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Maldives Government Holds Undersea Cabinet Meeting
Hugh Pickens writes "The president of the Maldives and 11 ministers, decked out in scuba gear, held a cabinet meeting 4m underwater to highlight the threat of global warming to the low-lying Indian Ocean nation. While officials said the event itself was light-hearted, the idea is to focus on the plight of the Maldives, where rising sea levels threaten to make the nation uninhabitable by the end of the century. President Mohamed Nasheed and his cabinet spent half an hour on the sea bed, communicating with white boards and hand signals and signed a document calling for global cuts in carbon emissions. The Maldives has already begun to divert a portion of the country's billion-dollar annual tourist revenue to buy a new homeland as an insurance policy against climate change that threatens to turn the 300,000 islanders into environmental refugees. Emerging out of the water, a dripping President Nasheed removed his mask to answer questions from reporters and photographers crowded around on the shore. 'We are trying to send a message to the world about what is happening and what would happen to the Maldives if climate change isn't checked,' he said, bobbing around in the water with his team of ministers. 'If the Maldives is not saved, today we do not feel there is much chance for the rest of the world.'"
Apparently they were under a lot of pressure.
Error: password can't contain reverse spelling of ancient Chinese emperor
No one's listening, OK. Perhaps you might considering enriching uranium instead. Squeaky wheel gets the grease and all that. You words might have more urgency if they were backed by NUCLEAR FORCE. That's all I'm saying...
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
yeah right they are going to buy a new homeland. that money shall land in the pockets of politicians and the islanders will shake their fists at westerners and make bombs, because brave president whatever his name was, tried to show us.
If you mod me down, I will become more powerful than you can imagine....
Davey Jones' Locker?
No amount of CO2 cutbacks is going to stop climate change and the sea levels rising, even if CO2 emissions dropped to zero tomorrow. The relevant time constants are from hundreds to thousands of years.
This pretty much highlights how it's all primarily a media circus and political game. The science is lost entirely in the noise.
"The question of whether machines can think is no more interesting than [] whether submarines can swim" - Dijkstra
Because we all know the Dutch use SCUBA all the time, or moved somewhere else, right?
Maybe they should work on civil engineering instead; dikes and/or submersible domes seem a lot saner than their current plan of buying a new homeland...
They should totally pick the Middle East. Lots of land, friendly people...
I think other countries should try it, but without the aqualungs.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
i guess its gods punishment for being them being gay? or european? or something.
>>If Maldives goes under water, 1 billion dollars a YEAR will be lost. Literally, all the tourism "goods" that Maldives can generate will disappear.
And the odds of it going underwater are? The science seems pretty clear that it won't.
Tag: Showboating
Darling it's better, down where it's wetter, take it from me.
If I have seen further it is by stealing the Intellectual Property of giants.
We are seeing more and more articles in the major media doubting that man made carbon dioxide is causing global warming. Last week it was the BBC, yesterday it was Canada's Globe and Mail.
There are many sources of information about why global warming 'science' is bogus. A good one is www.wattsupwiththat.com . The site has links to all kinds of other sites; pro, con and lukewarm. A few hours (days/weeks) of reading should adequately demonstrate that all the assertions of the global warming alarmists have been refuted. Neither the physics or the available evidence support the theory of catastrophic global warming caused by man made carbon dioxide.
Am I the only one who thought of a supervillain hideout while reading the title? Maybe if they had some flame throwing, robotic dinosaurs they could battle global warming.
I have no sympathy for a country that forces its people to convert to islam and subjects almost 1/3 of the population to a form of serfdom. In addition if you are not a muslim and a native then you are either executed, imprisoned or expelled. Finally the country is extremely racist when it comes to non-muslims. I've had the unfortunate pleasure of being sent to the main island a few times for work. While the country is very pretty the people are not with the exception of the lowly peasants.
To get a perspective on the Maldives, start here and then click to zoom in 14 times. I suggest opening the link in a new tab or window (Slashdot code won't let me make the link tag do that for you).
now we need to go OSS in diesel cars
...or, wait, when it's something bad it's always because of the western societies, right?
Right - Good; god wanted it, Bad; due conspiracy. I keep mixing it up.
Sometimes man gets the fate he deserves, but he always gets the fate he reaches for with his hands. I feel more sorry for the animal life in the region than the humans.
