, but as intriguing as it may be, the 1421 "theory" is just a scam to make money on books.

    9. Re:1421 by Traxxas · · Score: 1

      So what you are saying is that some people don't have maps?

    10. Re:1421 by Fritz+Benwalla · · Score: 3, Funny

      I don't care how warm it is, I could never get my junk around Greenland.

      --

      Believe me, I'm as surprised by my comment as you are.
    11. Re:1421 by eddy+the+lip · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I just finished reading 1421, and my completely-layman, don't-know-enough-history-to-comment opinion was that it was interesting (and, sure, possible), but the author seemed to play pretty fast and loose with his evidence. Some of his claims (like the idea that the Bimini Road was a construction to slide ships back into deeper water after repair) sounded pretty outlandish and not well researched. Others, such as his analysis of old maps and the routes ships would have taken, seemed plausible, but I don't have the background to evaluate them.

      I've been looking for a good analysis of his claims, but haven't been able to find much beyond "he got detail X wrong, so it's all bogus." I'd like to read some better thought out critiques. If you have any links handy, I'd be much obliged.

      --

      This is the voice of World Control. I bring you Peace.

    12. Re:1421 by hostyle · · Score: 1

      Ah, but imagine you are an aristocrat in 1800s India. Quaffing tea, examining your monocle, trading spices, fighting wars. Then, sir, saying poppycock out loud is the least of your worries.

      --
      Caesar si viveret, ad remum dareris.
    13. Re:1421 by the+eric+conspiracy · · Score: 3, Interesting

      It is actually an American word:

      from http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-pop1.htm

      OED reminds us, the word is actually American in origin, first turning up there about 1852. The OED is firm in dismissing one often-heard view of its origin, from the Dutch word pappekak for soft faeces. It says firmly "no such word appears to be attested in Dutch" but points to the very similar word poppekak, which appears only in the old set phrase zo fijn als gemalen poppekak, meaning to show excessive religious zeal, but which literally means "as fine as powdered doll shit". The word was presumably taken to the USA by Dutch settlers; the scatological associations were lost when the word moved into the English-language community.

      The first half of the word is the Dutch pop for a doll, which may be related to our term of endearment, poppet; the second half is essentially the same as the old English cack for excrement; the verb form of this word is older than the noun, and has been recorded as far back as the fifteenth century.

      Despite some uninformed speculation, there's no link with the vulgar meaning of cock. Nor is it linked to the sense of cock for rubbish (as in phrases like that's a load of old cock), as that's a shortened form of cock and bull story, which comes from a fable concerning a bull and a cockerel.

      It is also a brand of candied popcorn....

    14. Re:1421 by c0ck_l0rge · · Score: 1

      I thought Asian men were stereotypically short in the "junk" department; what caused the radical evolutionary size reduction if they were above to get their junk around Greenland only ~600 years ago?

      --
      nothin' sounds quite like an 808
    15. Re:1421 by fm6 · · Score: 1

      I actually started to read that one. You don't actually have to read the whole thing to discover its bogusity. Early on, it talks about how the Chinese solved the longitude problem with clever astronomical observations. Thing is, that technique is not exactly news: it just doesn't work when you're on a ship in the middleof the ocean! You need a stable platform.

    16. Re:1421 by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      Dammit, I was interested until I realised you didn't say "Bikini Road"...

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    17. Re:1421 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They've got it from the germans: "So fein wie gemahlenen Puppenkacke". q.e.d.

    18. Re:1421 by jlowery · · Score: 1

      And did you do all this research at work, on company time?

      --
      If you post it, they will read.
    19. Re:1421 by mcmonkey · · Score: 0

      However, that map was proven inaccurate as the mapping around the area it was purported to come from was WORSE than the mapping of North American, which makes no cartographic sense. People have better maps of where they come from and worse maps of where they just explored.

      What you're saying is, the actual migration was from North America to China, and not vice versa, as was originally surmised.

      And so, in his way, 'Wrong Way' Norris was right.

    20. Re:1421 by carps · · Score: 3, Funny

      So what you are saying is that some people don't have maps?

      Yes! The reason 1492 China people can not find the US on maps, I believe, is that many 1492 China people do not have maps, such as 1492-China-people-Americans, the Iraqis, the South Africans, such as.

      --
      Well I'm making *two* Low Budget HDV Filipino Horror Movies in NYC.
    21. Re:1421 by Joe+the+Lesser · · Score: 1

      While it was an exciting read, sadly, Menzies is just too farfetched, and makes too many basic assumptions.

      Even worse, he has a new book out that claims the Chinese landed in Italy /rolleyes

      --
      "I only speak the truth"
      Karma: null(Mostly affected by an unassigned variable)
    22. Re:1421 by MacDork · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Most of the 1421 theory revolves around a map that seems to detail North America in some fashion.

      Most of the global warming theory revolves around computer models that seem to detail future events in some fashion. As it turns out, those models are proven wrong through simple observation over and over and over again. Until somebody can find more proof to back up the global warming claim, it is an undecidable as to its veracity.

      0:-)

    23. Re:1421 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I fear this will never get the high moderation it deserves... +1 funny people... come on!

    24. Re:1421 by LandDolphin · · Score: 1

      LMAO,

      Well placed.

      --
      Spelling and Grammar errors have been added to this post for your enjoyment
    25. Re:1421 by Beryllium+Sphere(tm) · · Score: 1

      1421 was after the end of the Medieval Warm Period, into the Little Ice Age.

      >No idea how many SUVs were on the road back then

      There's no claim that the earth's temperature was a perfect flat line before humans. The worry is that we've forced it off trend and are heading for climate conditions which haven't appeared since we started trying to feed six billion humans.

    26. Re:1421 by IkeTo · · Score: 1

      > The worry is that we've forced it off trend and
      > are heading for climate conditions which haven't
      > appeared since we started trying to feed six
      > billion humans.

      The real worry is that modern human is not the ancient ones. They are much more reliant to the assumption that the earth stay as it has "always" been. If water level rise 15 meters 1000 years ago, nearly nothing would happen. Most people won't even notice it: they live by the river, not by the sea. For those who actually notice that, they just move inwards and rebuild their simple wood built house. For those who cannot do even that, they die, but it is just a small part of the population.

      But nowadays huge mass of people lives by the sea. The housing and infrastructure are much more extensive. And the inland is much more filled. If the same thing happen to the South Pole, we will experience a 70m rise in sea level. What will happen? Everybody's guess.

    27. Re:1421 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wow, the Chinese really are well hung.

      My junk is barely more than a handful.

    28. Re:1421 by the+eric+conspiracy · · Score: 2, Funny

      And did you do all this research at work, on company time?

      And did you respond to my posting at work, on company time?

    29. Re:1421 by jdevivre · · Score: 1

      I don't care how warm it is, I could never get my junk around Greenland.

      Speak for yourself, shorty.

    30. Re:1421 by cryptodan · · Score: 1

      So what you are saying is that some people don't have maps?

      Yes! The reason 1492 China people can not find the US on maps, I believe, is that many 1492 China people do not have maps, such as 1492-China-people-Americans, the Iraqis, the South Africans, such as.

      Even back then the China Government was limiting their media.

  5. This development should make it... by kipin · · Score: 1

    much easier to extract all the oil trapped in the sea floor up there!

    --
    If I can not smoke in heaven, then I shall not go. -- Mark Twain
    1. Re:This development should make it... by thrillseeker · · Score: 1

      depends on who's in power.

  6. Finally by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's about fucking time those damn penguins get what they deserve.

    1. Re:Finally by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Ballmer, is that you?

    2. Re:Finally by Vendetta · · Score: 5, Informative

      Penguins are southern hemisphere.

    3. Re:Finally by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Mod parent flamebait, this has nothing to do with Linux or Tux!

    4. Re:Finally by Arcanis+the+Rogue · · Score: 1, Funny

      Do you hear that?

      It's the sound of that joke going way over your head.

    5. Re:Finally by eln · · Score: 1

      Yes, but the polar bears are going to be immigrating to the south pole in droves, and who do you think they'll be feeding on once they get there? There aren't enough scientists down there to keep them sated for long.

    6. Re:Finally by tomtomtom777 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It's the sound of that joke going way over your head.

      Your remark interests me cause as a relative new slashdot member, I noticed that one of the main things I love about the threads here is the wonderful intermixing between jokes, facts, irony, wisdom and sarcasm.

      Your reasonably funny joke, gave someone else the opportunity to spread a fact he's been sitting on for years. Besides all the funny guys, there are a lot of smart people dwelling here, and I for one welcome the knowledge especially in this intermixed way.

      In other words. Take it easy..

    7. Re:Finally by Arcanis+the+Rogue · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I'm not the original Anonymous Coward, I'm just being an asshat.

    8. Re:Finally by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      the penguin have come back to the south pole.

    9. Re:Finally by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's about fucking time those damn penguins get what they deserve.

      Wrong pole.

    10. Re:Finally by at_slashdot · · Score: 1

      No penguins at North Pole, but if it gets warm enough they might decide to spend their summer vacation there.

      --
      "It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities." -- Prof. Dumbledore
    11. Re:Finally by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wrong pole!

    12. Re:Finally by Joebert · · Score: 1

      Well for the penguins sake, I hope these scientists are as good at reading numbers as you two are.

      --
      Wanna fight ? Bend over, stick your head up your ass, and fight for air.
    13. Re:Finally by TeknoHog · · Score: 1

      I live in the Southern hemisphere, so actually the joke is going under my head, you insensitive clod!

      --
      Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
    14. Re:Finally by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's about fucking time those damn penguins get what they deserve.

      Wrong pole. The north pole has polar bears; it's the SOUTH pole that has penguins.

    15. Re:Finally by Lobster+Quadrille · · Score: 1

      Is this meta-sarcasm or what?

      I am delightfully confused.

      --
      "The cup is in turn designed for holding hot or cold liquids, and has an open rim and closed base." --US Patent #5425497
    16. Re:Finally by leerpm · · Score: 1

      7900 miles over his head!

    17. Re:Finally by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's about fucking time those damn penguins get what they deserve.

      Hey AC
      You probably know why polar bears don't eat penguins, don't you?

    18. Re:Finally by hostyle · · Score: 1

      The ass part in particular is definitely showing. May I suggest using a Fedora?

      --
      Caesar si viveret, ad remum dareris.
    19. Re:Finally by Digestromath · · Score: 1

      No no no. The myth is, that if you live in the southern hemisphere the joke circles your head clockwise.

    20. Re:Finally by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's about fucking time those damn penguins get what they deserve.

      Ummm, the polar bears are getting smacked with this one. Penguins live on the other side of the planet.

    21. Re:Finally by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      penguins live in the southern hemisphere

    22. Re:Finally by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Penguins, South Pole, you moron--never mind... I forgot this was Slashdot. It has the word "fucking" in it, so mod it to 5.

    23. Re:Finally by fm6 · · Score: 1

      A lady I know once asked me about penguins in the arctic. She was stunned when I told her there were no wild penguins north of the equator. "There go all my Canadian thanksgiving jokes."

    24. Re:Finally by c_forq · · Score: 1

      Lurk Moar.

      --
      Computers allow humans to make mistakes at the fastest speeds known, with the possible exception of tequila and handguns
    25. Re:Finally by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't diss the penguins; they gave us Linux. With luck, it might save us from Vista, if not from an Ice Age.

    26. Re:Finally by superslacker87 · · Score: 1

      I for one welcome our joke-telling, fact-giving, ironic, wise and sarcastic overlords!

      --
      I run Ubuntu skinned to look like a Mac on a PC. Go figure.
    27. Re:Finally by MoeDrippins · · Score: 1

      Someone's been sitting on the fact that penguins are in the southern hemisphere, for /years/?

      Wow.

      --
      Before you design for reuse, make sure to design it for use.
    28. Re:Finally by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Probably is... penguins are only found in Antarctica.

    29. Re:Finally by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually, Mr. Ballmer, the penguins live primarily at the South Pole, which is not part of this. No penguins at the North Pole. UR R STILL LOSE. Good day.

    30. Re:Finally by muzicman · · Score: 1

      If you are in a house and all walls face north what colour is the bear? Penguins live in Antarctic circle not the Arctic circle.

      --
      -1 disagree is not a modifier for a reason. -1 troll, flamebait, redundant, overrated are NOT acceptable substitutes.
    31. Re:Finally by techno-vampire · · Score: 1

      Actually there are penguins in the Galapagos Islands.

      --
      Good, inexpensive web hosting
    32. Re:Finally by AbRASiON · · Score: 1

      Correct, infact a penguin in the northern hemisphere will spontaneously turn inside out, quite messy business I hear.

    33. Re:Finally by Keen+Anthony · · Score: 1

      Screw the smart people and their radical smart agenda.

      I want to hear more about cod.

    34. Re:Finally by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Er, wrong pole dummy.

    35. Re:Finally by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You must be new here!

    36. Re:Finally by Shadowlore · · Score: 1

      That means it was Ballmer.

      --
      My Suburban burns less gasoline than your Prius.
  7. Tell us in September by Kohath · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is not news. This is a prediction that there might be news in September.

    If it doesn't happen, will we get an apology for misleading us?

    1. Re:Tell us in September by blueg3 · · Score: 4, Informative

      It does contain news -- the news that the current melting rate of the polar ice is the highest recorded.

      It's just that the rest of it is speculation.

    2. Re:Tell us in September by chexy · · Score: 1

      I don't believe you will.
      I don't know about the UK or other areas of the world but here in the USA we do not believe in accountability anymore.

    3. Re:Tell us in September by kbmxpxfan · · Score: 1

      Unlikely

    4. Re:Tell us in September by Darkness404 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It does contain news - the news that the current melting rate of the polar ice is the highest recorded.



      Yah the highest recorded in what? The 100 years max we have been keeping tabs on melting polar ice?

      --
      Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
    5. Re:Tell us in September by PapaBoojum · · Score: 1

      Well, I doubt they recorded much before they started recording.

      Just sayin'

    6. Re:Tell us in September by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Does your newspaper have weather forecasts?

    7. Re:Tell us in September by uglydog · · Score: 1

      must ... not... make... bush... joke... nsa... will ..get... me...

    8. Re:Tell us in September by audunr · · Score: 5, Funny

      If it doesn't happen, will we get an apology for misleading us?

      Nope. We'll get a dupe.

    9. Re:Tell us in September by ArsonSmith · · Score: 1

      Nope, but a bunch of people will get more money to study the effects in the mean time.

      Big science is the winner in this case.

      --
      Paying taxes to buy civilization is like paying a hooker to buy love.
    10. Re:Tell us in September by Kohath · · Score: 1

      Does your newspaper have weather forecasts?

      Yes. They call them forecasts. They're specifically labeled as predictions. They are also frequently incorrect and they usually hedge with percentage chances and words like "partly" and "mostly".

      If the news wants to put predictions on a "Predictions" page, that's cool.

    11. Re:Tell us in September by LandDolphin · · Score: 1

      "Big science" just sounds stupid

      --
      Spelling and Grammar errors have been added to this post for your enjoyment
    12. Re:Tell us in September by cyberseptic · · Score: 1

      You're right. And the observation that an asteroid has a 1/60 chance of hitting the Earth in 2029 isn't news either!! Nor will it be news until the damn thing smashes into us. Hold the presses until then, I say! Oh...and Rhinos are going extinct!? Bah! That ain't news till it happens either!

    13. Re:Tell us in September by geekoid · · Score: 4, Informative

      if by 100 years, you mean 750K years, the yes.

      Ice core samples are wonderful things.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    14. Re:Tell us in September by MacDork · · Score: 1

      It does contain news - the news that the current melting rate of the polar ice is the highest recorded.

      Yah the highest recorded in what? The 100 years max we have been keeping tabs on melting polar ice?

      Not even that. Since 1979. I am also completely underwhelmed.

    15. Re:Tell us in September by DesScorp · · Score: 1

      if by 100 years, you mean 750K years, the yes.

      Ice core samples are wonderful things.

      I honestly don't know, but would ice core samples tell us much about the outer edges and rings of the ice, as they melt and re-freeze every year under even normal conditions? Would they tell us about the extent of past melting in distant times? It just seems to me that if you've got 750K years of ice in your core sample, then it's because you've gotten it closer to the center where it's never melted.

      Under those conditions, it doesn't immediately become clear to me how much you could tell about the areas that go from ice to water every year.

      --
      Life is hard, and the world is cruel
    16. Re:Tell us in September by pipingguy · · Score: 1

      You might be a couple of months off. If Obama wins I predict a lot less doom'n'gloom reportage from the MSM. Just a guess.

    17. Re:Tell us in September by Technician · · Score: 1

      It does contain news -- the news that the current melting rate of the polar ice is the highest recorded.

      I'm wondering what is happening to lower latitude glaciers and snowpack. I am wondering if it is time to start looking for some disputed bible evidence, such as the search for Noah's ark. Rumor has it that it's buried in ice on Mt. Ararat.

      It would be interesting if the evidence would support the biblical story as many world religions all claim the great flood and Noah and the ark.

      http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076182/
      http://www.pbase.com/andrys/noah
      http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/04/0427_040427_noahsark.html

      --
      The truth shall set you free!
    18. Re:Tell us in September by Shadowlore · · Score: 1

      Humans have not been recording polar ice melt rates for 750,000 years you twit. An ice core is not recorded history. It is sampled history with no direct comparison for verification. Nor do they have the granularity of tracking a few months. There are no markers in the ice cores saying "the ice melted at a rate of x.xxx between May and August, then switch to x.yxyy from August to October...".

      To quote the USGS: "This record can include temperature, precipitation , chemistry and gas composition of the lower atmosphere, volcanic eruptions, solar variability, sea-surface productivity and a variety of other climate indicators."

      Do you see ice melt rate there? No. We can *ESTIMATE* or *PREDICT*, but we can not verify without actual measurement of ice melt rates. Period. You can cut my tree open and try to estimate how warm or cold it was, but the thermometer hanging in the window is a recording. I'll trust a dime store thermometer over an estimate based on cores - be they ice or trees - any day.

      http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1511/is_n1_v15/ai_14902815

      As to the original "summary":
      "As reported in September of last year, the Northwest Passage was ice-free for the first time known to man. "

      No, it was the first time since satellite records starting in 1978. More than semantic differences there. To wit "Those passages have been traversed in the past--with difficulty--including in recent years as ice cover thinned". Furthermore there is disagreement as to what exactly confines the "Northwest Passage".

      Now, what you won't here from the disaterbators is that by all accounts, even a seasonal period of ice free Northwest Passage along the entire route is a *GOOD* thing. Shorter travel means less fuel and lower costs. A commercial route along the northern border of Canada is an economic boon waiting to happen.

      Oh and the title is wrong. It isn't "on track". There was never a "track" for it to be on. We've been reading/hearing about it for a couple decades, and we've heard this each year for the last several.

      --
      My Suburban burns less gasoline than your Prius.
  8. From TFA by FireStormZ · · Score: 5, Informative

    "The melt would be mostly symbolic--thicker ice, pushed against the Canadian continental shelf by weather and Earth's rotation, would still survive the summer."

    So when we say the North Pole will melt we are talking about a point not the whole Artic ocean which is what impression one might get from the title.

    --
    "Ahh! Arrogance and stupidity in the same package, how efficient of you!" --Londo Molari
    1. Re:From TFA by moore.dustin · · Score: 1

      What?! The whole story isn't contained in the sensationalized headline?! What is the world coming to!

    2. Re:From TFA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The climate changes we are experiencing will likely take millions of lives. Few people realize how easily diseases like malaria might thrive if we go up even one or two degrees in average temperatures. Florida already has a few cases of malaria every year. The fear that other tropical plagues might become common inside the US mainland is very real.

    3. Re:From TFA by TrevorB · · Score: 5, Informative

      That's correct. The last estimate (2006) for a complete summer Arctic melt was the year 2013.

      Before that it was 2038, and before that it was the year 2100...

    4. Re:From TFA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      Actually the entire Arctic is melting, just not by September. The article states that will take another 5 years or so before the Arctic Ocean is ice free, but that isn't very far off either.

    5. Re:From TFA by russotto · · Score: 5, Informative

      Tropical diseases were once common in the southern US. It wasn't climate change which made them rare; it was public health and medicine.

    6. Re:From TFA by GleeBot · · Score: 1

      Florida already has a few cases of malaria every year. The fear that other tropical plagues might become common inside the US mainland is very real.

      On the upside, maybe the industrialized world will finally come up with a solution to the malaria pandemic.

    7. Re:From TFA by peragrin · · Score: 1

      I just want the stinky messy cities of the world that sit a few feet above the ocean level to be rinsed clean. Sure millions will die, but we have a few billion to back them up.

      Maybe i am cold hearted. or maybe i built my house 1000 feet above the oceans and hundreds of miles inland and want some nice beach front property. Sort of like what will happen to vegas if California ever breaks free.

      --
      i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
    8. Re:From TFA by Tony+Hoyle · · Score: 1

      I doubt the sea level change would be all that great. It depends whether the melting ice was on water on land - TFS implies it's on water.

      Logicaly frozen ice and melted ice must have the same displacement (same mass, different density) so the sea level will not rise if an iceberg melts.

    9. Re:From TFA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Thank God it's impossible that there could be two separate factors influencing one thing.

    10. Re:From TFA by hardburn · · Score: 1

      That was one particularly bad portion of the IPCC report. Mosquitoes carrying malaria tend to be contained by the fact that they contract the disease themselves as well as anyone they bite. Therefore, they tend not to be very competitive with other mosquito species. If given the chance, they can thrive in much colder climates. Malaria outbreaks were reported in Canada back in 1929, though most modern cases are imported by people traveling out of country.

      This particular point has been a source of criticism for the recent IPCC reports as a political document rather than a scientific one. Previous reports stated that it's unlikely that malaria would spread northward.

      --
      Not a typewriter
    11. Re:From TFA by Ardipithecus · · Score: 2

      Italy is also beginning to enjoy malaria, due to the responsible mosquitoes having migrated north as warming has extended their habitat.

    12. Re:From TFA by electrosoccertux · · Score: 2, Insightful

      30 years ago when my parents were in school they were saying we're headed to another Ice age.

      I still haven't seen any definitive evidence that we're not in a cycle. Our sample time is far too short.

    13. Re:From TFA by thrillseeker · · Score: 1

      If by public health you mean the use of DDT to kill malaria carrying (and all other) mosquitoes, then yes, it was public health.

    14. Re:From TFA by Chosen+Reject · · Score: 1

      Florida already has a few cases of malaria every year.

      Yes but that's in Florida, which will be completely submerged, so it balances out.

      --
      Stop Global Warming!
      Just say no to irreversible processes!
    15. Re:From TFA by CyprusBlue113 · · Score: 1

      Not so much public health and medicine, but use of anti-mosquito methods like Malathion to stop one of the nessecary incubation points in the organisms reproductive cycle.

      --
      a handful of selfish greedy people are no match for millions of selfish, greedy people -u4ya
    16. Re:From TFA by cdrguru · · Score: 1

      Wouldn't that tend to reduce pollution and overall resource consumption? Meaning, wouldn't that be a good thing?

      Isn't the whole point to reduce pollution and resource consumption? A mass die-off would accomplish that quicker and surer than anything else, wouldn't you agree?

      The only problem is of scale. What is needed is billions, not just millions.

    17. Re:From TFA by lostokie · · Score: 2, Insightful

      They did about 50 years ago.

    18. Re:From TFA by Darkness404 · · Score: 1

      The fear that other tropical plagues might become common inside the US mainland is very real.



      But the same thing was said about, Bird Flu, Anthrax, Iraqi WMDs but those were just fears too. This is much like them.

      --
      Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
    19. Re:From TFA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Florida already has a few cases of malaria every year. The fear that other tropical plagues might become common inside the US mainland is very real.

      We can stand to lose a few Floridians... My Social security Benefits will depend upon it in the next few decades!!

      Besides, They still don't know how to Vote.. Or Drive.. or a bunch of other things...

    20. Re:From TFA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      you do realize that florida is tropical, and has always had malaria cases?

    21. Re:From TFA by jez9999 · · Score: 1

      The climate changes we are experiencing will likely take millions of lives.

      So about the same number that Robert Mugabe has killed or ruined, then, whilst the world sits around and does fuck all about it.

    22. Re:From TFA by jez9999 · · Score: 1

      Maybe i am cold hearted. or maybe i built my house 1000 feet above the oceans and hundreds of miles inland and want some nice beach front property.

      "But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand." - Matthew 7:26

      Wise words, I think, from the Bible.

    23. Re:From TFA by Abcd1234 · · Score: 0

      And by that, you mean the sample time based on the data you're willing to accept (we've got ice cores, among other things, that go back a long long way, but I can only assume you reject that data).

    24. Re:From TFA by sumdumass · · Score: 1

      Are you saying that all mosquitoes are dead in the US?

      I don't think that is the case. Although they do still fog for mosquitoes in my area, there are quite a few of them. I'm not sure what your getting at though. We haven't really eradicated them.

    25. Re:From TFA by electrosoccertux · · Score: 2, Informative

      Ice cores are only good for ~100k years due to the laws of diffusion. Beyond that and they're inaccurate as the CO2 has dispersed and is no longer representative of what the level in the air was when that ice was formed.

    26. Re:From TFA by acecamaro666 · · Score: 0

      Then with the way the US public health and medical system is going, we may see a return of tropical diseases in the southern US without the climate change.

    27. Re:From TFA by russotto · · Score: 1

      Yes, use of DDT and other insecticides would be included in public health (as distinct from medicine).

    28. Re:From TFA by LandDolphin · · Score: 1

      The GP meant "millions of [American or European] lives"

      --
      Spelling and Grammar errors have been added to this post for your enjoyment
    29. Re:From TFA by statemachine · · Score: 1

      30 years ago when my parents were in school they were saying we're headed to another Ice age. I still haven't seen any definitive evidence that we're not in a cycle. Our sample time is far too short.

      Climate Myths:

      They predicted global cooling in the 1970s
      It's been far warmer in the past, what's the big deal?

      Read the articles and follow their links.

    30. Re:From TFA by NeutronCowboy · · Score: 1

      Who exactly is "They"? I have never seen this comment outside of a newsrag or hearsay. Please source. Or go shove it.

      --
      Those who can, do. Those who can't, sue.
    31. Re:From TFA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Anything to stop them voting for Bush a third time :)

    32. Re:From TFA by Beryllium+Sphere(tm) · · Score: 1

      >30 years ago when my parents were in school they were saying we're headed to another Ice age.

      See the bibliography of climate forecast literature from the 70s.

    33. Re:From TFA by Beryllium+Sphere(tm) · · Score: 1

      "They" is Newsweek, and a Reader's Digest editor named Lowell Ponte who wrote a 1976 book called "The Cooling".

      As far as scientific literature goes, nothing. The climate science of the time was busy saying that there wasn't enough data and that the next Ice Age might begin within a few hundred years. That's it.

    34. Re:From TFA by jamesh · · Score: 1

      Our sample time is far too short.


      Nonsense, a sample size of 2 days is sufficient for predicting an ice age. It was 21C degrees yesterday, and 20C degrees today. Based on that trend, we'll all be frozen solid in a few weeks. Better start preparing now!

    35. Re:From TFA by DesScorp · · Score: 1

      Tropical diseases were once common in the southern US. It wasn't climate change which made them rare; it was public health and medicine.

      Thank you. I'm so tired of the global warming boogeyman being blamed for everything. At first we were told that global warming would bring more hurricanes. When we actually got fewer, we were then informed that, yes, global warming is responsible for that too.

      I suspect that the revival of malaria in Florida has more to do with the fact that we're globalizing than global warming. Lots of South American cargo goes to Florida, much of it with disease-bearing insects. Here in the South, we have Tiger Mosquitos that came from Asia in shipments of tires a few decades ago. This kind of international traffic is why we have species like zebra muscles in our waterways... unless you want to blame that on global warming too.

      --
      Life is hard, and the world is cruel
    36. Re:From TFA by gopla · · Score: 1

      The climate changes we are experiencing will likely take millions of lives. Few people realize how easily diseases like malaria might thrive if we go up even one or two degrees in average temperatures.

      Inspite of high disease rates and more unhealthy environment, the fact is that tropical region has more population density than any other place on earth. It also has the most biodiversity

      The temperate climate is most suitable for human sustainability. The quality of life may not be as good as in cold region like Europe or North America, but regions like India, Bangladesh, Indonesia sustain more population per area.

    37. Re:From TFA by endstar · · Score: 4, Insightful

      30 years ago there were a couple articles in popular magazines pointing out that up until 10,000 years ago, Europe an North America underwent repeated, frequent ice ages. They had not measured the Earth cooling in the 30 years prior. Gerald Ford did not get an Ocscar or a Nobel Prize for a movie about Global Cooling. Global cooling was never taken seriously then in the way that global warming now is.

      Now we have measured the Earth warming. We have tried to model it, and the only reasonable explanation is human emissions of greenhouse gases. It now appears the North Pole will melt this year.

      How much longer do you want to wait for "definitive evidence" that global warming is happening, and that we're causing it? Until drought wrecks the farm economy of California? Until Florida disappears back into the ocean? Until the oil and the coal runs out, and there's no longer economic incentive for people to stick their heads in the sand?

    38. Re:From TFA by Jaazaniah · · Score: 1

      You know, rocket scientists have to account for the rate of change in an object's relative speed to launch satellites. This is something the world has gotten very good at.

      You would think geophysicists would catch the drift and start isolating acceleration as a variable to better estimate when the polar bears will have to raid Eskimo villages to survive.

      Poor bears.

    39. Re:From TFA by MadMidnightBomber · · Score: 1

      Yeah, and I was told that I'd have to get used to wearing a suit for "real life". Guess what? That was bollocks too.

      --
      "It doesn't cost enough, and it makes too much sense."
    40. Re:From TFA by uassholes · · Score: 1

      Once the Earth froze completely over. The Earth is normally a very cold place, and it's gradually getting colder. The human species was struggling until recently (last 10ky) when we entered one of the brief warm periods, called inter-glacials. For humans to survive for a geologically significant period of time, we have to understand that climate changes, and adapt to it, rather than fantasizing that we can somehow preserve the Earth forever just the way it is at this instant, like a museum exhibit.

    41. Re:From TFA by jcupitt65 · · Score: 1

      30 years ago when my parents were in school they were saying we're headed to another Ice age.

      No they weren't, or not in the way you think anyway. This claim is debunked in every "top 10 climate change myths" article, for example:

      http://environment.newscientist.com/channel/earth/climate-change/dn11643

    42. Re:From TFA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The District of Columbia used to be a malarial swamp before it was drained and the city built.

    43. Re:From TFA by Xyrus · · Score: 1

      30 years ago, you're parents were fed a spool of lies by overzealous media focusing on a few fringe nut jobs who never so much as produced a single peer-reviewed article on the subject.

      As far as cycles go, you must be discounting those 750,000 year old ice cores showing CO2 levels today are the highest they have ever been.

      Cycle or not, we have to be prepared for the consequences.

      ~X~

      --
      ~X~
  9. Ice Age? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So the ice is disappearing at record rates and the twat posting this article trolls that we're may be heading for an ice age?

    Doesn't anyone read Nature or Science anymore?

  10. Good riddance by Cannelloni · · Score: 1, Funny

    I hate ice and snow anyway - what a bloody mess it is. If you are a masochistic person who actually likes snow I suggest you move to a colder planet such as Mars or Pluto.

    --
    Beauty is in the beholder of the eye.
    1. Re:Good riddance by vajaradakini · · Score: 1

      Mars doesn't have much snow. Haven't you seen the rover pictures?

      --
      what's that now?
    2. Re:Good riddance by cparker15 · · Score: 1

      I hate heat and drought anyway - what a bloody pain it is. If you are a masochistic person who actually likes heat I suggest you move to a warmer planet such as Mercury or Venus.

      --
      Have you driven a fnord... lately?

      You must wait a little bit before using this resource; please try again later.

    3. Re:Good riddance by prelelat · · Score: 1

      maybe you could move to mars, I hear the summers rock.

