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"Dramatic Decline" Warning For Plants and Animals

An anonymous reader writes "Worldwide levels of the chief greenhouse gas that causes global warming have hit a milestone, reaching an amount never before encountered by humans, federal scientists said. Carbon dioxide was measured at 400 parts per million at the oldest monitoring station in Hawaii, which sets the global benchmark. More than half of plants and a third of animal species are likely to see their living space halved by 2080 if current trends continue."

696 comments

  1. 350ppm by ganjadude · · Score: 0

    Didnt they tell us 350PPM was when doom and gloom would start?and also we are in a cooling period eventhough co2 is rising, plants "breath" co2 so I dont see how more co2 will harm plants.

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    1. Re:350ppm by singingjim1 · · Score: 5, Informative

      Isn't it about rising temps and sea levels? THAT'S what's supposed to reduce habitat. Not just CO2 levels by itself. Just sayin'.

    2. Re:350ppm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So can we just big deep holes in the ocean and use the recovered earth and put it in the mountains... similar to what they are doing in Dubai, but not quite?

    3. Re:350ppm by OhANameWhatName · · Score: 1

      so I dont see how more co2 will harm plants

      Don't say it so loudly, you'll provoke someone to write a paper on it!

    4. Re:350ppm by ColdWetDog · · Score: 4, Insightful

      No, "they" didn't 400 ppm has always been the big concerning level, after which positive feed back systems may be triggered. The truth is nobody really knows - although we are about to.

      The statement that 'plants breath CO2 so extra CO2 is good' indicates that you've been smoking way too much of your ganga to understand that an ecosystem is a bit more complex than your hydroponics setup.

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    5. Re:350ppm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Didnt they tell us 350PPM was when doom and gloom would start?and also we are in a cooling period eventhough co2 is rising, plants "breath" co2 so I dont see how more co2 will harm plants.

      Yeah, I'm with you Ganja Dude. Here, look - General Motors has a solution to this; they've announced their new fuel efficient Silverados for 2014, which are going to get an estimated 16/23 city/hwy MPG, so what's the big deal? Sure, maybe we'll lose some polar bears, big whoop, just envision yourself at the wheel of a brand new shiny Silverado with an 8" lift kit and a hot chick in a bikini sitting next to you, tearing across the tundra! There's your "cool period" right there! Yeaaaaahhhhh!

    6. Re:350ppm by bbelt16ag · · Score: 2
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    7. Re:350ppm by hazem · · Score: 1

      plants "breath" co2 so I dont see how more co2 will harm plants.

      Well, you breath oxygen, so breathing 100% pure oxygen is no problem, right? Well, actually, it is a problem if you breathe it for any prolonged period of time. Read up on hyperoxia.

      It just doesn't follow that because plants need CO2 that more CO2 is better for plants... or at least the plants you want growing.

    8. Re:350ppm by Lendrick · · Score: 1

      [citation needed]

    9. Re:350ppm by symbolset · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I had put this as an article but it was declined.

      2-3 million years ago 300km inside the arctic circle CO2 levels were 400 ppm and temps were 8C above present. This according to an article published last week in the journal Science covered by Scientific American (link to journal in that article). Lake sediments find 7 varieties of fir tree pollen. This verdant period doubtless had countless bacteria, plants, insects, mammals now extinct because between then and now have been a whole lot of very cold years interspersed with some brief 10-15000 year periods of temperatures like the current. These species failed to adapt to the climate that is our current day. Firs don't grow there now. Humans are not to blame for that - there weren't any. This condition had likely persisted for millions of years prior, though intermittent rapid cold/hot spells did punctuate the climate cycles and cause widespread extinctions.

      Life adapts. That's what it does. Life is a plague that cannot be stopped short of a supernova or the impact of something the size of Mars that sterilizes the entire surface by turning it to magma to 4km depth - and I'm not even sure about the latter as such an impact will kick the life off to circle the sun to land again when the planet has cooled enough to accept it. Species go extinct all the time and new species are born every minute. Every corner that has any form of energy will be populated by forms of life that use that energy and higher forms that feed on those, ultimately capturing carbon in stable forms. That is another thing that life-as-we-know-it does that has led to our current bitterly cold climate.

      Humans use intelligence and common effort to surmount environmental challenges - that's what we do. There are humans that live on Antarctica and in the furthest terrestrial reaches of the arctic circle. If the Arctic Circle rises in temperatures by 8C again - or even 16C - then Mankind gets more arable land and living space, not less, because polar temps increase disproportionately to equatorial temps. Plants and animals move north quite rapidly. The vast Alaskan, Canadian and Russian permafrost becomes cropland. We move freight over the poles year-round, opening ports and resorts on the northern shores. And we lose Florida, New Orleans and South Texas. That's inconvenient. People have to move. The US probably has to annex Canada. I'm not buying the whole coral reef thing since those reefs are over 3 million years old and have survived the descent into the cold and back again very many times. That means they evolved in a climate that wasn't as crisp as our current era and should thrive when their natural habitat is restored.

      You can complain about this if you want to but you cannot change the outcome. For every person on Earth who cares enough to act to reverse climate are fifty who either stand to benefit from climate change or have too many more pressing issues to care, and their efforts are more than enough to counteract any green movement that could occur short of a world government with levels of control that is not to be wish'd. Do you think Canadians and Russians live in fear of global warming? Do you think if the US converts entirely to hydro, nuclear, geothermal, solar and gas that we will stop digging up the coal? No. We will just export it to absolve ourselves of the guilt of burning it and the CO2 will still happen someplace where our clean burning regulations don't apply. Those coal mines have debts to pay. Same with high-sulfur oil.

      These cycles are how nature motivates humans to evacuate equatorial regions and inhabit a wider world. It's what drove us out of Africa time and again. And the relapses to the cold drive local populations to equatorial regions for long times, increasing differentiation in the isolation periods, which leads to competition and strife when warmth and commerce resumes and finds a winner amongs

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    10. Re:350ppm by Aonghus142000 · · Score: 1

      The other thing I've noticed is the gradually creeping goalposts. As a child in the '70s, we were told that coming ice age brought about by the pollution we were generating by burning fossil fuels would wipe out half the world's species by the year 2000. (That was also when we were supposed to start running out of oil and most useful metals, but that's another discussion.) Then in the '90s, the target date was 2030 or 2050, depending on which study you were reading. So now, we've got 'till 2080? The time at which we render the planet uninhabitable keeps shifting, as does the exact means which the same effect is going to destroy all life on earth. Yet the solution being proposed remains the same. And we've always got to do something Right Now! or there will be catastrophic consequences 50-100 years down the road. At some point, a guy starts to ask himself if there might not be something else going on.

    11. Re:350ppm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You breathe oxygen, if you would go and put yourself in a hyperbaric chamber for a few days without any medical supervision, the world would become a slightly smarter place on average.

    12. Re:350ppm by sonamchauhan · · Score: 2

      Um, we're killing off plant cover, while increasing CO2. So there IS a problem.

      HOWEVER, I fail to see how being fixated on a single source of CO2 measurements (Mauna Loa) is helping the issue.

      I was on the island which houses the Mauna Loa observatory last month. There has been a recent (since the last 2-3 years) rise in emissions from volcanoes some miles adjacent to the observatory (so much so, there is an issue with 'vog' -- volcanic smog -- on the island).

      Now, I've read about techniques the observatory uses to sidestep that issue, but ...

      What is the *global* (not just Mauna-Loa) CO2 average? Is it rising precipitously? How fast? Its hard to get a straight answer for these questions from Google.

    13. Re:350ppm by philip.paradis · · Score: 1

      CO2 levels have fluctuated a *lot* in our planet's history. The amount of time we've spent measuring these concentrations is tiny by comparison. The long term trend for our planet, human influence aside, appears likely to be a virtual elimination of atmospheric CO2 as it becomes trapped in landmasses. This of course would result in the elimination of most terrestrial life on Earth as we know it, and won't be a concern for billions of years, but it is the likely trajectory nonetheless.

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    14. Re:350ppm by philip.paradis · · Score: 2

      At some point, a guy starts to ask himself if there might not be something else going on.

      You're absolutely right. People love to complain about Big Industry concerns related to fossil fuel production and consumption, but they don't seem so inclined to talk about the sprawling industries built around various forms of alternative energy production (with all their spectacular fiscal abuses, corruption, and failures of other sorts), climate change studies, government programs to research and produce reams of new legislation every few years, etc. Meanwhile, our society continues to be okay with current death rates from an assortment of diseases and widespread famine. People say they care about those things, but their focus and money say otherwise. Apparently, it's cooler (no pun intended) to care about CO2 levels in the atmosphere than it is to do a better job of dealing with things that are killing millions of people right now.

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    15. Re: 350ppm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      "The US probably has to annex Canada."

      Speaking as a Canadian, on behalf of Canadians, you can go fuck yourself.

    16. Re: 350ppm by symbolset · · Score: 1

      I'm sure we can sell it to the point where Canadian provinces apply for statehood. You might not like it but in a half century and given sufficient means to sway the public it can be done. It won't be an invasion. We have marketing people and they're very good. Also, you guys have a very fungible form of government and few domestic resources to influence them. You would be surprised what the CIA can to for $15,000 CDN.

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    17. Re:350ppm by TrollstonButterbeans · · Score: 1

      Life adapts. That's what it does.

      Until it doesn't.

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    18. Re:350ppm by TrollstonButterbeans · · Score: 1

      Life adapts. That's what it does. Life is a plague that cannot be stopped short of a supernova ...

      In the past, a rather large body of evidence supports the idea that Mars had liquid water and an atmosphere. Due to lack of gravity, over millions or billions of years it lost both its atmosphere and the atmospheric pressure to maintain liquid water.

      The odds are Mars had life at one point, although the complexity is unknown.

      And today it doesn't. At least not substantial enough to easily detect.

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    19. Re:350ppm by mattr · · Score: 1

      But: The Internet.

    20. Re:350ppm by symbolset · · Score: 1

      Species go extinct. Life goes on.

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    21. Re:350ppm by symbolset · · Score: 1

      All the signs point to life on Mars - not just in geologic time but right now. We haven't found it yet but then we haven't looked in the most likely places either. You can't use Mars as an example of how rare life is until we have explored it further.