The following interview Dr. Nils-Axel Morner, a Swedisch expert on sea-level geophysics, explains how the data has been misrepresented to feed the global warming scare http://www.climatechangefacts.info/ClimateChangeDocuments/NilsAxelMornerinterview.pdf. The reality is that little has happened to the sea level over the past decades.
Photo Gallery http://surl.me/2c67 (Flickr)
I have an idea. Let's do the same in Australia. The way our politicians carry on booing, jeering, calling each other names and such is disgraceful. (Actually I'm resisting the urge to suggest a 1 hour meeting under water WITHOUT the scuba gear). I guess it's similar the world over. No wonder we're in the economic, social and environmental crapper.
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
Yes Bob. Today, the mayor of the island of Krakatoa held a city council meeting in the caldera of the volcano to draw attention to the fact that the island will, eventually, blow up again and to urge the world to find some way to stop plate tectonics and cool the core down until such a thing isn't possible anymore.
Unfortunately, they forgot one thing Bob.
THEY WERE IN THE CALDERA OF A VOLCANO!
Needless to day, the loss of life was total, save for three councilmen who boycotted the meeting in protest.
As of this hour, an emergency vote is taking place to replace the dumbass...err deceased (always get those mixed up) politicians'.
Also, there's some sort of festival going on. The natives tell me the name translates into "We have cleansed the gene pool, THANK GOD!".
Chas - The one, the only.
THANK GOD!!!
I welcome our new warming climate overlords (and cheaper scuba gear prices).
Sig it.
They see what is coming, so there will be no excuse for not finding other places to live.
The Earth has always changed. It will continue to change. If you can't survive those changes, you deserve to die.
How long can you tread water? Either get really good at it or relocate.
This goes for people living on fault lines, below volcanoes, and near rivers that flood too. If you are dumb enough to live in those locations, you deserve the hardships. You have two feet - start walking.
it would work if all else remains static. Sadly, that is not the case. China is adding 1-2 NEW COAL PLANTS EACH WEEK. These are
Even with the growth in hydro and wind and Solar and Nukes that China is planning, if they continue this course, they will exceed ALL OF AMERICA's emission by 2015. By 2018, they will exceed ALL OF America's AND Western EU. By 2020 (11 very short years), they will account for slightly more than 1/2 of all of the CO2 that man has emitted through history. IOW, all of the cuts that we do, will be worthless.
But it still get worse. In particular, once we push Cap/trade, other nations will have a strong incentive to grab our manufacturing. And who will be pushing "cheap" coal plants? GE coal and other companies. Many companies will work to take advantage of the difference in prices (labor and energy).
So, with knowing the above, how do drop the emissions and solve the climate change issues? Here is my idea.
OTH, China has moderate amount of emissions based on size, HOWEVER, is one of the lowest efficiency in emissions/GDP. In addition, it has extremely high transportation costs (rail in China, then boat to here, and then rail around). As such, they would have 90-100% of the tax.
American goods made here have a moderate emissions per land and moderate efficient emissions. OTH, our transportation emissions are minor. As such, we might see 30-40% of the tax.
Several points on this:
Ideally, this same approach is used for a number of pollutants. For example, Mercury is one that is screaming to be controlled. China is the largest polluter of it and it will continue to increase with the coal. Likewise, the same is true of their SO* emissions. By applying a slowly increasing tax on nations based on their emissions, we can encourage ALL NATIONS to change.
One last point. Many nations will scream that they should be exempt because they are Developing nations. If that is done, it will simply encourage them to have lower costs goods by cheating. In addition, nearly all of the smaller developing nations HAVE low emissions. They would be at the low end of the tax.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
As evidence mounts that catastrophic anthropogenic global warming isn't the disaster the chicken littles have been preaching for the last 2 decades, the more dramatic, outlandish, and shrill the commentary will become. Expect to see more of these stunts from both countries and entities expecting to receive a big pay day from the industrialized nations, while the evidence points to a theory that needs serious revising and models that aren't very accurate at the most basic of predictions.
To date a lot of the proxy data used to bolster the claim that the observed warming trend was "unprecedented" turns out to be extremely poorly put together. The recent Briffa revelations are so bad and Briffa so resistant to releasing his data (which is contrary to scientific methodology) that one has to wonder if there was deliberate fraud. In climate research this has happened before. The original, discredited Mann hockey stick was another example where a researcher refused to release both data and methodology, and when forced to told the world that data was lost (until it was found by accident on his FTP server). Both examples are indications that peer review in some fields is nothing more than a cliquish acceptance of a forgone conclusion.