    4. Re:Good riddance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I hate ice and snow anyway - what a bloody mess it is. If you are a masochistic person who actually likes snow I suggest you move to a colder planet such as Mars or Pluto.

      Mars, Pluto, and Jupiter are also warming.

    5. Re:Good riddance by statemachine · · Score: 1

      Mars, Pluto, and Jupiter are also warming.

      Which has nothing to do with us.

  11. Natural? by Comtraya · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Has anyone thought that this is just the planet recovering from the ice age?

    1. Re:Natural? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thank you for being the first person to ever suggest such a theory... PS: Yes people thought that did some research and found out it really was greenhouse gases.

    2. Re:Natural? by amRadioHed · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Yes. No one credible believes that we are entirely responsible for the climate change, on the other hand no one credible disputes that we are contributing to it. No matter what the cause, the increased global temperature is a bad thing for us and thus it is in our best interest to stop contributing to the change ASAP.

      --
      We hope your rules and wisdom choke you / Now we are one in everlasting peace
    3. Re:Natural? by Gat0r30y · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You are probably right, man made global warming is just a vast conspiracy engineered to reduce pollution, achieve energy independence, secure our natural resources, and rile up oil executives.

      --
      Prediction: The real iPhone killer is going to be sex robots from Japan. Think about it.
    4. Re:Natural? by Josh+Booth · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I rather agree with you--people should stop kidding themselves. Global warming is not about saving the planet--this stuff has happened repeatedly and all this life is still here--its about saving humanity. Because if the other species out there that we require start dying off because there's too much C02 or its too hot or the ocean is to acidic, then we're screwed unless we can evolve fast enough. It gives a lot of credence to the idea of being stewards of the planet, since at this point we are realizing that what we do /can/ have an effect on the planet as a whole. At this point, we've already worried about polluting the world's oceans, causing worldwide nuclear winter, and now global warming. Either way, it seems to me that carbon is too good of an energy transport to give up, so we should leverage it. Biofuels anyone? What if I said we genetically engineered algae to make them for us? Well, sure, not yet, but that's the logical next step.

    5. Re:Natural? by Splab · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Also no matter if we are contributing or not, the climate _is_ changing. This means we are going to have millions, if not billions of climate refuges, and the world as a whole need to work out how to handle it.

      As others have pointed out this also means new diseases in areas previously thought to be rid of them. Going to be some quite interesting times to live in. (Worst curse according to Terry Pratchett - "May you live in interesting times")

    6. Re:Natural? by doug · · Score: 1

      Thank you. I'm sick of people saying that the issue with global warming is that we're killing the planet. We're making it easier for some species, and harder for others. The main issue is that we're making it harder for ourselves.

    7. Re:Natural? by mckorr · · Score: 5, Insightful
      Not only that, but leaving the question of climate change aside, doesn't "green" make sense?

      Adding insulation, better windows, more efficient air conditioner, florescent lights, and so on makes my home more valuable. It also reduces my electric bill, which means more money in my pocket. Same for cars. Less pollution is a side effect, albeit a good one. More to the point it lowers my gasoline consumption, again, more money in my pocket. And I happen to like clean air, so bonus!

      Argue climate change all you want, green makes sense, if only from an economic standpoint. And why would anyone be against clean air and water?

    8. Re:Natural? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is the most rational thing I've read all week.

    9. Re:Natural? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No matter what the cause, the increased global temperature is a bad thing for us and thus it is in our best interest to stop contributing to the change ASAP.

      To some, the glass is half empty, to others it is half full, and to some, it is at half capacity.

    10. Re:Natural? by morgan_greywolf · · Score: 1

      Because if the other species out there that we require start dying off because there's too much C02

      Then we will starve to death.

    11. Re:Natural? by Poppa · · Score: 0, Troll

      Biofuels will help us reduce our dependency on foreign oil, but it still will contribute CO2.

      The Liberals are in a tough spot right now and this will become a major campaign issue. They have no plans for reducing the price of gas in the short term and their policies of the past will prevent anything from happening soon enough to make a difference in the long term.

      We need to go to more alternative energy sources that are carbon-free. Like nuclear, water and air. Unfortunately, the Liberals have been against building nuclear power plants, hydroelectric dams and wind power (if it is in their back yards).

      So, again, the Liberals have no solutions but will just whine and complain.

    12. Re:Natural? by hardburn · · Score: 1

      No matter what the cause, the increased global temperature is a bad thing for us and thus it is in our best interest to stop contributing to the change ASAP.

      I disagree. Drastic changes to Earth's climate have happened before without human influence, such as large meteor strikes. No matter if humans are causing this change or not, we need to deal with the fact that the biosphere changes. The right response, therefore, is to make our infrastructure more resilient.

      --
      Not a typewriter
    13. Re:Natural? by Peter+La+Casse · · Score: 1

      No matter what the cause, the increased global temperature is a bad thing for us and thus it is in our best interest to stop contributing to the change ASAP.

      It is not a given that global warming will be a net negative for the human race (or even for just the first world); it has benefits as well as drawbacks. Furthermore, even if it is negative, in order to quantify the benefit of reduction of greenhouse gases, we must be able to predict the impact of such a reduction. Since we don't know how to do that yet, we don't know which specific approaches to greenhouse gas reduction will result in a net improvement of human life.

      Humanity's top priority should be improving the quality of life of as many people as possible, which means (among other things) globalization and economic growth in the developing world. Those are not compatible with an ASAP approach to reducing emissions of greenhouse gases; sometimes being dirty in the short term creates a greater long-term good.

    14. Re:Natural? by amRadioHed · · Score: 1

      Right, efficiency is good for business and the search for alternate fuels is good for advancing science as a whole. Getting away from oil would also be a big win politically. The only real argument against it is that it's expensive, but no shit. Nothings free, and without spending money jobs don't get created.

      --
      We hope your rules and wisdom choke you / Now we are one in everlasting peace
    15. Re:Natural? by frith01 · · Score: 1

      You are confused about the carbon cycle.

      It is bad to use carbon that is NOT ACTIVE in the carbon cycle. ( various petroleum products stored deep underground). This results in a net increase in atmospheric CO2 compared to previous year.

      It is much better to re-use carbon that is Active in the carbon cycle already (biofuels, which take CO2 OUT of the atmosphere, and we just return it to the atmosphere when we use it).
      This results in a zero increase in atmospheric CO2 compared to previous year, providing that the mechanisms used during processing utilize bio-fuel as well.

    16. Re:Natural? by Bent+Mind · · Score: 1

      Yep. Next up, the fire age. Hope you like it warm.

      --
      Request a Linux Shockwave player here: http://www.macromedia.com/support/email/wishform/
    17. Re:Natural? by amRadioHed · · Score: 1

      Making our infrastructure more resilient is something we should also be doing, but it is not enough. If we are doing something that is hurting the biosphere it is pretty stupid not to try to stop doing it. Shit happens, but we don't have to help it happen.

      --
      We hope your rules and wisdom choke you / Now we are one in everlasting peace
    18. Re:Natural? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Has anyone thought that this is just the planet recovering from the ice age?

      Nah. None of the thousands of highly educated academics that have been working in the field for decades ever bothered to consider that possibility.. /sarcasm

    19. Re:Natural? by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      To some, the glass is half empty, to others it is half full, and to some, it is at half capacity.

      To still others, the glass is analog, and that is so low-tech.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    20. Re:Natural? by PawNtheSandman · · Score: 1

      Because at this point in time, those things are expensive to do and in some cases take years to recover the up front costs associated with implementing and maintaining them.

    21. Re:Natural? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Has anyone thought that this is the planet trying to expel the virus that is humanity?

    22. Re:Natural? by Mesa+MIke · · Score: 1

      Yes, and make sure you buy liquid household cleaning products that are colored green , and whatever else you buy, prefer the brand that comes in a green colored package.

    23. Re:Natural? by cdrguru · · Score: 1

      Efficency is great, but it does nothing to solve the real problem: too many humans.

      Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy were budding environmentalists. Hitler and Stalin had the right idea and were approaching the correct scale. Decreasing the population is the only way that humanity can treat the Earth as a closed system. If we aren't prepared to use off-planet resources then we have to reduce the number of people contributing to the waste stream. Also, we need to reduce the number of people using energy in all forms.

      There really are only two solutions: prepare to collect resources from off-planat or decrease the population to the level that is "sustainable" by natual processes. This is probably less than 200 million people. Al Gore and his followers discard the first option out of hand and believe we must "live within our means." This means that we need to seriously plan on how to go from over 6 billion people to under 200 million in a short period of time.

      The alternative is to either run out of resources or drown in our own wastes. Or both.

    24. Re:Natural? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No matter what the cause, the increased global temperature is a bad thing for us [citation needed]

    25. Re:Natural? by Snaller · · Score: 1

      "It also reduces my electric bill, which means more money in my pocket. "

      And less for the electric company, meaning if enough people do this, they will start to increase the price to compensate.

      --
      If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating
    26. Re:Natural? by brukman · · Score: 1

      That's a very interesting question! Somebody wake up the scientist and tell her about this "Ice Age" thing quick!

      Hmmm . . . now that I've given it several whole minutes of thought, I have come up with lots of other theories including sun spots, eccentric orbit of the earth, volcanos, growth of the sun, angry gods . . . If only the scientist was as clever as we are. If she were, she would probably test this stuff and we could all just use The Google to find out.

    27. Re:Natural? by liquidf · · Score: 1

      nuclear winter?! i think you have found the solution we are looking for!

      --
      i've had just about enough of your vassar bashing.
    28. Re:Natural? by hardburn · · Score: 1

      The thing is, increased CO2 (if that was the only factor in climate change) is probably an overall boon to the biosphere. It would mean more tropical regions and more usable land in far northern latitudes. The main problem is in its effect on human society, not the biosphere as a whole.

      However, CO2 isn't the only effect humans are causing that drives climate change. Desertification is largely driven by bad farming practices (like fertilizer runoff and overgrazing). So sloppy farming is stopping regions from becoming more tropical at a time when CO2 is increasing.

      I'm becoming convinced that hydroponics with vertical farming is going to be the only sustainable food source in the not too distant future. It solves fertilizer runoff problems, doesn't need a large 2D land plot, and is less susceptible to climate change. Since you also need less fertilizer overall, it also requires less fossil fuel to make and transport that fertilizer. You get both less environmental impact and more robust infrastructure in one package.

      --
      Not a typewriter
    29. Re:Natural? by Delkster · · Score: 1

      Pretty damn fast recovery it's been making for the past few decades... quite a bit faster than for a while before that.

    30. Re:Natural? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes. This possibility has been considered. The climate record has, of course been extensively studied. When climatologists look at the record they see (and you would, too) that the last 100 years is clearly anomalous when compared to the last 1000 years, where we have very reliable temperature records from a wide variety of sources such as tree rings, oxygen isotope ratios in organic matter, stalactite records, sea sediments and corals. The trend for most of the past 1000 years has been a slight cooling. The temperature rise over the last century has made the planet warmer than any point in at least the last thousand years. If you look at the record of the last 12,000 years since the last ice age ended, you will see temperature stabilizing around 8-10,000 years ago. The rate of warming has also been unprecedented. We also have a very simple explanation for this rise in temperature - the rise in CO2 concentration in the atmosphere.

      Recent papers have using statistical methods shown that there is a greater than 95% chance that the current climate in the northern hemisphere is anomalous for the past thousand years and thus cannot be ascribed to natural variation in that period. (The data is a bit sparser for the southern hemisphere due to lack of land mass and work done to set up good, reliable climate records there.)

      Your use of the explanation for current warming as "recovery from the last ice age" implies that the forces which ended the last ice age might be at work in our times. The ice ages are closely linked with variations in the earth's orbit and tilt on its axis called Milankovitch cycles. Variations in ocean currents, such as a great big lake made of glacial melt water finally bursting through from its home in the St James Bay in Canada into the North Atlantic, have also caused some variation, but these are harder to study. The current warming trend is not explained by the orbital changes which ended the last ice age, which are very gradual, nor is is explained by changes in ocean circulation. In fact, these orbital changes should be causing a slight cooling trend. A 1980 study states "Ignoring anthropogenic and other possible sources of variation acting at frequencies higher than one cycle per 19,000 years, this model predicts that the long-term cooling trend which began some 6,000 years ago will continue for the next 23,000 years."(J Imbrie, J Z Imbrie (1980). "Modeling the Climatic Response to Orbital Variations". Science 207 (1980/02/29): 943â"953)

      Wikipedia has some nice graphs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temperature_record_of_the_past_1000_years
      and http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Holocene_Temperature_Variations.png (note present is on the right in the first graph and on the left on the second. Also the last century is too brief to be seen on the time scale of the second graph, except barely on the inset.)

    31. Re:Natural? by rrohbeck · · Score: 1

      Not only that, but leaving the question of climate change aside, doesn't "green" make sense?

      No. Conspicuous consumption gives me bragging rights. Who cares about the climate, I want my monster truck/SUV/car.

    32. Re:Natural? by Snodgrass · · Score: 1

      Exactly!

      Whether or not you believe man is changing the climate, you can't deny the ugly brown clouds hanging over major populations. The possibility of clearing that up is reason enough for me to 'go green.'

    33. Re:Natural? by updog · · Score: 1

      Global warming is not about saving the planet--this stuff has happened repeatedly and all this life is still here--its about saving humanity. Because if the other species out there that we require start dying off

      Why do humans think that we are so entitled, we can indiscriminately cause mass extinction, unless we "require" those species? Yes life is still here since the last mass extinction event, but that life took 65 million years to evolve. And, in the course of about 100 years we've contributed to one of the fastest mass extinction events in the history of this planet.

      I'm all for saving humanity, but I also think it's immoral to contribute to the destruction of about half of the Earths species, many of which have been around for millions of years longer than us.

    34. Re:Natural? by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 1

      We've already evolved enough. We have nuclear power plants, we have greenhouses, we have air conditioners. I'm pretty confident.

      Biofuels anyone?

      No thanks, I just ate.

    35. Re:Natural? by Poppa · · Score: 1

      I'm not confused, but I concede your point. You would also have to use biofuel for all the transportation, farming and processing energy requirements, too, in order to be completely free of using non active carbon sources. It's a start.

      And, hopefully, we're not using food supplies to create the biofuel. A lot of people will be dying because the price of corn is going up from ethanol production, etc., and we don't want to make that worse.

      I'm a conservative that's been recycling for 10 years, and I get about 32MPG based on the typical usage of my gas guzzling SUV and my motorcycles.

      I'm all for saving energy and reducing pollution, but I'm not for damaging our economy or letting people in the 3rd world die from starvation because some Liberals are hysterical about global warming. We need to look at the whole picture. People are going to die due to global warming no matter what happens (or does not happen), and someone has to decide who it will be.

      There are no easy or simple solutions.

    36. Re:Natural? by rujholla · · Score: 1

      Hitler and Stalin had the right idea and were approaching the correct scale.

      WOW /boggle

    37. Re:Natural? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "And why would anyone be against clean air an water?" So that they can sell you that air and clean water for a very 'low' (subject to speculation) price when they run out of oil.

    38. Re:Natural? by statemachine · · Score: 1

      The thing is, increased CO2 (if that was the only factor in climate change) is probably an overall boon to the biosphere. It would mean more tropical regions and more usable land in far northern latitudes.

      Climate Myths:
      CO2 isn't the most important greenhouse gas
      Higher CO2 levels will boost plant growth and food production

    39. Re:Natural? by uncqual · · Score: 1

      Slightly off-topic... One thing that I ask people when Global Warming comes up is:

      Assume, just for the sake of argument, that you were to become convinced by solid scientific evidence that without intervention by humans and due to natural processes unrelated to humans, the Earth will experience climate change at a rate that exceeds the rate at which humans can evolve to adapt. Further assume that we knew how to alter the environment, for example via some form of emissions, to halt (at least temporarily) this "natural" climate change. In this case, given the following to alternatives, which would you pick and why? (1) Do not intervene to halt the natural climate change - thereby resulting in earlier extinction of the human species. (2) Intervene to halt the natural climate change - thereby delaying the extinction of the human species.

      The responses are sometimes interesting. Some people pick (1) on the belief that they are "green" and that this means minimizing human's impact on the planet. Some people pick (2) on the belief that the universe having humans around for longer is somehow better and therefore it's appropriate to alter the Earth's climate to accomplish this. For those that pick (2), I sometimes get interesting responses to the question:

      Do you think that humans will ever become extinct? If so, when and why would you want to delay this event?

      No, I don't have good answers or even know where I stand on these questions, but it gets people thinking about their priorities on Global Warming.

      I hear little discussion about if perhaps human induced global warming may actually, over a period of hundreds of thousands of years, make the Earth more friendly to humans by forestalling or eliminating the next ice age. I don't have any reason to believe this is the case, I'm just surprised this doesn't come up more in the popular media/culture as it seems like a reasonable question.

      However, I would say I'm surprised by how many people work on the assumption that humans will never become extinct.

      --
      Why is there an "insightful" mod and why isn't it "-1"? If I wanted insight, I wouldn't be reading /.
    40. Re:Natural? by Jah-Wren+Ryel · · Score: 1

      Argue climate change all you want, green makes sense, if only from an economic standpoint.

      Except that, 'green' like 'security' and most other things in life, does not come for free. Some 'green' options actually cost more than what they save - and I don't just mean raw dollars, I mean also natural resources - the very thing that 'green' is meant to preserve.

      --
      When information is power, privacy is freedom.
    41. Re:Natural? by Stevenovitch · · Score: 1

      Green makes sense, actively creating global panic to push green initiatives doesn't make sense. It also leads to failed green policies because people are in too much of a panicked rush to take the time to accurately predict the results of the changes they want to make. In the long term, the AGW argument still matters on this front, because if it turns out to be all for nothing (global warming doesn't cause huge problems) and we're all ass deep in a bunch of failed half-assed green policies it's going to be detrimental to the green movement in many ways. So yes, I love the green idea. Hitching its wagon to the global warming issue is not the best way to get it done.

    42. Re:Natural? by Snocone · · Score: 1

      the increased global temperature is a bad thing for us

      On the contrary, if you examine the record, optimum biosphere diversity and extent appears to be achieved at around 3 C above current global norms. And sticking to the human species in particular, deaths from a one degree chill exceed deaths from a one degree warm by a factor of around four. Presumably before modern climate-regulating technology that ratio would have been quite a bit more lopsided.

    43. Re:Natural? by Watson+Ladd · · Score: 1

      One half of amphibians, a huge number of all charismatic megafauna, a shitload of birds, and let's not forget all the fish are going extinct because of human activities. The Gulf of Mexico is becoming a sewer. The collapse of biodiversity is real, and it is going to suck big time as our oceans get screwed up.

      --
      Inventions have long since reached their limit, and I see no hope for further development.-- Frontinus, 1st cent. AD
    44. Re:Natural? by Macrat · · Score: 1

      It also reduces my electric bill, which means more money in my pocket

      Except that you'll be in debt for quite a while paying for all that fancy equipment.

    45. Re:Natural? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sure, except for the fact that a portion of the loan is backed by the state so it is at an extremely good interest rate... An interest rate so low that the monthly payment on the loan is smaller than the monthly savings on my energy bills... And gee, no prepayment penalty on the loan so I can go ahead and apply the difference to the loan each month... And damned if energy costs aren't going up as well...

      Result: capital improvement to my property increasing the value a bit... At a net saving.

    46. Re:Natural? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, because my utility sells our surplus to California which has a tremendous shortage of electricity, at a rate much higher than my state allows them to sell at locally given their legalized monopoly status.

    47. Re:Natural? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Biofuels will help us reduce our dependency on foreign oil, but it still will contribute CO2. I'm not confused

      If you think Biofuels are anything but carbon neutral then yes, you're confused. Think about it.

    48. Re:Natural? by ignavus · · Score: 1

      "Has anyone thought that this is just the planet recovering from the ice age?"

      Or as the lobster said as he sat in a gradually boiling pot:

      "I'm so glad I am out of that refrigerator!"

      --
      I am anarch of all I survey.
    49. Re:Natural? by ignavus · · Score: 1

      "And why would anyone be against clean air and water?"

      Um, because they are drowning at sea?

      --
      I am anarch of all I survey.
    50. Re:Natural? by schlumpf_louise · · Score: 1

      More money in your pocket = less money in profits in gas/electric companies' pockets.

    51. Re:Natural? by Zumbs · · Score: 1

      There really are only two solutions: prepare to collect resources from off-planat or decrease the population to the level that is "sustainable" by natual processes. This is probably less than 200 million people.

      And where do you get that exact number? And how does it relate to living standards, technological development, cultural habits and so on? Not to mention that it implies that you (or whoever came up with the number) has a total understanding of how the ecosystem of planet Earth works.

      And no, genocide is not a solution. Even from an extreme Environmentalist point of view, the Environmental costs of a new World War would be astronomical. The human costs would be terrible as well.

      Most industrialized countries have seen declines in the number of births pr. woman. Where I live, each woman bears approximately 1.7 babies (2.1 is needed for reproduction of the population).

      --
      The truth may be out there, but lies are inside your head
    52. Re:Natural? by Mutant321 · · Score: 1

      Plenty of people have thought that. But all the evidence points to the fact that this isn't part of a natural cycle.

      There are two key points here: firstly, the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere has increased 35% since pre-industrial times, which is extemely fast as compared to pre-historic evidence that's been collected from ice core samples. Secondly, the rate of change in global temperature rising is much faster that we'd expect for a natural cycle, which tends to be very slow, in human terms at least, over tens of thousands of years.

      A good place to get some basic information is the BBC's list of claims and counter-claims. But I encourage you to do your own research if you really want to form your own opinion on these things. There are a lot of very smart people applying a lot of brain power to these problems day and night, so it's unlikely anyone on Slashdot is going to come up with anything new on this. Just be sure to understand how evidence is accepted into mainstream science (which is about peer reviewed papers either proving something mathematically, or forming a weight of evidence behind a particular theory).

    53. Re:Natural? by rpillala · · Score: 1

      The people producing high efficiency windows and air conditioners are not the same folks who want to sell you more gas, electricity, and a bigger truck.

      "There's an upside to the gas crisis: it's a great time to be an oil conglomerate!" - Stephen Colbert

      --
      When the axe came to the forest, the trees said, "Look out - the handle was once one of us."
    54. Re:Natural? by Xyrus · · Score: 1

      You see, the dinosaurs were very smart. After millions of years of intelligent design, they had reached a point similar to where we are today.

      They soon realized that their CO2 production was warming the Earth and in an effort to keep their climate cool, they embarked on an unprecedented effort to sequester the CO2 from the atmosphere and store into the ground.

      Their plan was working well to. Then one day a dinosaur scientist named Jor-El went before the dinosaur council and claimed that a giant asteroid was going to hit their planet and destroy the world. They laughed at him, just like they did when he mentioned that the new life forms they had created as slaves (known as mammals) could possibly overtake them and dominate the planet.

      Frustrated by their disbelief, Jor-El prepared a special capsule that would protect his teenage son in a form of hibernation to weather the oncoming asteroid strike.

      Just as the dinosaurs had managed to stabilize the climate, Jor-El's prediction came true. The asteroid obliterated the dinosaur population, but amazingly the little slave creatures known as mammals managed to survive. Jor-El's son, Kal-El, wept from within his capsule as he witnessed the destruction of his people. He also gritted his teeth in anger as he saw that the slaves they had created, the mammals, survive the destruction and populate the planet.

      Millions of years passed, and through the geological process the massive reserves of CO2 the dinosaurs had placed below the surface changed into coal and oil. Kal-El could only bide his time waiting for mammals to advance to the point where he could control one or two to do his bidding a bring the dinosaurs back to dominance.

      The mammals, over millions of years intelligently designed into what are now called humans. Kal-El saw that these man-beasts had developed enough intelligence for him to launch his plan.

      Subtley, he began to influence humans in order to develop the knowledge for him to work with. It wasn't long before he directed them to the massive stores of oil left by his ancestors. Humans started burning these back into the atmosphere so the planet would be more comfortable for Kal-El when he re-emerged.

      But he underestimated the humans. They began to realize that by burning all this ancient fuel, that they were changing their climate and would end up doing harm to themselves. Kal-El was forced to take action quickly least they unknowingly thwart his plan.

      By manually controlling the man-thing George Bush, he put in to motion plans to cast doubt on the research of climate change. He also encouraged the man-leader to cast a general disdain on intellectual pursuits, and to have his followers focus on their primitive mythical god-thing. They already advanced enough for him to use their technology. If he could make them stupid, it would just make it easier.

      To his anger, he found the man-leader to be quite stupid already. Kal-El raged inside his capsule until he could stand it no longer. Doning special clothing to endure the cooler climate, he emerged from his capsule determined to repopulate the dinosaurs himself!

      So what happened to Kal-El? Well, he didn't make it very far. He was shot to death by Bubba and Joe Bob Smith as he was slogging his way through a swap in Louisiana. His head was mounted on a plaque with a rather unassuming description "GATOR", and currently resides on the wall of Michael Crichton's den.

      The moral of the story? Bored people on Slashdot is a bad thing. :P

      ~X~

      --
      ~X~
    55. Re:Natural? by YttriumOxide · · Score: 1

      I think it's pretty certain that since the universe will one day "end" in some form or other (heat death/big crunch/whatever), humanity will certainly go extinct. Given a more reasonable question: Within the life of this planet, I do not know if we will become extinct or not. I think it's probably likely that we will, but there really isn't enough information one way or the other.

      What I do think, is that we as a species should do what all species do - try to survive by any means necessary. If that means altering our planet to do so, we should do it. If it means AVOIDING altering our planet in bad ways, we should also do so.

      --
      My book about LSD and Self-Discovery
      Also on facebook as: DroppingAcidDaleBewan
    56. Re:Natural? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's not necessarily that anyone is against clean air or water, but more of the fact that most people are too lazy to change their daily habits. People want to save money, but most have a hard time dealing with the fact that it takes spending money to save money.

    57. Re:Natural? by You+are+not+listenin · · Score: 1

      There is no argument against going green, just lobbyists in Washington. If only the conservative schmuks here in the U.S. spouting the party line knew this. Thankfully these people also happen to be poor and make up a majority of the south so they'll feel the consequences of global warming the most. They'll be the first to go when shit hits the fan. See? The world is self regulating. Now if only we could figure out some way to get rid of the lobbyists too...

  12. What about that volcano under all that water? by thule · · Score: 5, Informative
    1. Re:What about that volcano under all that water? by downix · · Score: 1

      Quite possible, but to write off other things such as the known impact of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is not a wise idea either.

      In even the best-case scenario, we're still spitting junk into the air, and my mother always told me to pick up after myself.

      --
      Karma Whoring for Fun and Profit.
    2. Re:What about that volcano under all that water? by MrHanky · · Score: 1

      But that wouldn't explain why glaciers on land are retreating, would it?

    3. Re:What about that volcano under all that water? by thule · · Score: 1

      Look at the graphs from the last link. Some pretty amazing coincidences.

      Volcanoes also put gases into the air.

    4. Re:What about that volcano under all that water? by thule · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Ummm... well volcanoes put a lot of junk into the air all by themselves. That includes underwater ones.

      Besides, we don't know for sure that CO2 is the main reason for the warming we've seen. The warming trend has been levelling off for the past few years. It also doesn't explain why there is uneven warming or why Antarctic ice continues to grow.

    5. Re:What about that volcano under all that water? by Snocone · · Score: 5, Interesting

      That's a possibility, but I don't think it's an overly likely one.

      My bet is that the difference between Northern and Southern ice cover trends is a lot more obvious if you care to look for it: Soot.

      http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=impure-as-the-driven-snow

      Money quote: "and may be responsible for as much as 94 percent of Arctic warming."

      Not that this is Scientific American talking here, which is hardly a hotbed of AGW skepticism, to put it extremely mildly.

      So "just" clean up all those dirty soot-emitting Chinese factories, and the Arctic will start freezing more.

      This policy has the advantage of being A Really Fucking Good Idea(TM) whether you're a true believer in AGW all the way over to denying it completely.

      Of course, in the real world, not only do we not discuss China's possible particulate-based contribution to GW, we even exempt them from even discussions about adhering to Kyoto, despite the fact that they've been the largest global C02 emitter two years running now and the rate of increase is accelerating...

    6. Re:What about that volcano under all that water? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I love how they have reclassified CO2 as pollution when it's basically plant food.

    7. Re:What about that volcano under all that water? by MrHanky · · Score: 1

      So what about volcanic gasses? CO2 levels have been rising fairly steadily (and increasingly) the last 150 years or so, unrelated to volcanic activity. The only thing that link proves is that some guy thinks his pontificating somehow proves something. Dude, there's nothing there.

    8. Re:What about that volcano under all that water? by mckorr · · Score: 1

      Carbon dioxide is easy. Plant more trees. They breathe the stuff. They're also nice to look at, and properly positioned provide shade for your yard and house on a hot summer day. Plant more, and stop developers from cutting down so many down.

    9. Re:What about that volcano under all that water? by Bob-taro · · Score: 1

      The warming trend has been levelling off for the past few years.

      That's because I bought a hybrid. You're welcome.

      --
      Prov 9:8 Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you; rebuke the wise and they will love you.
    10. Re:What about that volcano under all that water? by stmfreak · · Score: 1

      but to write off other things such as the known impact of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is not a wise idea either.

      That's an asinine statement. We know the impact of CO2 in the atmosphere. It's marginal. Methane and Water Vapor have a much greater effect on warming than CO2. CO2 merely happens to be exhausted from another device that the Green Movement hates more than cows, farming and a growing population: cars

      I'd far prefer we write off CO2 emissions and focus on more pressing and important concerns such as:

      * cancer
      * heart disease
      * abundant clean water
      * abundant clean energy
      * space exploration, mining and exploitation (lots of power, water and minerals up there)
      * diaspora away from Earth

      These things are necessary for the long-term survival of the human race. Maintaining our planet withing an average of 1C of recently recorded temperatures is not. Nor is it possible. The planet has had huge thermal swings in the past, none of them caused by mankind. It has been much warmer than now; it has been much cooler; more importantly, it has moved the temperature needle on its own, when it felt like it, many, many degrees up and down. We did nothing then, we can do nothing now but try to get off.

      If you want a temperature controlled sterile environment, I hope you're supporting the space program.

      --
      These opinions guaranteed or your money back.
    11. Re:What about that volcano under all that water? by LarsG · · Score: 1

      "They call it pollution, we call it life?"

      --
      If J.K.R wrote Windows: Puteulanus fenestra mortalis!
    12. Re:What about that volcano under all that water? by EastCoastSurfer · · Score: 1

      I agree with you, but would like to add 'limit pollution' to your list of important concerns. I'm no greenie, but I do like to go outdoors and enjoy my time when I'm out there. Lessening pollution overall can only be a good thing. I wish the Green Movement would focus on lessening pollution because well, no one likes a dirty house, instead of the asinine fear mongering they keep trying to do with global warming. Plus, I think they would get more people to actually care.

    13. Re:What about that volcano under all that water? by moosesocks · · Score: 1

      The warming trend has been levelling off for the past few years.

      Citation, please?

      --
      -- If you try to fail and succeed, which have you done? - Uli's moose
    14. Re:What about that volcano under all that water? by rrohbeck · · Score: 1

      Ok, you showed temporal correlation.
      Now show he causation please.

    15. Re:What about that volcano under all that water? by fru1tcake · · Score: 1

      Clearly the volcanoes are angry that we found them. Oh dear...

      --
      It's not a bug, it's a lepidopter!
    16. Re:What about that volcano under all that water? by TheQuantumShift · · Score: 1
      "So "just" clean up all those dirty soot-emitting Chinese factories, and the Arctic will start freezing more."

      But we haven't even gotten to Iran yet...

      --

      Shift happens. Fire it up.
    17. Re:What about that volcano under all that water? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You call that an analysis? An opinion, yes. Perhaps even the beginning of a hypothesis. But analysis; no.

      And it's more of "here's something that could be the cause of the ice melting; therefore climate change is a lie" type of opinion.

    18. Re:What about that volcano under all that water? by Watson+Ladd · · Score: 1

      What some shit in your food? It's basically plant food.