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    22. Re: 350ppm by grantspassalan · · Score: 1

      Don't worry that won't happen in your time or in your great grandchildren's time. So don't get excited and use bad language

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    23. Re:350ppm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      350 ppm is not 100% CO2, 400 ppm is not 100% CO2, 5000 ppm is not 100% CO2. Why does the inability to recognize a strawman argument cease when it is your argument? Reductio ad absurdum doesn't work the way you think it does in response to his statement, since his statement is replying about and referring to the current (and projected) levels of CO2. While you are right that it doesn't follow that more CO2 is better for plants, it also doesn't follow that there isn't some level of increase that is beneficial. That is where research is needed and being done. Jeesh, my kingdom for some classical debate technique knowledge pour les paysans.

    24. Re:350ppm by TrollstonButterbeans · · Score: 1

      You can't use Mars as an example of how rare life is until we have explored it further.

      Mars doesn't have slugs or centipedes or apes running around.

      You can't use Mars as an example of how rare life is until we have explored it further.

      I already did. And if there life on Mars today, it isn't thriving life making itself known. If that is your definition of "life adapting", you have very low standards for what the idea of "adapting" means.

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    25. Re:350ppm by grantspassalan · · Score: 1

      I agree with you that this is just a moneymaking scheme so the ultra-rich of this world can get even richer at the expense of everybody else. It has no basis in science whatsoever, because it is well-known that living things do way better in warm places than in freezing cold. If human activities such as fossil fuel burning will make for a warmer Earth, let's do it. Let's scrap all these worries about carbon and bring as much carbon as possible to the surface and into the atmosphere where it used to be and make it available for plants to use. Let's RETURN the Earth to the conditions that prevailed before all that carbon was buried in the ground. Living things thrived back then, including dinosaurs! The latter became extinct because it became too cold for them. We are today burning the carbon that used to be a part of the dinosaurs and the food they ate.

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    26. Re:350ppm by symbolset · · Score: 1

      If you've thoroughly explored Mars I'm going to want to see your mission logs, particularly polar ice samples and 2km deep drilling cores.

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    27. Re: 350ppm by Onthax · · Score: 1

      Don't worry, you can just burn their white house to the ground like you did last time they invaded.

    28. Re:350ppm by microbox · · Score: 0

      If you want to follow the money, then watch it trickle from big oil through think-tanks and politicians. It's seriously just a case of crony capitalism.

      Sure cap-and-trade would have to be run in a market. Goldman Sachs makes money when people buy and sell stocks as well.

      You don't like cap-and-trade, then what is wrong with a carbon tax? Suppose you got another wild crazy conspiracy theory about that too, right?

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    29. Re:350ppm by microbox · · Score: 4, Informative

      In my experience people are fine to talk about the industries built up around alternative energies. You talk of "spectacular" fiscal abuses, but it's almost certainly overblown in your imagination. For example, Solyndra was just a small blip in the larger loan guarantee program. It is peanuts compared to $4 billion that is *given* to big carbon each year in tax breaks. Note, it costs the government more to give away $4 billion each year, than to offer loans to start-ups which have a bankruptcy rate of 11%. Not all money is lost when a company goes bankrupt -- only 4% of it is at risk.

      But I'm sure that's a *spectacular* fiscal abuse, and just forking $4 billion a year over to big carbon, because otherwise the the most profitable industry in history wouldn't have enough money to line the pockets of conservative think-tanks and politicians.

      Do you see the double-standard there?

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    30. Re:350ppm by microbox · · Score: 1

      What is the *global* (not just Mauna-Loa) CO2 average? Is it rising precipitously? How fast? Its hard to get a straight answer for these questions from Google.

      I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and pretend that you never heard of the IPCC reports, or wikipedia.

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    31. Re:350ppm by microbox · · Score: 1

      Gee, you sound like a climate expert! CO2 has changed heaps in 4.5 billion years all right. So has the temperature of the earth. You think scientists don't quantify all of that with error bars? It is the fact that this has been done that we're having the discussion at all.

      There is no long-term trend to remove *all* CO2. That is plain ridiculous. The carbon cycle will reach a plateau because volcanoes are always producing more CO2. If this didn't happen then there would still be glaciers at the equator, and the earth would be one big ice-sheet.

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    32. Re:350ppm by symbolset · · Score: 0

      400 is just a number. It is no more meaningful than 399.4, or 400.23. The emotion you invest in it is what gives it significance to you. If you'll forgive us, we're familiar with the smooth progression of real numbers that makes no one point significant.

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    33. Re:350ppm by I'm+New+Around+Here · · Score: 1

      $4 billion that is *given* to big carbon each year in tax breaks.

      Itemize them for me.

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    34. Re:350ppm by TrollstonButterbeans · · Score: 1
      There are some people that like science. Whatever it is that you believe in, science isn't one of them.

      Science demands proof, evidence and not just an open mind but skeptism too. The chief human flaw is to "screen evidence for whatever one wants to believe", science is done by overcoming this.

      So if you are just going to blindly state "life flourishes" but crumble under the Mars question, don't look to me as the problem. I'm just asking the questions.

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    35. Re:350ppm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Crops need Sunlight, it will be fine for a few months, but the nights are really long and they won't grow very well in the higher latitudes. There is also very little infrastructure up there. Crops don't like frost either. And the soil quality is lacking.

      We also have set up artificial borders and prevent people from crossing them.

    36. Re: 350ppm by rrohbeck · · Score: 1

      Yeah, German re-unification worked exactly like that. Canada and the US were only separated because the Brits occupied the Canadian territories, just like the Soviets occupied East Germany. Right?

    37. Re:350ppm by I'm+New+Around+Here · · Score: 1

      My Firefox doesn't like your IPCC link. Do you have another that has a trusted certificate?

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    38. Re:350ppm by rrohbeck · · Score: 1

      We're seeing a number of feedbacks already being triggered - the arctic ice cap melt being the glaringly obvious one.

    39. Re:350ppm by turkeyfish · · Score: 1

      Nobody has those kinds of energy resources. Even in Dubai where they have an abundance of hydrocarbons, their islands don't amount to much more than a few meters of dredged sand in relatively restricted areas. Have you attempted to work out the energy requirements for moving such masses of sand and rock? Just think how expensive it would be just to get it from the sea to the mountains, much less on the barge in the first place? Do you have any idea how much CO2 you would generate in the process raising sea levels even further.

      It seems your ideas are not very well thought out. You might have figured that out had to taken even a moment to reflect on your silly idea. Take a few more bong hits and get back to us.

    40. Re:350ppm by turkeyfish · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "Life adapts. That's what it does."

      Actually the fossil record suggests otherwise, if the amount of change is too abrupt. In that case most higher life forms go extinct because they are too dependent upon specific lower forms of life that often can not adapt. Most organisms have very specific environmental requirements. Go outside of those physiological limits and they die. Humans aren't much different in many respects. We do a lot of things, but seldom do we really get too far out of our physiological comfort zone. A world that in 80-100 years has temperatures of 130-140 degrees F in the shade for weeks on end will be a whole experience.

      Keep in mind that this time its totally different, because of the rate at which CO2 is rising. Its going up more than 26 times faster than during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal maximum, which changed the forests of what is now northern Wyoming from redwoods to palm trees in a couple of thousand years. It will be hard to imagine many organisms surviving that kind of change over the course of a few hundred, much less most of their pollinators.

      "Do you think Canadians and Russians live in fear of global warming?"

      They should. The vast bulk of the warming that will be seen is occurring in the Arctic and generally speaking even Russians and Canadians need to eat. With food crops under threat, they may well find themselves stressed as well. Some 56,000 Russians died in the heat wave in 2010. Some 40,000-50,000 Europeans died from a similar heat wave in 2003. If the Lake El’gygytgyn results are a direct indication that the global climate sensitivity is 8 degrees Celsius which it appears to, rather than what people have been indirectly inferring and using in their climate models, then its pretty clear that we can expect many more to die as we now move into the Arctic amplification phase of global warming.

      As for the high latitude North providing more arable land, don't count on it for several reasons. 1) Arctic soils are very poor, 2) few commercial plants can tolerate the long winters so most crops that require more than one year to produce, such as fruit trees won't be among them, 3) just because the Arctic is warming doesn't mean that it may not yet see many days with freezing temperatures, so most plants adapted to more southern latitudes simply won't be able to adapt to growing conditions which are interrupted by severe frost in an unpredictable way, 4) it may be almost impossible to take pollinators with them given the different wind and percipitation/abruptly changing temperature regimes. Keep in mind many plants used for human consumption, such as corn, rice, coffee are tropical or tropical highland species, 5) many others such as wheat are highly susceptible to rusts and fungi and will likely fare poorly as there is too much moisture in the atmosphere such as in early spring, and 6) simply because you have high latitude does not mean that abundant, year around sources of freshwater will be uniformly available throughout the entire landscape.

      Obviously, a lot depends on how fast the change.

    41. Re: 350ppm by turkeyfish · · Score: 1

      The GOP would never go for it, especially with even more people pouring over the border from the South.

    42. Re: 350ppm by turkeyfish · · Score: 1

      Actually it is already happening. Its just that we tend to take so many things for granted we don't notice the small, almost imperceptible changes until the trends are very far along. Take a look at all the new tropical diseases that are now found in the US in the past 10-15 years. Until you get one, who pays attention. Generally speaking, people's knowledge of biology is incredibly low. Even for people who have studied biology their entire lives and have advanced degrees in the subject the level of knowledge is still pretty low. Life is complicated.

    43. Re:350ppm by symbolset · · Score: 1

      In your comment above you claimed to have thoroughly explored Mars. I am breathlessly awaiting your report on the situation there, replete with samples, analysis and a vast trove of discoveries.

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    44. Re:350ppm by maxwell+demon · · Score: 1

      My Firefox doesn't like your IPCC link. Do you have another that has a trusted certificate?

      Ha, this is proof, even Mozilla is part of the anti-AGW conspiracy! ;-)

      But on a more serious note, my Firefox does not have an issue with the certificate.

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    45. Re: 350ppm by symbolset · · Score: 1

      By then the GOP will be doing their best to sell stickers, and trying to persuade their base to remove their old stickers.

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    46. Re:350ppm by turkeyfish · · Score: 1

      Over time the capture of carbon in limestone removes it from the atmosphere. However, the rate is miniscule and the processes take hundreds of thousands and millions of years to effect. Consequently, we can't expect to rely on these natural processes to remove carbon dioxide for us. We will probably have to rapidly cut back on fossil fuel use to close to zero use to survive as a species as we move into the next couple of hundred years.