Perhaps this stunt will bring attention to the matter that current understanding of AGW is poor at best and that current climate models are woafully inadequate (and perhaps a tad overly dramatic). More research is needed and more importantly the people conducting that research need to strictly adhere to scientific method if we are to have a clear view of the mechanisms that shape our climate and what the human population effect on it.
Final Thought : Having researchers act like a group of 14 year old girls that decide who is "in" and who is "out" isn't science - it's dogma. It does little to advance the course of science - but it makes great reading. Better drama than day time TV.
"Science is about ego as much as it is about discovery and truth " - I said it, so sue me.
So, maybe you missed the memos? The one over a year ago where the Bush Administration confirmed that man-mad global warming was a real threat? The one where the Supreme Court ruled that the EPA had to regulate CO2 as a pollutant? The one where every nation in the world is meeting in Copenhagen in two months to draft a replacement to the Kyoto protocol, because ten years on the climate threat is considered more dangerous than ever? How about the one where the several thousand scientists who contributed to the last IPCC report don't care much for your baseless, non-scientific opinions that denigrate decades of careful research and observations?
>The one over a year ago where the Bush Administration confirmed that man-mad global warming was a real threat?
I'm not sure why you would think that I would care about what a US administration thinks. Perhaps you think former President Bush is a good diviner of scientific truth? Personally I think such an attitude is a bit crazy, but if you love the ex President that much, good for you.
You're much more likely to get my attention by backing up your opinion with specifics, like scientists, studies, and actual data. If you think that a Government regulatory agency that won't follow it's own rules and squashes dissent combined with a legal system is a good arbiter of how science should be conducted, then I can't help you. Mind you I'm not saying that AGW isn't real, only that the state of the current theory is so poor that it makes little sense to base a bet worth a few trillion on it at this point.
>The one where every nation in the world is meeting in Copenhagen in two months to draft a replacement to the
>Kyoto protocol, because ten years on the climate threat is considered more dangerous than ever?
How did that Kyoto protocol go? It didn't work, and it didn't have the desired affect. When evidence is mounting that theory is broken, why would the "world" rush to enforce rules that are based on a models that don't work? Hardly seems "scientific", but traditionally patience and a clear understanding of a problem has never been a politicians strong suit, on the other hand lemming like following is traditionally a trait found in the political class (ie those going to Copenhagen)
>How about the one where the several thousand scientists who contributed to the last IPCC
>report don't care much for your baseless, non-scientific opinions that denigrate decades of
>careful research and observations?
Biffa was one of the IPCC leads. Here is a person that REFUSED to release his data or methodology until forced to by a publication several years after the fact. This also meant that studies that followed using his data in their conclusions still had the original problems replicated compounding the problem. Why would any research not release both data and methodology after they've been published? That in and of itself strikes me as "non-scientific".
If a researcher wishes to publish papers where his little black box/book holds the methods and data for his fancy graphs and no one is allowed to look inside, then we should change their title from Researcher or Scientist to Vicar. If you choose to follow said Vicar, that is your business.
"Science is about ego as much as it is about discovery and truth " - I said it, so sue me.
That was a nice public stunt. I don't think any news show on the planet is willing to miss on that one.
And of course I can't imagining anyone seeing a beautiful tropic island go forever.
I only hope that as many people as possible will from now on always have to think about them just destroying a beautiful place that they at least wanted to see once, when doing something that raises sea levels.
Unfortunately, with the biggest polluters being companies, that can afford making 13 senators openly defend gang rape and forbidding employees to sue for it (Haliburton), can start whole wars for their own profit (Exxon, also Haliburton, etc), sell drugs that are worse than crack and crystal meth to people and children "for everyday use" to make them addicted (Eli Lily) and create genetically modified crops that make the whole world junkies on their needles, sell biochemical warfare agents as sweeteners or kill whole towns by putting toxines in the water (all Monsanto), I don't see anything becoming better until there is a revolution with heads being chopped off.
Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
"In a common greenhouse global-warming scenario, the Maldives have been condemned to become flooded in 50 years or, at the most, 100 years. However, our study of past and present sea-level changes shows no sign of any sea-level rise. On the contrary, the Maldives have seen a sea-level fall in the past 30 years. This sea-level fall is likely to be the effect of an increased evaporation and intensified northeast monsoon over the central Indian Ocean. We are confident that the people of the Maldives are not condemned to become flooded in the near future."
It all starts at 0
This is NOT the first time a nation was threatened with encroaching sea water. The Netherlands, Holland specifically dealt with this centuries ago, with out all the fuss and bother of asking other nations for help.
Start building dikes, NOW!
Unnecessary propaganda.
How long have these islands be over the sea?
Did they ever take a real look at that?
Was that 500 years? 1500? 5000 years?
There have to be hundreds of ways one can use sinking of a nation into an advantage. First off move PirateBay there. Lets see the people don scuba gear to issue an injunction. Second of all, there has to be a host of laws (banking, stem cells, cloning, etc.) are much more effective when issued underwater than in a limited "normal world".
How did that Kyoto protocol go? It didn't work, and it didn't have the desired affect
The EU15 are on target to meet the Kyoto limits. The countries of the EU15 (those that formed the EU when Kyoto was agreed) consist of some of the most industrialised nations in the Western world. If you meant that some other large nations didn't sign up to Kyoto, then that is true, but you can't blame the ones that did for the ones that didn't.
So, someone goes down to the waterline at low tide and says "hey! Lookit all the unused land! So they build their house. Then when the tide comes back in, we're all supposed to cry that they're going to get flooded out?
Stupid.
Whether humans are here or not, water levels will rise and fall. It will happen to every coastal city, it's just a matter of time. Fortunately humans are possibly the most adaptable creatures on the planet. Certainly climate change will result in costs and even possibly some deaths, but in the big picture, they're really nothing more than inconveniences.
-Styopa
If they need a new homeland they shouldn't have to pay for it. Those who took their land from them should be forced to pay.
Falcon
Should there be a Law?
You go on about how scientists will do anything to get more grants, will you now admit fossil fuel industries, such as the oil companies, have deep pockets and can buy research themselves? Despite their deep pockets they have not yet produced peer reviewed studies showing Climate Change or ocean acidification is not happening. On one side there's science and on the other there's nothing but hot air.
That you dribble while spouting such nonsense without providing your own science reveals to me with some clarity that you have fallen passionately for deniers propaganda.
When the power goes out, I'm betting you'll be the first to fire up his diesel generator in order to continue posting such drivel to these forums.
Can you grow, gather, or hunt for your own food? If not you'll be depending on those who can, like me. I've hunted with nothing but a knife, can weave a net, and know where to look for drinking water. I have also preserved my own food, by canning, dehydrating or drying, and by smoking it.
Falcon
Should there be a Law?
Call me old fashioned but if that had been a real cabinet meeting held underwater due to climate change induced by other countries, the prez wouldn't be signing a document calling for global cuts in carbon emissions, he'd be giving an order to assassinate the biggest polluters. btw Those billions of dollars for setting up shop in someone else's backyard kind of reminds me of that episode of the Simpsons in which Homer spent the entire city budget on waste removal, Sprindfield ended up drowning in it's own and everyone else's filth and then had to relocate to get away from the mess.
This is the revised penal code for the maldives. Surely a cabinet that makes such decisions are worthy of billions of aid !
They claim, by the way, that it is the duty of all muslims, "even in America", to do this.
I'm tempted, quite frankly, to not give a shit. Quite frankly, I hope their islands do not just disappear, but everyone of these racist assholes drowns in those rising waters. Slowly.
PLANT TREES LIKE CRAZY.
That is the only realistic solution. Let me put it in a more American way:
-----
EVERY TREE YOU PLANT SAVES YOUR RIGHT TO POSSESS FIREARMS!
-----
There. Now go shout it out.
If we are successful in our current pursuit of manmade global warming, by the end of the century, much of Antarctica could be habitable and productive. This seems a worthwhile tradeoff for slightly higher temperatures in the tropics and loss of some costal regions.
With more arable land and increased crop yields around the globe, the earth will be an Eocene paradise.
Life is short. If we have the ability to radically alter the climate of the earth for the better within our lifetimes, I say we go for it.
The moderators might not of:
a. understood
b.seen
c.took too seriously
d.all of the above
your post, but I laughed!