      --
      Inventions have long since reached their limit, and I see no hope for further development.-- Frontinus, 1st cent. AD
    19. Re:What about that volcano under all that water? by Beryllium+Sphere(tm) · · Score: 1

      Well, a link where I read
      >the Church of Al Gore/IPCC
      >so-called Global Warming
      >chicken-little screams
      doesn't meet my standards for objective analysis, especially when their first sentence is factually incorrect: climate models do explain growth in ice sheets, because higher temperatures lead to more evaporation, more precipitation, and therefore more snow in places that are still below freezing.

    20. Re:What about that volcano under all that water? by Jaazaniah · · Score: 1

      Continental drift opens volcanic wounds. This has gone on for eons. The fact that we have instruments in the last 2 decades that are capable of returning this meaningful data in high-pressure, 4 degree Celsius, salt-water environments speaks to the real meaning of these studies: Now we can watch them. It is nothing new in the planet's history - massive spots don't form overnight. Only our ability to see them is new.

    21. Re:What about that volcano under all that water? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So "just" clean up all those dirty soot-emitting Chinese factories, and the Arctic will start freezing more.

      Decreasing soot will increase temperatures as will decreasing sulfate emissions. Increasing coal pollutants are currently dampening warming.

    22. Re:What about that volcano under all that water? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The rate of increase is accelerating because the we are outsourcing our production to China (makes up 50% of CO2 emissions). Rather than blaming China I would start reducing consumption here - and make sure we use less and less. That would impact both us - and obviously China. Downside: econonic downturn. That is why there is still no political will despite the facts staring us in the face. By the way, if you look at the numbers most CO2 emissions are household warming, electricity and manufacturing. Should not be that hard to reduce by 50% globally if we put our 6-7 billion minds to it. Kyoto is a joke - at the current rate we'll output as much CO2 in the coming years as we have done in the last 40. If we measure anything now, think what it will be like in ten years.

    23. Re:What about that volcano under all that water? by aepervius · · Score: 1

      You make it sound as if only the chinese were emitting soot. Actually this is both india and china are contributing 35% of the soot. Remember we are speaking of roughly 2+ billion people out of 6, so roughly 1/3 of the population contributing to 1/3 of the soot. I tried to google for the US contribution, but did not find anything relevant, but it would interesting to know.

      But even worst for your theory is this (article) :
      "Forty percent of soot comes from the same sources as greenhouses gases, notably the burning of coal and oil, and will only be reduced as quickly or slowly as economies become less carbon intensive. But the remaining 60 percent of black carbon in the atmosphere comes from the more easily altered practices of burning biofuels and forests, the authors say.".

      So in other word we are only looking at 40% of the carbon emission from both china and India due to the economic increase for those aforementioned 35%. The rest seems to be from wood burning, domestic use (I dispute that this would be easily changed btw). But the real killer for the "china=reasponsible" mantra many seem to sing is this :
      ""Providing alternative energy-efficient and smoke-free cookers, and introducing transferring technology for reducing soot emissions from coal combustion in small industries could have major impacts" on reducing soot's role in global warming, they conclude. Such measures would result in a 70-80 percent reduction in heating caused by black carbon in south Asia, and a 20-40 percent cut in China, according to the study. The authors caution, however, that soot reduction can only help delay unprecedented climate change, which is due primarily to CO2 emissions".

      In other word, a country responsibility to global GW can still be measured by the carbon footprint per head that its inhabitant left in the past, and by absolute emission today. Which make the US quite responsible for the last few 10s of years , and we can start pointing finger at China, which can then point finger back at the US and EU which jump started their economy and wealth over the back of everybody else and now want to curb everything.

      In other word it is way more complicated that you make it.

      PS: what I found most interesting is the life time of soot in the atmosphere is 1 week. In other word this is a problem which could be quickly solved by all party, but NOT a solution to the Climate Change.

      --
      C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
      http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
      visit randi.org
    24. Re:What about that volcano under all that water? by MadMidnightBomber · · Score: 1

      Try living in a 100% oxygen atmosphere for a week because "it's a vital ingredient for animal life". Too much CO2 is bad, just like too much of any damn thing.

      --
      "It doesn't cost enough, and it makes too much sense."
    25. Re:What about that volcano under all that water? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Those undersea volcanoes have been there in one form or another since ... oh, the Eocene (~50 million years ago), when there wasn't any ice at all. They aren't new. The spreading ridge and its volcanic activity has been there for millions of years. Even without individual eruptions the average thermal flux has been there the whole time. The volcanoes are found only along one side of the Arctic Ocean, along the Gakkal Ridge. The Canada Basin (which comprises 2/3 of the Arctic Ocean on the other side of the Lomonosov Ridge that runs by the North Pole) is volcanically inactive yet also includes a large area of thinning ice.

      So, no, there's probably no connection, especially because even at the scale of a large volcanic eruption the Arctic Ocean is huge, and the effects on the ice would only be localized.

    26. Re:What about that volcano under all that water? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Plant more, and stop developers from cutting down so many down.

      It's not that simple. There probably used to be trees in the space now occupied by your home. So now that you've got your space everybody else should stop cutting down trees.

    27. Re:What about that volcano under all that water? by t0rkm3 · · Score: 1
    28. Re:What about that volcano under all that water? by toddestan · · Score: 1

      Try putting too much fertilizer on your yard, and see what happens.

    29. Re:What about that volcano under all that water? by stmfreak · · Score: 1

      WRT: limiting pollution; I was implying that in "abundant clean..." We agree.

      I also believe that clean energy, clean water are going to be essential skills for space exploration.

      --
      These opinions guaranteed or your money back.
  13. I am soooo happy this poles are melting!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yess!!! More profits for my offshore drilling!! Screw humanity!! praise the (dollar,euro, etc)!!!

    Signed,
    Big Oil

  14. Time to Grow Up by TheLazySci-FiAuthor · · Score: 3, Funny

    It's almost like mother nature is giving humanity some 'gentle' urging to move-out and get our own place.

    Pretty soon, however, if we don't get our ass in gear I have a feeling we might find all our stuff thrown out on the front lawn...if you follow the analogy.

    1. Re:Time to Grow Up by FooAtWFU · · Score: 5, Funny

      Almost.

      But not quite.

      Don't anthropomorphise Mother Nature. She hates it when you do that.

      --
      The World Wide Web is dying. Soon, we shall have only the Internet.
    2. Re:Time to Grow Up by morari · · Score: 3, Funny

      Wasn't that what happened with Mars? Where are we supposed to go this time?

      --
      "He who can destroy a thing, controls a thing." --Paul Atreides, Dune
    3. Re:Time to Grow Up by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But Mars' heater is broken, and the beater of a vehicle we have isn't fast enough to get on the highway and home-shop in different neighborhoods.

    4. Re:Time to Grow Up by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or we could live in our parents basement.

      Mole Man time, anyone?

    5. Re:Time to Grow Up by zalas · · Score: 1

      Either that, or we find out that a couple of robots managed to activate a nuclear intensifier...

    6. Re:Time to Grow Up by Mesa+MIke · · Score: 1

      Get off my lawn, you damn humans!

    7. Re:Time to Grow Up by Sklyan · · Score: 1

      "Whether many people realize it yet or not, man, the Inferior Animal, has by now proved himself incapable of keeping his own species - and others - alive for very much longer. So the earth has begun its own plan to set things right." -- Benjamin Hoff

  15. Whitewash. by I(rispee_I(reme · · Score: 4, Funny

    It is comical to me that in the past decade, I've seen the headlines purchased by oil company spin doctors go from:

    Global Warming: Fact or Fiction?

    to

    Global Warming: Are We Causing It?

    to

    Global Warming: What Can We Do About It?

    to

    Antarctica: The New Hawaii

    1. Re:Whitewash. by Daimanta · · Score: 0, Troll

      to

      Global Warming: Biggest scam ever

      --
      Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power lost.
    2. Re:Whitewash. by 0xABADC0DA · · Score: 1

      Conservative Agenda:

      1. Pretend the climate is not changing
      2. Pretend we are not causing it
      3. Pretend it is a good thing
      4. Pretend we can't do anything about it, so 'oh well'
      5. ???
      6. Blame democrats for not preventing it.

      It's pretty obvious what the final step will be -- after all, we knew about it the whole time so why didn't we do anything about it sooner?! Nevermind their vetos and filibusters and spin machines.

      This is the same pattern the right wing uses for everything... they feign (to be charitable) stupidity then blame everybody else for letting them screw it up.

    3. Re:Whitewash. by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      Liberal agenda:

      1. High taxes
      2. High gas prices
      3. Pretend it is a good thing
      4. Pretend we can't do anything about it, so 'oh well'
      5. ???
      6. Claim to have the answers to everything else

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    4. Re:Whitewash. by moosesocks · · Score: 1

      Um. We've already gone to 6 in a sense.

      If you'll notice in recent weeks, that Democrats are indirectly being blamed for Iraq and 9/11, because they wouldn't let the oil companies drill under some wildlife refuge (despite the huge swaths of unexplored territory already available to them)

      --
      -- If you try to fail and succeed, which have you done? - Uli's moose
    5. Re:Whitewash. by rrohbeck · · Score: 1

      5. Oh shit!

    6. Re:Whitewash. by rrohbeck · · Score: 1

      Hmm. This works pretty well in many parts of the world, e.g. in all of Europe.
      Repeat after me: Taxes per se are not a Bad Thing. It's all about the total tax burden and what is done with the money. I'd *love* to see higher taxes on gas and reduced income taxes to compensate.

    7. Re:Whitewash. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All I know is, I'm voting for an ice age! Once the salinity of the oceans falls far enough, the ocean currents will stop and BAM! ICE AGE!

      I'd much rather freeze to death than die on a hot desert planet! ;)

    8. Re:Whitewash. by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      This works pretty well in many parts of the world, e.g. in all of Europe.

      A matter of opinion, my friend...

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    9. Re:Whitewash. by Afforess · · Score: 1
      --
      If our elected representatives no longer represent us, do we still live in a Democracy?
    10. Re:Whitewash. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How about this

      Volcanos. They melt ice?

      http://strata-sphere.com/blog/index.php/archives/5589

      I'm sorry but being against the unscientific notion of "climate change" doesn't mean being purchased by an oil company. Nice try though.

    11. Re:Whitewash. by YttriumOxide · · Score: 1

      From my comfortable modern apartment with high-speed internet access and an excellent public transport system right outside my front door, and more disposable income than I really know what to do with... yes, it is a matter of opinion and the opinion from this side of the pond is that most Americans are back-water kooks living in near third-world conditions with a police-state government while espousing themselves as better than everyone else.

      I'm quite happy to pay the equivalent of US $8 per gallon of petrol, and nearly 50% of my income in taxes/insurances/etc when the cost of everything else is low, and I know that any essentials I need (healthcare etc) are effectively free.

      --
      My book about LSD and Self-Discovery
      Also on facebook as: DroppingAcidDaleBewan
    12. Re:Whitewash. by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      First of all, Europe isn't America. The daily one-way commute of a vast number of people here would put them in another country in much of Europe. $8/gallon gasoline isn't practical for obvious reasons; our cities aren't designed to allow for that.

      the opinion from this side of the pond is that most Americans are back-water kooks living in near third-world conditions with a police-state government while espousing themselves as better than everyone else.

      ...and the opinion from this side is that most Europeans are arrogant. I wonder why?

      Anyway, I'd like to know what sort of timeframe one can expect to be waiting when they're getting this amazing "effectively free healthcare". I don't know about Europe but I hear Canada's nationalized health care sucks.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
  16. What about Santa by sircastor · · Score: 0, Redundant

    We need to get Congress on the phone... We need legislation to protect Santa Claus. What will we do when kids learn there's no ice at the pole for the old elf to live in?

    1. Re:What about Santa by Farmer+Tim · · Score: 1

      What will we do when kids learn there's no ice at the pole for the old elf to live in?

      Saint Nicholas definitely isn't an elf. He's too tall to be the traditional type, and too fat to be the Tolkein/RPG variety.

      But to answer the question, he'll either have to adapt (/me sings "Wading Through a Winter Wonderland" and "Frosty the Puddle") or move to Neptune.

      --
      Blank until /. makes another boneheaded UI decision.
    2. Re:What about Santa by IHC+Navistar · · Score: 1

      I think Santa outsourced Naughty/Nice research to India, and manufacturing to China. It happened a long time ago.

      --
      Knowing Google's lust for data collection, the Soviet Union is still alive and well inside the psyche of Sergey Brin....
  17. Why no rising sea level by tomtomtom777 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    What surprises me is that there has not been any significant change in sea level even though the sea level rose about 130m since the last ice age.

    I thought flooding was one of the major dangers of global warning. Where did the ice go?

    1. Re:Why no rising sea level by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

      Arctic ice is floating, and thus already displacing water. It's the Antarctic and Greenland ice melting that would be a concern, since they rest on land.

    2. Re:Why no rising sea level by Magycian · · Score: 1

      Since there is no land at the north pole the ice was already in the water.

      When you fill your glass at home with ice and whiskey and the ice starts to melt does the level of fluid in the glass increase?

    3. Re:Why no rising sea level by rk · · Score: 2, Informative

      Ice already in water is displacing a little over 90% of the volume it would displace once it melted, so that ice melting doesn't have much impact on sea levels. It's the ice bound up sitting on top of landmasses melting that will be the real problem for sea level changes.

    4. Re:Why no rising sea level by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Also, the water level can be raised a lot by the expansion of liquid water (20 degree water takes more space than 15 degree water).

    5. Re:Why no rising sea level by inKubus · · Score: 1

      Well, unfortunately there's this thing called "sublimation", which means that moisture is in the atmosphere now. The atmosphere is so large it can hold a bunch of water. There is a tipping point that happens at 100% relative humidity, of course, in which case the atmosphere is basically clouds (like Jupiter) and it's constantly condensing so the sea level rises.

      --
      Cool! Amazing Toys.
    6. Re:Why no rising sea level by amRadioHed · · Score: 1

      The north pole ice is floating, therefore it doesn't impact the sea level when it melts.

      --
      We hope your rules and wisdom choke you / Now we are one in everlasting peace
    7. Re:Why no rising sea level by Gat0r30y · · Score: 2, Informative

      Ever notice how when you have ice in a cup of water, the level doesn't rise when the ice melts? Only the ice sheets in Antarctica (which is on the south side) which sit on top of land will cause sea levels to rise. And unfortunately they are melting at an alarming rate

      --
      Prediction: The real iPhone killer is going to be sex robots from Japan. Think about it.
    8. Re:Why no rising sea level by Znork · · Score: 1

      It's the north pole. It was already in the ocean, floating as it were. Floating ice melting doesn't cause changes in sea level; archimedes, density, modulo some frozen fishes, salt and stuff.

      South pole is worse, sea level wise.

    9. Re:Why no rising sea level by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Melting of floating ice doesn't affect water level. Only melting of terrestrial ice (glaciers, antarctica) will raise sea levels.

    10. Re:Why no rising sea level by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ice floating in the ocean displaces the same volume of water that makes up that ice, so the sea level remains the same.

      Ice melting in the Antarctic would increase sea level, due to the ice resting on land, not displacing any water. However the Antarctic ice is at a record high and there is nothing to worry about.

    11. Re:Why no rising sea level by hax0r_this · · Score: 1

      My eyes hurt from reading that.

    12. Re:Why no rising sea level by Eponymous+Bastard · · Score: 1

      We go through this on every climate change story: The north pole is floating, so it is already displacing water.

      When the south pole melts, that's when you worry.

    13. Re:Why no rising sea level by stewbacca · · Score: 0, Troll

      Not according to "An Inconvenient Truth". North pole ice melt will drown downtown Manhattan! I'm super serial!

    14. Re:Why no rising sea level by doug · · Score: 1

      Some of it is handled by the land rising. The weight of the glaciers compressed the land, and land levels have been rising due to decompression for a while now (thousands of years).

      I have no idea what the rate of decompression is, or how it compares to the change in sea level.

      - doug

    15. Re:Why no rising sea level by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Do this:

      take a glass full of water ( I mean, really full) and put some ice into it. Now, wait until the ice melts and see if any water spills out.

    16. Re:Why no rising sea level by goodmanj · · Score: 1, Informative

      Since I don't have mod points:

      -1, wrong. Melt the ice, and it exactly fills the "hole" it's displacing in the liquid.

    17. Re:Why no rising sea level by blueg3 · · Score: 5, Informative

      Actually, free-floating ice is displacing 100% of the volume it would displace once melted.

    18. Re:Why no rising sea level by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What surprises me is that there has not been any significant change in sea level even though the sea level rose about 130m since the last ice age.

      I thought flooding was one of the major dangers of global warning. Where did the ice go?

      When ice in water melts, the level does not rise. It's ice that sits on land (eg, Greenland, Antarctica) that causes levels to rise when it melts.

    19. Re:Why no rising sea level by us7892 · · Score: 1

      "The study indicates that the contribution of the ice sheets to recent sea-level rise during the decade studied was much smaller than expected, just two percent of the recent increase of nearly three millimeters a year," says Zwally. "Continuing research using NASA satellites and other data will narrow the uncertainties in this important issue."

      Study uses data through 2002.

    20. Re:Why no rising sea level by WalksOnDirt · · Score: 1

      What surprises me is that there has not been any significant change in sea level...

      Depends on what you mean by significant. In your link the rate of sea level rise was estimated as 1.5 mm/y, over the last few years it's averaged about twice that. By the end of the century the rate of rise should be quite impressive, if you're still around to see it.

      --
      a,e,i,o,u and sometimes w and y (at be if of up cwm by)
    21. Re:Why no rising sea level by Bombula · · Score: 1
      Dude, sea ice is floating, man. That means it is taking up 100% of the volume it will take up when it melts because it is displacing exactly the same mass whether solid or liquid. Displacement is the same either way.

      When the ice in your drink melts, the drink's level stays the same.

      --
      A-Bomb
    22. Re:Why no rising sea level by diskofish · · Score: 1

      The thing is that the melting of the ice that is ALREADY in the water isn't going to affect sea level (it's already in there), it's the stuff that is on land melting that will.

    23. Re:Why no rising sea level by cparker15 · · Score: 1

      The ice was already displacing the water, because the ice was floating on the water. Put some ice in a glass of water sometime and let the ice melt.

      It's Greenland and Antarctica that we have to worry about with regard to rising sea levels.

      --
      Have you driven a fnord... lately?

      You must wait a little bit before using this resource; please try again later.

    24. Re:Why no rising sea level by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Any object in any fluid displaces the volume of fluid that corresponds to its weight. If the object's volume is less than the displaced volume, it sinks.

      As ice is solid water, once melt, its volume is exactly the volume of water it was displacing. Hence, no changes in sea level.

      Well, in fact, sea water is heavier than iceberg water (you know, salt and stuff), so sea level rises a little.

    25. Re:Why no rising sea level by Slomaniac · · Score: 1

      Where did all the ice go? It's in my neighbors bong, you should see the clouds of smoke coming out of his place. He mumbled something about "fuck that dude in the red suit and his dogs..." I think he was high...George Carlin dying just pushed him right over the edge...

    26. Re:Why no rising sea level by rk · · Score: 2, Informative

      True. I had a brain fart. Displacement is by weight, not density. Still, the point stands, melting ice in water doesn't have an effect on the level.

      BTW, in the future, if you ever do have mod points, the conversation is better served by posting a correction, as you did, rather than just modding down.

    27. Re:Why no rising sea level by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ice already in water is displacing a little over 90% of the volume it would displace once it melted, so that ice melting doesn't have much impact on sea levels. It's the ice bound up sitting on top of landmasses melting that will be the real problem for sea level changes.

      Subtracting one star we call the Sun.

    28. Re:Why no rising sea level by BitZtream · · Score: 1

      Ice already in water is displacing exactly 100% of the volume it would displace once it melted, it has no effect on the sea levels.

      When water turns to ice, it expands, becoming less dense, so it floats. The volume of expansion is the part you see above the water line.

      Put some ice in a glass, fill it with water right the the brim, let the ice melt, there will be no change.

      As you said however, ice on land which is being supported by the land rather than the water, is another story.

      --
      Persistent Volume manager for Kubernetes - https://github.com/dwimsey/openshift-pvmanager
    29. Re:Why no rising sea level by frogzilla · · Score: 1

      I'm pretty sure that floating ice displaces its melted volume not 90% of it. I think you are confusing the density difference due to changes in the volume of solid and liquid water with differences in mass of equivalent volumes of water and ice.

    30. Re:Why no rising sea level by bigsmoke · · Score: 1

      Your post must be the funniest which I've read in a long time: When the south pole melts, that's when you worry. Thanks for putting it down so concisely. :-D

      --
      Morality is usually taught by the immoral.
    31. Re:Why no rising sea level by geekoid · · Score: 1

      not quite. The density between salt water and fresh water ice is different.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    32. Re:Why no rising sea level by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And what is the % difference in density? 920kg/m^3 / 1025kg/m^3 = .90 So that's about 10% difference.
      How much of an iceberg floats above the water? That's right. About 10%.

    33. Re:Why no rising sea level by v(*_*)vvvv · · Score: 1

      So because water expands when frozen, ice is lighter than water, and hence floats. And because displacement is by weight, the expansion from freezing is compensated by the ice that is pushed above sea level creating a virtual land mass made of ice.

      But this is the case if the water is deeper than the ice. If at any point the ice reaches the bottom of the Ocean, then wouldn't the displacement change? Or are there forces that naturally compensate? And how about ice attached and extending from land. I guess the numbers might change slightly, but these aren't big enough factors compared to the total volume of ice...

    34. Re:Why no rising sea level by rbanffy · · Score: 1

      The ice in the north pole is floating ice. It means that, when it melts, water levels do not increase. Even if it melts completely, it will not raise sea level by a single inch.

      As for the last ice age, about 25 thousand years ago, the 130m raise was presumably due to continental glaciers far bigger than anything recorder in history melting and flowing back to the oceans.

    35. Re:Why no rising sea level by blueg3 · · Score: 2, Informative

      920 kg/m^3 is the density of ice. 1000 kg/m^3 is the density of fresh water.

      The mass of water an iceberg displaces is equal to the mass of the iceberg. As ice has a lower density than water, part of the ice is above the water line. However, when that ice melts, it's water again and has the density of water. You can easily determine that the volume that water takes up is equal to the volume of water displaced by the iceberg. So, melting icebergs don't raise the sea level. Melting land-bound ice does.

      There is the density difference between fresh and salt water, which is about 2.5%.

    36. Re:Why no rising sea level by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just a friendly little tip for you. People who know the meanings of words recognize when someone is using words they don't know the meanings of.

      Also, along the same lines: some of us didn't sleep through high school physics. Some of us even went on to study at the university. Either go crack open a textbook or go play counterstrike but if you babble like that in here you're gonna get your ass handed to you by people who know what they're talking about.

    37. Re:Why no rising sea level by MyNymWasTaken · · Score: 1

      That is only correct for fresh water bodies, such as the oft-mentioned glass of water. The oceans are salt water. The sea level increase isn't substantial, but it is greater than zero.

      http://www.physorg.com/news5619.html

      The common misconception that floating ice won't increase sea level when it melts occurs because the difference in density between fresh water and salt water is not taken into consideration.

      http://home.comcast.net/~pdnoerd/NoerdlingerBrower.pdf (the paper, provided by the author, that is referenced in the physorg article)

      If all the extant sea ice and floating shelf ice melted, the global sea level would rise about 4 cm.

    38. Re:Why no rising sea level by inKubus · · Score: 1

      Just a friendly little tip for you. People who know the meanings of words recognize when someone is using words they don't know the meanings of.

      Also, along the same lines: some of us didn't sleep through high school physics. Some of us even went on to study at the university. Either go crack open a textbook or go play counterstrike but if you babble like that in here you're gonna get your ass handed to you by people who know what they're talking about.

      Excuse me for a second:

      Sublimation was not the point. The point was that the water is in the atmosphere. If snow melts, then ends up in the atmosphere as water vapor, it has effectively sublimated; So it entered the liquid phase for a minute, who gives a fuck?

      Since you're only able to think in terms of the things you memorized in school and not the abstract, maybe you should go spend some time actually thinking rather than killing yourself correcting others. Dick Feynman would KICK you out of his class. You don't get anywhere by thinking conventionally. All you kids born in the 80's are all alike. So fucking full of yourselves.

      Oh, and snow sublimates, you cock fuck. So while you were busy in school, learning what your uneducated, probably drug addicted high school teacher was telling you, I was reading the Journal of Climatology. Next time you post on Slashdot, remember: Google First. Kids...*sigh*

      --
      Cool! Amazing Toys.
    39. Re:Why no rising sea level by FurtiveGlancer · · Score: 1

      True, but about 10% of floating ice is displacing air instead of sea water.

      --
      Invenio via vel creo
    40. Re:Why no rising sea level by Mutant321 · · Score: 1

      If the ice that melts is not on land, it won't affect sea level, as the amount of water in the sea hasn't changed. It's only ice melting on land (e.g. Greenland or Antarctica) that can affect sea levels.

    41. Re:Why no rising sea level by YttriumOxide · · Score: 1

      Now try this - fill a glass with salt-water and repeat the experiment (with a significant amount of ice, so the difference is apparent). A drop or two WILL spill. Salt-water (the sea) has a different density to fresh water (melted ice from the polar cap).

      --
      My book about LSD and Self-Discovery
      Also on facebook as: DroppingAcidDaleBewan
    42. Re:Why no rising sea level by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Except if it is ice in salt water.

  18. Cycles by courteaudotbiz · · Score: 0, Troll

    There are cycles on our planet, and that's a fact. We can count at least 4 cycles of global glaciation that we know of. But at a scale a lot greater than the human one, our sun is growing fast. A couple hundredths of a percent every decade. So our faith is there. As the sun will grow larger and larger, our planet is going to heat more and more, and there's absolutely nothing we can do about it.

    In the course of our tiny human life, we will never see the planet completely ice-free, nor will we ever witness Nenets Beach. But it's a fact we can see a slight difference, and it's a fact that WE make a slight difference on climate change. But our destiny is that of our Sun

    1. Re:Cycles by d34thm0nk3y · · Score: 1, Redundant

      our sun is growing fast. A couple hundredths of a percent every decade.

      [Citation Needed]

    2. Re:Cycles by Technopaladin · · Score: 1

      THe poster above is probably referring to the theory that many millions of years ago the Sun was dimmer(75%) and it has grown slowly brighter. The thing is that data does NOT correlate with the Earth's tempature. Theory ran into a problem with you know Life being on Earth at the time which would have been difficult due water being solid. So they throw in Greenhouse gases at MUCH higher rates and poof tempature and life explained.

      Problem is the sun is still growing brighter(for now) but we are adding more and more Greenhouse gases/pollutants. So I should think blaming the sun is putting the cart before the horse.

    3. Re:Cycles by courteaudotbiz · · Score: 1

      Ok, I got a link for this, I knew I read that somewhere... It says 10 percent every one billion years or so... pretty small fraction isn't it? But with all other parameters taken into account, like the runaway greenhouse effect, the effect on Earth's warming is a little heavier.

    4. Re:Cycles by mcrbids · · Score: 5, Informative

      But at a scale a lot greater than the human one, our sun is growing fast. A couple hundredths of a percent every decade. So our faith is there. As the sun will grow larger and larger, our planet is going to heat more and more, and there's absolutely nothing we can do about it.

      Bzzzztt!!! I call Bullsh-t.

      WTF are you talking about? The sun is growing larger? Why would you pull something so incredibly obviously wrong out of your arse, and why would anybody be dumb enough to mod this up?

      The output of the sun is so even and so predictable, it's called the "Solar Constant". There is a variation of about 1 part per thousand over a 30-year cycle. In short, the idea that the sun is getting hotter every year is not just wrong, it's absurdly so.

      Come back when you have some "facts" that reflect reality, mmmkay?

      --
      I have no problem with your religion until you decide it's reason to deprive others of the truth.
    5. Re:Cycles by street+struttin' · · Score: 1

      So I should think blaming the sun is putting the cart before the horse.

      No, no. I'm pretty sure without the sun there'd be no greenhouse effect.

    6. Re:Cycles by houghi · · Score: 1

      A few years ago I thought that it wouldn't be possible that there would be a passage through the arctic.

      I would say we make a HUGE difference on the climate change in the short period that matters to US. We are realeasing millions of years of sun-energy in a few years and that can't be a good thing.

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    7. Re:Cycles by Red+Flayer · · Score: 1

      A couple hundredths of a percent every decade. So our faith is there. As the sun will grow larger and larger, our planet is going to heat more and more, and there's absolutely nothing we can do about it.

      Ah, yes, the sun is growing. A couple hundreds of a percent a decade, you say. Let's assume .02 % per decade. A quick back of the napkin calculation... you're saying that the sun is 4% larger than it was 2000 years ago, and is more than double the size it was 35,000 years ago.

      Tell me, where did the mass for that come from?

      And why was the planet not covered in ice for the last billion or so years?

      --
      "Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
    8. Re:Cycles by Technopaladin · · Score: 1

      So true we should probably get rid of it.

    9. Re:Cycles by shadowofwind · · Score: 1

      The sun is about 30% brighter than it was long ago, and it will continue getting brighter. The other poster just has his time-scales all wrong - it won't be a critical problem for hundreds of millions of years.

      And the sun is getting bigger, as hydrogen turns to helium. But again, the time scale is long.

      When I read about information technology on /., I learn stuff. When I read about science, I'm dismayed. Most of this global warming thread is ridiculous.

    10. Re:Cycles by Roberticus · · Score: 1

      Ah, yes, the sun is growing. A couple hundreds of a percent a decade, you say. Let's assume .02 % per decade. A quick back of the napkin calculation... you're saying that the sun is 4% larger than it was 2000 years ago, and is more than double the size it was 35,000 years ago.

      Tell me, where did the mass for that come from?

      Without examining your numbers too closely, I must point out that mass (which, as you rightly suggest, would have to come from somewhere if it was increasing) is not the same as volume (which is what one would more traditonally equate to "size").

    11. Re:Cycles by Red+Flayer · · Score: 1

      True, but I also do not know whether energy output is dependent on mass or on volume, on some combination, or something else entirely.

      I would think it's dependent more on mass than on volume, as an equivalent mass in a larger volume should have fewer particle interactions. But I am not a physical chemist or physicist, so I don't know, and am feeling too lazy on a Friday afternoon to look it up.

      For all we know, OP could have been referring only to apparent size, which could be affected by lens effects from the atmosphere... but no matter what, his timescale is WAY off.

      --
      "Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
    12. Re:Cycles by BitZtream · · Score: 2, Informative

      Just curious, did you not learn in school that as stars the size/type of our sun age, the tend to get larger as the nuclear fuel is consumed?

      It is absolutely absurd that you think the life of a star is a constant.

      Its great that you quoted wikipedia though the perfect source of information, cause if you look around a little more you'd find this in the article about the sun specifically which contridicts what you've said (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun):

       

      The Sun is about halfway through its main-sequence evolution, during which nuclear fusion reactions in its core fuse hydrogen into helium. Each second, more than 4 million tonnes of matter are converted into energy within the Sun's core, producing neutrinos and solar radiation; at this rate, the Sun will have so far converted around 100 Earth-masses of matter into energy. The Sun will spend a total of approximately 10 billion years as a main sequence star.

      The Sun does not have enough mass to explode as a supernova. Instead, in 5â"6 billion years, it will enter a red giant phase, its outer layers expanding as the hydrogen fuel in the core is consumed and the core contracts and heats up. Helium fusion will begin when the core temperature reaches around 100 million K and will produce carbon, entering the asymptotic giant branch phase.[15]

      Life-cycle of the Sun; sizes are not drawn to scale.Earth's fate is not clear. As a red giant, the Sun will have a maximum radius beyond the Earth's current orbit, 1 AU (150,000,000,000 m), 250 times the present radius of the Sun.[28]

      I love quoting wikipedia, its great to make it obvious I don't actually know anything about the subject but I can paste the first google result.