    47. Re: 350ppm by symbolset · · Score: 1

      No, German reunification was pretty much a do it or die kind of thing, which is technically persuasion but not really relevant to the context. We're getting dangerously close to a Godwin here.

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    48. Re: 350ppm by stephanruby · · Score: 2, Funny

      That's not what our intelligence tells us.

      Our intelligence tells us that if we were to annex Canada, most Canadians would welcome us with open arms.

    49. Re:350ppm by turkeyfish · · Score: 1

      "400 is just a number."

      Your right. Its just like the speed of that locomotive that is about 100 feet down the tracks bearing down on your vehicle parked on the tracks with the doors locked and the windows rolled up, while you try to figure out where you put your keys. Of course,when that number reaches a certain threshold, its just a matter of "emotional investment" so why bother to start the car?

    50. Re:350ppm by turkeyfish · · Score: 1

      Don't worry about Goldman Sachs. It seems the Chinese have set up their own carbon trading market and will probably eventually start using it as muscle in trade talks. Why let any American companies get in on the action, when we can turn the entire market over to the Chinese like we have done with manufacturing and increasingly with solar production?

    51. Re:350ppm by turkeyfish · · Score: 1

      What people like these don't realize is that one Solydra failure here and we stop investing in solar technology. In the meantime China ramps up its production to double our own, is more than happy to subsidize 10 firrms the size of Solydra for every success and is rapidly taking over the lead in solar investments and technology. This year the Chinese spent twice what we spent on solar power. Next year they will double that again and are planning an increase of 5 times next years output the following year.

      In the meantime, Tea Partiers here are tyring to take food out of the mouths of old women and children to avoid paying a dollar more in tax, much less invest in anything as a nation that might allow us to even stay competitive. We are literally walking away from technological leadership so essential to addressing global warming that its hard to imagine how we are going to survive as a nation, much less compete in such an every warming world, particularly one in which foreign markets will soon impose carbon tariffs on our products.

    52. Re:350ppm by TapeCutter · · Score: 1

      I've had a few bong hits, his ideas are hilarious.

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    53. Re:350ppm by Elbelow · · Score: 1

      This is an animated synthesis of global CO2 measurements, with some historical records added afterwards:

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vA7tfz3k_9A

    54. Re:350ppm by Eugriped3z · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Life adapts, but only given the opportunity. There are 5 massive epochal die-offs that prove your point. They also prove that you're not thinking this through very well. Many of the humans you're talking about adapt using rather violent tactics. It's called war. If you believe that the geopolitical considerations will just sort themselves out, then you haven't read much history. The logical limits to growth are also the logical variables that lead to armed conflict if and when diplomacy fails.

      Currently a good portion of the cause for the success of the world's dominant economic powers revolves around the development of technology, but it's also predated by the accident of unimpeded access to abundant natural resources. Accidental in the sense that water, arable land, lumber and minerals existed as those political powers developed their technologies. The modern construct of ownership has always been enforced through warfare.

      What do you think will happen when climate challenges the ability of the current geopolitical regimes? It's not going to be orderly or pretty if, "humans (attempt) to evacuate equatorial regions and inhabit a wider world." The Maldives and other island populations are the first to confront such a reality, but they'll easily be able to integrate into other areas. What do you think will happen if most of the existing population below 30 degress latitude in both hemispheres is forced to evacuate?

    55. Re:350ppm by symbolset · · Score: 1

      Dude I don't know if you know this but before this redupe and the dupe that it's duping hit the /. front page I was the submitter on the original /. article on this topic . I care.

      But real numbers being what they are, this figure matters little more than any other. Make 400 your rallying cry if you must. I would, if I had the fever. But I don't. Try not to paint me as a prick because I don't. Obviously I'm getting your cause good press doing my own bit.

      It's a fun game but I could play it the other way if you want to be a pain. I can be a ferocious competitor if you want to put me on that footing.

      I think I would enjoy that. It has been a long time.

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    56. Re:350ppm by philip.paradis · · Score: 1

      Yes, there is a long term trend to remove nearly all CO2 from the atmosphere. However, your lack of reading comprehension ability has resulted in your failure to note the part where I said "won't be a concern for billions of years." Try again.

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    57. Re: 350ppm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Speaking as a Canadian, on behalf of Canadians, you (Americans) can go fuck yourselves.

      Speaking as an average American, back atchya, you tar sand mucking Canuck! :-O

      --- Remember, up there, you have to listen to your overweight wives. Down here, it's never over.

    58. Re: 350ppm by Eugriped3z · · Score: 1

      Wrong... you forgot the involvement of the French and the Iroquois.

    59. Re:350ppm by philip.paradis · · Score: 1

      I never said we don't have a major problem with special interests on the "pro-carbon" side of the aisle getting undeserved benefits; quite to the contrary, I agree with you on that point. That's money that should absolutely be reallocated to better causes. Saying one thing doesn't mean a person believes something entirely different, and you'd do well to take caution before assuming such things, as it tends to make reasonable discussion difficult and may result in your position being taken less seriously than it otherwise would.

      The point here is that we have hordes of immediate problems in society that no reasonable person would say he doesn't care about, but that statement of caring rings hollow when it isn't backed by money and action. Instead, we as a society seem to like to adopt elitist, knee-jerk, "favorite sports team" style positions on matters that may be fairly described as extraordinarily difficult to even get agreed quantification on. Meanwhile, kids are living under bridges in our nation's cities, and folks are dropping dead from chronic disease at relatively young ages left and right.

      Do you want to carry on with your knee-jerk reactions and stay in your comfortable little bubble, where you can safely think about things on a time scale that ranges from 50 to perhaps hundreds of years or more, or do you want to take a moment to consider that maybe your energy might be better placed somewhere else, some place that might make a different on matters that are killing millions of people right now? Should you choose the former, don't worry, you'll be the company of most of the rest of society. I suppose that's some consolation at least.

      --
      Write failed: Broken pipe
    60. Re:350ppm by symbolset · · Score: 1

      Did life end? No.

      --
      Help stamp out iliturcy.
    61. Re:350ppm by symbolset · · Score: 1

      I am thinking this through very well. I am thinking on a different scale of time than you are but that is a different thing.

      --
      Help stamp out iliturcy.
    62. Re:350ppm by TapeCutter · · Score: 1

      The long term trend for our planet, human influence aside, appears likely to be a virtual elimination of atmospheric CO2 as it becomes trapped in landmasses.

      You really should study WP in a bit more depth, the following is mainly from Attenbourough's documentaries but the terms are all in WP. Between 450 -500mya we went from a near dead "snowball earth" to the advent and explosion of multi-cellular life that lead to you, me, and every other animal alive today. What melted the ice was a build up of volcanic CO2 that could not be subducted due to the global ice coverage. Melting glaciers carved nutrients off the continents and (re)-formed the oceans, algae sucked up CO2, incoporated the carbon into their body and spat out O2 - collagen (the stuff that hold cells together in animals) can only form in an O2 rich environment. Our O2 rich environment is a bi-product of plant life.

      The long-term fate of the Earth's climate is fairly well established science (humans or no humans), it's similar to that of Venus, our magnetic field will decay, H will be stripped from H2O in the upper atmosphere and bleed into space, the O2 will bond with C to form CO2 warming the planet, the oceans will start to steam, then boil, eventually even the limestone will burn off the surface- it's called a "runaway greenhouse" and it's not due for another 500million years but when it does all traces of life will be obliterated. On the bright side, a billion years is not a bad innings for we animals.

      Disclaimer: I've been interested in reading this sort of science since the 70's, I'm not an expert but I do think there is way too much ignorance of how our life support systems operate and way, way, too much hypocrisy when it comes to accepting the results of Science (with a capital 'S'). This entire thread is a prime example, right now at least 2/3 of the comments look like they were written by drunken teenage trolls wielding crayons.

      --
      And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
    63. Re:350ppm by TapeCutter · · Score: 1

      "H will be stripped from H2O in the upper atmosphere and bleed into space, the O2 will bond with C to form CO2" I'm obviously not a chemist, WP will put you straight on what I'm trying to say.

      --
      And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
    64. Re:350ppm by philip.paradis · · Score: 1

      The course you've set for the future of the planet is by no means set in stone. Loss of our magnetic field is one possible factor in the course, but is not a certainty and there is plenty of discord on the topic. Go ahead and cite recent sources if you're so certain of your position on this, and be sure to look for dissenting views while you're at it.

      --
      Write failed: Broken pipe
    65. Re:350ppm by dunkelfalke · · Score: 1

      The vast Alaskan, Canadian and Russian permafrost becomes cropland.
      [..]
        Do you think Canadians and Russians live in fear of global warming?

      You do realise that you sound like Lysenko? His only scintific paper was exactly about how when you keep the plants warm they grow faster. Unfortunately, warmth is not enough, you also need sunlight, and there is not enough sunlight in the north.

      And frankly, I can remember from the last few years of the USSR (1990-1991) that even there global warming in fact started to be a concern.

      --
      "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
    66. Re:350ppm by Joce640k · · Score: 1

      Didnt they tell us 350PPM was when doom and gloom would start?

      No.

      --
      No sig today...
    67. Re:350ppm by philip.paradis · · Score: 2

      He's not getting anything you're trying to say, so you might as well give up on him now.

      --
      Write failed: Broken pipe
    68. Re:350ppm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't consider reddit a reliable source, so no need to read that.

    69. Re:350ppm by I'm+New+Around+Here · · Score: 1

      When I click on it, a yellow 'shield' with a crossing guard figure appears, with this message:

      This Connection is Untrusted

                          You have asked Firefox to connect
      securely to www.ipcc-wg1.unibe.ch, but we can't confirm that your connection is secure.
                          Normally, when you try to connect securely,
      sites will present trusted identification to prove that you are
      going to the right place. However, this site's identity can't be verified.

                          What Should I Do?

                              If you usually connect to
      this site without problems, this error could mean that someone is
      trying to impersonate the site, and you shouldn't continue.

      --
      If you think I voted for Trump because of this post, you're wrong. I voted for Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. Again.
    70. Re:350ppm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Do you think Canadians and Russians live in fear of global warming?"