Thanks for a much needed chuckle...Well done, good sir!
Down With Slashdot BETA!!! I've been around the corner and seen the oliphant; you can only abuse me from your perspecti
My new 42" TV uses slightly less power than my older 32" TV because the EU brought in laws to help countries meet their Kyoto agreements.
You didn't happen to post comments in Saturday's discussion on California Moving Forward With Big-Screen TV Power Restrictions?
Falcon
Should there be a Law?
I want a scientifically valid atmospheric dynamics model that shows that increasing the amount of CO2 has any affect whatsoever on global climate
How do you think Greenhouse Gases got that name? In a greenhouse they increase temperatures. Science not needed, though it can validate it.
Falcon
Should there be a Law?
China has passed the US as the world's greatest Carbon Dioxide emitter. Unless they already know most people probably wouldn't guess who number 3 is, Indonesia. Indonesia became number 3 by burning down forests and draining wetlands to plant oil palm plantations. And what's done with them? Biofuels are made to feed Europe's appetite and reduce it's own Carbon emissions. Oh and India have been building a lot of those coal fired plants too.
What I was shocked about was Australia passed the US as the world largest per capita emitter.
Falcon
Should there be a Law?
I'm not sure why you would think that I would care about what a US administration thinks. Perhaps you think former President Bush is a good diviner of scientific truth? Personally I think such an attitude is a bit crazy, but if you love the ex President that much, good for you.
Bush was brought up because like you he was a big denier. Once he was forced to face the facts he could no longer deny.
You're much more likely to get my attention by backing up your opinion with specifics, like scientists, studies, and actual data.
The IPCC, Stern Report, etc. There are plenty of science studies reaching the conclusions you don't want to hear. Meanwhile there are no credible studies that conclude the climate is changing, getting warmer in places.
How did that Kyoto protocol go? It didn't work, and it didn't have the desired affect.
Unfortunately I have to agree with you here. Those who pushed for Kyoto most, especially Europe, didn't keep their agreements. Now it doesn't matter much if we try to do something. Last year China passed the US as the biggest emitter of Greenhouse Gases, and Australia passed the US as the world's biggest per capita emitter. Number 3 emitter, Indonesia, isn't even an industrialized nation.
Falcon
Should there be a Law?
How did that Kyoto protocol go? It didn't work, and it didn't have the desired affect
The EU15 are on target to meet the Kyoto limits
Though I disagree with some of what GP says I have to agree with him here. Europe may of reduced it's own emissions, but it shifted the emissions elsewhere. The report you provided the link to even says the EU "promotion of biofuels in transport" was part of how emissions were reduced. Switching to biofuels only switched where the emissions happens. The third biggest emitter of Greenhouse Gases is now Indonesia. How did that happen? In order to feed Europe with those biofuels forests were burned down and wetland drained to plant oil palm plantations in Indonesia which are used to make biofuels for Europe. Europe is just as responsible for this as if they produced the emissions there.
Falcon
Should there be a Law?
If it is not real then there's nothing to debate. So that can not be the real debate. The real debate is what to do, if anything, if it is real.
it seems to be that warmer weather would increase crop yield, right?
Yea, we need more poison ivy. Meanwhile some crop yields are lower with higher levels of CO2.
Falcon
Should there be a Law?
Unfortunately, with the biggest polluters being companies
Not in the US. The government is the biggest polluter in the US.
Falcon
Should there be a Law?
a bad Idea.
They have the financial capabillities, the forward thinking government, and sense of urgency that such a plan may require.
There are challenges to shallow underwater building that deeper water buildings wouldn't and vice versa. I think it would be an awesome Idea well worth exploring especially if we can get a simple tidle generator to really work.
How much is your data worth? Back it up now.
Cap-trade WILL NOT WORK. In fact, IT WILL BACKFIRE ON CARBON. We are BOTH in agreement on that. OTH, applying a tax based on CO2 emissions (and hopefully pollution as well) IS TOTALLY LEGAL.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
do you consider the CO2 from a wild fire, brush fire or forest fire to be man made if the fire was caused by arson.
Ce depend. If a fire is a controlled burn, then no. I'd actually consider it an attempt to prevent more CO2 emissions. If however it's started by someone like that person last year or the year before who started fires so they'd be called a hero then yes. In other words intent does matter some.
Falcon
Should there be a Law?