      --
      Persistent Volume manager for Kubernetes - https://github.com/dwimsey/openshift-pvmanager
    13. Re:Cycles by Kumiorava · · Score: 1

      There has been noticeable changes in solar radiation that reaches earth. Reasons behind this are changes in sun activity or difference in earth atmosphere's reflectivity. In general solar radiation is taken into account when talking about climate models and it has some effect but is not alone able to explain the measured effects of global warming.

      I would be surprised if slashdot or any other internet forum were able to figure out some new and important overlooked forcing in global warming that would explain it all. There is hard science behind global warming models and debunking the studies by providing one wild guess of "unaccounted" forcing is plain stupid.

    14. Re:Cycles by statemachine · · Score: 1

      As the sun will grow larger and larger, our planet is going to heat more and more, and there's absolutely nothing we can do about it. ... But it's a fact we can see a slight difference, and it's a fact that WE make a slight difference on climate change. But our destiny is that of our Sun

      Climate Myths:
      Global warming is down to the Sun, not humans
      We can't do anything about climate change

    15. Re:Cycles by geekoid · · Score: 1

      The total energy output from the sun in the last 100 years can not account for the rise in temperature.

      Sorry, deniers need to find a new straw to grasp.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  19. Post screws it up by Myrkridian42 · · Score: 1

    TRA is about the North Pole melting. The link provided in the post about the implications is actually about the South Pole.

    1. Re:Post screws it up by HishamMuhammad · · Score: 1

      Not to mention the "causes still being debated" link is from 2003. The scientific community has since reached a consensus, and we know what it is. And it's certainly not "Are global warming experts just short-sighted alarmists? Are we heading for a global ice age?" like the poster listed as his first hypotheses...

  20. Logical Thinking by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If it happens, it raises the prospect of the Arctic nations being able to exploit the valuable oil and mineral deposits below these a bed which have until now been impossible to extract because of the thick sea ice above.


    Yeah, that sounds like logical thinking. Isn't the use of fossil fuels one of the leading arguments for the reason the polar caps are melting?

    1. Re:Logical Thinking by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Some people call carbon dioxide a poison.

      We call it life.

  21. Bearshit! by gd23ka · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Ursus Maritimus has been through worse. They've had to put up with a lot higher temperatures before. What's more they're
    interbreeding with the Ursus Arctos (brown bear) population giving rise to the Grolar or the Prizzly. So does a polar bear
    shit into the woods? Soon he will but he wont GIVE a shit.

    All that climate alarmist crap. I haven't had access to untampered realtime raw satellite imagery for years so you can
    all stick it where the polar bear doesn't get sunshine. I am not going to take your word, it isn't worth a polar bears
    turd and as far as I can see out my window this is one hell of a cold summer so piss off.

    1. Re:Bearshit! by general+scruff · · Score: 1

      Grolar or the Prizzly

      Are they hunted for their magical powers?

      --
      As a rule, I never trust dark brown ketchup.
    2. Re:Bearshit! by stoolpigeon · · Score: 1

      The Grolar and Prizzly are endangered due to over hunting for their magical powers. Only the Liger has a more tenuous situation in that regard.
       
      It's a sad site, watching Grolar hunters heading out, shot-guns in hand, trained wolverines at their side.

      --
      It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
    3. Re:Bearshit! by PawNtheSandman · · Score: 1

      Prizzly? Fo Shizzly?

    4. Re:Bearshit! by gd23ka · · Score: 1

      What I wonder do they teach enviro-mentalist scum nowadays? How to save toilet paper?

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grolar

      Grizzly-polar bear hybrid is a rare ursid hybrid that has occurred both in captivity and in the wild. In 2006, the occurrence of this hybrid in nature was confirmed by testing the DNA of a strange-looking bear that had been shot in the Canadian arctic.

      Ungebildetes Gruenenpack.

  22. Funny how they always neglect the South Pole... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Let me just say it now before someone else does...

    Bush, BUSH, BUSH, Cheney, Halliburton, Cheney, Halliburton, No blood for oil, Bush, bush, Cheney, Halliburton...bush lied ppl died....

    Moooooooooooon BaaaaT

  23. The elusive step 2 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Antarctica: The New Hawaii

    1. Raise global warming fears
    2. Sell land in Antarctica
    3. Profit!
    1. Re:The elusive step 2 by hardburn · · Score: 1

      Alternatively:

      1. Buy cheep land-locked real estate
      2. Wait for ocean levels to rise
      3. Sell your new beachfront property
      4. Profit!
      --
      Not a typewriter
  24. Probably Not by MrMunkey · · Score: 3, Informative

    According to this article the information was really extended beyond what the reporter had received from the scientist.

    In fact, the Independent's story -- the opening sentences and headline at least -- go way beyond what Mark Serreze of the National Snow and Ice Data Center tells the reporter.

    It was also suggested that the ice may have been flushed out due to the movement of water rather than melting so much. This flow of water might be caused by greenhouse gasses though.

  25. Is this being caused by . . . by mmell · · Score: 1, Insightful
    CO2 emissions from human activities (pollution)? Or . . .

    Changes in solar energy output (the "ringing" of the Sun)? Or . . .

    Naturally occuring changes in the planetary atmosphere (as has happened before on this planet)? Or . . .

    Naturally occuring changes in the planetary hydrosphere (as has also happened before on this planet)? Or . . .

    Al Gore's incessant whining about greenhouse gasses (now there's a bunch of hot air!)? Or . . .

    But you get the point - when we at least have an educated guess as to the 'why' (and if that 'why' comes back to human activity on the planet), then I'll consider this more than an interesting possibility.

    1. Re:Is this being caused by . . . by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yeah. Better to sit on your ass and do nothing until you have 100% proof and it's too late to bother changing your ways anyway. That's the spirit. If a car is coming towards you at 100 miles an hour and at 50ft away a phycisist says "There's a very good chance that car isn't going to stop in time, maybe you should move out of the way" do you tell him you want to be 100% sure before you move?

    2. Re:Is this being caused by . . . by Koiu+Lpoi · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The "why" matters? Anyone worth their salt in the field will tell you that, no, humans are far from the only cause, but we're certainly contributing. And, in the end, the why doesn't matter at all - what matters is, if things keep going the way they are, humanity is going to die off. I happen to think that's something worth changing, our fault or not.

    3. Re:Is this being caused by . . . by Coryoth · · Score: 5, Informative

      Changes in solar energy output (the "ringing" of the Sun)?

      Well that's certainly a hypothesis worth investigating. Thankfully people other than yourself did actually think about that one, and have done a significant amunt of research on the amount of solar variation and how much of the change in global average temperature over the last century or so is attributable to those variations. The short answer is that, while solar variation has contributed (around 30% according to the IPCC) it can't fully account for the observed temperature changes. Indeed, solar variation flattened off in the last few decades, while temperature continued to rise see here.

      Naturally occuring changes in the planetary atmosphere (as has happened before on this planet)?

      An interesting hpothesis; perhapsthe dramatic rise in CO2 has nothing to do with humans. Fortunately, again, other people thought of this possibility and actually did the research. Since fossil fuels have rather distinctive isotope ratios we can gauge how much of the increase in atmospheric CO2 is due to fossil fuel burning by analysing the changing isotope ratios of atmospheric CO2. Unfortunately your hypothesis just isn't borne out; humans are responsible for the most recent dramatic rise in levels of atmospheric CO2.

      But you get the point - when we at least have an educated guess as to the 'why'...

      But we do have an educated guess as to why, significant amounts of research into that, and the alternative possibilities you suggest have been explored, and the results are that, to the very best of our current understanding, anthropogenic CO2 (and to a lesser degree other anthropogenic greenhouse gases) are a very significant factor -- indeed, the most significant -- in causing the observed increase in global average temperature. That rise in temperature is easily the prime candidate for blame with regard to melting arctic sea ice.

    4. Re:Is this being caused by . . . by blueg3 · · Score: 2, Informative

      He doesn't want 100% proof, he just wants an educated guess.

      Of course, we have an educated guess. So educated, it's not proper to continue calling it a "guess". However, some combination of not paying attention to scientific reports and not liking the answers has caused him to decide, without a reasonable basis for doing so, that anthropogenic climate change evidence doesn't meet the standards of "an educated guess".

    5. Re:Is this being caused by . . . by electrosoccertux · · Score: 1

      Ok lets just do the alternative and legislate ourselves into economic non-competition while China continues to pollute more than us.

    6. Re:Is this being caused by . . . by ArsonSmith · · Score: 1

      Or we'll move to Canada and Alaska and the Russian Tundra, now transformed to a tropic paradise.

      As appalling as moving to Canada may be, in a few hundred years it may end up being the only choice. While equatorial reagions become desolate deserts.

      --
      Paying taxes to buy civilization is like paying a hooker to buy love.
    7. Re:Is this being caused by . . . by Anonymous+Brave+Guy · · Score: 4, Insightful

      On the other hand, there is a non-zero chance that when you leave your home to go to work tomorrow morning, you will be run over by a truck. You could guarantee that you will avoid this fate by staying home. Do you do so?

      The difference is just the numbers. In one case, we know the impact is very likely; in the other, it is very unlikely. In one case, the downside of making the "safe" choice is negligible; in the other, it probably costs you your job.

      I rather doubt that an informed, object viewer of the current evidence on global warming would consider the situation anything like either of these extremes.

      For the record, I also rather doubt any of the people expressing such strong views in this Slashdot discussion are even remotely qualified to do so. Heck, looking at some of the comments, I would be surprised if the majority of people here even know the basic science to understand what is being discussed rather than regurgitating the passionately held views of whoever's position statement they read most recently.

      --
      If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
    8. Re:Is this being caused by . . . by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Per capita CO2 emissions are still much, much higher in the US than in China, and environmental regulations very much don't have to be economic handicaps, regardless of how much you want to believe that.

      And if the US and Europe instate a carbon tax on imported goods, China *will* regulate their own industry as well. Your argument is incoherent.

    9. Re:Is this being caused by . . . by BitZtream · · Score: 1

      That depends. You're example is flawed.

      More appropriate would be 10 phycisists all telling you different times when its going to hit you, or not hit you, or what the damage will be when it hits you, and then you realize that none of them REALLY actually have more than a theory that can not possibly be proven because we haven't been around long enough to actually know how the planet cycles, and that once again we're going by theories about what happened in our past based on information that regularly turns out to be wrong.

      When you look at it that way, it seems a little more understandable as to why he just sits there. The global warming discussion is 99% theory and 1% truth. The 1% truth is that 'its happening'. We don't even actually know if its BAD. People want to think its bad because its change, but it may turn out to be exactly what we need, we're just too stupid and stuck on our selves to realize that we don't actually know that much about life on Earth. We sure think we do, we think we know all of its limits and places it exists, then we go and find some new form on the bottom of the ocean or in the polar ice that we just KNEW 3 days ago couldn't survive.

      If we reacted to every theory that ever was created by some scientist wanting is 10 minutes of fame the world would be a different place. Some of us like to actually have believable data rather than something that was generated in a simulator which was based on data created by another theory in another simulator, none of which is actually based on REAL proof.

      --
      Persistent Volume manager for Kubernetes - https://github.com/dwimsey/openshift-pvmanager
    10. Re:Is this being caused by . . . by electrosoccertux · · Score: 1

      Per capita CO2 emissions are still much, much higher in the US than in China

      Duh, they have four times the people that we have.

    11. Re:Is this being caused by . . . by Stevenovitch · · Score: 1

      That sort of attitude worked brilliantly with the whole Ethanol fiasco so why not keep it going?

    12. Re:Is this being caused by . . . by SnarfQuest · · Score: 2, Funny

      Since it's obviously man-made, and we can't wait for it to reach the 1% proof, that means that the human population is way too large.

      We need to start slaughtering them right now! Kill off 99.99% of those horrible, evil humans today. The rest we can hunt down and kill at leisure.

      Everybody, we must start today! Grab your uzi and start saving the planet immediately!

      --
      Who would win this election: Andrew Weiner vs Andrew Weiner's weiner.
    13. Re:Is this being caused by . . . by geekoid · · Score: 1

      "CO2 emissions from human activities (pollution)? Or . . ."
      The evidences points that way, and strongly.

      "Changes in solar energy output (the "ringing" of the Sun)? Or . . ."
      studied and disproved.

      "Naturally occuring changes in the planetary hydrosphere (as has also happened before on this planet)? Or . . ."
      no one disputes that it happens. This does not preclude the human impact.

      "Al Gore's incessant whining about greenhouse gasses (now there's a bunch of hot air!)? Or . . ."
      an irrelevant Ad hom attack, that will help~

      Do you have any new evidence that has been disproved through study and tests that could be causing these effects?
      If so, write a paper because no on else is coming forward.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    14. Re:Is this being caused by . . . by Atario · · Score: 1

      In one case, we know the impact is very likely; in the other, it is very unlikely. In one case, the downside of making the "safe" choice is negligible; in the other, it probably costs you your job.

      Which is exactly the point. What is the downside of doing something about the climate? Getting off foreign energy? Cleaner air? Loads and loads of green technology jobs? Yeah, sounds terrible, let's not risk it.

      --
      "A great democracy must be progressive or it will soon cease to be a great democracy." --Theodore Roosevelt
    15. Re:Is this being caused by . . . by njh · · Score: 1

      So they are more efficient. Which was his point.

    16. Re:Is this being caused by . . . by Anonymous+Brave+Guy · · Score: 1

      I've already stated in another post that I hope we will at least get such benefits from the current global warming hype. This is not in dispute.

      More interesting/difficult questions are possible, however. For example, is it best to pay some environmental cost now in order to develop less technologically advanced nations, in the expectation that over the long run such developments will accelerate the progress towards more environmentally friendly technology in the future? Or do we not have time for that, in which case we need to be developing those more environmentally friendly measures in the West, while somehow convincing places like China to halt their rapid expansion? Just knowing that global warming is happening won't help us to answer practical questions like these.

      --
      If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
  26. Yeah - bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Yeah, because everybody knows that the person who *really* knows about climate science is a bad fiction writer.

    1. Re:Yeah - bullshit by mhall119 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      His early stuff wasn't bad.

      --
      http://www.mhall119.com
    2. Re:Yeah - bullshit by jbailey999 · · Score: 1

      L. Ron Hubbard?

      Oh wait, different Sci Fi writer. It's way too easy to conflate them.

    3. Re:Yeah - bullshit by DesScorp · · Score: 1

      Yeah, because everybody knows that the person who *really* knows about climate science is a bad fiction writer.

      Chricton writes good fiction, your personal tastes aside. And if you're objecting to his opinions on the basis of him being an MD and not a climatologist, can we also get a "STFU" from the choir when guys like David Suzuki (who's a zoologist) does the same thing? Or are hysterical global warming prophets of doom that have no training in the field whatsoever exempt from your wrath?

      --
      Life is hard, and the world is cruel
  27. Cryosphere Chart by ViperOrel · · Score: 5, Informative

    This is where I look to keep track of what's happening with the north pole:

    http://arctic.atmos.uiuc.edu/cryosphere/

    Best graph is :
    http://arctic.atmos.uiuc.edu/cryosphere/IMAGES/current.365.jpg

    My friends refer to it a climate-porn...

    Can't say I strongly disagree since it has the feel of watching a loooong slow train wreck...

    1. Re:Cryosphere Chart by ViperOrel · · Score: 1

      Forgot...

      this is another great place to look for monthly summations:

      http://www.nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/

    2. Re:Cryosphere Chart by gnick · · Score: 4, Funny

      My friends refer to it a climate-porn...

      Can't say I strongly disagree since it has the feel of watching a loooong slow train wreck...

      Are you implying that your porn resembles a loooong slow train wreck? I think you're doing it wrong.

      --
      He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
    3. Re:Cryosphere Chart by georgep77 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      So by that chart you referenced there is 600,000km^2 more arctic ice now than last year? From the title of the article I would expect less ice now than before if it were in the process of disappearing. What gives?

      I have also read that there is more antarctic ice now than in the last 30 years. Is there a similar picture for antarctic ice cover?

      Cheers,
          _GP_

    4. Re:Cryosphere Chart by ViperOrel · · Score: 1

      We started off the spring this time with more 1st year ice than last year... that means that so far, the melt is happening faster. Although it does seem to have slowed down in the last couple of weeks. Still, we won't really know what's going on till we see how much of this year's ice sticks around long enough to make it to next year.

      Problem with 1st year ice is that it covers a lot of area but is really thin, so it melts away pretty quickly once things warm up.

    5. Re:Cryosphere Chart by SiliconEntity · · Score: 1

      This is the money shot:

      http://nsidc.org/data/seaice_index/images/daily_images/N_timeseries.png.

      It shows this year's progress, updated daily, plotted against what happened last year, and the multi-year average. Bottom line is we're about where we were last year at this time, after starting the season with more ice than last year. However, last year there was a pretty steep drop over the period corresponding to the next two weeks. It will be interesting to see if we see a similar drop this year. Bookmark this link for daily updates and pop open a cold one.

    6. Re:Cryosphere Chart by ArsonSmith · · Score: 1

      I say boo to your fear mongering. You should find an image that is chopped to the March/April time frame and show the melt from there. I think it would be much better at scaring people.

      On that note, why wasn't I able to find a graph that should the past 10-20-or-100 years???

      --
      Paying taxes to buy civilization is like paying a hooker to buy love.
    7. Re:Cryosphere Chart by jez9999 · · Score: 1

      Bookmark this link for daily updates and pop open a cold one.

      I would, but I couldn't find any ice to cool it. :-(

    8. Re:Cryosphere Chart by imipak · · Score: 1
      My "must watch" site-o-the-summer[tm] is The National Snow and Ice Data Centre with their horribly compelling weekly-updated map and chart of the total sea-ice extent. I've been printing the chart off every week and sticking it up on the wall; the idea being that looking at the chart as it'll be in late September is a different experience from looking at lots of individual charts showing the progress over the whole season. As you say, pure climate porn. (I also like reading journal articles where there are large chunks I'm completely unable to follow, but where the abstract uses terms like "unprecedented", "catastrophic", "tipping elements" and the like, yeah I'm weird that way.)

      One particular season's worth of data in isolation tells us fuck-all about the future state of the climate, of course. In context with the gigantically irrefutable body of work around it, though, it's pretty damn depressing to be honest. If humanity dropped through a time warp tomorrow and popped out again in a couple of centuries time, ie there are no emissions whatsoever for that time and then we all pop back into existence exactly where we are today, the climate would still kill a significant fraction of the population with a few years.

    9. Re:Cryosphere Chart by susano_otter · · Score: 1

      Are you implying that your porn resembles a loooong slow train wreck? I think you're doing it wrong.


      Well, according to the Long Tail Theory, there are people out there who enjoy long slow train wreck porn.

      But I don't need to rely on theory: I've actually seen porn that resembles a long slow train wreck. It was awsome.

      --

      Any sufficiently well-organized community is indistinguishable from Government.

    10. Re:Cryosphere Chart by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'd like to see that graph over a longer time period.

    11. Re:Cryosphere Chart by YttriumOxide · · Score: 1

      Well, I don't like this chart just for the style of it (dividing the seasons like that is annoying), but it gives you what you want: http://arctic.atmos.uiuc.edu/cryosphere/IMAGES/seasonal.extent.1900-2007.jpg

      --
      My book about LSD and Self-Discovery
      Also on facebook as: DroppingAcidDaleBewan
  28. Point Brrow beachfront property by peter303 · · Score: 1

    Maybe that Point Barrow beachfront track that Florida sales guy sold me some time back isn't that bad of a deal after all!

  29. Nature's solution to high gas prices by ruiner13 · · Score: 1

    This is just Mother Nature helping the shipping companies with the high price of gas. Opening the NW Passage saves having to go around that whole South America thing or go through the Panama Canal. See, it is all part of W's plan for stimulating the economy!

    --

    today is spelling optional day.

  30. Too early to tell? by Duncan+Blackthorne · · Score: 0, Troll

    Aren't there valid arguments that say that this is just a cyclic phenomenon linked to solar activity?

    1. Re:Too early to tell? by Duncan+Blackthorne · · Score: 1

      Damnit, It's not fair to mod me down for that! While greenhouse gasses have something to do with it, there is also a theory that claims that solar output is cyclic which may have contributed, for instance, to ice age(s) in the distant past! Solar energy patterns cause the El Nino phenomenon, don't they? Couldn't it be possible that higher solar energy output over a long period of time could also cause partial or even complete melting of polar icecaps? Main point is, can anybody claim they definitively know that one or the other is causing the global climate changes we're seeing?

    2. Re:Too early to tell? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > Damnit, It's not fair to mod me down for that!

      Well... You may be simply unfamiliar with the overwhelming evidence that man-made greenhouse gases are the cause of the growing climate change, but on /. arguing against established science is usually assumed to be a troll.

      Judging from other posts you've made, your doubt appears to have little to do with genuine scientific curiosity or academic thoroughness and everything to do with hating Al Gore. Please, get over it.

      > Main point is, can anybody claim they definitively know that one
      > or the other is causing the global climate changes we're seeing?

      If you're a student of epistemology, you know that almost nothing is 100% certain. I keep getting out of bed every day anyway. Evidence of man-made climate change is strong enough to merit immediate, urgent action.

  31. Re:bullshit by The+Warlock · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Ah, Chrichton. Because writing Jurassic Park is the only scientific credential that actually matters.

    With all due respect, he's got an M.D., he's not a climatologist. I don't call a plumber when I'm sick; I don't ask an M.D.'s opinion on climate change.

    --
    I've upped my standards, so up yours.
  32. Great News! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    This is great news for international shipping.
    Just when fuel prices are skyrocketing, global commerce gets a 50% break on shipping distances.

    1. Re:Great News! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Providing they're willing to pay the price of transporting goods through Canadian territory.

  33. Watch the ice melt by QuietLagoon · · Score: 2, Interesting
    1. Re:Watch the ice melt by Caboosian · · Score: 0

      More interestingly, if you look outside, you can watch grass grow!

      Note: For those too afraid to leave the basement, you can find similar entertainment by watching paint dry (Tip: to avoid movement, I'd recommend hiring a painter).

  34. Santa and GOP by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Think of the children! What will they do for Christmas?!

    Damn straight! The Republicans need to hear this! Maybe a "Think of the Children" argunt will get then in shape.

  35. Re:Why is this even being debated? by Anonymous+Brave+Guy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Anyone who believes this isn't a man-made disaster has their speaking privileges taken away. Put on your dunce caps, go sit in the corner and shut the f&*k up.

    Yes, absolutely. Instead of believing the propaganda from Big Oil that nothing is wrong, we should instead believe in the propaganda from political interests attempting to divert our attention from other matters and scientific communities whose funding is dependent on the support of those political interests that our doom is upon us and we must stop doing anything.

    In no way will this turn out to be the same as most issues in popular science, where there is an underlying trend that we should consider changing, but whose likely effects will not be fully understood without much more research and in any case will occur subtly over a period of many years.

    --
    If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
  36. Cyclic? by ATestR · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Mod me down if you will, but I heard one report that ice levels right now are higher than at the same time last year.

    The NW Passage has been open in the recent past from (1905 - 1948). Accurate measurement of the "melting" began in 1979, probably about the time ice coverage peaked. As a cursory search will show, it has also been open in the more distant past as well.

    The freeze/thaw of the arctic is clearly cyclic. Whether it is clear evidence of global warming or not is a question to be considered. Man's impact on this warming, if the warming is actually happening, is another question altogether.

    --
    âoeAny society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.
    1. Re:Cyclic? by WalksOnDirt · · Score: 2, Informative

      ...but I heard one report that ice levels right now are higher than at the same time last year.

      According to http://nsidc.org/data/seaice_index/images/daily_images/N_timeseries.png that is true, but not by a significant amount. Last year was an unusual anomaly, but the question is whether the feedbacks from that will be enough to tip us into a new regime where that level of ice loss is normal. I think it's too early to know, but so far this year isn't a strong argument against that happening.

      --
      a,e,i,o,u and sometimes w and y (at be if of up cwm by)
    2. Re:Cyclic? by moosesocks · · Score: 1

      The story is specifically talking about the ice over the geographic north pole.

      It's certainly possible that this trend isn't taking place over the entire arctic.

      --
      -- If you try to fail and succeed, which have you done? - Uli's moose
    3. Re:Cyclic? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Er.. The links you posted prove you wrong. If the NW passage had been "open" it wouldn't have taken two to three years to travel through it nor ships reinforced for traveling through ice. There's no evidence whatsoever that the NW passage has ever been open enough for practical passage in recorded history (until now).

    4. Re:Cyclic? by NeutronCowboy · · Score: 2, Informative

      Your own sources tell you that the NW passage has never been open for commercial shipping. It has been traversed during summer times with expedition boats, but never as part of a commercial trading system.

      --
      Those who can, do. Those who can't, sue.
    5. Re:Cyclic? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes you could come to such conclusions if you use cursory rather than critical search.

      Like that Newsbuster's link. Nice that they took Roald Amundsen's 3 year accomplishment, much of it waiting for frozen sea around their 47 ton steel vessel, and make it sound like a pleasure cruise down to Cuba in a wooden sailboat.

  37. This was all expected... by sjs132 · · Score: 3, Funny

    After the ice melts, the poles flip. Eventually we'll be in the next iceage... It has nothing to due with my SUV or your solar panels, it is the nature of the cycle of destruction. After the mass extinction, the strong will survive and slowly rebuild. Our Children and generations more will forget what came before. They will worship our relics and call God by his new name: ComPewTur

    Am I kidding? Maybe, Maybe not...

    --
    --- Relax, that mass muderer is just trying to reduce our carbon footprint, one fetus at a time...
    1. Re:This was all expected... by scubamage · · Score: 1

      Agreed. People scoff at the idea of 2012 having major significance, ignoring the fact that on December 21st 2012 we'll cross the galactic meridian, which historically has signalled a pole shift.

  38. Rooting for the melting by stewbacca · · Score: 1

    I hope it all melts so we can see if Al Gore's doomsday prediction of Manhattan being 10 feet under water holds true or not. We need more "sky falling" incidents to show the "sky is falling" crowd that it isn't always as bad as they think (cough, hope).

  39. Not so fast... by j.e.hahn · · Score: 3, Informative

    The NY Times' environmental blogger has a bit of an analysis of this including a great animation of sea ice growth and melt from 1980 to 2007.

    http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/27/whats-really-up-with-north-pole-sea-ice/index.html

    From my read of his post, it sounds like the Independent may have over-stated its case and mis-represented the words of the experts they interviewed. Which isn't to say things aren't bad...

  40. Global warming caused by humans? Hah. by FlyingSquidStudios · · Score: 1

    Next they'll be telling us that poorly-built levees cause flooding and mosquitoes cause Malaria. I'm glad the White House ignored that pesky EPA with their science.

  41. Sing... by VennData · · Score: 3, Funny

    Sung to the tune of Santa Clause is coming to town "Santa Clause is going to drown"

    1. Re:Sing... by VennData · · Score: 1

      You better cool off You better not lie You better not cough I'm telling you why Santa Claus is going to drown He's making a fist Shaking it twice Gonna find out who melted his ice Santa Claus is going to drown He sees you when you're voting He knows you made a mistake He knows your carbon footprint So walk to work for goodness sake He sees you when you're drilling He knows when you're offshore He's got a lot of that clean coal Hang your stockings up to get some more

  42. Re:Why is this even being debated? by jcr · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Anyone who believes this isn't a man-made disaster has their speaking privileges taken away.

    Who died and left you in charge?

    -jcr

    --
    The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
  43. Go watch BBC's Earth serries. by myCopyWrong · · Score: 4, Informative

    Polar bears already have problems. Ice freezes later and thaws sooner, so bears have to swim further and many drown. Seals, their primary food source, are also under pressure because they need the ice to birth. Your wiki source also includes this:

    The IUCN now lists global warming as the most significant threat to the polar bear, primarily because the melting of its sea ice habitat reduces its ability to find sufficient food. The IUCN states, "If climatic trends continue polar bears may become extirpated from most of their range within 100 years."[1] On May 14, 2008, the United States Department of the Interior listed the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.

    Finally, the National Geographic was a little glib, if not intentionally missleading, when it said:

    The melt would be mostly symbolicâ"thicker ice, pushed against the Canadian continental shelf by weather and Earth's rotation, would still survive the summer."

    Any reasonable person quickly realizes there will be no ice to "push" if it's all gone in the center. Models that have not predicted the rapidity of ice loss need to be recalibrated as do politicians who deny global warming and it's impact. The alarmists are alarmingly correct.

    1. Re:Go watch BBC's Earth serries. by slycrel · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Check this link.

      http://www.polarbearsinternational.org/bear-facts/

      While polar bears merit some attention, from the sounds of it we're doing quite well at keeping them around. Even if all the ice melts on the surface of the poles it sounds like there are plenty of other places the polar bears are alive and well and will do fine.

    2. Re:Go watch BBC's Earth serries. by sumdumass · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Any reasonable person quickly realizes there will be no ice to "push" if it's all gone in the center. Models that have not predicted the rapidity of ice loss need to be recalibrated as do politicians who deny global warming and it's impact. The alarmists are alarmingly correct.

      Are you sure that changing models to match what your seeing will disclose the cause? I mean what about all the volcanos erupting in unusual ways in the artic?

    3. Re:Go watch BBC's Earth serries. by Penguinisto · · Score: 2, Informative

      Seals, their primary food source, are also under pressure because they need the ice to birth.


      Really? Because if that's the case, the ones that live down here on the Oregon Coast have been well and truly fscked for quite a few centuries now.


      (They get rained on a lot during Winter, if that helps...)

      /P

      --
      Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
    4. Re:Go watch BBC's Earth serries. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For the 100,000,000th time (hopefully last, since the next time I'm bothering about such issues will be after the approaching Ice Age is over):

      its, not it's (in your penultiamte line).

    5. Re:Go watch BBC's Earth serries. by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      I watched a really shitty documentary (I think it was even a David Atenborough (sp?) who has been involved with so many wonderful documentaries like Life in the Undergrowth) about Polar Bears which didn't say shit about global warming even though it was very recent. I forgot to check who sponsored it, maybe it was Exxon. Anyway, up in the icy lands in which they live, they eat these seals which pop out their pups in holes the ice... to keep them away from Polar Bears and to keep them warm. So those particular seals will die off, and the bears which depend on them will follow. Not all seals are born in holes in ice in the Arctic, though. I forget all of the details, because the show annoyed me.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    6. Re:Go watch BBC's Earth serries. by Lost+Race · · Score: 4, Insightful

      We're taking billions of tons of carbon out of the ground and putting it into the atmosphere. Are you so confident that this will have no effect on climate that you're willing to bet billions of lives on it? That seems crazy to me. Climatologists have actually done the math and generally agree that the risk is significant. What is the downside in proactively reducing fossil fuel consumption? We're going to have to reduce fossil fuel consumption eventually anyway (as the high-quality near-surface stuff runs out) so getting started early and possibly avoiding an immense global disaster seems only prudent.

    7. Re:Go watch BBC's Earth serries. by UncleTogie · · Score: 1

      And you wrap it up by talking as if the whole thing melted already. Good job! Funding secure. Now you can go back to wasting taxpayer dollars on your imaginary problem.

      One might suggest closing the barn door BEFORE the livestock leaves...

      --
      Don't tell me to get a life. I'm a gamer; I have LOTS of lives!
    8. Re:Go watch BBC's Earth serries. by statemachine · · Score: 1

      I mean what about all the volcanos erupting

      MYTH: Human CO2 emissions are too tiny to matter.
      Feel free to skip to the section labelled "Volcanic misunderstanding".

    9. Re:Go watch BBC's Earth serries. by statemachine · · Score: 2, Insightful

      That's a myth.

      From the same article:

      Climate change is the main threat to polar bears today. A diminishing ice pack directly affects polar bears, as sea ice is the platform from which they hunt seals. Although the Arctic has experienced warm periods before, the present shrinking of the Arctic's sea ice is rapid and unprecedented.

    10. Re:Go watch BBC's Earth serries. by statemachine · · Score: 1

      Ahhh, so that's why the polar bear population has doubled since 1960.

      MYTH: Polar bear numbers are increasing.

      The Guardian can be wrong? Shocking!