      Yes. For reasons you clearly don't understand. We have more farmland to look forward to? Not exactly. Familiarize yourself with permafrost and what happens if it starts melting. It's a mess. Whole communities in the north are going to get cut off from road access because the ice road season gets shorter and shorter. It's bad news and won't be arable land for a long time. And all that nice, new, warmer land won't be great if much of the prairies becomes desert due to reduced precipitation and/or because the ice sheets in the Rockies that feed the major rivers of the prairies and smooth out seasonal precipitation trends melt away. There are significant risks to climate change here, just like everywhere else. It's not as simple as "cold country like Canada == global warming good". In Russia, this sort of thing starts happening.

      Also, it's fine to say life adapts, but that's over the long term and part of that adaptation is for a lot of species to go extinct. Furthermore, humans, while very adaptable, don't have a good history of civilization adapting to major climate changes like long-term drought or desertification. Usually that means an entire society goes through a stressful period of squabbling over a dwindling resource, often expressing itself in the form of wars.

      Even if you look at the cold swings of the latest glaciations, through which humans survived, there were dramatic changes outside the areas of glaciation itself, and, yes, it drove migration of humans. The thing is, if you try that in the modern day, inevitably the good land is claimed or shortly will be, and if you tell desperate people they can't have it they pick up a gun and try to take it. You make it sound like human socieites are resiliant. Sure, they are to some extent, but wipe out huge areas of arable and occupied land in one area, and make some new area livable, and there will be some serious squabbling in the process. Squabbles that I wouldn't wish on this generation, my kids, or the next generation after.

      While it's interesting to think about longer-term glaciation trends, that occurs on the scale of millenia. They aren't relevant if we don't make it thought the next few centuries. Even if glaciation began tomorrow, accumulating ice sheets in northern Quebec and the NWT like it did last time, it would still be thousands of years before they would be grinding over a house in New York. Dealing with shorter-term, century-scale change that could affect agriculture over vast areas is far more pressing.

    71. Re:350ppm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If sea level becomes a problem, a trench to flood the sahara can drop the sea level to pretty much wherever we want it.

    72. Re:350ppm by Xest · · Score: 1

      You like all who parrot the "It's always been like this argument" miss the fundamental issue. It's not whether it has or hasn't happened, we know it has, that's not news.

      It's the rate of change that's the issue, for example:

      "I'm not buying the whole coral reef thing since those reefs are over 3 million years old and have survived the descent into the cold and back again very many times. That means they evolved in a climate that wasn't as crisp as our current era and should thrive when their natural habitat is restored."

      This shows a complete lack of understanding of the timescales to support survival in the face of such changes happens. The corals have survived because through natural temperature change events they've had tens of thousands, often hundreds of thousands or even millions of years to adapt to the slow rate of change. We're talking this time about something that's happening on the order of only decades or at best a few hundred years. That's simply not long enough for many species to adapt. You can't suddenly go from being a species that is sensitive to only a 0.3C change in your climate to being one that can cope with a 3C change in just a handful of generations - it takes hundreds of thousands of generations and the current rate of change doesn't allow for the time required for that amount of generations to occur before they've already been wiped out.

    73. Re: 350ppm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Watching Canadian politics it is sometimes hard to tell if Canada is actually serious about being a democratic country or just Zimbabwe North... especially with the dismantling of the scientific community under the current dear leader, the never ending corruption scandals and so forth. Too often it just looks like an update to 19th century colonial exploitation at its worse, save that the exploiters were locals. Watch how Ontario has dismantled to rule of law for people and the environment so their best buds could cover the landscape with wind turbines... and conveniently make a ton of money producing unneeded power. Public transit is being systematicly dismantled -- more and more places cannot be reached unless you have a car or can afford to fly, no train or bus. Since the 1980's there have been rumors in the business community that eventually Canada would break up -- the east and west coasts would go their own way, the middle would become part of the US, Quebec would be, well, Quebec... Damn shame -- as a place to live and raise a family it has been very good.

    74. Re:350ppm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      $4 billion that is *given* to big carbon each year in tax breaks.

      A tax break is not a gift. We are not the government's property.

    75. Re:350ppm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Life adapts. That's what it does."

      Yes, but lets be clear here, the earth and 'life' does not care about climate change, it's been through many changes, and several mass extinctions. The natural world is not worried about climate change, climate change is a human problem, if anything humans dying out would be to the long term benefit of many other organisms. Climate change is a problem for human civilisation, not a problem for the natural world which would almost certainly recover after a million year blip or so. Personally I care about continuation of the species, but can understand why some might not.

    76. Re:350ppm by dywolf · · Score: 1

      life adapted over a period of several million years.
      we compressed several million years worth of warming into 300.
      how confident are you in evolutions ability to adapt on such a short time scale? given enough time, sure...life will recover. the question is will we still be around by then, or will we have starved to death or exterminated our species in a massive global resource war?

      --
      The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
    77. Re: 350ppm by tbannist · · Score: 1

      Yeah, just like Iraq.

      --
      Fanatically anti-fanatical
    78. Re:350ppm by microbox · · Score: 1

      The point here is that we have hordes of immediate problems in society that no reasonable person would say he doesn't care about, but that statement of caring rings hollow when it isn't backed by money and action. Instead, we as a society seem to like to adopt elitist, knee-jerk, "favorite sports team" style positions on matters that may be fairly described as extraordinarily difficult to even get agreed quantification on. Meanwhile, kids are living under bridges in our nation's cities, and folks are dropping dead from chronic disease at relatively young ages left and right.

      I've dedicated my life to understanding these issues and contributing to the discourse of science. The problem with the "what are you doing about the child under the bridge?" argument is that it ignores that mitigating climate change really isn't going to be a big deal if we actually do something sooner rather than later. The "sky will fall in on the economy" meme is part of the disinformation campaign, and there are plenty of "earth-is-holy-capitalism-is-evil" spirit people out there to poison the conversation.

      Do you want to carry on with your knee-jerk reactions and stay in your comfortable little bubble, where you can safely think about things on a time scale that ranges from 50 to perhaps hundreds of years or more, or do you want to take a moment to consider that maybe your energy might be better placed somewhere else, some place that might make a different on matters that are killing millions of people right now? Should you choose the former, don't worry, you'll be the company of most of the rest of society. I suppose that's some consolation at least.

      A judicious understanding of economic theory will lead you to understand that there is no reason why we cannot do both at the same time. Unfortunately, the politics in the USA (in particular) is so pre-school level that conservatives adopt a position merely because it goes against what democrats want. For example, Paul Ryan supported Obamacare as late as 2007. It is a conservative idea, generated in conservative think-tanks in the 90s, and experimented with my conservative governors.

      GOP obstructionism is rather hair-raising considering that dems use universities as think-tanks. Most of the economics profession is against trickle-down economics, for example, although I am aware of good conservative economic arguments. Still, most of academia thinks it is bullshit, but the GOP is all for it, and it conveniently fits into the narrative of the plutocracy class that funds most of the GOP. Basically we have a party of crony capitalism hell bent on obstructing anything unless it is a tax break for rich people, or a ban on abortion. Of course they're against climate science. Of course they're against main-stream economics. It hurts the donar class.

      There's a great book "Idiot America" which details some of the utter lunacy that has become the GOP. You want to help the child under the bridge, then vote dem until the GOP is reformed.

      I am a conservative.

      --

      Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
    79. Re:350ppm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Life adapts.

      Well. Sort of. I'd rather say that the Earth adapts, and some of the lifeforms that depend on it. We might not. Our way of life most likely will not.

    80. Re:350ppm by microbox · · Score: 1

      Well, you can get your information from conservative media which echoes big-carbon talking points for a price. (Nice business model, eh?) Or you could swing over the government agency that actually tracks the money, as see for yourself.

      What did you do?

      --

      Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
    81. Re: 350ppm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Perhaps you guys could annex US? Pretty please?

    82. Re:350ppm by tbannist · · Score: 1

      Actually, he didn't. He said that there was no evidence of life yet on Mars, which is convincing evidence that it is not thriving. If it exists as a few scattered microbes, 2km deep under a frozen polar cap, then it certainly wouldn't meet my definition of "flourishing".

      --
      Fanatically anti-fanatical
    83. Re:350ppm by ganjadude · · Score: 1

      whats wrong with a carbon tax? simple. all it says is you can pollute more if you pay for it, it does nothing to actually end the pollution. Pollution continues, and a handfull of people get rich on pollution.

      --
      have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
    84. Re:350ppm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      whats wrong with a carbon tax? simple. all it says is you can pollute more if you pay for it, it does nothing to actually end the pollution. Pollution continues, and a handfull of people get rich on pollution.

      This is economically incoherent, and also against real economic data.

    85. Re:350ppm by ganjadude · · Score: 1

      The difference is when that 4 billion is "given" to big carbon, its not taken out of our pockets and handed over to them. it is simply letting them keep more of their own money. Solynra since you used that as an example was given money that was taken from us. that is the difference between the 2.

      Explain to me how allowing "big carbon" to keep their money that they made, is the same as taking my money through taxes that I paid and giving it to another company??

      --
      have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
    86. Re:350ppm by ganjadude · · Score: 0

      In the meantime, Tea Partiers here are tyring to take food out of the mouths of old women and children

      It is statements like this that make it hard to have a debate with people like you. How is wanting to keep their own money so they can feed their own families trying to take the food out of old women and children? This fear mongering (wont someone think of the children!!) is getting tiring.

      --
      have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
    87. Re:350ppm by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 1

      But I'm sure that's a *spectacular* fiscal abuse, and just forking $4 billion a year over to big carbon, because otherwise the the most profitable industry in history wouldn't have enough money to line the pockets of conservative think-tanks and politicians. Do you see the double-standard there?

      I see people making this claim all the time because they don't understand the law. The double-standard would be if "big carbon" did NOT get this tax break, because it is simply a deduction for development within the US borders that EVERY company gets. So, you know, if you're developing any kind of US resources, employing US workers, operating plants and facilities inside the US and all the attendant economic development that goes around it, the tax code is designed to encourage that over doing the same development in some other country. So you want to single out a specific industry to NOT get that break? Wouldn't that discourage "energy independence" that most think it is a good goal?

      --
      "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
      --- Jerry Garcia
    88. Re:350ppm by MobyDisk · · Score: 1

      If the Arctic Circle rises in temperatures by 8C again - or even 16C - then Mankind gets more arable land and living space, not less, because polar temps increase disproportionately to equatorial temps. Plants and animals move north quite rapidly. The vast Alaskan, Canadian and Russian permafrost becomes cropland.