    11. Re:Go watch BBC's Earth serries. by sumdumass · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I didn't say that Human Co2 emissions didn't matter, I said are you sure that is what's cause the polar ice caps to melt.

      On the subject of matters, you link doesn't show anything where Human Co2 "matters" in a detrimental way. It simply states that it is there. Or is the site pushing some agenda that the not yet convinced would readily see.

    12. Re:Go watch BBC's Earth serries. by statemachine · · Score: 1

      Obviously you didn't bother to read it or follow any links.

      This one's appropriate to you:
      It's all a conspiracy

      Here's the main article with all the myths laid out. Not that you'll read it.
      Climate change: A guide for the perplexed

      Specifically follow the links in the sections marked
      What is happening now?

        Mars and Pluto are warming too

        Antarctica is getting cooler, not warmer, disproving global warming

        Polar bear numbers are increasing

        The lower atmosphere is cooling, not warming

        The oceans are cooling
      What is going to happen?

        Warming will cause an ice age in Europe

        Higher CO2 levels will boost plant growth and food production

        Hurricane Katrina was caused by global warming
      Why should I worry?

        It's too cold where I live - warming will be great

        We can't do anything about climate change

    13. Re:Go watch BBC's Earth serries. by BearRanger · · Score: 1

      Yes, but human particulate pollution is not. Rapid darkening of the ice causes it to absorb more heat and melt even faster. I've been there and seen it first hand.

      For all of you who say that the polar bear population is increasing, keep in mind that the numbers are approximations. We can't count them all and since they're excellent swimmers we don't always find the carcasses when they die. Polar bears are threatened and inside of a decade, if the current trends continue, they will be officially endangered.

    14. Re:Go watch BBC's Earth serries. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are you so confident that this will have no effect on climate that you're willing to bet billions of lives on it? That seems crazy to me.

      You know what seems crazy to me? Alarmists like yourself. Last I heard, global warming alarmists were calling mankind the "AIDS of the Earth" and wanted to kill 5 billion people to save the planet for themselves.

      Climatologists have actually done the math and generally agree that the risk is significant.

      Yeah, there's general agreement... that's why there's so little controversy surrounding the subject. <sarcasm /> Are you even reading what you're saying or is it just duckspeak at this point? Quack quack quack.

      What is the downside in proactively reducing fossil fuel consumption?

      Hmmm, two things right off the top of my head... Doing so will be incredibly expensive for developed nations. Nuclear waste isn't 'recyclable' like CO2. Whether you like it or not, nuclear is the only viable replacement for coal currently. I think it's extremely arrogant to for you to say you can properly manage nuclear waste that will be around for 10,000 to 1,000,000 years. You guys can't even produce an accurate computer model.

      We're going to have to reduce fossil fuel consumption eventually anyway

      Not in our lifetime.

      so getting started early and possibly avoiding an immense global disaster seems only prudent.

      First, you've yet to demonstrate any evidence of imminent global disaster.

      Secondly, your solutions so far have done nothing but cause global disaster. Look at what corn biofuel has produced...

      I guess that starvation is all part of the plan though... killing the "AIDS of the Earth." Right? If you'd like to claim those aren't intended consequences, then perhaps you should give it a little more time, careful consideration, and evaluate exactly what it is you advocating.

    15. Re:Go watch BBC's Earth serries. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      More lies from the liberal media! There is no such thing as global warming. it is a democratic conspiracy to tarnish republicans!

    16. Re:Go watch BBC's Earth serries. by Keebler71 · · Score: 2, Informative

      The environmentalists are theorizing what could happen to the polar bear population. Unfortunately the empirical data doesn't support that hypothesis. linky

      --
      "It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance." - Thomas Sowell
    17. Re:Go watch BBC's Earth serries. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And Mr. Straw Man takes a glancing blow to the jaw! Ooh, folks, it looks like he's not going to last long! His opponent is struggling, flailing -- can the straw man recover? -- but no, this is it folks! He's hitting the mat! Straw flies everywhere!

    18. Re:Go watch BBC's Earth serries. by pipingguy · · Score: 1

      Translation: Just read in detail (but without critically thinking) all these sites I've linked-to below and you will agree with me. The evidence is on my side!

    19. Re:Go watch BBC's Earth serries. by sumdumass · · Score: 1

      I already read the first link you presented and it did nothing to address the Issue I bought up. Now would you please provide a link that specifically discounts the undersea volcanos in the artic that are erupting in ways we previously didn't think was common according to the recent story I linked to and instead says that humans above all else are the cause.

      You simply don't have that. Not in any of the links you presented either then or now.

      And from the sound of this post, I'm doubtful that your able to make an informed decision yourself. There is no guarentee that your links are accurate and your presentation leave some doubt in and of itself. Katrina wasn't because of global warming, Mars and other planets aren't because of global warming, but you got one thing right, "We can't do anything about climate change". At least not in the amounts of reductions that are supposed to be the fix anyways. It is entirely too little and too late if everything else about global warming is to be believed.

    20. Re:Go watch BBC's Earth serries. by statemachine · · Score: 1

      Another person who doesn't bother to read.

      There is no guarentee that your links are accurate

      Can't really help a denier. My links follow all the way down to peer reviewed science articles. Where are yours?

      You simply don't have that. Not in any of the links you presented either then or now.

      Back it up. Else you're simply like a child trying to win an argument by repetitively shouting "Nah UH!"

      And from the sound of this post, I'm doubtful that your able to make an informed decision yourself.

      Once again, links?

      There is no guarentee that your links are accurate and your presention... blah blah blah

      Once again, links?

      Katrina wasn't because of global warming, Mars and other planets aren't because of global warming, but you got one thing right

      Wow, you need some readjustment. Right is wrong now? Yes is no? I got both of those right because they're in the articles:
      Hurricane Katrina was caused by global warming
      Mars and Pluto are warming too
      Just keep on wishing you are correct. I'll keep filling in my BINGO squares. I'm almost done for this /. article.

      "We can't do anything about climate change"

      I'm going to get a soda so I can spit it out on my computer screen laughing. BRB. Back! I almost choked, but I can't stop laughing.

      You *do* know that's the exact title of one of the articles? Right? RIGHT? :D I mean seriously, you're just yanking my chain at this point. There's no way you could be this...

      MYTH: We can't do anything about climate change

      I just can't take you seriously anymore. Sir, you're a good comedian. Thanks for the laugh.

    21. Re:Go watch BBC's Earth serries. by statemachine · · Score: 2, Insightful

      No, I really want you to critically think. But you have to follow to the peer-reviewed research. Just about everyone commenting tonight is not linking to peer-reviewed research.

      Many, like yourself, just crack wise and don't even bother with a link. I, on the other hand, link to informative articles and peer-reviewed research. The evidence *is* on my side. You provide none. And, unlike you, I have an open mind to new peer-reviewed research, no matter the result. This actually opens the world to me as I am comfortable with assessing my boundaries and adjusting them as necessary. Try it sometime.

    22. Re:Go watch BBC's Earth serries. by pipingguy · · Score: 1

      Link wars are seldom useful or constructive, so I guess I'll drop out of this discussion now (feel free to declare victory). My fear is that your "open mind" is vulnerable to the latest media scares and overblown worries, but that's your choice.

    23. Re:Go watch BBC's Earth serries. by statemachine · · Score: 1

      For all of you who say that the polar bear population is increasing

      Glad to be of service with a helpful link. Don't bother countering the deniers without a link. It turns into a "Is SO" - "Nuh UH" fest which just feeds the deniers. Shut them down with peer-reviewed research.
      Climate myths: Polar bear numbers are increasing

    24. Re:Go watch BBC's Earth serries. by statemachine · · Score: 1

      Link wars are seldom useful or constructive

      Only if you don't read them. Worried? You have yet to post a link that counters the peer-reviewed research that I've carefully linked. In fact, you're a bit short on posting any links at all.

      It's probably best you drop out, since you're not contributing anything in the first place, other than "Nuh UH!" It makes you look ignorant. Challenge yourself one of these days.

    25. Re:Go watch BBC's Earth serries. by pipingguy · · Score: 1

      Sorry for the reply delay, my Windows machine crashed and is now apparently dead.

      I challenge myself quite often, I just don't subscribe to the unwarranted alarmism that some others do. Y'see, it's my belief that there is always a trendy, fashionable political worry to be extremely concerned about. This usually is related to what one's friends think and also usually has something to do with "saving the world". It's a noble goal indeed, but the advocates are most often just the latest generation of doom-sayers and whacky people with nothing better to do.

      The other day I noticed that I'm coming up on 4000 comments here at Slashdot - I never saw it coming that I was such a loser. Some replies have been better than others; yours are not so bad.

      Cheers.

    26. Re:Go watch BBC's Earth serries. by sumdumass · · Score: 1

      Another person who doesn't bother to blindly follow the assertions of some while ignoring assertions of others in order to justify my world view.

      There, fix that for you..

      Can't really help a denier. My links follow all the way down to peer reviewed science articles. Where are yours?

      I'm not the one pushing a religion onto people. I don't need to post links to state an opinion that your cult of global warming is being blown out of portion. In fact, it would seem from the outside that your evangelism is a primary reasons for the support base because it isn't the cold facts when you view them in the light of reality.

      Back it up. Else you're simply like a child trying to win an argument by repetitively shouting "Nah UH!"

      Your the one asserting things here, you back it up. You have failed to do that insofar and that isn't a fault of mine. I have the facts of the order of events on my side. The most you can do is point to something written 5 years ago that doesn't even remotely address the comment I made. Now, If within as late as the last month, they are discovering lava flows under the arctic ocean along with gaseous explosions from underwater volcano eruptions, and lava flow patterns not though common under the arctic ocean, then you would have to point me to a study that was newer then that which takes this new information into account in order to be relevant to my comment.

      Now, I know you really, really, really, want to believe in your global warming. I can understand that because most other religions want to believe they are right too. But when you get brainwashed into a religion surrounding science, you have to understand that some things will change over time because that is the nature of science. I can tell your having a religions experience here because you attempted to compare my undersea volcano phenomenons links to a claim about Co2 released by volcanoes being higher then by humans being false. But you see, this is no where near the situation. The arctic ice is melting, the volcanoes emit extremely hot gases that do what? Rise to the surface. What is unique about volcanic gases and lava? It is extremely hot. Volcanic gases are easily over 400 degrees C when the frozen sea ice is less then 0 degree C. We have recorded volcanic gases at over 1100 degrees C. Lava flows are between 550 degrees C and 1400 degrees C. In case you don't have your conversion finger ready, 1100 C would equal 2012 F, 550c =1022f, 1400c=2552f and so one. So what does all this mean for an area that is nothing more then frozen sea water at 32 degree below zero F? Well, here is a hint, it has nothing to do with the idea that humans create more Co2 then volcanoes.

      Once again, links?
      Once again, links?

      If you can't process something on your own, without the need for someone to spell it out to you in some link, I suggest you should stop acting like you can discuss it. I also suggest that you yourself get some updated links on your own, perhaps you will see something different and you can learn to use some critical thinking skills.

      Wow, you need some readjustment. Right is wrong now? Yes is no? I got both of those right because they're in the articles:
      Hurricane Katrina was caused by global warming
      Mars and Pluto are warming too
      Just keep on wishing you are correct. I'll keep filling in my BINGO squares. I'm almost done for this /. article.

      Have you read your own links? Did you bother reading what I posted? Or are you convinced whatever you say is correct because you found something that you think agrees with you. First, Katrina, the very article you link to states very clearly in the beginning,"he chaotic nature of weather makes it impossible to prove that any single event such as Hurricane Katrina is due to global wa

    27. Re:Go watch BBC's Earth serries. by Phil06 · · Score: 0

      We are going to take (most) all of the oil out of the ground and turn it into CO2 and H2O eventually anyways. What do you think will happen first, a climate crisis or an energy crisis?

      --
      "...and yet, I blame society" Duke - Repo Man
    28. Re:Go watch BBC's Earth serries. by Lost+Race · · Score: 1

      That's a very good question. I've been trying to come up with a workable economic model for petroleum depletion for many years now, and it still eludes me. The only thing I know for sure is that the high-quality near-surface stuff is going to run out eventually, and our current industrial economic model can't go on without it (or some equivalent replacement, which does not as yet seem to exist). Waiting until it really has effectively run out and only then starting to think about how we're going to get by without it, well, that'll be a huge fucking disaster. Whether the crisis is imminent or not we have to think and act as though it is, in order to muster the political and economic will to do anything about it while it's still relatively easy (i.e. while the oil is still flowing).

      So I guess the short answer is that the energy crisis will probably become deadly sooner than the climate crisis (if the latter even exists) but since the potential climate crisis gives us yet another good reason to get away from fossil carbon, there's no point in ignoring it.

      If cheap petroleum and coal production could somehow go on forever, then climate change would be even more of a concern, since there would be no effective limit to how much we could change the atmosphere. Ultimately no matter what our energy source is we're going to have to stop increasing consumption someday, lest we literally melt the entire planet. (Obviously we'll run into other heat-related problems long before that happens.)

      Maybe I'm weird, but I've always taken the thousand-year view because that's how long I intend to live. Most people seem to look ahead only ten or twenty years. Of course even with a good long term plan we still need to figure out how to get through the next couple of "interesting" decades. I believe economic collapse (and the ensuing political chaos), famine (as industrial agriculture falters), and global resource wars are going to be the big killers.

      I hope and pray I'm wrong about all this, and that somehow the petroleum can flow and burn at increasing rates forever with no long term effect on the global climate. That would make everyone's lives so much easier! Unfortunately hoping and praying aren't enough, and we have to prepare for the worst. I do not believe disaster is inevitable; I believe if we put as much brainpower and dermination as possible into the problem as soon as possible we might be able to get by with minimal losses. Increasing petroleum production is not the answer -- it will only slightly reduce the energy crisis in the very short term, while exacerbating the climate crisis. Better to leave the oil in the ground in case future generations (and we Methuselah-wannabes) need it for something else.

    29. Re:Go watch BBC's Earth serries. by You+are+not+listenin · · Score: 1

      Apropo the immense global disaster of

      so getting started early and possibly avoiding an immense global disaster seems only prudent.

      Apparently (according to olduvai theory) energy production per capita can't keep up with energy consumption, and over the next few years we're going to see a percipitous drop in energy per capita on account of overreliance on non renuable resources. Due to our reliance on energy for things such as feeding the populations of our cities and sustaining our medical infrastructure this is predicted to result in the deaths of billions of people (in the absence of new renuable energy technologies, and I do actually mean "billions"). Here are the sources for those interested:
      (10 pages) Olduvai revisited 2008
      (1/2 page) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olduvai_theory#Details_of_theory>Wiki article on Olduvai theory
      Footnote 2 of this article is interesting in its own right
      (1/3rd of a page) wiki article applying the Malthusian catastrophe to energy consumption
      Read the section titled "The Silent Lie" (p3-4) of this article Thoughts on Long-Term Energy Supplies: Scientists and the Silent Lie

      I wonder if our society's attitude towards renewable energy isn't a lot like societies attitude in the US towards slavery in the first half of the 19th century. There's on camp with a vested economic interest in a morally unacceptable behavior, and another camp protesting the moral (people die) and practical (we die) consequences of this behavior. The only difference being that our problem is time critical.

    30. Re:Go watch BBC's Earth serries. by coopex · · Score: 1

      Yes, I am confident this will have no effect on climate.

      I point you to Venus.

      At 1 Earth atm on Venus, it's only ~14C hotter than blackbody calculations predict (69C vs 55C), while Earth (at 1 Earth atm) is only ~9C hotter than blackbody calculations predict (15C vs 6C).

      I do agree that fossil fuels need to be managed better, but I think $5 gal gas is the best incentive.

      --
      The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
    31. Re:Go watch BBC's Earth serries. by Lost+Race · · Score: 1

      At 1 Earth atm on Venus, it's only ~14C hotter than blackbody calculations predict (69C vs 55C), while Earth (at 1 Earth atm) is only ~9C hotter than blackbody calculations predict (15C vs 6C).

      Sorry, I can't make any sense of this at all. What are you trying to say? Where do those numbers come from?

    32. Re:Go watch BBC's Earth serries. by coopex · · Score: 1

      The first numbers are blackbody calculations, the second numbers are from probes or weather stations The point was that while the surface of Venus is hot enough to melt lead, that's more from having a much thicker atmosphere than from CO2 causing a greenhouse effect.

      --
      The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
  44. Re:bullshit by stewbacca · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I don't call a plumber when I'm sick; I don't ask an M.D.'s opinion on climate change.

    Then please, please tell me why anyone thinks Al Gore is remotely relevant on the issue of climate change!!!

  45. The Cyrosphere Today by rumblin'rabbit · · Score: 5, Informative

    The Cryosphere Today is a web site run by the University of Illinois. It gives daily information on the extent of polar sea ice.

    As shown here and here and here, the arctic ice extent is actually greater than last year, although lower than historical averages.

    We seem to have conflicting data.

    1. Re:The Cyrosphere Today by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, your data disagrees with the current fad so uh... You are wrong!

    2. Re:The Cyrosphere Today by rritterson · · Score: 1

      Just because the stock market is higher today than it was yesterday doesn't mean we're not in a bear market.

      --
      -Ryan
      AUWYHSTOT (Acronyms are Useless When You Have to Spell Them Out Too)
    3. Re:The Cyrosphere Today by rumblin'rabbit · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I was referring to the very specific claim that the north pole ice would melt by September of this year. Current data doesn't support it.

      As to whether the arctic ice cap has been decreasing over many years, that is supported by the data.

    4. Re:The Cyrosphere Today by Beryllium+Sphere(tm) · · Score: 3, Informative

      That's consistent. A lot of the ice we have is thin, the result of only one season of accumulation. The observation that it's covering more area than last year is consistent with the observation that it's melting fast and the extrapolation that it could be gone by September.

    5. Re:The Cyrosphere Today by cavebison · · Score: 1

      [QUOTE]As shown here and here and here, the arctic ice extent is actually greater than last year, although lower than historical averages. We seem to have conflicting data.[/QUOTE]

      That's an argument I'd expect from a "climate politician". Short-term data will always be more erratic than long term data, so saying "greater than last year but less than historically" is no conflict at all. The important part is "less than historically" - of course it depends what period of history you're talking about.

      If you want consistency, just pick a part of history when the ice cover was minimal as well. But since spreading confusion is far easier than spreading scepticism, your statement does have it's basis in logic.

    6. Re:The Cyrosphere Today by rumblin'rabbit · · Score: 1

      I'm not making an argument. I'm stating facts based on hard data. And the facts are that there is more ice than last year, and last year the north pole was not open water.

      Sorry if those facts don't fit with whatever world view you're trying to push. I'll try to adjust the facts better next time.

  46. Wow by PalmKiller · · Score: 1

    So we can grab our bathing suits and head for the north poll by next summer?

  47. Re:bullshit by Poppa · · Score: 4, Funny

    Then please, please tell me why anyone thinks Al Gore is remotely relevant on the issue of climate change!!!

    Because he invented the Internet, silly.

  48. Re:bullshit by The+Warlock · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Fuck if I know. I guess the media likes people with name recognition. "This guy wrote Jurassic Park, he must know what he's talking about!" "Yeah, well, this guy used to be Vice President! He must know what he's talking about even more!"

    It's the fucking name-obsessed news media.

    --
    I've upped my standards, so up yours.
  49. Yeah, except that... by Bobby+Mahoney · · Score: 4, Informative

    right now the cap is 10.5mm square kilometers, vs. 7.5mm this time last year. Hacks.

    --
    !#&*
    1. Re:Yeah, except that... by MyNymWasTaken · · Score: 3, Informative

      Yep, you are smarter that all those stupid scientists. They didn't realize that 10.5 is bigger than 7.5. You sure showed them!

      It couldn't have anything to do with that larger figure being primarily thin one-year ice that melts quicker than normally thick ice formed over many years like the article said, now could it?

    2. Re:Yeah, except that... by Bobby+Mahoney · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      That... is the most retarded thing i've read all day. Congrats.

      --
      !#&*
  50. Re:bullshit by blueg3 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Al Gore is just an environmentalist and a politician. In terms of delivering facts about climate change, he's not relevant. I'm not quite sure why he does so much speaking about it -- often scientific ideas are presented by non-scientists, but then, at least, they should be chosen for their charisma.

  51. Re:bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    He's not, the thousands of climate scientists who back him up are. Who does that hack Chrichton have on his side? Some republican politicians and a shit load of gullible right wing retard slashdotters?

  52. Re:Why is this even being debated? by LighterShadeOfBlack · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Yes, absolutely. Instead of believing the propaganda from Big Oil that nothing is wrong, we should instead believe in the propaganda from political interests attempting to divert our attention from other matters and scientific communities whose funding is dependent on the support of those political interests that our doom is upon us and we must stop doing anything.

    Global warming has been essentially 'known' (just not widely acknowledged) for as long as I've been alive. Which political interest do you think has been around for over 25 years making this "propaganda"? And why would they refuse to acknowledge it for so long if it was to their benefit? And which political interest spans the globe? Yeah, newsflash genius, this 'global warming' thing isn't specific to America.

    In no way will this turn out to be the same as most issues in popular science, where there is an underlying trend that we should consider changing, but whose likely effects will not be fully understood without much more research and in any case will occur subtly over a period of many years.

    Yeah. Better to wait and see. Then in 50 years when it's too late you can say "oh shit I guess it's time to turn my lights off when I'm not in a room and stop driving a 1 tonne truck to move 100 metres". Better to pretend the problem isn't there until it directly and irrefutably affects you and it becomes more inconvenient for you personally to not accept it's existence than to ignore it. Then you'll be bitching about how it was all covered up for so many years and they should have done more to warn you.

    --
    Spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, and stupid comments are intentional.
  53. And after a long post-ice-age period, what next? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A new ice age.

    Now, have we had a long warm period?

    You stupid fucker.

  54. Why globa ICE age? by theblondebrunette · · Score: 1

    If things are melting, why would we get into an ICE age?

    1. Re:Why globa ICE age? by TimSSG · · Score: 1

      Once the warm-up stops the run-up to the Ice age begins. There are signs that the warming might be peaking, but it called climate [change] for a reason. Tim S

  55. How much more proof do we need? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Anyone not taking immediate drastic measures to curb their emissions is CRIMINALLY NEGLIGENT.

    1. Re:How much more proof do we need? by The+End+Of+Days · · Score: 1

      I'm waiting for you to shut off your computer.

  56. Re:Why is this even being debated? by stewbacca · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Yes, no reason to discuss a contentious topic when "Anonymous Coward" already knows the truth...

    Let's look at the motives of either side and see what's really going on. The Al Gores of the world have a personality order commonly referred to as "Chicken Little" and are so full of self-importance they feel the need to save the world. The idiots on the opposite extreme hate to be bothered by facts and science (hey, if it ain't in the Bible...), so they regurgitate a bunch of phony old-wives-tales they heard on Rush Limbaugh. The truth is somewhere in the middle, and thus is worthy of discussion.

  57. Bye. It was nice knowing you by unity100 · · Score: 1

    you were a good bunch. some other place, time, dimension, whatever, see ya.

  58. Power grab by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Has anyone thought that Global Warming is just an excuse to get power and control? It goes all the way back to the ancient world as described by Herodotus. Croesus told Cyrus to take the loot from the looters, but to tell the looters that he was taking it for Zeus. That way the looters wouldn't blame Cyrus, but think of him as righteous.

    Consider that it's a moral good to give the enlightened few power and control. Almost 3000 years of history and we still fall for the same trick.

  59. Re:bullshit by raftpeople · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I have some serious questions for you:
    1) Do you believe that Michael Crichton has information that the climate scientists do not?
    2) Do you believe Michael Crichton is smarter than the climate scientists and better able to interpret the data?
    3) If either of these is true, what leads you to believe this?

  60. this would prove the skeptics right! by dpuu · · Score: 0, Troll

    Skeptics tell us that the climate models are riddled with errors, and cannot be trusted. It it turns out that the artic does indeed become ice free this summer then this would prove them right.

    Just last year, the models were predicting summer 2013. That would be about 60 months to be ice free. If it happens this summer, then that would be less than 10 months. The time predicted by the model would be 500% greater than reality (if it happens).

    How can you base environment policies on models that are shown to have such large errors? We obviously need to postpone any action until the models are much more accurate! [/sarcasm]

    --
    Opinions my own, statements of fact may contain errors
    1. Re:this would prove the skeptics right! by statemachine · · Score: 1

      Skeptics tell us that the climate models are riddled with errors, and cannot be trusted. ... How can you base environment policies on models that are shown to have such large errors?

      MYTH: We can't trust computer models

    2. Re:this would prove the skeptics right! by mr_death · · Score: 2, Interesting

      short summary of TFA: there's uncertainty in models, so they add error bars. There is major uncertainty in how to model clouds (some argue that the sign of the effect isn't known). Models are used to predict financial markets, so that's OK.

      As a professional modeler working on another complex system (financial time series prediction), it is my view that the climate modelers are taking some serious shortcuts. In my industry, one wouldn't dream of committing real money to a model until it had made correct predictions of the target market going forward, without post-hoc tweaks. Constantly tweaking model constants is an indicator of curve fitting. And curve fitting is not prediction.

      When a frozen climate model can correctly predict global temperature (objectively defined beforehand), week by week, for a significant time (say, five years), then it can be said that the climate modelers understand climate. Until then, curve-fitted models coupled with a rousing round of "trust us" doesn't make for a falsifiable hypothesis. And without a falsifiable hypothesis, the climate folks aren't doing science. Indeed, Gavin Schmidt at realclimate.org asserts that nothing in the next few years can falsify the models (http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2008/01/uncertainty-noise-and-the-art-of-model-data-comparison/) (!!!)

      It blows my mind that unvalidated climate models are used as the rationale for multi-trillion dollar/euro investments.

      --
      It's Linux, damnit! Pay no attention to renaming attempts by self-aggrandizing blowhards.
    3. Re:this would prove the skeptics right! by statemachine · · Score: 0, Troll

      That's your summary, but it's obvious you didn't bother to understand the article.

      You: need falsifiable hypothesis
      From my link:

      The validity of models can be tested against climate history. If they can predict the past (which the best models are pretty good at) they are probably on the right track for predicting the future - and indeed have successfully done so.

      You: uncertainty
      From my link:

      Where the critics of the models are both wrong and illogical, however, is in assuming that the models must be biased towards alarmism - that is, greater climate change. It is just as likely that these models err on the side of caution.

      You: error bars
      From my link:

      In an effort to be more rigorous, the most recent report of the IPCC has quantified degrees of doubt, defining terms like "likely" and "very likely" in terms of percentage probability.

      You: cloud modelling is error prone

      Most modellers accept that despite constant improvements over more than half a century, there are problems. They acknowledge, for instance, that one of the largest uncertainties in their models is how clouds will respond to climate change .

      You: financial market modelling
      From my link:

      Of course, in some ways financial markets are much trickier to model than the climate, depending as they do on human behaviour. What's more, trading based on computer models alters the nature of the very thing you're trying to predict.

      So... human behavior changes the forward prediction.

      You take bullet points for your summary then refuse to explain them, as if they aren't addressed in the very article I linked. You then claim that these models aren't validated. Shame on you. Did you read it or did you just skim and not bother even following links?!

      Here's another article to read from the same series (that was linked in the article I gave you, BTW)
      MYTH:Chaotic systems are not predictable
      And a quote from it since you likely won't read it through:

      While weather and to some extent climate are chaotic systems, that does not mean that either are entirely unpredictable, as this demonstration neatly illustrates.

      You: "week by week"
      That's called *weather* my friend. And this article even defines climate for you:

      Climate, however, is the bigger picture of a region's weather: the average, over 30 years (according to the World Meteorological Association's definition), of the weather pattern in a region. While weather changes fast on human timescales, climate changes fairly slowly. Getting reasonably accurate predictions is a matter of choosing the right timescale: days in the case of weather, decades in the case of climate.

      In actuality, climate modelling is more important than your financial modelling. Climate modellers are striving for more accuracy all the time, and making models more and more accurate with more data sources isn't "tweaking" as it may be in your models. Plus, *lives* depend on climate models, as opposed to your financial models. Someone losing a million dollars is nothing compared with a million people losing their livelihood, or worse, their lives.

      Read through the rest of the article series, and follow all the links. Be curious about science. That's my best advice.

    4. Re:this would prove the skeptics right! by mr_death · · Score: 1

      That's your summary, but it's obvious you didn't bother to understand the article.

      Oh, I did read and comprehend it, but I don't share the same naive view of modeling that New Scientist and (presumably) you have. A simple read of my post would have given you that information.

      Going to some of your points:
      You: need falsifiable hypothesis
      From my link:

      The validity of models can be tested against climate history. If they can predict the past (which the best models are pretty good at) they are probably on the right track for predicting the future - and indeed have successfully done so.

      I can create a perfect climate "model" that exactly matches the past with a weighted sum of cosines -- the Fourier transform of global temperature data. I think we'd all agree that this model would have no predictive value. The only way to prove that a model is correct is to see it make valid predictions going forward. Matching the past, while necessary for a good model, is not sufficient, and is not convincing in the slightest.

      But hey, if you think that modeling is really as simple as curve fitting the past, I invite you to trade stocks with a price model created in the same manner as your favorite climate model. When the markets drive your trading account to zero and hand you your head, you might understand the difficulty of prediction.

      --
      It's Linux, damnit! Pay no attention to renaming attempts by self-aggrandizing blowhards.
  61. Re:bullshit by Penguinisto · · Score: 5, Insightful

    True... now here's the converse: Al Gore is no climatologist, either - but that didn't stop him from writing a book and being pointed at as some sort of authority on climate by the populace at large.


    Not trying to pick a debate, but I do want to point out something.


    It doesn't require any sort of degree to use logic in order to take what's out there data-wise, and form a hypothesis (or opinion) that can withstand scrutiny. All that is required is logical skill, intellect, a lot of research, a little wisdom, and patience enough to see the argument (pro or con) come together.


    I honestly don't care about who advances the opinion, I care about the logical progression of the argument. I also care about whether or not the supporting facts are as complete as possible, in context, and not in disregard of facts which oppose the conclusion. See also the reasons why ad hominem and appeals to authority are counted as fallacious.

    /P

    --
    Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
  62. Simulate this yourself by HoneyBeeSpace · · Score: 2, Informative

    If you'd like to simulate this yourself, the EdGCM project has wrapped a NASA global climate model (GCM) in a GUI (OS X and Win). You can add CO2 or turn the sun down by a few percent all with a checkbox and a slider. Supercomputers and advanced FORTRAN programmers are no longer necessary to run your own GCM.

    Disclaimer: I'm the project developer.

    1. Re:Simulate this yourself by joseph449008 · · Score: 1

      For those who distrust published science because of "conflicts of interest", if you'd like to analyze historic data yourself, it's not very difficult.

  63. Chicken Little? I barely know her! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If Al Gore's audiences truly were capable of rational thinking, would he get the Nobel PEACE prize for his fight against global warming?

  64. Interesting article. by MaWeiTao · · Score: 0, Troll

    Interestingly enough, I read this today. Remember when the big scare in the media was the hole in the ozone layer?

    The more scientists learn the more they realize that the environment is far more complex than the simplistic and alarmist notion that human activity is changing the climate.

    1. Re:Interesting article. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Remember when the big scare in the media was the hole in the ozone layer?

      The more scientists learn the more they realize that the environment is far more complex than the simplistic and alarmist notion that human activity is changing the climate.

      See, this kind of thinking is what always has worried me most. The hole in the ozone layer was a big damn problem. Moreover we were directly responsible for it with our decades of using ozone-destroying chemicals like CFC's. The scientists said that we should cut down on things that damage the ozone, so we did. They also said that results wouldn't be immediate and it would take decades for the ozone to replenish itself. Well guess what? It's a decade or two later and we're seeing the ozone layer replenish itself! It's almost like the scientists knew exactly what they were talking about, despite the fact that there were plenty of nay-sayers back then too (remember them?).

      Unfortunately most people have an attention span far too short to remember any of this, and now we conclude that the scientists don't have any damn clue how the atmosphere works. It's absolute bullshit. Yes climate is complex. Yes there are many factors that can contribute to climate change that aren't human related. But that doesnt change the fact that we're pumping large amounts of greenhouse gas into the atmosphere, and the science of how those greenhouse gases will heat up our planet is well understood. To deny we are contributing to climate change because we don't know everything about the climate 100% is like saying gravity doesn't exist because we don't understand the forces of the universe 100%.

      There used to be a time when we believed that we could pump anything into the air and never have any trouble because there was just so much of it. Look at the air over L.A. sometime and you'll understand why we no longer believe that. We also used to beleive that we could throw all sorts of shit into the ocean, since there was an inconcievable amount of water in it. Now we have fish with heavy metal poisoning. To think that humans cannot influence things on a global scale is just really damn naive. Hell, the very fact that we blew a few big holes in the ozone layer is proof that we can cause global changes to this planet. And that happened half a century ago. Don't you think we're even more capable of changing the planet now?

  65. OB Frisky Dingo by Sir_Real · · Score: 1

    Where did the ice go?

    Tom Collins's.... Turns out...

  66. Re:bullshit by boxlight · · Score: 2, Insightful
    1) It's not having access to the information, it's how it's being interpreted. These climatologists you speak of think they understand and can control a complex system like the world's climate. Crichton is correct that complex systems are not simple and cannot controlled.

    2) Yes.

    3) Watch the video, he explains it better than I can:

    http://www.michaelcrichton.com/video-speeches-independent.html

    and also this: http://www.michaelcrichton.com/video-charlierose-2-17-07.html

  67. 5 years? by commodoresloat · · Score: 1

    Who cares about what happens in 5 years? We'll pretty much run the world by then!

    Umm, we're China, right?

  68. Yes by trongey · · Score: 1

    Are global warming experts just short-sighted alarmists? Are we heading for a global ice age? Or is the increase in global mean temperature having an effect on our planet?

    Yes to all of the above.
    I love multiple choice when all of the answers are right.

    --
    You never really know how close to the edge you can go until you fall off.
  69. Re:bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Because I like his hair.

  70. Re:Why is this even being debated? by value_added · · Score: 0

    Yes, absolutely. Instead of believing the propaganda from Big Oil that nothing is wrong, we should instead believe in the propaganda from political interests attempting to divert our attention from other matters and scientific communities whose funding is dependent on the support of those political interests that our doom is upon us and we must stop doing anything.

    Wow. Just wow.

    I'm guessing that if the subject at hand was "other matters", the response would be similar in both in tone and an absence of meaningful content.

    "Dad, why won't anyone think of the polar bears?"

    "No worries, son. Let me tell you how the world works ..."

    "But the scientists ..."

    "Let me tell you what scientists really do."

  71. Re:bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Because Al Gore invented the internet, and the internet says there is climate change.

  72. Re:bullshit by n0dna · · Score: 1

    Thousands?

    Last I heard it was three. Two of which are forbidden to publish in scientific journals due to long histories of distortion and bias.

    I'd find the citations, but it's Friday afternoon, you won't read them, and I have better things to do

    At least Crichton cites the dozens of papers he read to draw his conclusions so that interested readers can do the same.

  73. Chart in their own article doesn't support article by MillenneumMan · · Score: 1

    The chart in the article includes plots of historical melt, 2007 melt, and 2008 melt. The 2008 line falls between the 2007 and historical lines. The 2007 and 2008 lines do overlap at several points, but the most recent plot points show the 2008 line moving back between 2007 and the average. How is it that 2008 is on pace to be a record year when 2007 currently shows more?

  74. No, it's too late to ignore... by bledri · · Score: 1

    Aren't there valid arguments that say that this is just a cyclic phenomenon linked to solar activity?

    No. Increased solar output appear to only account for a small portion of the increase in temperature. Of course some of the 10,000s of scientists involved may by liberal, so we can just ignore them...

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    1. Re:No, it's too late to ignore... by bledri · · Score: 1

      Hmmmm... I thought I hit had reply to #23972365. Pesky computers...

      --
      Some privacy policy Slashdot.
  75. Re:bullshit by thrillseeker · · Score: 1

    Al Gore is just an environmentalist and a politician. In terms of delivering facts about climate change, he's not relevant. I'm not quite sure why he does so much speaking about it

    ahhhh ...

  76. mindless drones by dj245 · · Score: 1

    But he has p-p-p-powerpoint!

    --
    Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.
    1. Re:mindless drones by stewbacca · · Score: 1

      Actually, he doesn't use PowerPoint, he uses the Apple product "Keynote".

  77. So what? by k1e0x · · Score: 1

    Correct me if I'm wrong, (and I'm sure some of you will try), but when ice melts into water.. it does not displace the volume of the water.. correct?

    What that means is New York and DC will (sadly) not be submerged in the ocean.

    --
    Bringing liberty to the masses. - http://freetalklive.com/
    1. Re:So what? by JSBiff · · Score: 1

      That's a good question. My best understanding is that you are probably correct. On the one hand, some of the ice is above the level of the water, and once it melts, it would no longer be above the level of the water (the 'tip of the iceberg' as it were, which as the ice melts, becomes part of the ocean, but was not in the ocean previously). On the other hand, water takes up more volume as a solid than as liquid.

              I think it might even be that the amount of ice that sticks up out of the water is exactly proportional to the increase in volume that the water experiences as it solidifies - this would make sense, because the total weight of the ice (that is, both the part in the water and the part sticking up) should be exactly equal to the original weight of the water that became ice, but the volume is greater. IIRC my boating physics, for a solid to float, it must displace a volume of liquid water whose weight is equal to the weight of the solid object. So, that would mathematically indicate that the volume of ice above the surface has to be equal to the change in volume as the water became a solid, and that as it reverts to liquid, and shrinks, it will occupy the exact same volume as the submerged ice did. I think.

    2. Re:So what? by k1e0x · · Score: 1

      Pretty sure, I mean.. when you melt an ice cube in a glass of water, the water level remains the same. The reason ice floats is as water is frozen it expands and is therefore is less dense than water around it, but the amount of water displaced being solid or liquid is the same. Least as far as I know.

      --
      Bringing liberty to the masses. - http://freetalklive.com/
    3. Re:So what? by NeutronCowboy · · Score: 1

      I think it might even be that the amount of ice that sticks up out of the water is exactly proportional to the increase in volume that the water experiences as it solidifies - this would make sense, because the total weight of the ice (that is, both the part in the water and the part sticking up) should be exactly equal to the original weight of the water that became ice, but the volume is greater.


      100% right.

      --
      Those who can, do. Those who can't, sue.
    4. Re:So what? by againjj · · Score: 1

      Correct, assuming that the ice is floating in the water. In other words, the water level of water containing floating ice will not change if all that ice melts.

      The prediction of rising sea levels is based on the fact that a lot of ice is sitting on land. If the ice on lands melts and runs into the ocean, it will raise the sea level. Nothing is being removed from the ocean to compensate for the addition.

  78. The photo... by jessecurry · · Score: 1

    The photo shown in this story was taken nowhere near the north pole and is undated, why is it even there?

    --
    Those who know, do not speak. Those who speak, do not know. ~Lao Tzu
  79. Re:bullshit by lostokie · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Try to reconcile An Inconvenient Truth with the IPCC AR4. Do you notice any differences? Al Gore is a comedic hyperbolic snake oil salesman who's made millions from his carbon credit companies. He tells the world to live in poverty and cut their CO2 footprint while taking private planes around the world, holding multiple homes which uses a magnitude more electricity than the national average, and then having the gal to take a small SUV fleet everywhere he goes while telling us to ride a bicycle.


    So no, the scientists do not back him up. And I have the UN IPCC document to back me up. What do you have?

  80. Buy land in Alaska.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If the Earth keeps warming significantly, I intend to buy a bunch of coastal land in Alaska, where someday soon it will become prime temperate oceanfront property when all the rich folks want to migrate to up there.

  81. Re:bullshit by lostokie · · Score: 1

    The problem is that Al Gore's information is so full of hyperbole and outright lies, he discredits the actual science. To understand just how full of shit he is, compare his works with the IPCC's.

  82. Global Warming is Unfalsifiable by z-j-y · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Global Warming is unfalsifiable. No matter what happens, the experts will find it supporting global warming. Can they give us ONE possible event that can falsify Global Warming? Nope. Can you imagine any event that could convince the experts to drop their theory? Nope.

  83. Re:Why is this even being debated? by Anonymous+Brave+Guy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If you truly think that modern "science" isn't influenced at all by politics, you really need to read about what happened behind the scenes before that IPCC report was published. You could start by looking at the legal action some of the scientists named as contributors took to try to get their names removed because they didn't want to be associated with it. Then you could look at the funding arrangements for the strongest supporters.

    I'm not saying the phenomenon of global warming is completely made up. I'm not saying we shouldn't be watching what's happening, considering our role in it, and adjusting our behaviour if necessary. Nowhere did I say any of these things, despite what several knee-jerk respondents seem to think I wrote.

    What I am saying is that we shouldn't panic over every little story about something this year being different to something last year, and go all hyper as if the world is about to end. As others have noted, the possibility of global warming has been on the scientific radar for decades. If it is such a great and immediate threat to humanity, the scientific community has been remarkably restrained for an awfully long time given that suddenly this is the top item on the agenda and they are falling over themselves to tell us how much trouble we are in. The science didn't change that quickly; remember, the IPCC report was essentially a huge survey paper, not a whole load of original research that told us we'd been off by orders of magnitude in our previous knowledge and modelling or something. What changed quickly was the politics.

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  84. Re:bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Because the sources of his information are in fact qualified climate scientists?

  85. Fixed It For You by dwye · · Score: 1

    I wonder how much longer skiing/snowboarding will be a sport. I feel sorry for future generations that may never have the chance to fly down a mountain at mach 3 with a board strapped to their feet, until they crash into a tree or run off a cliff, and kill themselves.

    There. Fixed it for you.

    Remember Sonny Bono! Remember what's-his-name Kennedy!

  86. Watch by Bj�rn · · Score: 1

    You should be able to watch what happens from webcams near the Nort Pole station. Now, if the North Pole does melt you you won't see much anymore from those cams, of cause.

    --
    Never express yourself more clearly than you are able to think. --Niels Bohr
  87. Sure it's falsifiable. . . by JSBiff · · Score: 1

    All you'd need to show is a trend that, over time, the average temperature of the atmosphere and ocean is dropping, or at least stable. It might also help to show stable or increasing glacier masses (over a large collection of glaciers distributed all over the world, and over a somewhat large period of time - doesn't have to be stable in a one year cycle - one would *expect* glaciers to shrink during 'summer' [which is going to differ between northern and southern hemisphere's, of course], and grow back during the winter - but at least over the course of a decade or two).

    1. Re:Sure it's falsifiable. . . by z-j-y · · Score: 1

      Nice try, kid. A 10-year cooling won't disprove Global Warming either.

      http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/04/30/eaclimate130.xml

  88. I for one... by tjstork · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Welcome my new algae plankton cod fishing baby seal thank god the bears are gone overlord masters!

    --
    This is my sig.
    1. Re:I for one... by fm6 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Cod? Probably gone in our lifetime. More a matter of overfishing than climate change, but it's all the same if you like fish.

      I hope you like krill. Cause that's probably gonna be it for seafood.

  89. N. Pole melts while the S. pole grows new ice... by the-matt-mobile · · Score: 1

    So, the N. Pole is growing while the S. Pole is growing new ice despite a big hole in the ozone and chiken little claims of global warming. Yep - we live on a dynamic Earth, and I'm convinced that most of these scientists don't really know jack.

  90. I bet by sigzero · · Score: 0

    I bet it doesn't even come close.

  91. Re:Why is this even being debated? by stmfreak · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Anyone who believes this isn't a man-made disaster ... shut the f&*k up.

    Alternatively, any one who would like to stop hearing opposing view points, feel free to close the browser.

    It's worth repeating, historically, the mob is often, if not always, wrong. Below is an excerpt from a speech that is well worth reading for an historical perspective:

    http://www.crichton-official.com/speech-alienscauseglobalwarming.html

    In addition, let me remind you that the track record of the consensus is nothing to be proud of. Let's review a few cases.

    In past centuries, the greatest killer of women was fever following childbirth . One woman in six died of this fever. In 1795, Alexander Gordon of Aberdeen suggested that the fevers were infectious processes, and he was able to cure them. The consensus said no. In 1843, Oliver Wendell Holmes claimed puerperal fever was contagious, and presented compelling evidence. The consensus said no. In 1849, Semmelweiss demonstrated that sanitary techniques virtually eliminated puerperal fever in hospitals under his management. The consensus said he was a Jew, ignored him, and dismissed him from his post. There was in fact no agreement on puerperal fever until the start of the twentieth century. Thus the consensus took one hundred and twenty five years to arrive at the right conclusion despite the efforts of the prominent "skeptics" around the world, skeptics who were demeaned and ignored. And despite the constant ongoing deaths of women.

    The argument can easily be made that over the last ten to twenty years we have moved from a consensus of there-is-no-warming to a consensus of global-warming. One might argue that a few determined scientists with excellent data managed this swing in just a few short years.

    But the argument can also be made that the consensus prior to global-warming was not there-is-no-warming, but rather global-cooling and trying to drive policy to prevent the coming ice age. These people have a poor track record with predictions, but always seem ready with recommendations for how to behave.

    Only history will prove them right or wrong. Prior to that, we are just running around with our hands in the air like chicken-little and demanding that massive works are undertaken to shore up the sky. Had we done this for global-cooling in the 1970s, we would have wasted a lot of money and resources.

    I would suggest that the global warming crowd make a track of predictions for average surface, ocean and atmospheric temperatures for the next ten years. They should be able to predict the average within a margin of error EACH year on the way to that goal. If they can select the measurement criteria and firmly state their predictions... then we can observe their accuracy and react accordingly as the reality of the situation unfolds.

    Up until now, all they've done is move the target.

    --
    These opinions guaranteed or your money back.
  92. Re:bullshit by blueg3 · · Score: 1

    Let me clarify. I'm not sure why people choose to have him do the speaking. He seems genuinely interested in the issue to me -- though he certainly could just be in it for the speaking fees, notoriety, etc. That doesn't mean I'd want him speaking on my behalf; he's neither a scientist nor terribly charismatic.

  93. Impossible nonsense by MSTCrow5429 · · Score: 1

    The Earth stopped warming in 1998. Even the notoriously unreliable IPCC says so. Crazy people and wild speculation doesn't make for good journalism.

    --
    Slashdot: Playing Favorites Since 1997
    1. Re:Impossible nonsense by geekoid · · Score: 1


      the IPCC is not "notoriously unreliable"
      It is, in fact, a really good study. Look at the science behind it.

      this may interest you:
      http://www.newstatesman.com/environment/2008/01/global-warming-lynas-climate

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    2. Re:Impossible nonsense by MSTCrow5429 · · Score: 1
      The IPCC is known for ejecting its luminaries, and relying almost entirely upon mediocre scientists in unrelated fields.

      I don't know what this is supposed to prove, we knew it stopped in 1998 prior to 2007.

      I'm increasingly stunned by the gullibility of those who think the "precautionary principle" is a logical course of action to follow.

      --
      Slashdot: Playing Favorites Since 1997
    3. Re:Impossible nonsense by toadlife · · Score: 2, Informative

      1998 was a statistical anomaly. If you look at the big picture you would see that.

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      I don't always use unix-like operating systems; but when I do, I prefer FreeBSD.
    4. Re:Impossible nonsense by MSTCrow5429 · · Score: 1

      A statistical anomaly in what sense? The global warming alarmists keep saying the Earths' temperature rises every year. It hasn't. One wouldn't expect it too either, as the sun cycle is in a low period, and only our oceans, which trap and then release heat, have managed to keep the Earth at a steady temperature. Around 2012, things are going to get a bit nippy.

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    5. Re:Impossible nonsense by toadlife · · Score: 1

      A statistical anomaly in what sense?

      A statistical anomaly in the sense that it was the hottest year ever recorded, and if you take out 1998 every year after 1998 was hotter than every year before 1998.

      The global warming alarmists keep saying the Earths' temperature rises every year.

      The average temperature doesn't have to be higher every year to show a long term upward trend.

      Around 2012, things are going to get a bit nippy.

      All oceans are doing so far is slowing down the long term warming term, and scientists readily admit that we don't fully understand the dynamics of what's happening with the oceans.

      --
      I don't always use unix-like operating systems; but when I do, I prefer FreeBSD.
    6. Re:Impossible nonsense by MSTCrow5429 · · Score: 1

      Why do you say that the oceans are slowing down global warming?

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    7. Re:Impossible nonsense by toadlife · · Score: 1

      Because that's was climatologists think.

      Or after further reading that's what they...thought. Oops.

      Of course I am not a climatologist. Since you apparently are one, I must ask: Why are you saying that in 2012 "things are going to get a bit nippy"?

      --
      I don't always use unix-like operating systems; but when I do, I prefer FreeBSD.
    8. Re:Impossible nonsense by MSTCrow5429 · · Score: 1

      The oceans serve as heat reservoir, and will absorb heat during high output solar cycles. Once the Sun goes into a low solar output cycle, the Earth will maintain a fairly stable temperature as the oceans return the heat to the atmosphere. Once the oceans have reached equilibrium, there will be a net loss of heat into space, and the Earth will begin to cool. This is calculated to begin in or around 2012. That's why the oceans are cooling.

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    9. Re:Impossible nonsense by toadlife · · Score: 1

      So why is it that the vast amount of climatologists disagree with you?

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    10. Re:Impossible nonsense by toadlife · · Score: 1

      s/amount/majority/

      --
      I don't always use unix-like operating systems; but when I do, I prefer FreeBSD.
    11. Re:Impossible nonsense by MSTCrow5429 · · Score: 1

      They don't. Also, you've just stepped on a landmine. Science isn't based on consensus; it's based on empiricism.

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    12. Re:Impossible nonsense by toadlife · · Score: 1

      Science isn't based on consensus; it's based on empiricism.

      I agree. And theories are not disproved by single data points, like the average temperature from 1998.

      --
      I don't always use unix-like operating systems; but when I do, I prefer FreeBSD.
    13. Re:Impossible nonsense by MSTCrow5429 · · Score: 1

      And they're not. Everything the proponents of anthropogenic global warming has turned out to be wrong, even as they furiously attempt to dig up some shred of science to support their claims. I suggest starting with "The World Renowned Scientists Who Stood Up Against Global Warming Hysteria, Political Persecution, and Fraud" by Canadian environmental journalist Lawrence Solomon, and the National Center for Policy Analysis' "A Global Warming Primer," http://eteam.ncpa.org/files/GlobalWarmingPrimer_low.pdf (can't figure out a way to link to a PDF on /., probably not supposed to be able to) to get a better idea of what's been going on.

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    14. Re:Impossible nonsense by toadlife · · Score: 1

      They don't.

      So, do you contend that this is part of a conspiracy to suppress the truth?

      From the link...

      The majority of climate scientists agree that global warming is primarily caused by human activities such as fossil fuel burning and deforestation.[18][19][20] The conclusion that global warming is mainly caused by human activity and will continue if greenhouse gas emissions are not reduced has been endorsed by at least 30 scientific societies and academies of science, including all of the national academies of science of the major industrialized countries. The U.S. National Academy of Sciences,[21] the American Association for the Advancement of Science,[22] and the Joint Science Academies of the major industrialized and developing nations[23] explicitly use the word "consensus" when referring to this conclusion.

      A 2004 essay by Naomi Oreskes in the journal Science reported a survey of 928 abstracts of peer-reviewed papers related to global climate change in the ISI database.[24] Oreskes stated that "Remarkably, none of the papers disagreed with the consensus position. ... This analysis shows that scientists publishing in the peer-reviewed literature agree with IPCC, the National Academy of Sciences, and the public statements of their professional societies." Benny Peiser claimed to have found flaws in Oreskes' work,[25] but his attempted refutation is disputed[26][27][28] and has not been published in a peer-reviewed journal. Peiser later withdrew parts of his criticism,[29] also commenting that "the overwhelming majority of climatologists is agreed that the current warming period is mostly due to human impact. However, this majority consensus is far from unanimous."[27][30]

      --
      I don't always use unix-like operating systems; but when I do, I prefer FreeBSD.
    15. Re:Impossible nonsense by MSTCrow5429 · · Score: 1

      Er, ok, so it autolinked it...manually inputting the URL didn't work.

      --
      Slashdot: Playing Favorites Since 1997
    16. Re:Impossible nonsense by toadlife · · Score: 1

      How about something to support your position that is not from a conservative think tank?

      --
      I don't always use unix-like operating systems; but when I do, I prefer FreeBSD.
    17. Re:Impossible nonsense by MSTCrow5429 · · Score: 1

      Um, have you ever tried editing that section on Wikipedia? I've done extensive battle on the Oreskes issue, and I eventually left Wikipedia over the kind of iron-fisted censorship that is Wikipedia. I don't think Wikipedia is part of any conspiracy; it simply is controlled by very bad people, and there are no checks and balances. Wikipedia is simply wrong on that, and trying to add multiple, independent sources opposing it will only result in immediate deletion. If you want, you can poke through the page history.

      --
      Slashdot: Playing Favorites Since 1997
    18. Re:Impossible nonsense by MSTCrow5429 · · Score: 1

      I mentioned a book written by a Canadian enviro who has some weird, socialistic ideas about things. Your question also evinces a lack of concern for facts, and a preference for ideology.

      --
      Slashdot: Playing Favorites Since 1997
    19. Re:Impossible nonsense by toadlife · · Score: 1

      I realize that attacking sources is not logically sound, but when every anti-global warming argument seems to come from or be promoted only by politically motivated sources, it's hard not to be skeptical.

      --
      I don't always use unix-like operating systems; but when I do, I prefer FreeBSD.
    20. Re:Impossible nonsense by MSTCrow5429 · · Score: 1

      I know what you mean. Almost all the guys screaming about anthropogenic global warming have huge financial stakes in it, either through investments in "alternative" energy programs, or through government and Left-wing institutional grants.

      --
      Slashdot: Playing Favorites Since 1997
  94. Re:bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    because Al Gore is screaming the loudest. Come to think of it, he's just like a slashdot troll.

  95. Hard to believe by Orig_Club_Soda · · Score: 1

    Considering many places are having record ice GROWTH
    http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2007/10/antarctica-ice-cap-growth-reaches.html

    1. Re:Hard to believe by z-j-y · · Score: 1

      It does not work that way. It's up to the experts to pick the arbitrary anecdotal events that supports the theory sentimentally. If you do it, you are just a stupid whore of big oil companies who doesn't know anything about scientific methods.

    2. Re:Hard to believe by Orig_Club_Soda · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      Hate much?

      What do you mean "it doesn't work that way?" Those are satellite images. Or don't you believe in science?

      As for a whore to the oil companies ... HAHAHAHAHA you are insane. Maybe you should *use the scientific method* rather that regugitate profiteering propaganda. People like Al Gore made their money form oil (look it up) and now they are making money off of global warming. It's fucking religion.
      http://www.alabamawx.com/?p=7509

    3. Re:Hard to believe by statemachine · · Score: 1

      Considering many places are having record ice GROWTH

      MYTH: Antarctica is getting cooler, not warmer, disproving global warming

      Read the whole article.

    4. Re:Hard to believe by geekoid · · Score: 1

      this is expected due to increased precipitation.

      The parts that are near the ocean are melting.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  96. wait. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    how is this bad for us?

  97. Mars. by ScentCone · · Score: 1

    Where did the ice go?

    It's now all at the north pole of Mars. What, does nobody read the other articles here?

    --
    Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
  98. Re:Why is this even being debated? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    God. Sincerely, Nietzsche.

  99. Re:Why is this even being debated? by semiotec · · Score: 2, Insightful

    "remarkably restrained for an awfully long time"?

    Hahahahahaha!

    from the summary:
    "Recent evidence released is showing the North Pole ice is melting at the highest rate ever recorded. As a result, the Pole may be completely ice-free at the surface and composed of nothing but open water by September. "

    This is restrained? this is about as strong a warning as it gets. The reason it doesn't sound like someone screaming from the top of their lungs is because scientists are supposed to report facts, interpretation and predictions.

    Unless you mean _you_ can't tell that they are being serious about it, that you need the kind of sensational titles from those weekly celebrity magazines, like "Is Arctic Melting Again?!!! Scientists Say We Will All Die Next Year!"

    By the time you feel their warning is sufficiently dire, it's already too late to do anything about it. Don't worry, it's not that much longer to go.

    There have been plenty of dire predictions, but it's never going to enough for people who stick fingers in their ears and pretend they can't hear anything they don't want to hear.

    You know, just because there are two sides to the debate, doesn't mean the answer is somewhere in the middle. Sometimes, one side is just completely wrong.

  100. Re:bullshit by dwye · · Score: 1

    > often scientific ideas are presented by non-scientists,
    > but then, at least, they should be chosen for their charisma.

    What if he WAS? Do you think that climate researchers are any more charismatic than the rest of us, here?

    Remember, these are the meteorologists who couldn't get their TV job, even in the smallest markets. :-)

  101. Re:Why is this even being debated? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I despise the way assholes like you go around pretending that every major climate scientist in the world is a liar, or that all funding is tied to a particular outcome.

    It's bullshit. Complete and total fucking bullshit.

    Grow the fuck up, you right-wing twat.

  102. World flood in relation to Religion by ChrisDavi · · Score: 1

    Technically, if the world was to flood, then Religion would not be based on the Bible, And then the Bible would not exist.

  103. Global warming is a fact by Snaller · · Score: 1

    It's not under debate by the real scientists. Funny people still try to spin that.

    --
    If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating
    1. Re:Global warming is a fact by Mesa+MIke · · Score: 1

      No True Scotsman would disagree with you.

    2. Re:Global warming is a fact by Anonymous+Brave+Guy · · Score: 1

      To a real scientist, every issue is always subject to debate. Falsifiability is a key part of the scientific method.

      --
      If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
    3. Re:Global warming is a fact by Snaller · · Score: 1

      I know, but there comes a time where for all practical purposes you have to stop being metaphysical and accept that that cigar IS a cigar.

      --
      If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating
  104. Re:bullshit by Mesa+MIke · · Score: 1

    Because he's not Bush.

  105. Old news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Has anyone thought that this is just the planet recovering from the ice age?

    Gee, I've only heard that theory about a thousand fucking times from the oil companies and people in the Republican party.

    The biggest debate about global warming is in regards to "Natural vs. Man-made". So yeah, people have thought about it.

  106. Re:bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Because Al Gore is only the messenger passing on the information that climatologists have already discerned. Al Gore is not coming up with crackpot theories to try and discredit conventional scientific wisdom.

  107. Or by Snaller · · Score: 1

    They could just mod you down instead!

    --
    If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating
  108. Mod Parent Up!!!! by geoffrobinson · · Score: 2, Insightful

    So even global warming backers say global warming is in hiatus but they'll point to this as proof of global warming. Which they admitted is in hiatus.

    --
    Except for ending slavery, the Nazis, communism, & securing American independence, war has never solved anything.
  109. Flamebait? Only to the humor-impaired... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It never ceases to amaze me how many useful idiots mod posts at Slashdot.

    1. Re:Flamebait? Only to the humor-impaired... by iwein · · Score: 2, Funny

      Well I know flamebait when I see it, don't you be callin' me humor impaired, you twat!

      --
      Show a man some news, distract him for an hour. Show a man some mod points, distract him for the rest of his life.
    2. Re:Flamebait? Only to the humor-impaired... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And useless idiots, too.

    3. Re:Flamebait? Only to the humor-impaired... by iwein · · Score: 1

      Thanks, I didn't think you'd notice!

      --
      Show a man some news, distract him for an hour. Show a man some mod points, distract him for the rest of his life.
  110. Yes but it will freeze again.. it is summer. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Global warming is a scam.
    Weather Channel Founder Wants To Sue Al Gore For Global Warming Fraud
    http://www.infowars.com/?p=805
    http://media.kusi.clickability.com/documents/Global+Warming+is+a+Scam1.pdf
    CO2 is a life giving element not a poison.
    http://home.earthlink.net/~root.man/warming.html

  111. Re:bullshit by rezalas · · Score: 2, Informative

    Then please, please tell me why anyone thinks Al Gore is remotely relevant on the issue of climate change!!!

    Perhaps because Al Gore has stated sources for all his information, which comes from climatologists. Unlike every bit of anti-global warming data, which is usually a non-climatologist quoting either himself or someone he knows (also not a climatologist). Why are people so willingly ignorant to issues that could easily come to the end result of the extinction of our species? Do Oil tycoons not realize that they will DIE like the rest of us? Its not a "poor humans will become extinct" thing, its a "money won't save your greedy ass from suffocation" thing.

  112. Re:Why is this even being debated? by Anonymous+Brave+Guy · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I think you misunderstand me. They (both the politians and much of the scientific community) are indeed making rather dramatic statements today.

    Given that little new research has become available in the past couple of years, and given the decades of research we already had on the subject, it is surprising then that such similarly dramatic statements were not being picked up until quite recently. If so much of the scientific community agrees so unanimously that this is such a great threat, why did it take a failed presidential candidate making a flawed film to put this issue seriously on the political radar?

    Of course, one could (and several in this discussion have) just as well point out that the total amount of ice up there is actually higher this year than last year. Should we infer from this that global warming was all just a red herring? Of course not. It's just another small piece in a very large jigsaw, and sensationalising it does no-one any favours.

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  113. Re:bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't call a plumber when I'm sick; I don't ask an M.D.'s opinion on climate change.

    Then please, please tell me why anyone thinks Al Gore is remotely relevant on the issue of climate change!!!

    He isn't representing his own research, but scientific research. He just uses his influence to get scientists heard and to give people a face to talk/listen to.

  114. Re:Why is this even being debated? by shadowofwind · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This is exactly right.

    Defense contractors and Republicans get hype terrorism, environmental scientists and Democrats hype climate change. Both threats are real, but the dialogue is severely distorted and misleading. Its all about power and money.

  115. Short span by Ceiynt · · Score: 1

    According to the Yahoo report this morning, the North Pole will be ice free for the first time in human history. Really? People were recording the ice flows 6-10-25 thousand years ago? We've only been a full scale sea exploring people for ~500 years. The first man reached the north pole in what, the early 1900's?! Wow, first time in human history the north pole is water. There are ancient Roman port towns that are over 1 mile from the current shore line. How do global warming experts explain that? That was 2000 years ago. Obviously, the ice caps were much smaller back then, for the ports to be a mile from sea.

    1. Re:Short span by Codifex+Maximus · · Score: 1

      Ceiynt said:
      "The first man reached the north pole in what, the early 1900's?!"
      Back then you could walk; looks like today you'll be swimming.

      "There are ancient Roman port towns that are over 1 mile from the current shore line."
      Silting up and earthquakes.

      --
      Codifex Maximus ~ In search of... a shorter sig.
  116. Check out his bio by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    I don't call a plumber when I'm sick; I don't ask an M.D.'s opinion on climate change.

    Then please, please tell me why anyone thinks Al Gore is remotely relevant on the issue of climate change!!!

    If you'd watched "An Inconvenient Truth", you'd have known he has been interested in the environment since taking classes with professor Roger Revelle who was a frontrunner in the field of climatology.

    1. Re:Check out his bio by stewbacca · · Score: 1

      Yeah, so what. I was interested in volcanoes as a kid growing up in the Northwest and surviving Mt. St. Helens. Doesn't mean I did a damned thing remotely related to volcanoes since.

  117. movie quoting... ur doint it rong! by fmobus · · Score: 2, Informative

    right quote is: "nuke it from orbit. Is the only way to be sure"

  118. North Pole Ice On Track To Melt By September? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    REALLY take a look at Georgie Carlton he says the planet is OK and is here to stay so this is bunk and needs to be stopped being placed on here by whacked out guys North Pole Ice will not melt at all this is so FREAKING STUPID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  119. Awesome! by Zwicky · · Score: 2, Funny

    North Pole Ice On Track To Melt By September?