      I was under this impression too until recently, but it doesn't actually work that way. If you increase the temperature without increasing the amount of sunlight, plants won't move north. Ex: Even if you increase the temperature, Palm trees will not grow in Canada because it doesn't receive enough winter sunlight. Similarly, you can't grow significant crops in the Arctic circle for the same reason.

    89. Re:350ppm by microbox · · Score: 1

      The difference is when that 4 billion is "given" to big carbon, its not taken out of our pockets and handed over to them. it is simply letting them keep more of their own money.

      From an accounting point of view, this is incoherent. A tax break costs as much as an expenditure. Why does big carbon pay less taxes than everyone else?

      Explain to me how allowing "big carbon" to keep their money that they made, is the same as taking my money through taxes that I paid and giving it to another company??

      All those tanks and fighter-jets that the GOP wants to spend money on... they cost money. All the social security and medicare that the tea-party collects. That costs money.

      Who is going to pay? Do you think that poor people should subsidize big oil, and pay the medical bills of the GOP base? Talk about a redistribution program.

      --

      Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
    90. Re:350ppm by microbox · · Score: 1

      Direct Federal Financial Interventions and Subsidies in Energy in Fiscal Year 2010

      The commentary in conservative media is actually paid for by big carbon. Propaganda works.

      --

      Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
    91. Re:350ppm by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 1

      Direct Federal Financial Interventions and Subsidies in Energy in Fiscal Year 2010

      This backs up exactly what I said. Quoting from the document in your link:

      Section 199 of the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004, referred to as the domestic manufacturing deduction, provides reductions in taxable income for American manufacturers, including domestic oil and gas producers and refiners. The value of the Section 199 deduction in FY 2010 is estimated at $13 billion and approximately 25 percent is energy-related. While domestic oil and natural gas companies utilized this provision to reduce their 2010 tax liability, other industries, including traditional manufacturing sectors and other activities such as engineering and architectural services, sound recordings, and qualified film production, also took advantage of it.

      [emphasis mine]

      The commentary in conservative media is actually paid for by big carbon. Propaganda works.

      And the commentary in liberal media (that is, 100% of the mainstream media) is subsidized by public funding, both directly and as an indirect beneficiary. So, yes, it does.

      --
      "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
      --- Jerry Garcia
    92. Re: 350ppm by pjbgravely · · Score: 1

      Don't forget the North American Union.

      --
      Star Trek, there maybe hope.
    93. Re:350ppm by pjbgravely · · Score: 1

      23 hours of summer sunlight isn't enough to grow crops? Annuals that are planet every year will do just fine.

      --
      Star Trek, there maybe hope.
    94. Re: 350ppm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You bet... Canada: Never started a war; never lost a war.

    95. Re:350ppm by BonThomme · · Score: 1

      adapt or perish. adapt is roundoff error.

    96. Re:350ppm by ganjadude · · Score: 1

      what do you mean? lets look at tesla for example. they will be getting millions of dollars from the goverment, in the form of credits, which they will sell to mercedes and GM and ford.

      so tesla gets paid while the other car companies continue to pollute, but to top it off now they have to pay to pollute, and in turn drive up the cost of our cars.

      --
      have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
    97. Re:350ppm by BonThomme · · Score: 1

      I'm sure Monsanto is in the process of patenting all the food capable of growing in such an environment.

    98. Re:350ppm by ganjadude · · Score: 1

      I dont know why you keep pointing out the GOP as if I care about them. frankly i want to cut federal spending by 1/2 and then some

      if I make 100 bucks, and I get a credit to keep 90 instead of 50, the government didnt just give me 40 bucks, they just took 40 less then they might have (might not have)

      How about we stop assuming that the government owns us, and start making them spend within their means just like they expect us to do.

      --
      have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
    99. Re:350ppm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And the commentary in liberal media (that is, 100% of the mainstream media) is subsidized by public funding, both directly and as an indirect beneficiary. So, yes, it does.

      Ever got an education, used a road, turned on electricity, took advantage of police -- that's one hell of a sense of entitlement that conservatives have.

    100. Re:350ppm by microbox · · Score: 1


      The tax breaks were not quantified.

      The oil industry has been subsidized since its inception.

      You just read as far as the one statement that you could construe to mean what your bias wants it to mean, and then stopped. That's kind of pathetic.

      --

      Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
    101. Re:350ppm by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 1

      It's the same tax break as the film, record, and other industries get, and if you want to make a fair comparison these industries have also been "subsidized since inception", if that's your viewpoint of what the tax code is doing.

      I already know what the issue is, and you're still buying the propaganda that oil somehow get some special subsidy beyond what is available to every industry. What's pathetic is you calling me out for quoting from the document, which you gave no indication that you even read. So, tell me, what point from the document were you trying to make?

      --
      "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
      --- Jerry Garcia
    102. Re:350ppm by microbox · · Score: 1

      Just because big carbon makes use of one tax break that other industries use does not mean that that is the only tax break it gets. Your argument is incoherent.. big carbon has been getting different tax breaks for over 100 years.

      --

      Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
    103. Re:350ppm by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 1

      Just because big carbon makes use of one tax break that other industries use does not mean that that is the only tax break it gets. Your argument is incoherent.. big carbon has been getting different tax breaks for over 100 years.

      Wow and you had the nerve to call ME biased!

      --
      "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
      --- Jerry Garcia
    104. Re:350ppm by microbox · · Score: 1
      From the DOE in 1981:

      Some argue that the consumer can purchase warmth or work or mobility at less cost by means of coal or oil or nuclear energy than by means of sunshine or wind or biomass. The argument concludes that this fact, in and of itself, relegates renewable energy resources to a small place in the national energy budget. The argument would be valid if energy prices were set in perfectly competitive markets. They are not. The costs of energy production have been underwritten unevenly among energy resources by the Federal Government.

      This is where I stand. We also have to factor in the cost of pollution. Can you agree to that?

      --

      Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
    105. Re:350ppm by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 1

      I agree that there is no free market for energy, yes.

      The cost of pollution is already factored in by regulations limiting particular matter, sulfides, and other harmful chemicals. Nuclear energy costs are driven more by irrational fear than thoughtful policy, based on facts.

      Of course, you will next argue that CO2, and even carbon itself (which is 18% of your physical make-up, BTW), is also a "pollutant" and calculate some outrageous sum to "pay" for it.

      It's funny, isn't it, how people talk about air pollution and water pollution as bad because they want PURE air and water uncontaminated by pollutants, but when they talk about "carbon pollution", this 3rd stool of the essential elements for life is not expected to be PURE, but eliminated. They want to "sequester" it in the ground. I call that a graveyard. I mean, once the water is gone from your dead body, most of the rest is carbon.

      --
      "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
      --- Jerry Garcia
    106. Re:350ppm by avandesande · · Score: 1

      Tax breaks? Fully 50% of the profits from gasoline production goes to the government. How much is enough?

      --
      love is just extroverted narcissism
    107. Re:350ppm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I read you whole post and I agree with you, I think, like you said, that the inertia of the climate cycles and of humanity itself is to strong to really think it's possible to reverse the process. The part that I want to add is the pain and suffering. The scary part is not the global warming itself.. it's the rate at which it will and is happening. Sure old ressources and territories will become innaccessible while new one becomes accessible but this shift, I fear, will create a order of magnitude greater level of chaos and instability in the whole of humanity that is nowhere near stable in it's current state.

      US Annexing Canada you say? like it's an inevitability and everyone will see that as a sound and reasonable thing to do. I believe if we reach that point, the reality will be more grim than that. How much territory does Japan have to loses to rising seas before their Self-Defense Force prepares an Invasion in mainland and becomes a self-preservation force? you think Piracy is now under control near the Yemen coast.. wait until until the climate is so arid that not even a cactus could grow... My point is, global warming will be (and already is) an excessively efficient catalyst for human conflicts...

    108. Re:350ppm by MobyDisk · · Score: 1

      23 hours of summer sunlight isn't enough to grow crops?

      No.

      Good point though: it isn't the # of hours, it is the angle. The arctic may get 24 hours of sun on some days, but the actual amount of sunlight that reaches the ground is minimal because the sun is so low in the sky.

    109. Re:350ppm by I'm+New+Around+Here · · Score: 1

      I looked at your link that shows businesses get to deduct business expenses from their income, and determine their taxable income from that reduced amount.

      You definition of "giving" must be different than mine.

      --
      If you think I voted for Trump because of this post, you're wrong. I voted for Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. Again.
    110. Re:350ppm by microbox · · Score: 1

      Good point. The demand curve is inelastic. Gas taxes pay for roads and bridges. But that's a sales tax, not therefore a tax on consumption. (Not production.) So we are talking apples and oranges. If you want to have an informed opinion on tax, then it is worth knowing the difference.

      --

      Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
    111. Re:350ppm by microbox · · Score: 1
      You think a carbon tax will necessarily be onerous, but that is just wishful thinking. A carbon tax is being tried in the USA, it works, it has negligible effect on the economy, electricity bills have come down for factories and home-owners relative to the rest of the USA which *doesn't* have a carbon tax. Look up the regional greenhouse gas initiatives annual reports.

      The cost of pollution is already factored in by regulations limiting particular matter, sulfides, and other harmful chemicals. Nuclear energy costs are driven more by irrational fear than thoughtful policy, based on facts.

      Yes and no. The cost of sulfide pollution is *partially* factored in -- enough to ameliorate acid rain. The cost of carbon pollution is *not* factored in, and big carbon does not want it factored in, for obvious reasons. It's free money to them, since they shift the burden of their activity onto others. Like if your neighbours dumped their garbage in your bins, and you end up paying for it.

      This stuff about people wanting PURE this and that is a distraction. There are earth-is-holy-capitalism-bad nutcases who know more about their tree spirit, but that's not what scientists are talking about. So lets restrict the focus of attention to what serious scientists and economists have to say on the issue.

      Carbon pollution refers to soot and/or CO2. Sure CO2 is essential to life (soot isn't), but that is another distraction. What is essential to life, but that doesn't mean you can't kill yourself with it.

      The science says that if you dump lots of CO2 in the atmosphere, you'll change the biosphere of the earth, and that may not be pretty. The economists say that that is going to cost a lot of money.