    A project that is on schedule! Somebody is in for a pay rise.

    Oh wait, that was a question. Nevermind, I'm sure I can bring the project to schedule if I work evenings and weekends for the next three months. I'll be in my cubicle hatching evil plans if anybody needs me.

    --
    "Three eyes are better than one" -- Lieutenant Columbo
  120. sorry your misinformed... by tempest69 · · Score: 3, Interesting
    It wasnt healthcare.. it was massive doses of DDT kill the mosquitos for a few years and malaria disappears.. repopulate the area with bugs that don't carry malaria and it goes away..

    Mammals are a huge reservoir of the disease, all the medicine in the world wont clear the disease from an area..

    Storm

    1. Re:sorry your misinformed... by jd · · Score: 1

      Massive doses of DDT also kill all the humans, which also reduces the level of malaria. At least, in humans.

      --
      It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
  121. Re:bullshit by sumdumass · · Score: 1

    But he lost to bush so knowing more gets discounted.

  122. Re:bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    1) It's not having access to the information, it's how it's being interpreted. These climatologists you speak of think they understand and can control a complex system like the world's climate.

    So, what makes a bad fiction writer (who is *not* a climatologist) better able to interpret the data than the thousands of climatologists he disagrees with?

  123. Re:bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't call a plumber when I'm sick; I don't ask an M.D.'s opinion on climate change.

    Do you ask a plumber?

  124. Re:Why is this even being debated? by Anonymous+Brave+Guy · · Score: 1

    You have to admire the politics of fear. Aside from perhaps the politics of envy, it is the most unprincipled way to make a case for anything. And yet it is spectacularly successful. You can convince people who don't know any better to support you without having to make any factual arguments. You can label anyone who opposes you a threat, so that again people who don't know any better will therefore be suspicious, and since it's impossible to prove a negative, it is hard for the opposition to defend themselves robustly in such an environment (unless they can appeal to a greater fear). Since on any given specialist subject, inevitably most people won't know much about the details, you can turn an entire population's view on a subject with nothing but oratory, regardless of how much factual evidence supports or opposes your case.

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    If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
  125. Re:bullshit by LWATCDR · · Score: 1

    Why not. Many people value the opinion of people with far weaker science backgrounds about the safety of nuclear power plants.

    --
    See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
  126. Over fishing? by Filter · · Score: 1

    Could just be over fishing, my uncle went out ice fishing and caught 72 pounds. I think that is totally unreasonable myself.

    --

    "better ways of doing things eventually just replace the inferior things" - Linus Torvalds 09-08-07

  127. Sad time for Science by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Science used to be about theories that could be falsified. Now its all about opinion and consensus. Anyone care to calculate the time constant required to melt the ice sheet on the North Pole assuming that heat is transferring from the ATMOSPHERE to the ice sheet? Daily air temps are available, the mass of the ice can be calculated. If you are a critical thinker you should do the math -- you'll find it illuminating. Better yet, do this experiment, build up a pile of ice on land in May in Miami and make it 2Km thick. Go back in September. Let me know what happened. Any thermodynamics majors out there? The only mechanism that could be at work here is transport from the ocean water to the ice sheet perhaps in combination with radiative heat transfer from the sun to the ice sheet. This is why you're not seeing the AGW Climate Scientists jumping all over this one. Rather than confirming AGW, this falsifies the global computer models. Much like the lack of tropic troposphere warming falsifies the global climate models.

    1. Re:Sad time for Science by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > Science used to be about theories that could be falsified.
      > Now its all about opinion and consensus.

      Dear intellectually bankrupt AC:

      The consensus comes from testing theories that could be falsified and haven't been. The consensus on gravity (which I'd like to invite you to ignore off the edge of a cliff) works the same way.

      Sheesh! Who let all the stupid Bush/Exxon spambots loose on /.?

  128. Re:bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Who does?

  129. Water World? by TW+Burger · · Score: 2, Funny

    Does this mean Kevin Costner gets forgiven for that movie?

  130. Re:bullshit by blueg3 · · Score: 1

    Funny, yes, but many climatologists are physicists.

    I have limited first-hand experience that climate researchers are dull, yes. The original complaint was that he wasn't a climate researcher. I figure the information should be presented by an expert who is actively researching in field or someone who's charismatic. Both would be great, but as you said, hard to find.

  131. Russian claim by moosesocks · · Score: 1

    1) What bearing (if) anything does this have on Russia's controversial territorial claim of the region?

    2) Is there oil? (Serious question)

    --
    -- If you try to fail and succeed, which have you done? - Uli's moose
  132. Amazing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It is absolutely amazing how easily people are being deceived by this global warming nonsense. It is probably going to lead to an economic breakdown throughout the world. The ridiculous constraints on people and industry would be the cause. When you are starving in the streets as a result of this, it will be your fault only and so be it. I personally have prepared for such a possible calamity. A godless people fall into this kind of trap.

  133. glass is half-full by jdcope · · Score: 1

    Loss of cropland? How about GAINING cropland? In places like northern Canada. What was permafrost, is now agriculture.

    1. Re:glass is half-full by HJED · · Score: 1

      two words ICE AGE I don't think an ice age will give you ANY more cropland

      --
      null
    2. Re:glass is half-full by fm6 · · Score: 1
    3. Re:glass is half-full by jdcope · · Score: 1

      So its an ice age now? What happened to global warming? I am really losing track of the hysteria....

    4. Re:glass is half-full by jdcope · · Score: 1

      Sorry, I hadnt read that one when I posted. But thank you net nazi...now go out and play.

    5. Re:glass is half-full by sleigher · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The warming of the planet melts ice. That water can stop the conveyor in the Atlantic Ocean that warms the northern hemisphere. When the northern hemisphere cools it will result in an ice age. This is what they mean when they say the climate is fragile and even a few degree change can be catastrophic for humans. So the result of global warming can be an ice age.

      --
      All points of time and space are connected.
    6. Re:glass is half-full by neumayr · · Score: 1

      *blink*
      Wow.
      As someone who's been told about global warming since kindergarten 23 years ago, I might be.. indoctrinated and therefor biased.
      But really, how can you dismiss global warming as hysteria? Especially as you clearly haven't even considered the possibility - if you had, you'd know how an higher average global tempature could lead to an ice age.
      The possible grave consequences of global warming that keep being published alone should make everyone at least somewhat interested imho, but dismissing the whole thing is just... sorry, I can't come up with a fitting euphemism right now - braindead.

      --
      Truth arises more readily from error than from confusion. -Francis Bacon
    7. Re:glass is half-full by uniquegeek · · Score: 1

      "That's happening, but nuclear winter will cancel it out."

      Paraphrased.

    8. Re:glass is half-full by jdcope · · Score: 1

      I didnt dismiss it. Sure the temp has gone up...an average of one degree over the last 100 years IIRC. The hysteria is thinking that humans caused it, or that we can do anything about it. This planet has always taken care of itself. And us trying to screw with it will surely mess things up, and ultimately end in our demise.

    9. Re:glass is half-full by jdcope · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The thing that kills me with all this, is that since I was in kindergarten (about 35 years ago), I was taught to think for myself, not to follow. And today, it seems kids are taught to be sheep. And everyone seems to be following along like good little lemmings with this global warming thing. Then when some scientist (who is just as qualified as the rest) trys to question the status quo, he is marginalized and run out of town. Loses his job, his credentials. Its sick.

    10. Re:glass is half-full by fm6 · · Score: 1

      I only sent you that link because I didn't feel like responding to the same post twice (or, as I said to the other poster, for the thousandth time). But judging from your response, I shouldn't even have bothered to do that. Why think when you can insult?

  134. Re:Why is this even being debated? by Anonymous+Brave+Guy · · Score: 1

    Only history will prove them right or wrong. Prior to that, we are just running around with our hands in the air like chicken-little and demanding that massive works are undertaken to shore up the sky.

    No, we're doing more than that. We are also diverting resources and attention away from other worthy goals. A lot more people are currently dying of preventable causes or suffering reduced quality of life than the worst predictions suggest global warming will affect a long way into the future. In many parts of the world, secure food and water supplies, reliable shelter from the elements, basic sanitation and elementary medicine are still rare.

    I hope that if nothing else, the current emphasis on fighting climate change will serve the same role as things like space exploration and military research have in the past: acting as a catalyst for research that is useful in other areas, such as more efficient use of natural resources, methods of power generation that are sustainable in the long term, and earlier detection of and more robust defence against environmental disasters like the tsunamis and earthquakes we see all too frequently in some areas.

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  135. Re:bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't call a plumber when I'm sick; I don't ask an M.D.'s opinion on climate change.

    So you call a plumber about climate change? Cool.

  136. maybe the US Army should... by nx6310 · · Score: 0

    start considering what all the emissions its causing by waging wars against the third world is doing to the climate, in Iraqi alone it has devastated the natural habitat and increased sound dunes and the green house effect by at least 30 times more prior to the war.

  137. It depends by JSBiff · · Score: 1

    A ten year cooling period proves that the globe cooled for 10 years. It's perfectly correct to say that during that 10 year period, we experienced global cooling. It might be that after that 10 year period, the globe then experienced another period of global warming. The thing about trends is, it always depends on what time frame you are actually interested in. One could go to the other extreme, and look at the last X thousand years of global history, say, from the peak of the last warm period, through the ice age, and up to the present and say that during that time frame, there is no average global warming or cooling, and that would be correct too.

    The fact is, we know the earth is warming, because that is based on verifiable observations. You can't falsify observations. Now, there is something else also called Global Warming, which is the theory that man is *causing* the Earth to warm. That's a lot tougher nut, but there has to be a way to falsify that theory. One thing we can say is that the theory of Man-made Global Warming is based on the theory that certain gasses, which are released by man into the atmosphere, trap heat. That is a falsifiable theory, which has not been falsified. Experiments have indicated that the hypothesis that Carbon Dioxide, Methane, and other gasses trap heat in the atmosphere. There is another theory, that plants and other types of life forms (I think algeas and other lifeforms in the ocean) remove Carbon Dioxide, in particular, from the atmosphere, and that is a falsifiable theory. Since we know that mankind is, overall, reducing the surface area of the planet that is densely populated by plants, we can say, not absolutely surely, and possibly not falsifiable, but with with a high degree of confidence, that the earth's ability to reduce Carbon Dioxide is reduced from what it could do in the past (there is still the matter of the oceans; it may be possible that, even though the plantlife on the surface is not removing as much CO2 as it used to, maybe the ocean is removing more than it used to).

    My point is, that while the big, complex 'puzzle' that is a theory like global warming, maybe cannot be falsified as a whole, you can certainly falsify the constituent pieces of the theory. If you have not been able to experimentally falsify the pieces (which are falsifiable), then the most reasonable assumption is that the theory is correct, until you have some concrete evidence or theory to show why the theory was not, in fact, correct.

    That said, we should not commit economic suicide because of fear of global warming. As far as I can tell, the only reason people who are 'anti-global warming' even care about the issue is that they fear that we will enact regulations which will have a harmful effect on the economy, without really having a need to. The way I see it, global warming is, to some extent, a long term issue, and we should be thinking about long term solutions. We absolutely should be continuing to pour resources into energy research (e.g. improved designs for solar power, wind, fission, fusion, biomass - we need to explore every possibility to find cleaner, renewable energy), research into efficiency/consumption reduction, etc.

    We shouldn't deny global warming, when there is so much evidence for the theory, but we also shouldn't make drastic bad choices that impoverish people, out of fear of global warming.

    1. Re:It depends by Codifex+Maximus · · Score: 1

      JSBiff said:
      "A ten year cooling period proves that the globe cooled for 10 years."

      Ok, so the implication is that the globe cooled over a 10 year period. However, the Arctic Polar Icecap has pretty much been steadily melting.

      I would compare such a condition with my ice-cold glass of coke. As the ice melts, it absorbs heat.

      My five minute hypothesis...

      --
      Codifex Maximus ~ In search of... a shorter sig.
  138. Re:bullshit by orzetto · · Score: 5, Interesting

    These climatologists you speak of think they understand and can control a complex system like the world's climate.

    Well, what would have given them all that hubris? Possibly scientific education and specialisation? Years spent studying the planet's climate?

    Crichton is correct that complex systems are not simple [...]

    Well no shit Sherlock.

    [...] and [Crichton is correct that complex systems] cannot controlled.

    As a PhD in control theory, I can solemnly declare you a charlatan. Space shuttles are controlled. Nuclear fission reactions are controlled (and they are both nonlinear and unstable). Hell even chaotic systems are controlled. And I am supposed to believe a Sci-Fi writer that has been called a moron by every competent climatologist that hey, you can't help complex stuff? I don't believe in penis-enlargement pills, therefore I don't believe in Michael Crichton.

    Your foolish statement may be reworded as "Since you cannot understand a system as complex as the human body, you cannot possibly cure people".

    Watch the video, he explains it better than I can: [...]

    You know, I have this sick, sad habit of looking at politically incorrect sites. Nazis, racists, holocaust deniers—it's a little philosophical exercise, to think how the would would be absurd if these retards actually were right. There is however a line to draw, and Crichton, in that video, passed it after five minutes, when he said that Chernobyl was not really that much of a disaster because only "50 people died". Such a claim indicates a spectacular level of intellectual dishonesty: he's counting only the firefighters who died in the accident, and since nobody traced the isotopes, well, all those malformed children born in Belarus, all those cases of thyroid cancer, they could all just be a statistical anomaly, right? And that's only counting deaths, the really alarming numbers are the people who develop conditions because of the poisoning: in the Ukraine alone, the authorities estimate that 2.4 millions people were affected by the radiation. Note that Ukraine did not even get most of the fallout, Belarus did.

    Well, that's enough to make up my mind for now: he's a shill paid by industry lobbyists to deliver lies. Call me up when they actually find a climatologist backing him up.

    --
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  139. Re:bullshit by frogzilla · · Score: 1

    Chricton is, in some sense that I don't truly understand, a good writer of fiction. Nothing more, nothing less.

  140. u=bucket 0 fail by zogger · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "polar ice maximum"--that is the *date* of the thickest ice, end of winter ice forming season. Calendar dates are not thick (or thin). FWIW, they reckon mid march this past winter for the polar ice maximum at the north pole. If you mean extent, it was marginally larger than last year, but still way below average and most of it is "young" ice, and it is already melting rapidly. Old ice-ice that has survived past one season- has been steadily dropping for some time now. That's the thick heavy duty stuff that hangs in there and really helps with climate moderation and circulation, but there is less of it every year now. Once it is all young ice, it will be ice free every summer, more or less completely. If that happens, the next goi go is the tundra, and if the tundra goes all melty, 100 zillion cubic metric fucktons of methane start to be released-then all bets are off. The climate modelers gauges only go to 10 ;)

    Not that I am a proponent of the 100% man made global climate change theory, I am not, and I am completely against the total scam carbon trading massive wealth skimming industry and huge government power grabs being pushed as the "war on carbon", when we all need and use carbon, no way around that. But I am a proponent of the climate change theory of man made simultaneously with naturally occurring cyclic and solar output variable. IMO, it is *all of the above*, all the time now, but I also support a real fast shutdown (within a decade or so) of the heavy pollution from coal and oil, a fast weaning off those sources, (I certainly think the big oil guys and big coal guys have made enough for now, time for the planets money to go elsewhere and to eliminate threat of war over those resources) and a global mega project to go to renewables and decentralized power and individual ownership as much as possible. I am against massive air and water pollution just to perpetuate global energy cartel vendor lockin. If such a switch helps to moderate climate change for the better, that's frosting.

  141. Underwater Volcanoes Melt Ice! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    what the propagandists aren't telling you is that there are UNDERWATER VOLCANOES erupting in the Artic. Hmmmm wouldn't that cause ice to melt?

    1. Re:Underwater Volcanoes Melt Ice! by argent · · Score: 1

      URL? Or did you hear this from Dr Evil?

  142. Science. It works. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
  143. My computer doesn't use electricity! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I use a laptop and run it off the battery as much as possible, so most of the time it doesn't use any electricity.

    1. Re:My computer doesn't use electricity! by IRIGHTI · · Score: 1

      hahahahahaha.................hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha Funniest thing I've heard in a very long time. "My laptop runs off the battery most of the time so it doesn't use much electricity....hahahahaha

  144. Re:bullshit by stewbacca · · Score: 1

    Why are people so willingly ignorant to issues that could easily come to the end result of the extinction of our species?

    1. Because that is ridiculous hyperbole.

    2. Even if we are the main contributing force behind climate change, no amount of conservation will cause a reversal in the current climate change trends, short of shutting down nearly every energy source on the planet, shutting down all factories and eradicating all internal combustion engines...notice, that's a BIG if.

  145. Re:bullshit by statemachine · · Score: 1

    no amount of conservation will cause a reversal in the current climate change trends

    While you say "reversal" and that is technically correct, you are obviously using this to avoid any action at all based on your own ridiculous hyperbole:

    short of shutting down nearly every energy source on the planet, shutting down all factories and eradicating all internal combustion engines...notice, that's a BIG if.

    MYTH: We can't do anything about climate change.

    Get off your lazy butt.

  146. Oh noes! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Even though climates worldwide have been in flux since the creation of the planet and we have developed tools in the last 100 years to measure the climate and its changed by half a percent we should all panic and believe that we are causing it and save the planet!!!

    what ever will will dooooo????? :P

    And YES i'm posting anonymously because I'm tired of hearing it all....

    AAAND yes, the run-on was definitely intentional.

  147. Re:bullshit by MrHanky · · Score: 1

    No one is pointing to Al Gore as an authority on the subject. He's merely a political spokesperson, and the most prominent. He didn't invent the data or the interpretation thereof himself, and never claimed he did. What he did was to make the arguments available to the masses, to make a difference. Which, if he believes he's right, is the right thing to do (even if he's wrong: it's not like any measure that will destroy the world economy is going to happen by political decision anyway -- they don't have that kind of power).

  148. Hard to say by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I dont't know if is on track, here is the chart comparing today with the last 6 years.
    From the chart is difficult to say if we are or not on track.

    http://www.ijis.iarc.uaf.edu/en/home/seaice_extent.htm

  149. Re:Why is this even being debated? by statemachine · · Score: 1

    Yes, absolutely. Instead of believing the propaganda from Big Oil that nothing is wrong, we should instead believe in the propaganda from political interests attempting to divert our attention from other matters and scientific communities whose funding is dependent on the support of those political interests that our doom is upon us and we must stop doing anything.

    MYTH: It's all a conspiracy

  150. What's Going on here? by Stevenovitch · · Score: 1

    Their predictions were wrong. It's melting faster than anyone anticipated. That's fine, how does this get to "it's exactly what we said was gonna happen but worse!" when it should be "we were wrong and we obviously don't have an accurate way of predicting these things."

  151. Re:Why is this even being debated? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Anyone who believes this isn't a man-made disaster has their speaking privileges taken away. Put on your dunce caps, go sit in the corner and shut the f&*k up.

    Yes, absolutely. Instead of believing the propaganda from Big Oil that nothing is wrong, we should instead believe in the propaganda from political interests attempting to divert our attention from other matters and scientific communities whose funding is dependent on the support of those political interests that our doom is upon us and we must stop doing anything.

    In no way will this turn out to be the same as most issues in popular science, where there is an underlying trend that we should consider changing, but whose likely effects will not be fully understood without much more research and in any case will occur subtly over a period of many years.

    I've never heard anyone that is concerned about he climate say that we should stop funding good science. What most people seem to say is that we should reduce our consumption of for instance fossil fuel, chopping down forests, damaging important wildlife areas and "stupid left-wing-crap" like that.

    I have no dire need for a 52" plasma tv, a hummer, 20 intercontinental planeflights each year. If you need that to be happy, you really should talk to a psychologist.

    What we need is more research into biology, renewable energy and disease control. Not to mention that we really should start thinking about how many people it is wise to keep trapped on this planet we share with billions of other creatures.

  152. Re:Why is this even being debated? by NeutronCowboy · · Score: 2, Insightful

    But the argument can also be made that the consensus prior to global-warming was not there-is-no-warming, but rather global-cooling and trying to drive policy to prevent the coming ice age. These people have a poor track record with predictions, but always seem ready with recommendations for how to behave.I would suggest that the global warming crowd make a track of predictions for average surface, ocean and atmospheric temperatures for the next ten years.


    Done. Check out the old IPCC reports. They go back over 10 years. They've actually been too conservative in their estimates (i.e., their most probable prediction turned out to be too low).

    I find that you have not been paying attention to the discussion, or to the data that has been collected.

    As for the Crichton quote... that's cute, but that's complete nonsense. What he is going for is "scientists were wrong before, so they are wrong now!". It's absolute bullshit that provides zero insight into the current problem. For this reason alone, I disregard everything that Crichton says about this problem. He doesn't understand how science works, and merely derails discussions about data.

    --
    Those who can, do. Those who can't, sue.
  153. Re:N. Pole melts while the S. pole grows new ice.. by statemachine · · Score: 1

    So, the N. Pole is growing while the S. Pole is growing new ice despite a big hole in the ozone and chiken little claims of global warming.

    MYTH: Antarctica is getting cooler, not warmer, disproving global warming

    Read the whole article.

  154. Re:bullshit by techsoldaten · · Score: 1

    Whew... someone mod this guy up.

    Seriously, if the counter position to the threat of global warming has changed from denial to apathy, that's pathetic.

    M

  155. A flaw in the argument. by Ryzzen · · Score: 2, Funny

    If a car is coming towards you at 100 miles an hour and at 50ft away a phycisist says "There's a very good chance that car isn't going to stop in time, maybe you should move out of the way" do you tell him you want to be 100% sure before you move?

    Actually, I would do nothing. Not by choice, but because I wouldn't have time. If the car were traveling at 100mph, that translates to approximately 147 feet per second. Ergo, if the car were 50 feet away when the physicist began to warn me, I would be dead before he finished uttering "There's a..." So if we go by your analogy, we've been warned far too late and we're going to die anyway. Unless of course the physicist is wrong. I'm also curious as to why he's saying "Maybe you should move out of the way" rather than "LOOK OUT!!!" Typical physicists...

    1. Re:A flaw in the argument. by Anonymous+Brave+Guy · · Score: 1

      I'm also curious as to why he's saying "Maybe you should move out of the way" rather than "LOOK OUT!!!" Typical physicists...

      I believe I can help you there, with a little explanation of the mindset of modern graduates. You see, I once knew three students who shared a house during their time at university: a mathematician, a physicist, and an engineer. One night they got back home, and found that they'd left the cooker on and a small kitchen fire was starting.

      "Don't worry, I'll get it," said the engineer. He picked up the fire extinguisher by the door and unloaded it completely on the fire, putting the fire out. The students all went off to their rooms to bed, and cleared up the mess in the morning.

      The following night, they again got home to find the kitchen ablaze.

      "Don't worry, I've got this one," said the physicist. Whipping out his pocket calculator, he determined the exact direction of application and amount of foam required to put the fire out, picked up the fire extinguisher, and dealt with the problem, and the guys went off to their rooms to bed.

      The next night, someone had yet again left the power on and caused a fire.

      "Don't worry, I can work this one out," said the mathematician. "You guys go on up to bed." The scientist and the physicist departed, leaving the mathematician to look around for something he could use to put the fire out.

      The mathematician spotted the fire extinguisher, calculated that the amount of foam remaining was sufficient to put out the fire... and went to bed, happy that a solution to the problem existed.

      --
      If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
  156. Re:bullshit by Penguinisto · · Score: 1

    Well... I often find myself forced to walk among folks who would never wear the badge "geek", "intellectual" (or even "Internet User" in some cases). At the weekly farmers' markets, at a store (the ones that sell, say, auto parts as opposed to computer parts), at the train stops... places like that.


    Kind, normal people for the most part, but they have an irritating habit of only paying as much attention to the issues as can be contained in a typical evening news sound bite. So when they hear that Al Gore says this or that, they quote him at length as if he did all the work. Back when Gore (ill-advisedly) said he facilitated the Internet's birth, and world+dog took that to say that he claimed to invent the Internet, these folks (to an alarmingly large degree) took it as Gospel.


    I guess I should explain... I live in Western Oregon, where IMHO the state's political/ideological color shouldn't be blue (450â"495 nm), but ultraviolet (just past 450nm should do it...) I see more "Impeach Bush" bumper stickers on my way to work in the morning than raindrops on a typical Oregon winter's day. Think "polar opposite of Texas" here.


    And, just like in Texas, you would be amazed and frightened at what an alarming number of ordinary folks in these parts believe to be unshakeable truth...

    /P

    --
    Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
  157. Re:bullshit by XHIIHIIHX · · Score: 1

    Yeah, what's in a name anyway?

  158. Re:bullshit by XHIIHIIHX · · Score: 1

    Michael Crichton doesn't give a fuck if his project gets funded or not?

  159. Re:Why is this even being debated? by Anonymous+Brave+Guy · · Score: 1

    Please note that the post to which I replied said that climate change was (a) man-made, and (b) a disaster. I'm not sure anyone here is denying that there is robust evidence of change happening; I'm certainly not. What I object to is hysteria about how we're all going to die tomorrow or something, and to blanket statements that imply the whole deal is caused because we drive too many cars or some similarly specific claim.

    I saw a survey a few months ago where members of the public were asked their views on global warming. The overwhelming majority of them were sure it was a major problem.

    Then again, the overwhelming majority of them also:

    • failed to identify greenhouse gases correctly (most could only name CO2; in fact, water vapour is far more significant, and numerous other common chemicals contribute to the effect)
    • weren't even close on the relative contributions of greenhouse gases made by various common human activities such as different forms of transport and industrial activities (most people thought it was mostly from cars; in fact, transportation makes up less than 1/6th of man-made emissions, with power generation making the largest contribution)
    • were spectacularly incorrect about the total proportion of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere today that are generated by human activities (giving figures in the 90s of percent in some cases; in fact, less than one part in 20 of the greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are contributed by human activity, and the remainder are a result of natural cycles).

    I'm not sure why I posted all that, except perhaps to demonstrate that we should be very wary of allowing politics or popular opinion to be confused with actual science.

    --
    If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
  160. Re:Why is this even being debated? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You know, the "Moon landing hoax" people at least have a somewhat plausible conspiracy theory in as much that only a few governments could have called the bluff. Similarly the Area 51 people have a somewhat plausible one given that the alleged events did not have many observers.

    "Global Warming is a Fraud" is however so inplausible that you would have to be a complete fool to believe it. You are more or less implying that the Israelis are cooperating with the Iranians, who are together with the Chinese, Japanese, British, and Italians creating some major conspiracy, and that scientists from Brazil , Canada and Australia, are in on it too.

    Fact of teh matter is that we have an urgent problem that needs to be taken care of. Saying "a trend we should consider changing", is underestimating the evidence and seriousness of the situation to such a degree that it is hard to conclude anything other than that you have no clue what you are talking about.

  161. Re:Why is this even being debated? by statemachine · · Score: 1

    I'm not sure why I posted all that, except perhaps to demonstrate that we should be very wary of allowing politics or popular opinion to be confused with actual science.

    While that's an excellent point that I also wish would be impressed onto the general public, people take this WAY too far and just dismiss everything that doesn't fit their world view.

    It still seems you have some misinformation, or perhaps a lingering misunderstanding of Global Warming. Maybe I'm reading it wrong, but you're asserting that water vapor is more important that CO2 emissions right now.

    MYTH: CO2 isn't the most important greenhouse gas

    Here's the parent article to the article I linked for you:
    Climate change: A guide for the perplexed

    There's a whole lot of misinformation going around. I'm not trying to target you personally. If everyone linked to good articles which cite peer-reviewed research, we'd all be better off. And right now we've got people on both ends not bothering. However, just because there are also some nuts on the anthropogenic global warming side, this does not disprove Global Warming.

  162. Political test. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Well, if you are joking that would make you a libertarian. If you are serious, then you are a republican. I you had not said anything, it would make you a dem.

  163. Re:bullshit by geekoid · · Score: 1

    Fiction author, are the scientific community..who to believe..

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  164. Re:bullshit by geekoid · · Score: 1

    That's an very good point.

    Al Gore had actual facts in his book, and has been considered good by the scientists who specialize in climate change.

    All data needs to be scrutinized, and certianly know one should agree with AL Gore because he's Al Gore.

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  165. Re:bullshit by geekoid · · Score: 1

    I would like to see some examples of that.
    What lies? what Hyperbole?

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  166. Re:bullshit by geekoid · · Score: 1

    1) SO you are saying over 90% of the climatologist are wrong, but this one guy isn't? even scientists in countries whose best interest is to down play climate change?

    2) Your an idiot for thinking 1 guy can interpet the data better then the people who spcialize in it.
    His video is a joke, and has been debunks.

    3) video explains nothing. perhaps you should watch it again? This time with common sense and a knowledge of logical fallacies.

    The world is burning around us, and you people are too busy sucking anybodies dick who presents even the most ignorant 'facts'.

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  167. Jurassic Park?!? by jakel2k · · Score: 1

    Quote -- This is Unix! I know this!

    Dude... your lack of indication on the movie or the book leaves me to reference the funnier one.

  168. Study finds Arctic seabed afire with volcanoes by Ferretman · · Score: 1

    Maybe...and I know I'm going out on a limb here..it's possible that this has a little something to do with it...?

    Ferretman

    --
    Sic gorgiamus allos subjectatos nunc
  169. Re:Why is this even being debated? by geekoid · · Score: 1

    Wow, you lack of understanding science and climatology is outstanding, I mean your not even wrong.
    Well done~

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  170. Re:Why is this even being debated? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Scientific communities whose funding is dependent on the support of those political interests that our doom is upon us and we must stop doing anything.

    Scientists do not take lessons from the Bush administration and push fear to support a fiscal or political agenda. If a scientist were to come along and prove unequivocally that humans are not the cause of global warming or that the earth is not actually warming, he or she would immediately get on the short list for the Nobel. The only agenda scientists have is to get to truth.

  171. Re:bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    both sides have climatologists on their sides but they are represented by sci-fi author in one corner and a crazed politician with a power point slide show on the other.

  172. Re:Why is this even being debated? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is this too big to make into a sig?

  173. Fascinating suicidal argument by v(*_*)vvvv · · Score: 1

    So just to prove Al Gore wrong, we've resorted to alternate theories for the exact same problem. Great. Now by blaming underwater volcanoes, we can die in our oil guzzling Hummers eating cheap beef.

  174. Re:Chart in their own article doesn't support arti by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There's the text in the article:
    Seasoned polar scientists believe the chances of a totally ice-free North Pole this summer are greater than 50:50 because the normally thick ice formed over many years at the Pole has been blown away and replaced by huge swathes of thinner ice formed over a single year.
    Whether the analysis is correct, I can't say, but there are clearly more variables being taken into the account in the analysis than just looking at the raw surface area number and drawing a line.

  175. Re:bullshit by MrHanky · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Bullshit. He was always ridiculed for claiming to have "invented" the internet, even though he never said such a thing. IOW, I think you're full of shit.

  176. What about the mid-1960s? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I thought there was open water at the North Pole in 1966 or 1967.

  177. Re:bullshit by IdeaMan · · Score: 1

    I just watched that whole video.

    It's interested how steadying some hindsight is. I don't know if I'll even bother watching the news anymore after that.
    He seems to understand a little bit about Chaos or (as he calls it) Complexity theory. Kinda makes me think modeling theory as it relates to complex systems should be required for scientific/engineering disciplines.

    --
    They ARE out to get you simply because They are in it for themselves and they don't care about you.
  178. Cost of Action by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 1

    If a car is coming towards you at 100 miles an hour and at 50ft away a phycisist says "There's a very good chance that car isn't going to stop in time, maybe you should move out of the way" do you tell him you want to be 100% sure before you move?

    Depends if moving out of the way means you have to jump off a 35' cliff.

    --
    My God, it's Full of Source!
    OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
  179. incompetent science by v(*_*)vvvv · · Score: 1

    As the whole UFO and crop circle situation unraveled, I think it taught us a great lesson.

    That many scientists are not to be trusted. They can be made to say anything, not even for money. They'd do it for fame, or to just kill time. Literally.

    The worst part is, that many of these BS scientists completely believe in their BS science. When they speak with conviction, it is because they have it.

    Of course, this lesson is followed by another great lesson.

    That many scientists are to be trusted. They are acknowledged by their peers, their work is repeatedly challenged and tested, and backed with hard evidence. When they all agree on something, it is, by definition, true beyond a reasonable doubt. If there is one thing competent scientists agree on, it is global warming.

    With that said, is the debate over? The debate about what to do, how to do it, and how global warming is really happening will always be debated. But not global warming itself.

  180. Re:Why is this even being debated? by v(*_*)vvvv · · Score: 1

    we should be very wary of allowing politics or popular opinion to be confused with actual science.

    Not only should we not confuse them, we should not let politics or popular opinion dictate our science.

    Scientific problems are not solved by voting. They are only solved by science. And only when solved can we look back and say our science was correct.

  181. George Carlin said it best ... by ProfM · · Score: 1
  182. Re:Why is this even being debated? by Beryllium+Sphere(tm) · · Score: 1

    >scientific communities whose funding is dependent on the support of those political interests

    The science on this began with Arrhenius in 1896. It has continued with people whose paychecks come from the Bush Administration.

  183. Re:Why is this even being debated? by Beryllium+Sphere(tm) · · Score: 2, Informative

    >But the argument can also be made that the consensus prior to global-warming was not there-is-no-warming, but rather global-cooling and trying to drive policy to prevent the coming ice age.

    That argument can be made, but only by ignoring the actual literature on climate from the last generation.

  184. Re:Why is this even being debated? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I laugh whenever I hear someone use the term "chicken little" in order to dismiss a negative opinion.

    I kept up with news on the housing bubble long before it exploded violently and almost every RE-pumper used that term in response to logically laid out comments about the unstable situation that had been created.

    Guess who turned out to be right?

    Another thing I've learned over the years: It's never as bad as the mainstream media reports. It's worse. Far worse.

  185. Re:bullshit by Keen+Anthony · · Score: 1

    Ahh, that was my mistake. *cough* *cough*

    I don't much about Chricton's own credentials on global warming, but since people are so quick to buy into the opinions of politicians and pundits on this matter, but I'd consider his opinion among others... many many others.

  186. Did anyone notice this isn't news? by WheelDweller · · Score: 0

    No, not because it's been said before...I'm sure it has, somewhere. Instead, it's not news because a couple of "experts" (who are unable to predict properly a hurricane season, or next month's weather for my home) are making an assumption, and the media is running with it.

    Remember all the flap about media bias? This is it. Most people (who don't pay a great deal of attention to the news, just headlines) think the housing market is so bad houses will no longer be for sale. They think gas is high, will only get higher, and that The Fed is the only one who can help.

    (They've completely forgotten about the million stories of them paying $600 for a toilet seat, ruining health care with Medicade/Medicare, ruining the oil industry with over regulation, ruining higher education by allowing "the government" to pay higher tuitions each year, and pretty much everything but the military and post office. I haven't.)

    The truth is that 1/2 of 1% of home mortgages are unpaid nationally. Not a big deal- we swung UP to a hot market, now we swing back to a cooler one. This is natural.

    But no: the media must whine and complain (not merely *report* the news, as journalists used to do) but instead propagandize for their party, the liberals. This is a time of over-reporting and media push. The journalists have left the planet; Peabody Awards now go only to people who hate Bush, just like the Nobel Peace prize.

    Why are polls news? They're snapshots, that's all, but they make news as if they were actual happenings- had meaning. They don't. But watch how much of the time "experts" are surprised by things they shouldn't be (currently like signs of a strong economy, like it is now) and how a couple of guys working at a dorm somewhere are taken seriously because they need to push GlobalWarming(TM).

    Watch for yourselves: the broadcast media is now propaganda. Not hard news, not investigative reports of both parties, soft reports for their own, cheap shots for the other. Think critically the next time you hear a headline; it's time to notice the programming being passed out.

    I knew a bunch of guys at a local apartment complex. Mentioning Ashcroft or Rove or anyone in the Bush admin would make their blood boil and their mouths foam...but they could never tell me *why* they hated them like someone who had killed a family member. The same thing goes on today.

    There's not a nickle's difference between Bill Clinton, John Kerry, or Barak OBama: they're all poll-driven and sway with the wind. Barak is just the one on parade, today. How is that different? (Maybe the media is programming that in our heads, too?)

    --
    --- For a good time mail uce@ftc.gov
  187. Melting of Floating Ice Will Raise Sea Level by MyNymWasTaken · · Score: 1

    That is a false analogy, because the glass isn't filled with salt water. The sea level increase isn't substantial, but it is greater than zero.

    http://www.physorg.com/news5619.html

    The common misconception that floating ice won't increase sea level when it melts occurs because the difference in density between fresh water and salt water is not taken into consideration.

    http://home.comcast.net/~pdnoerd/NoerdlingerBrower.pdf (the paper, provided by the author, that is referenced in the physorg article)

    If all the extant sea ice and floating shelf ice melted, the global sea level would rise about 4 cm.

  188. Re:Why is this even being debated? by MacDork · · Score: 1

    I would suggest that the global warming crowd make a track of predictions for average surface, ocean and atmospheric temperatures for the next ten years. They should be able to predict the average within a margin of error EACH year on the way to that goal. If they can select the measurement criteria and firmly state their predictions... then we can observe their accuracy and react accordingly as the reality of the situation unfolds.

    I'll spare you the suspense. The global warmers have tried and failed to predict repeatedly for 20 years now. Practically every prediction they make is wrong.

  189. You laugh, but... by DesScorp · · Score: 1

    ... many countries are eagerly hoping that there IS a permanent melt up north for precisely those reasons, though they'd never admit it publicly... it would revolutionize shipping. And Canada, Denmark, Russia... many countries think that a lot of natural resources are waiting for them under that melting ice. Canada is now actively planning out new shipping routes, and trying to establish legal ownership of many of those possible routes across the north.

    --
    Life is hard, and the world is cruel
  190. cartoon one-liner scientific evidence by MyNymWasTaken · · Score: 1

    The only people who bring up Al Gore in a discussion of the science are deniers, not skeptics - deniers, looking for an easy ad hominem retort in order to avoid actually thinking about the science.

    Who needs scientific evidence when you can simply scream a one-liner from a cartoon comedy show, as one of the tags on this article attests?

  191. Re:bullshit by endstar · · Score: 1

    Al Gore appears to have listened to the scientists, and more-or-less understands what the data and the models are telling us about global warming.

    To clarify this point: I'd listen to Angelina Jolie expound on General Relativity if what she said was accurate. I wouldn't listen if she started pitching a perpetual motion machine. (I'd watch either way.)

    It's not about the person presenting the theory. It's about how well the theory is supported by data.

  192. Baby Seal fur back in style? by infonography · · Score: 1

    Join the club!

    --
    Sorry about the writing. Robot fingers, you know? Cliff Steele in DOOM PATROL #23
  193. Re:bullshit by Atario · · Score: 1

    Because he has decided to dedicate his whole career to it? Chrichton has not, last I checked.

    --
    "A great democracy must be progressive or it will soon cease to be a great democracy." --Theodore Roosevelt
  194. Implications by Codifex+Maximus · · Score: 1

    1. Polar Bears should plan accordingly.
    2. Sell your land in low lying areas.
    3. New destination for Cruise Ships.
    4. Nowhere for polar transit airliners to crash land.
    5. The Northwest Passage is now open for business!
    6. Arctic Fishing is a real possibility.
    7. Eocene Climate coming to a biosphere near you!

    --
    Codifex Maximus ~ In search of... a shorter sig.
  195. Re:Why is this even being debated? by Atario · · Score: 2, Informative

    It is true that there were some predictions of an "imminent ice age" in the 1970s, but a cursory comparison of those warnings and today's reveals a huge difference.

    Today, you have a widespread scientific consensus, supported by national academies and all the major scientific institutions, solidly behind the warning that the temperature is rising, anthropogenic CO2 is the primary cause, and it will worsen unless we reduce emissions.

    In the 1970s, there was a book in the popular press, a few articles in popular magazines, and a small amount of scientific speculation based on the recently discovered glacial cycles and the recent slight cooling trend from air pollution blocking the sunlight. There were no daily headlines. There was no avalanche of scientific articles. There were no United Nations treaties or commissions. No G8 summits on the dangers and possible solutions. No institutional pronouncements. You could find broader "consensus" on a coming alien invasion.

    Quite simply, there is no comparison.

    If you want some additional detail, Real Climate has discussed this, and William Connelly has made a hobby of gathering everything that was written about global cooling at the time.



    (From: http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2006/11/23/18534/222)

    --
    "A great democracy must be progressive or it will soon cease to be a great democracy." --Theodore Roosevelt
  196. Appeal to authority not necessarily a fallacy by Beryllium+Sphere(tm) · · Score: 1

    The touchstones to use to make sure you're not getting bamboozled by an inappropriate appeal to authority ("I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV") are:

    o Is the person genuinely an expert in the field?
    o Is the statement within the person's expertise?
    o Do the experts generally agree on the subject of the statement?
    o Is the person decently unbiased?
    o Is the field itself a sound, knowledge-based one?
    o Is the expert identified?

  197. Submitter is trolling by statemachine · · Score: 1

    The implications of this, as well as the causes, are still being debated. Are global warming experts just short-sighted alarmists? Are we heading for a global ice age? Or is the increase in global mean temperature having an effect on our planet?"

    There isn't any debate. Read this:
    Climate change: A guide for the perplexed

    I don't care if people are tired of me posting it. I'm tired of people spouting baloney without backing it up.

  198. Global Warming? by NoSCO · · Score: 1

    For fifty years, Western nations have maintained the sheeple in state of perpetual fear. Fear of nuclear war, fear of the Communist menace, fear of the Iron Curtain and fear of the Evil Empire. Within the Communist countries, the same just in reverse. But then in the fall of 1989, it was all finished; The fall of the Berlin Wall created a vacuum of fear, and something had to fill it.

    We now have radical fundamentalism and post-9/11 terrorism to make us afraid instead. Before terrorism took over as the lead cause and reason for the reduction of civil rights, we feared the toxic environment. Before that we had the Communist menace. Although the specific cause of our fear may change, we are never without fear itself.

    Industrialized nations provide their citizens with unprecedented safety, health and comfort. Average life spans have increased fifty percent in the last century. Yet modern people live in abject fear. Afraid of strangers, crime, terrorism, disease, and the environment. We're convinced the environment of the entire planet is being destroyed around us.

    In the old days, citizens of the West believed their nation-states were dominated by the military-industrial complex. Eisenhower warned the Americans against it in the 1960's, and after two world wars Europeans knew very well what it meant in their own countries. But it was no longer the primary driver of society. For the last 20 years we have in fact been under the control of the politico-legal-media complex, dedicated to promoting fear in the population under the guise of promoting safety. Politicians need to control the population. Lawyers need danger to litigate and make money. The media needs scare stories to capture an audience. They are so compelling they go about their business even if the scare is totally groundless.

    The world has changed in the last 50 years. Global warming is just one of our many New Fears to enable Governments to impose so-called 'green' taxes that do nothing for the environment yet lighten your wallet anyway, and permit heavy, if subtle control over your life. Ask any child what Global Warming is, I guarantee they will be able to tell you what it is, or what the government wants them to think it is. Scary isn't it?

    Don't take my word for it either. There are hundreds of texts that will help show you enlightenment where global warming is concerned, if you throw away a life-time of prejudices and just go and find out for yourself. Our climate is cyclic, always has been and always will be. Our part in this round of cycling is so insignificant as to be almost entirely irrelevant.

    Further reading:
    Terrestrial Ecosystems Aber, John D. Jerry M. Melillo. Harcourt Academic Press 2001.
    Creating Fear, News and the Construction of Crisis Aldine de Gruyter 2002.
    Global Warming and the Greenland Ice Sheet Climatic Change 63 (2004): 201-21.
    Global Warming: The Science of Climate Change New York/Oxford University Press, 2000.
    The Little Ice Age: How Climate Made History 1300-1850 New York/Basic Books 2000.
    Radical Ecopsychology: Psychology in the Service of Life State University New York Press 2002
    After the Ice Age: The Return of Life to Glaciated North America Pielou, E.C. University of Chicago Press 1991.
    Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence Federal Judicial Center 1994.
    Hot Talk, Cold Science: Global Warming's Unfinished Debate Singer, S. Fred. Oakland Independent Institute 1998.

  199. Different case / not doable by aepervius · · Score: 1

    The above was a different can of worm on "skepticism", it was not linked to any data or science, but rather to cultural problem. One could certainly argue succesfully that it is in no way linked to current cliemtn change skepticism, as this skepticism is linked in NO data whatsoever, just like skepticism against semmelweiß theory was not linked to data. In other word, your example is not an example of a crowd being wrong, but an example of a crowd ignoring data and science. In other word it is a perfect example for climate change on the contrary to what you think.

    Furthermore comparing temperature trend which are calculated over 10's of years and requesting people make a prediction on average each year is STUPID. Repeat after me, it is STUPID if your variance can be higher than your trend, which is the freaking case with climate change temperature prediction (0.2 ) and year to year temperature average which can reach more than that. A more doable prediction would be to predict that the trend will continue in the next 10 years, no matter if there are anomalous peak or depth.

    --
    C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
    visit randi.org
    1. Re:Different case / not doable by stmfreak · · Score: 1

      You're right, predicting a year by year change with a margin of error greater than your trend seems stupid, but it's still useful; without waiting for the end of the ten years.

      If we're at <picks a number> 70F average today and their trend claims 0.02F per year, then chart it. Next year should be 70.2F on average. If they want a 5F margin of error, cool. I don't care. Just put up or shut up. But let's get predictions for surface, atmospheric, and oceanic temperatures before we put money in the game. From what I've heard, the ocean temps have been flat.

      The more important aspect of a detailed prediction is predetermined measurement methodology and independent verification. I've seen too many charts and graphs that have been coming online in recent years and decades. We've got tree rings, ice cores, documentation from monks, modern recordings, satellite infra-red topography, etc. And I've seen too many chunks of data dropped or ignored in favor of the maximum.

      The most baffling aspect is the Earth's known historical record. We know it has been hotter. We know it has been cooler. We know wild swings have occurred without man's assistance. And yet, here we are, certain that we're overcooking our moderately cool planet with no possible way to fix things if we don't act NOW!

      I've been on this planet for only a little while now, but in my short life I've lived through predictions of global cooling, nuclear winter when that wasn't scary enough, nuclear war, HIV, ebola, sars, mad cows, global warming... it's ALWAYS something that's going to kill us all or our children if we don't do something right now.

      I'd just like the hysteria to stop.

      --
      These opinions guaranteed or your money back.
  200. the word fits on many levels by globaljustin · · Score: 1

    I said that we cared. I didn't say we cared effectively.

    way to backpedal on your whole parent post in one "post-modern" solipsistic sentence...

    face it, you got pwned

    --
    Thank you Dave Raggett
    1. Re:the word fits on many levels by fm6 · · Score: 1

      You know the worst thing about this online game of mutual humiliation? It's boring.

    2. Re:the word fits on many levels by globaljustin · · Score: 1

      If you think that my usage of an internet slang word (which is sometimes used by immature yet highly skilled young people when playing video games and using the internet) to simultaneously call you out on your contradictory pontificating and make a backhanded acknowledgment that although you were wrong in your parent post, the whole exercise of generations arguing is kinda pointless.

      Yeah, that's what my post was about. Either you didn't get it or didn't think it was funny or insightful.

      Also, the world "post-modernism" is only properly used when speaking of architecture. Anywhere else and it's a meaningless word.

      --
      Thank you Dave Raggett
    3. Re:the word fits on many levels by fm6 · · Score: 1

      No, actually "post-modernism" properly applies only to art. Though I guess maybe architecture is a kind of art.

      But speaking of cluefulness, I never say "post-modern" except to be sarcastic. Missed that, didn't you?

      The different between us is not generational, it's a matter of maturity: you consider a conversation to be game of one-upmanship (at least you do if you actually read that page you pointed me to) while I consider a conversation to be a sharing of ideas. There are plenty of people from my generation with your attitude. The only difference is that they don't have cutsy slang to describe their silly games.

    4. Re:the word fits on many levels by globaljustin · · Score: 1

      you consider a conversation to be game of one-upmanship

      not a chance, i'm not a flamer or a troll. There was a genuine discussion, and the point you made in your grand-parent post was successfully and adroitly countered (fatally i might add, your premise was successfully disproven IMHO), that's not one-upsmanship, that's good debating. My comment was intended to address your rebuttal and to add some humor to the discussion.

      In regards to your point about "post-modernism"...fine...although I disagree with your ideas about proper usage of the word, it seems you share my disdain for its use, so the enemy of my enemy is my friend, as it were...

      It seems like you enjoy going back and forth about this, so go ahead and email me and we can try to hash out the proper usage of "post-modernism" or somesuch if you want.

      --
      Thank you Dave Raggett
    5. Re:the word fits on many levels by fm6 · · Score: 1

      Maybe you don't see yourself as a flamer or a troll. I certainly don't see "get down off your high horse" as a serious attempt at discussion.

    6. Re:the word fits on many levels by globaljustin · · Score: 1

      yeah, you missed the meat of the message...here's a rundown

      you said something to the effect of 'young people don't care about the future and don't think ahead..blah blah'

      and a reply stated that it was older generations who caused the climate crisis, which has been dumped into my generation's lap (among other problems...many others), which is a true statement that logically counters your whole 'the kids these days don't care about the future...get off my lawn' comment

      you should have paid attention to that portion...

      --
      Thank you Dave Raggett
  201. Giant Goatse? by Solapse · · Score: 1

    I'm wondering if the visiting aliens will see a giant goatse from space, the melted hole surrounded by ice will look rather like that!

  202. Re:Global Warming? Mod Parent up by cdn-programmer · · Score: 1

    Brilliant.

    Mod parent up.

    BTW

    Solar Cycle #24 is about 14 months late already and still not in sight. Expect a cold decade or more.

  203. Yawn, GW religion again..? Got proof? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Are you so confident that this will have no effect on climate that you're willing to bet billions of lives on it?

    And you've demonstrated yet again why global warming is a fire and brimstone religion. You just throwing that out there: Billions will die if you don't repent. *Cue scary music* Where'd you learn that? Your ouija board? Crystal ball maybe? Oh, oh, oh, I've got it... computer model! Right??

    You don't have a shred of credible evidence to support that belief. You certainly have faith that there will be "consequences." REPENT! And ye shall be saved!

  204. Re:bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Post your own credentials then. If they don't say climatologist, do you still have a right to an opinion? Doesn't sound like it.

  205. Re:bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Oh, you can ask an MD for an opinion...just don't expect an authoritative one.

    Heck, that even goes for medical advice sometimes.

  206. Re:bullshit by boxlight · · Score: 1

    There is however a line to draw, and Crichton, in that video, passed it after five minutes, when he said that Chernobyl was not really that much of a disaster because only "50 people died". Such a claim indicates a spectacular level of intellectual dishonesty

    You are apparently extremely talented at taking people's statements out of context.

  207. Re:bullshit by Xyrus · · Score: 1

    1. You're an idiot. Climatologist do not think they can control the climate. They are using the data they have to model a complex system to increase their understanding of it.

    And they do understand climate. There is a set of equations that can be used. However, when applying that to system the size of the Earth it makes it computationally expensive. You're not going to model every single atmospheric interactions, so scientist employ statistical models to get a good idea of what's going to happen.

    They don't pretend to know the exact answers, hence performing what they call RESEARCH. But what they do know based on the best data and models that we have, is that the climate is changing and the largest forcing AT THIS MOMENT is the increase in CO2 of which humans are contributing a massive amount.

    Considering these guys spend their entire lives doing this type of research, you might just want to listen to them for a minute. And when I say them, I don't mean Al Gore or the media. I mean go and read their research, download their model code and data sets, run the things and see for yourself. If you happen to be a brilliant genius who can find the errors of their ways and write a radiative transfer model in 5 minutes, then by all means publish your research.

    2. All I can say is wow. Just wow.

    So let me get this straight. You're willing to take the word of fiction writer who has no climatological credentials at all, has no PhD in the subject, and has performed no published or peer reviewed research over the entire body of evidence and research generated by climate scientists over the past 30 years? o_0

    3. Wow. I suppose Mikey boy goes to crystal healers too, since they know more than the aggregated scientific collective on medicine, right?

    Sorry, but using Crichton as your base for debunking climate science is like using bible to debunk dinosaurs. I don't see any papers written by him on the subject, nor any of the "data" he mentions backed by a rigorous and peer-reviewed
    methodology.

    Until such time, he is in the same camp as Intelligent Designers.

    ~X~

    --
    ~X~
  208. Re:bullshit by lostokie · · Score: 1

    I don't want to get into it, but for starters, showing most of Florida and NYC underwater. That may eventually happen, but it will take a lot longer than what the science can predict. At the time of his movie, all he had was the TAR to go on and not the AR4, but he still has about 7 major points where his "facts" directly contradict the TAR. I don't know about you, but I'll get my science from the, you know, scientists :) The AR4 even further shows his movie to be mostly scare mongering.

  209. Re:bullshit by Penguinisto · · Score: 1

    He was always ridiculed for claiming to have "invented" the internet, even though he never said such a thing.

    ...which is exactly what I said.


    You may want to, you know, read what you respond to before responding to it. ;)

    --
    Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
  210. Re:bullshit by MrHanky · · Score: 1

    No, you said they took it (the claim that he'd invented the internet) as Gospel. That's an idiomatic expression meaning they took it as unquestionable truth. I haven't misunderstood a thing, you dishonest piece of shit.

  211. Re:bullshit by smashin234 · · Score: 1

    He actually cited 600 "experts" if you look closely. However, if you peer closer to who he cited, only 3 were climatologists like you said, and 2 well yea, lets not talk about that.

    I like how one of his experts on the environment was a gynecologist. Not that this particular doctor is bad or anything, but all she wrote was a paper on what climate change would result in for reproductive rates in Africa, and her paper was speculation anyway. This doctor did not offer any evidence whatsoever for climate change, and yet was cited as one of the experts who agreed with climate change. Go figure, and for this piece of hogwash Al gore gets a Nobel prize, and a lot less noteworthy Time person of the year award.

    Sigh, when you can cry the sky is falling and win a nobel prize is when I do indeed have no hope for our scientific community.

  212. how about... by chibiace · · Score: 1
    --
    he who controls the spice controls the universe
  213. Metaphysical?? by ToasterMonkey · · Score: 1

    I know, but there comes a time where for all practical purposes you have to stop being metaphysical and accept that that cigar IS a cigar.

    What IS a cigar, and how do you classify them?
    That's not metaphysics, buddy.

    Are you suggesting that to "stop being metaphysical", we have to unconditionally agree with your assumptions? Were you home-schooled or something?
    Science has almost nil to do with metaphysics. They're damned near opposites of each other.
    You appear to be unable to draw a distinction between philosophy and science.

    1. Re:Metaphysical?? by Snaller · · Score: 1

      Yeah whatever.

      The original poster appeared to suggest that since a real scientist would question everything forever there is no global warming, i was trying to tell him politely there is - science tells us it factually is getting hotter and we are adding to that.

      --
      If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating
  214. The discussion here on /. is proof... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Once upon a time there was a book named the Malleus Maleficarum.. it was a way to deal with a problem. But the problem wasn't there for everyone, only certain very wealthy folk were afraid of the problem. How did they achieve a solution? By turning their enemies upon each other, using prejudice and creating mythologies about every day occurrences. By this, I mean things like "your baby and your cows died because of witchcraft" or "flooding in U.S. midwest == global warming" Easy to say, hard to prove either way.

    As you can see, the "twiddly bits" which we have heard argued over and over are the real focus of the Global Warming movement. Whilst we wax poetic about evil oil companies versus conspiring communists there are people continuing to take away human civil liberty (most offensively in places like the United States where liberty was the manifest national goal.) Greed for power hides in all walks of life and when we label any one group as the principal "evil," we are no better than sexists or racists: the new prejudices in the society I see around me today in America are revolting. Even though gays and other minorities are relatively free to enjoy equal liberty with others there is a new, less defined prejudice which focuses more on intellectual profile than physical.

    I enjoy reading the thoughts of Slashdotters on the subject, and I realize that I am rehashing a little bit, but the level of misinformation (in both directions) is appalling. Television is almost completely a "lie-box" now; there is no fact or news, only offensive commentary and greed. Greed will exist in a capitalist system, greed will exist in a communist system.

    Do not let the labels which we throw around so loosely trick you: People ARE out to get your money, and there's a %99 chance that you have no idea who they really are.

    This is not a conspiracy theory, it is simply history. Read some.

  215. Re:Why is this even being debated? by Anonymous+Brave+Guy · · Score: 1

    Sorry, I did use an ambiguous word that time. I meant only that water vapour is far greater in quantity. I could also have pointed out that other gases such as methane are more effective per unit. But what counts is the combination of quantity and potency, and as you say, on that metric CO2 is the most significant contributor to the effect today.

    --
    If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
  216. Re:bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    With all due respect, he's got an M.D., he's not a climatologist. I don't call a plumber when I'm sick;

    Lucky bastard. Management switched us over to a high-deductible plumber plan just last week.

  217. Re:Yawn, GW religion again..? Got proof? by Lost+Race · · Score: 1

    Funny how the rabid deniers all post anonymously. Dude, you're dealing with the Evil Global Warming Religious Conspiracy here -- you think not logging in is going to protect you? We have infiltrated all the news media, including Slashdot! Our agents have already tracked you down, and BLACK HELICOPTERS running on SATANIC BIOFUELS are already on the way to your back woods compound to punish you for your BLASPHEMY! This is your last chance to REPENT!

    <eyeroll>

  218. Re:bullshit by stewbacca · · Score: 1

    Yeah, that's why I carefully stated my thoughts and included the phrase "reversal". If you'd like to argue what I said, and not what you think I'm trying to avoid, that's another issue.

  219. Re:bullshit by stewbacca · · Score: 1

    So you don't count years of Medical School and practicing medicine as dedicating an entire career to science???? Al Gore is a politician. He has dedicated "his whole career" to getting votes.

  220. Re:bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    He said he created it, and I still don't see his name on any RFCs.

  221. yeah and the pressure has nothing to do with it... by cheekyboy · · Score: 1

    even tho less than 30% of the heat gets to the surface, in its upper atmosphere where it is close to earth PSI, it is actually close to earth temps.

    Also i bet you anywhere you compress a gas to that high pressure its going to get hot, ever feel a cycle pump or tyer ?

    Thats what causes re-entry heat, the fast pressure build up, not friction as many people may wrongly infer from bad movies or cartoons.

    --
    Liberty freedom are no1, not dicks in suits.
  222. North Pole without ice in summer of 2001 by lipi · · Score: 1

    According to this article the North Pole has already been without ice a few years ago:

    "In 2001, Russia made the first move, staking out virtually half of
    the Arctic Ocean, including the North Pole. Moscow sought to bolster
    its claim by sending a research ship north to gather geographical
    data. On Aug. 29, it reached the pole without the help of an
    icebreaker - the first surface ship ever to do so."

  223. "Only" 14C by jotaeleemeese · · Score: 1

    If you understood anything about climatology, you would know 1 C would be bad enough.

    --
    IANAL but write like a drunk one.
    1. Re:"Only" 14C by coopex · · Score: 1

      Why would 1C be bad? Given that doomsday scenarios are predicted with doubling CO2, which clearly isn't true as shown by Venus calculations, and that predictions are being made for 2100, why exactly should I trust climatology over basic thermodynamics and empirical data?

      --
      The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
  224. Stupid water and ice pseudo example. by jotaeleemeese · · Score: 1

    Fill a glass with water, take some of that water and freeze it, put the ice back in the glass.

    The level of the water will be lower with ice (below the brim) than with water (at the brim).

    The global water cycle started with water in liquid form which later freezed, not with water and ice, as you tried to show.

    --
    IANAL but write like a drunk one.
  225. Re:Why is this even being debated? by stewbacca · · Score: 1

    I laugh whenever I hear someone use the term "chicken little" in order to dismiss a negative opinion.

    ...Guess who turned out to be right?

    My point exactly. Just like when I was in 3rd grade (1977) and I was taught we would be out fossil fuels by the year 1990. Good call! If you go back to my first post, I said I was glad the ice would melt, so we would know once and for all if Manhattan would go 10 feet under water, or Al Gore is the modern day Chicken Little. I'm betting on the chicken.

  226. Why is Mars getting warmer too? by Kodack · · Score: 1

    Ok, if everything going on right now is our fault, why are other planetary and satellite bodies in our solar system seeing unprecedented warming?

  227. Re:bullshit by QuantumPion · · Score: 1

    Actually, there were no statistical increase in deformities or birth defects among children in the region following the Chernobyl accident. The media portrayed some deformed children and cried about how they were the result of radiation, however, deformed children are born all around the world regardless of radiation levels.

    Besides the casualties during the immediate aftermath of the disaster, it was predicted that somewhere around 4000 people may die prematurely due to cancer from radiation exposure released by the reactor. However, there is no way to distinguish these people from the regular incidence of cancer in the general population.

    2.4 million people may have been "affected" by the radiation, but this ranges from low to negligible doses that have no statistical link to cancer or birth defects. Many people around the world live in areas of high natural background radiation, far higher then those exposed by fallout from Chernobyl, and suffer no increase cancer risk.

    So, Crichton's claim is not intellectually dishonest at all. Your grouping of his opinions to those of Nazi's, holocaust deniers, etc, in a vein effort to discredit him, is however a prime example of intellectual dishonesty and is the reason why it is so difficult to have a discussion on political+scientific issues.

  228. Re:bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Because he's talked to a few more climatologists than you.

  229. Re:bullshit by orzetto · · Score: 1

    Actually, there were no statistical increase in deformities or birth defects among children in the region following the Chernobyl accident.

    Yeah right, as if I could not see a steaming pile of bullshit this big. Extraordinary claims claim extraordinary proof: where's yours?

    it was predicted that somewhere around 4000 people may die prematurely due to cancer from radiation exposure released by the reactor.

    That's a study by the IAEA (and they would never-ever have an economic interest in promoting nuclear energy, would they?), and has been criticised for being cherry-picking: among other things, they considered only Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, whereas most of the fallout fell on the rest of Europe (see the EU parliament's report); also, the figure in their report is actually 9,000, not 4,000 as in the press releases they gave, because they, well, are lying liars.

    2.4 million people may have been "affected" by the radiation, but this ranges from low to negligible doses that have no statistical link to cancer or birth defects.

    You are counting only deaths, as if debilitating conditions were not to be put into the equation. 2.4 million affected people in Ukraine only is an enormous number, it's over 5% of the entire population. And that's "affected" as in "got a disease or a medical condition", not "received some radioactivity dose they never noticed".

    Many people around the world live in areas of high natural background radiation, far higher then those exposed by fallout from Chernobyl, and suffer no increase cancer risk.

    Really, come up with a source on that one. Far higher than Chernobyl and no cancer risk? You've got to be trolling.

    --
    Victims of 9/11: <3000. Traffic in the US: >30,000/y
  230. no controversy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't get how this can be a field where you get to have personal opinions. You don't get to choose reality. You don't get to choose facts.


    Also, it's obvious we need to move away from oil and fossil fuels. Pollution is bad no matter your religious, philosophical or political affiliations. The CO2 molecule behaves the same way for all of us. To drastically and so quickly increase the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere WILL have an effect, whether you want it or not.

  231. "1 - insightful"-I must be doing something right. by mmell · · Score: 1
    Starting Score: 1 point

    Moderation 0

    30% Insightful

    30% Overrated

    20% Interesting

    Extra 'Insightful' Modifier 0 (Edit)

    Total Score: 1

  232. Clear by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    http://blogs.nature.com/news/thegreatbeyond/2008/06/an_ice_free_north_pole.html

    http://blogs.nature.com/news/thegreatbeyond/2008/06/an_ice_free_north_pole.html

    http://blogs.nature.com/news/thegreatbeyond/2008/06/an_ice_free_north_pole.html