      Action on the issue is practically free in an aggregate sense, as evidenced in the USA (regional greenhouse gas initiative), Germany, Australia, UK, China, etc. Action does reduce the amount of carbon pollution, and also creates economic activity, and *lowers* peoples electricity bills fairly quickly. (Factor, business and consumer.) This experiment has been run for many years of a large part of the US economy. No eco-fascism emerged.

      If we tax carbon, and put those funds directly towards offsetting the costs on consumers, then that drives innovation, and the market will work out the rest. It's been done. It works. If the US doesn't get serious, then they will fall behind the rest of the world in the emerging technology, just as M$ failed with the internet in the 90s.

      --

      Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
    112. Re:350ppm by maxwell+demon · · Score: 1

      Maybe you've deleted some root certificate? Or a root certificate expired and you didn't get an update?
      Anyway, since you don't send any personal or confidential information to that site, I don't see any problem with just temporarily accepting the certificate.

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
    113. Re:350ppm by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 1

      I don't know where you're getting this stuff. I know you posted some interesting theoreticals from some academics that are funded by green initiatives and alternative energy subsidies. But that's obviously biased and still theoretical.

      Actual experiments and initiatives, which you seem to be citing, actually have had the opposite results. The European initiative was plagued by corruption, cronyism, and even without that caused increases in electricity costs. That's to be expected. Experience has shown that new taxes, even when the attempt is made, are never used to offset costs for consumers. Instead the beneficiaries are bloated government bureaucracies and those they favor, and the top-tier private interests. That's what happened in Europe.

      If you're referring specifically to the RGGI states in the Northeast, that a Cap & Trade scam. It's an Agenda 21 scheme that benefits wealthy investment firms and supported by politicians because they get revenue out of it. The claims they make read like they are creating free money out of thin air, but of course it's coming from consumers, and they suffer because of it. It's not a market, it's a market intervention, and a destructive one. New Hampshire has been one of the big losers, with rates going up more than the other states, primarily because they already had more energy efficiencies in place and don't benefit as much by investing in more. As with all top-down interventionist schemes, this one will be a long-term failure even with the appearance of short-term benefits.

      You can tell what's happening with this if you look at the recent auctions. They've only managed to sell about half of the emission credits available. That means traders aren't making their money, so of course now they want to lower the cap, hoping for even higher prices.

      --
      "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
      --- Jerry Garcia
    114. Re:350ppm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ... because it is well-known that living things do way better in warm places than in freezing cold.

      You may be right but the 10,000 years or so it takes the biological systems to adjust to that new reality may be kind of rough.

      SalemDave

    115. Re:350ppm by avandesande · · Score: 1
      --
      love is just extroverted narcissism
    116. Re:350ppm by microbox · · Score: 2

      Germany is now about 25% renewable, and their economy grew relative to the rest of the world. OBVIOUSLY their policies have no impact, and just benefit a few corrupt individuals.

      Like the IPCC, the RGGI make up all of their data, for Agenda 21 purposes. OBVIOUSLY we cannot believe that this has any impact on reducing peoples energy bills whilst reducing carbon usage.

      You're really that guy, aren't you.

      --

      Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
    117. Re:350ppm by microbox · · Score: 1

      Exxon registered what effective tax rate in recent years? The linked article doesn't say. I wonder why.

      --

      Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
    118. Re:350ppm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I got the same thing when I clicked on his link but when I Googled the IPCC and clicked on the link below I had no problem.

      http://www.ipcc.ch/index.htm#.UZFvMkqbEvA

    119. Re:350ppm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It looks like all you kids just want is instant gratification. Anything that takes more than a few years to develop is beyond your ability to understand or care about.

      Now get off my lawn :j

    120. Re:350ppm by microbox · · Score: 1

      Here is a better overview of big-carbon tax loopholes, and what they cost. Some of these subsidies go back 100 years.

      Big Oil’s Misbegotten Tax Gusher

      Conservative media consistently cover-up for the oil industry. And people like you believe that someone the oil industry is a poor-begotten pillar of US society, and not just a seminal example of crony capitalism.

      --

      Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
    121. Re: 350ppm by Kernel+Kurtz · · Score: 1

      Our intelligence tells us that if we were to annex Canada, most Canadians would welcome us with open arms.

      And the vast majority of us would vote Democrat.

      http://www.harrisdecima.com/news/releases/201207/1446-obama-remains-extremely-popular-canada

      OTOH, others of us could build IEDs as well as any Iraqi........

    122. Re:350ppm by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 1

      Yes, well, you are certainly well-indoctrinated. No breaking through all that conditioning, uh... OBVIOUSLY.

      I've spent quite a bit of time in Germany, and know many people there. The proletariat (that's the only way to describe them, really) really have no power at all - it's all at the top. And at the top, they are quite focused on bringing all of the United States of Europe under their control. It's working quite well. And while climate change is real, fear of climate change, and the illusion that policy-makers can "fix" it, is just a tool to keep the populace in line.

      They've made go in-roads with the same techniques here, as you illustrate very clearly. You don't even seem to have the critical thinking skills needed to dig into the science and question the talking points. The IPCC - "Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change" is NOT an organization of scientists - it's an organization of politicians. They say so right on their website how they are organized, and that they cherry-pick from scientific reports, procedures that have been criticized and have had issues in the past. If you don't know who Maurice Strong, the founder of the IPCC is, you should do a little research into him and the kinds of people you are putting your trust (and the future of your decedents) into.

      --
      "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
      --- Jerry Garcia
    123. Re:350ppm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Okay, I see your part of the tin-foil hat crowd. Conspiracy theorists always believe that others are mass-indoctrinated, and incapable of critical thinking. The earth is flat, 6000 years old, evolution is just a theory, 9/11 is an inside job, Germany is taking over the world with solar power.

      Got it.

    124. Re:350ppm by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 1

      Oh, and I certainly have no illusions about the cronyism in Washington - it accompanies all big money, including the one created by taxing everything any lawyer can think of a way to tax. The only difference between the parties (and among the part members) is the cronies they partner with. The worst ideas they come up with are "bi-partisan", because it means they've all agreed on another way to screw the rest of us.

      --
      "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
      --- Jerry Garcia
    125. Re:350ppm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hey, this is I'm New, but I have posted my /. limit for today, so I'm trying this as an AC.

      I have clicked the link in the post just below, and it worked, so I'll use that one.

      Also, I was assuming .ch was in China, but I see it is Switzerland's domain. China is .cn. I was worried about clicking random unverified links from China.

      Anyway, thanks for the suggestion of the root certificates. I'll have to check if I can update something here.

    126. Re: 350ppm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That was rather impolite.

    127. Re:350ppm by grantspassalan · · Score: 1

      ... because it is well-known that living things do way better in warm places than in freezing cold.

      You may be right but the 10,000 years or so it takes the biological systems to adjust to that new reality may be kind of rough.

      SalemDave

      That is patently false, because arctic animals such as penguins and polar bears and others, do just fine in warmer climates when they are captured and put in zoos. Most of them even reproduce in captivity.

      --
      A sufficiently advanced simulation is indistinguishable from reality.
    128. Re:350ppm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I find that a rather simplistic view of the subject. Penguins and polar bears are just the charismatic megafauna that we focus on but are the least of our worries. It's the things at the bottom of the food chain that really matter. I think it's an unwarranted assumption that warming will automatically be good for life. As I said, in thousands of years after things have had a chance to adjust to the new reality that may be true but there is going to be disruption in the near term.

      SalemDave

    129. Re:350ppm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well this is a public forum, so we all have the opportunity to benefit from the intelligence that is revealed in discourse between opposing views, even if those espousing heretical views remain unrepentant.

    130. Re: 350ppm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "The US probably has to annex Canada."

      Speaking as a Canadian, on behalf of Canadians, you can go fuck yourself.

      I think the point, actually, is to fuck you, not ourselves...

      Besides, we come in peace. And for the poutine!

    131. Re:350ppm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The original article is discussing a time scale of 20-40 years (1-2 generations, AKA your children and your grand-children).

      You're right that the Earth and life in general won't care. But the children who will suffer hardship in the next 50 years will.

    132. Re:350ppm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > 2-3 million years ago 300km inside the arctic circle CO2 levels were 400 ppm and temps were 8C above present.

      Also, there was ocean where Panama now is. Things were different then.

    133. Re:350ppm by grantspassalan · · Score: 1

      So which creatures at the bottom of the food chain would NOT thrive if the temperature of Earth on average increased 10 C over the next 400 to 500 years? NO creatures up higher on the food chain would starve because they could eat other creatures that survive better and multiply faster in warmer temperatures. No matter how you global warming scare mongers twist and turn, you can't get past the FACT that life is more prolific in warm places than in cold.

      --
      A sufficiently advanced simulation is indistinguishable from reality.
    134. Re: 350ppm by symbolset · · Score: 1

      Canada has the Napoleonic advantage. We saw what happens when people march on the frozen North in Napoleon's retreat from Moscow. It weren't pretty.

      --
      Help stamp out iliturcy.
    135. Re: 350ppm by symbolset · · Score: 1

      The Canadian electorate has a sense of humor. Americans do too, but for Canadians it isn't dark humor.

      --
      Help stamp out iliturcy.
    136. Re:350ppm by symbolset · · Score: 1

      A scientist does not find lack of evidence convincing proof of anything.

      --
      Help stamp out iliturcy.
    137. Re:350ppm by tbannist · · Score: 1

      Sure he does, but you seem to be confused. You are confusing the standards for non-existence with the standards for other, less rigourous standards. So while a lack of evidence isn't convincing proof of non-existence, it is a convincing proof of lack of abundance.

      Let's take a classic example:
      If you want to prove that unicorns don't exist, you need to check everywhere before you can definitively rule out their existance.
      However, if you want to prove that unicorns aren't everwhere, you only need to check one place to definitely rule out that possibility.
      If you want to measure how unicorns are doing in an area, you need to check a representative sample of the area and count the number of unicorns you find.

      Different statements have different burdens of proof.

      --
      Fanatically anti-fanatical
    138. Re:350ppm by jwhitener · · Score: 1

      "Do you see the double-standard there?"

      I doubt he does. I've pretty much given up trying to convince anyone living in the Fox News/Drudge report/Limbaugh bubble about anything concerning reality.

  2. Yep by gr8_phk · · Score: 1, Insightful

    If species are losing their living space it's due to increasing populations of humans burning their habitat, not from a little CO2. Or from humans using the wrong farming practices, but again not due to CO2 levels.

    1. Re:Yep by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

      Wow. Such a convincing argument backed by so many facts.

      Your ignorance is astounding.

    2. Re:Yep by jimmetry · · Score: 3, Insightful

      so is yours. the forests of the world have been torn to shreds over the last 100 years, science says trees are the planet's lungs, and yet skyrocketing carbon has nothing to do with it? -_-

    3. Re:Yep by dmbasso · · Score: 5, Insightful

      IIRC, science says algae are (to use your expression) the planet's lungs, not trees.

      --
      `echo $[0x853204FA81]|tr 0-9 ionbsdeaml`@gmail.com
    4. Re:Yep by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So, you're not a disciple at the church of Global Warming, eh?

    5. Re:Yep by gr8_phk · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Well I thought it was commonly known that people are cutting and burning the rain forest, so let's not blame that on CO2. If climates move further toward the poles due to "warming" species may be able to migrate, but that leaves one to wonder what happens in the areas that are warmest already. Many think those areas turn to desert, but we know that doesn't have to be the case: Reversing desertification In fact we've been causing it, just not with CO2. And if you don't like the sea level rising, you should look at a map that shows bathymety - the continental shelf areas used to be above water, but the level has been rising since the glaciers started melting. There really is no reason to think we're at the high water mark just because people decided to build cities on the present-day coast.

      Besides, I think it would be a good idea to get out of this ice age before another glaciation comes along. Yes, we're still in "the ice age" look it up, we're near the end of an interglacial period. I'd rather give warming a shot than let the ice come back.

    6. Re:Yep by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No you fools. It's from the rising sea levels covering half of the world. The half of the plants and two thirds of the animals are aquatic, and our predictions of rising sea levels have NEVER been wrong before.

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

      That's right. We need to stop making things out of wood and make everything we need out of plastic.

    8. Re:Yep by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I see what you're doin' there. Just because something's made out of plastic doesn't mean the plastic came from petroleum numb nuts.

    9. Re:Yep by gagol · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Look for dead zones in ocean. That scares me more than anything else.

      --
      Tomorrow is another day...
    10. Re:Yep by theshowmecanuck · · Score: 1

      Personally I grow the raw material for my plastic. Then I bury it in the earth and let the weight of the overburden compress it a while... say a few million years... then I dig it back up and reprocess it into a form of carbon which I can synthesize into plastic. It is time consuming but I don't need petroleum for it. Once I can find a way to make it economical I'll commercialize it.

      --
      -- I ignore anonymous replies to my comments and postings.
    11. Re:Yep by TrollstonButterbeans · · Score: 2
      You are interfering with someone promoting science through scientifically wrong information. And pointing out the problem with popular culture at the same time.

      Trees don't hold a candle in oxygen production compared to sea plants. It is not even close ...

      --
      Priest: "Universe from nothing, no laws of physics, sped up time"+ huge discrepancies. Creationism? No. Big Bang Theory
    12. Re:Yep by turkeyfish · · Score: 1

      What makes you think algae won't be affected? They have always been affected in the past when there are major temperature changes.

    13. Re:Yep by turkeyfish · · Score: 1

      Perhaps it never occurred to you that waiting a few million years might prove impractical. Few people are that patient. I suspect you will simply give up before you wai it that long.

    14. Re:Yep by cheater512 · · Score: 1, Troll

      And everything seems fine just now doesn't it.

      Major temperature changes in the past (over 8 degrees hotter) gave us what we have today.
      Morale of the story, planet gets hotter, planet gets colder. Everything else sorts its self out.

      I'm not advocating pollution, its just the 'sky is falling' people are completely off the mark.

    15. Re:Yep by rrohbeck · · Score: 1

      And phytoplankton is in serious decline too.

    16. Re:Yep by KingMotley · · Score: 1

      That article talks about plants. You realize that algae is a plant, right?

    17. Re:Yep by Joce640k · · Score: 1

      Morale of the story, planet gets hotter, planet gets colder. Everything else sorts its self out.

      Yes, but this time we're doing it deliberately and we have a lot of people/cities on the coasts.

      Does that seem smart to you?

      --
      No sig today...
    18. Re:Yep by xenobyte · · Score: 2

      Morale of the story, planet gets hotter, planet gets colder. Everything else sorts its self out.

      Yes, but this time we're doing it deliberately and we have a lot of people/cities on the coasts.

      Does that seem smart to you?

      Living on the coast might have its benefits but it certainly also have its drawbacks. I'm constantly amazed at the countless number of people that keep coming back to areas repeatedly hit by massive flooding. Unless you have gills you really should stay out of the path of massive amounts of water.

      --
      "For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong." -- H.L. Mencken (1880-1956) --
    19. Re:Yep by cheater512 · · Score: 0

      Are we doing it deliberately? The jury is still out how much is natural and how much is man made.
      The planet was already warming anyway (kinda occurs after ice ages) remember.

      As for the people on the coast, we are talking about 50 - 100 year time frames. No house is going under tomorrow.

    20. Re:Yep by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And everything seems fine just now doesn't it.

      For us, yes. The dinosaurs and the Neanderthal humans would like to differ.

      Major temperature changes in the past (over 8 degrees hotter) gave us what we have today.
      Morale of the story, planet gets hotter, planet gets colder. Everything else sorts its self out.

      Sure, some future intelligent species may think it was an advantage that humans got wiped out.

    21. Re:Yep by Salgak1 · · Score: 1
      Hi, I'm looking for investors for a new business venture, the Soylent Corporation. The future is Green !!!

      (please ignore the comments from cops who look like Charlton Heston. . .)

    22. Re:Yep by tbannist · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The jury is still out how much is natural and how much is man made.

      If the jury is still out, it's because someone put Anthony Watts on it. Turns out, the natural component is about -5% of the warming, and the man-made component is about 105%. Seriously it doesn't get much clearer than that.

      The planet was already warming anyway (kinda occurs after ice ages) remember.

      Actually, we were on a long term cooling trend and we're still in the ice age. Never the less, the warming after a glacial period occurs immediately after that period ends and then a slow decline begins that eventually leads into another glacial period.

      As for the people on the coast, we are talking about 50 - 100 year time frames. No house is going under tomorrow.

      It's not usually a matter of sea level rise submerging a city, it's the effect of repeated flooding which becomes more common as sea levels rise. Usually, it won't be the evacuation of a city but a thousand unnoticed tragedies as individual residents and businesses are forced out by a combination of flooding damages and insurance costs. You might only notice the effects during events like Hurricane Sandy and Hurricane Katrina, if then.

      --
      Fanatically anti-fanatical
    23. Re:Yep by dywolf · · Score: 1

      science hasnt said that for a long time. the oxygen in the forests stays in the forests; its cunsumed by the rotting comppost in the top layers of the soil.

      the oxygen that drives the world comes from the oceans, from plankton (ie, algea and other one celled organisms that make up ~80% of the planets biomass)

      --
      The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
    24. Re: Yep by davesag · · Score: 1

      Actually the jury is in and industrial emissions and deforestation are guilty as charged. There is nothing more tiresome than a climate sceptic trotting out utterly debunked bullshit.

      --
      I used to have a better sig than this, but I got tired of it
    25. Re:Yep by avandesande · · Score: 1

      I have always wondered about the claim that the rainforests are carbon traps- timber falls to the forest floor where it rots releasing it's CO2. Ocean algae falls to the ocean floor where it is cold and there is little oxygen and the methane can be trapped as a hydrate.

      --
      love is just extroverted narcissism
    26. Re:Yep by lgw · · Score: 1

      Many think those areas turn to desert

      We know what a Warm Earth looks like (it's as common as ice ages like the one we live in, after all), and it's lush with plant life. Warming affects the poles much more than the equator.

      Rising sea levels may cause some reduction in available land area, but nothing like glaciation - most of Europe covered by glaciers would be a bigger problem (as well as losing Canada, as if anyone would notice).

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    27. Re: Yep by Mashiki · · Score: 1

      Really? I guess that's why emissions are down between 20-50% in the last 20 years, and we have more trees now then there were before the "mini ice age" back in the 1400's.

      Damn that reality all to hell.

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
    28. Re:Yep by pwizard2 · · Score: 1

      Algae actually belongs to the Protist kingdom.

      --
      "It is a denial of justice not to stretch out a helping hand to the fallen; that is the common right of humanity."
    29. Re:Yep by pixelpusher220 · · Score: 1

      Uh, it's not an either or situation...

      --
      People in cars cause accidents....accidents in cars cause people :-D
    30. Re:Yep by pixelpusher220 · · Score: 1

      No house is going under tomorrow.

      You might want to check out those pacific island communities that are literally flooded at high tides *NOW*

      --
      People in cars cause accidents....accidents in cars cause people :-D
    31. Re:Yep by ultranova · · Score: 1

      I'm constantly amazed at the countless number of people that keep coming back to areas repeatedly hit by massive flooding.

      You shouldn't be. The unfortunate fact is that humans aren't self-sufficient, so it's insufficient to simply avoid misfortune - you also have to earn a living. And areas that get hit by flooding tend to do so because they're next to large bodies of water, making them good for both agriculture and industry as well as capable of providing drinking water for lots of people.

      Also, no area is safe. No matter where you live, you will always be subject to some disaster.

      --

      Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

    32. Re:Yep by cheater512 · · Score: 1

      And have been affected by high tides for quite a long time before now as well.

    33. Re:Yep by mevets · · Score: 1

      I am glad the plants will be happy. Too bad about the people.

    34. Re:Yep by RockDoctor · · Score: 1

      Algae actually belongs to the Protist kingdom.

      IF there were agreement about what constitutes a "plant" (it's an extremely polyphyletic grout) ; AND if algae were within that group, and IF they were (ALL) protists .... Well, I've got to wash my hair - you'll have an rssive intervoewers;.

      --
      Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
  3. Re:Horse excrement by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    And NYC was supposed to be 3 feed underwater by 2015.

    It was, briefly.

  4. Re:Hysteria! by interkin3tic · · Score: 4, Funny

    Chicken little's hypothesis was based on one data point though. Sadly, this is not the case for climate change.

  5. Carbon dioxide strikes again by fazig · · Score: 0, Troll

    Yeah, again the evil molecule of carbon dioxide the most vicious poison known to man for plants, animals and man alike, endangers our all well being.

    It should be banned, right now, before it kills even more plants!

    1. Re:Carbon dioxide strikes again by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      Convince the movie studios that carbon dioxide causes increased piracy (and therefore loss of income) and you'll start to see effective strategies and International Treaties put in place to manage or even reduce it: DMCA == DRM Millennium Carbon Act; ACTA == Anti Carbon Trading Alliance; COPA == Carbon Obliges Piracy Act; ad nauseam.

    2. Re:Carbon dioxide strikes again by microbox · · Score: 0

      Drink too much water, and you'll kill yourself. Doesn't mean water is a vicious evil poison. Too much of anything is no good.

      --

      Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
    3. Re:Carbon dioxide strikes again by Pino+Grigio · · Score: 1
      Take your pick. These are all of the things allegedly caused or made worse by "global warming":

      Acne , agricultural land increase , Afghan poppies destroyed , Africa devastated, Africa in conflict, African aid threatened, African summer frost , aggressive weeds , air pressure changes , airport malaria , Agulhas current , Alaska reshaped, moves , allergy season longer , alligators in the Thames , Alps melting , Amazon a desert , American dream end , amphibians breeding earlier (or not) , anaphylactic reactions to bee stings , ancient forests dramatically changed , animals head for the hills, animals shrink , Antarctic grass flourishes , Antarctic ice grows , Antarctic ice shrinks , Antarctic sea life at risk, anxiety treatment , algal blooms , archaeological sites threatened , Arab Spring , Arctic bogs melt , Arctic in bloom , Arctic ice free , Arctic ice melt faster , Arctic lakes disappear , Arctic tundra to burn , Arctic warming (not), Atlantic less salty , Atlantic more salty, atmospheric circulation modified , attack of the killer jellyfish , avalanches reduced , avalanches increased , Baghdad snow , Bahrain under water , bananas grow , barbarisation , beer shortage , beetle infestation , bet for $10,000, better beer, big melt faster, billion dollar research projects , billion homeless , billions face risk , billions of deaths , bird distributions change , bird loss accelerating , birds shrinking , bird strikes , bird visitors drop , birds confused , birds decline (Wales) , birds driven north , birds return early , bittern boom ends , blackbirds stop singing , blackbirds threatened , Black Hawk down , blood contaminated , blue mussels return , bluetongue , brain eating amoebae , brains shrink , bridge collapse (Minneapolis), Britain one big city , Britain Siberian , brothels struggle , brown Ireland , bubonic plague , budget increases , Buddhist temple threatened , building collapse , building season extension , bushfires , business opportunities , business risks, butterflies move north, camel deaths , cancer deaths in England,cannibalism, cannibalism again , caterpillar biomass shift, cave paintings threatened , childhood insomnia, Cholera , circumcision in decline , cirrus disappearance , civil unrest , cloud increase , coast beauty spots lost , cockroach migration, coffee threatened , cold climate creatures survive , cold spells (Australia) , cold wave (India) , computer models , conferences , conflict , conflict with Russia , consumers foot the bill , coral bleaching, coral fish suffer , coral reefs dying , coral reefs grow, coral reefs shrink , coral reefs twilight, Cabbage Shortage , cost of trillions , cougar attacks, crabgrass menace, cradle of civilisation threatened , creatures move uphill, crime increase , crocodile sex, crops devastated , crumbling roads, buildings and sewage systems , curriculum change , cyclones (Australia), danger to kid's health , Darfur , Dartford Warbler plague , death rate increase (US) , deaths to reach 6 million, Dengue hemorrhagic fever , depression , desert advance , desert retreat , destruction of the environment , disappearance of coastal cities, disasters , diseases move from animals to humans , diseases move north , dog disease , Dolomites collapse , dozen deadly diseases , drought, ducks and geese decline , dust bowl in the corn belt , early marriages , early spring , earlier pollen season , Earth biodiversity crisis , Earth dying , Earth even hotter , Earth light dimming , Earth lopsided, Earth melting , Earth morbid fever , Earth on fast track , Earth past point of no return , Earth slowing down , Earth spins faster, Earth to explode, earth upside down , earthquakes , earthquakes redux , earthquakes redux 2 , Egypt revolt , El Niño intensification , end of the world as we know it , erosion , emerging infections, encephalitis, English villages lost , equality threatened , Europe simultaneously baking and freezing, eutrophication , evolution accelerating , exp

    4. Re:Carbon dioxide strikes again by BonThomme · · Score: 1

      I guess you got an F on your equilibrium test in high school chemistry. they do still teach chemistry, right? or has it been replaced with Diversity Ethics?

  6. Evolution by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    One of the biggest unknowns here is how fast species can adapt. Perhaps some of the "doomed" species have had enough robustness and phenotypic variation built in by long-term evolution to withstand these short-term changes, even if we have no direct evidence that they can survive under the new conditions being created. Or perhaps they really are doomed.

  7. Climate change? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The naysayers won't believe it until we're living in a desert and even then they'll just say it's a bit dry.

    1. Re:Climate change? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I'm surprised about how Slashdot seems so overwhelmingly anti-science on this issue. Only a few posts in and I've already won ""idiotic anti-global warming arguments bingo".

    2. Re:Climate change? by rally2xs · · Score: 1

      It doesn't matter, because there's not one D thing that we can do about it anyway. Stop burning fossil fuel? Sure, if you want to kill millions of humans, because they / we all need the fossil fuels to get along. Casting people into abject poverty is not a valid solution, either, which is what happens when you deprive them of the cheap fossil fuels. That results in an average 6.5 years shorter lifespan, and if the poverty is experienced as a child, the life shortening is not reversible. Just get over it, whatever is going to happen will happen, and we'll either adapt or we won't. I'm expecting that if push comes to shove, some serious geo-engineering projects will be undertaken, such as dykes along key seaboard areas, and we'll just lose the polar bears - who needs 'em, anyway. When the choice is dead people or dead polar bears, I'll take the dead polar bears.

      Meanwhile, if we could get _this_ to work:

      http://nextbigfuture.com/2010/07/solar-thermal-electrochemical-photo.html

      then we could actually take CO2 concentration back to before the industrial revolution. Just get prepared for the sort of winters that George Washington had to deal with at Valley Forge.

    3. Re:Climate change? by GameboyRMH · · Score: 0

      A few yeas ago a poll found that about 1/3 of Slashdotters are climate denialists. They're just a minority of loud idiots, although a minority still far too large for my liking.

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    4. Re:Climate change? by Kaenneth · · Score: 4, Insightful

      A more recent poll showed that 2/3rd of statistics are made up.

      How about you get labeled a Climate Hysteric? There are too many of those for my liking.

      People who don't care one way or the other are not 'denialists' they just might have diferent priorities, and not consider GW the MOST IMPORTANT THING EVER, as opposed to, keeping their job, keeping their house, not getting cancer, etc.

      "With us, or Against us" has been used many times in history; but it's not always true.

    5. Re:Climate change? by Daniel+Dvorkin · · Score: 2

      People who don't care one way or the other are not 'denialists'

      Indeed; people who don't care one way or another are people who don't care one way or another, and people who don't care one way or another don't generally bother posting. People who post endless screeching copypasta rants denying overwhelming scientific evidence, on the other hand, are best described as denialists.

      and not consider GW the MOST IMPORTANT THING EVER, as opposed to, keeping their job, keeping their house, not getting cancer, etc.

      All of these are important things. So is global warming. See, it's actually possible for many things to be important at the same time. Welcome to reality--take a look around, and be warned that some of it may be a little confusing, but it's in your interest to try to figure it out.

      --
      The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.
    6. Re:Climate change? by tinfoilhatz · · Score: 1

      DERP!

    7. Re:Climate change? by gnoshi · · Score: 1

      I've seen so many studies in the last 2 years debunking the co2 theory that there's no way the premise could be true. Yet we still see this special interest group 'science' coming out and widely promoted by the mass media. If the facts don't fit the theory, it's not the facts which are wrong.

      The whole co2 climate change field is just being used to promote fear as a distraction from the truth.

      Sorry, got to call bullshit on that one.
      (Quality argument adapted from here; I'd have simply modded down but I didn't have points).

    8. Re:Climate change? by microbox · · Score: 1

      I've noticed that almost every climate-science story on slashdot is quickly followed by a bunch of comments that seem to come from people with the science education of young earthers, and then the conversation normalizes after a while. Wouldn't be surprised if astroturfers are trying to skew the discussion. That's how politics is done these days. There's lots of money for politically active groups with goals aligned to big carbon. I'm sure the astroturfers think they're doing a good thing, but I find it pretty despicable.

      --

      Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
    9. Re:Climate change? by microbox · · Score: 1

      How about you get labeled a Climate Hysteric?

      About the only hysterics I hear are those who claim the sky will fall in on the economy if carbon pollution is taxed. The audacity of calling scientists alarmists. GOP post-modern projection.

      --

      Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
    10. Re:Climate change? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      GW the MOST IMPORTANT THING EVER, as opposed to, keeping their job, keeping their house, not getting cancer, etc.

      That is hysterical. There is empirical economic data on the cost of mitigating climate change. Did you know that? Too hysterical I suppose.

    11. Re:Climate change? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've seen so many studies in the last 2 years debunking the co2 theory

      Sooooooo.... many studies. Let me guess, you never read ONE, but browse third-hand information from "experts" on WUWT. Be honest with yourself. You know jack S@IT.

    12. Re:Climate change? by microbox · · Score: 1, Informative

      there's not one D thing that we can do about it anyway. Stop burning fossil fuel? Sure, if you want to kill millions of humans

      This is just simply wrong. A carbon tax would (in part) account for the cost of pollution, and encourage the search of alternatives. Works overseas. Works in the USA. Don't be so glum. The only thing stopping change is the stranglehold of big carbon on republican politics.

      --

      Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
    13. Re:Climate change? by phantomfive · · Score: 2

      I'd have simply modded down but I didn't have points

      Response is always better than modding down because if one person said it, other people are thinking it, and your response will help educate all of them (unless it's GNAA, mod them down). That's why there's no "-1 Wrong" mod.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    14. Re:Climate change? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "With us, or Against us" has been used many times in history; but it's not always true.

      It's pretty much always true. Every time someone uses that phrase a lot of people who had wished to remain neutral are placed in the "against them" position.
      For things that are on the top retard list of things to say that one is placed pretty high.

    15. Re:Climate change? by turkeyfish · · Score: 1

      With presumably a few good hackers here, shouldn't it be possible to better characterize the source of all the denialism? I've notice that on many other sites, where now there is active talk concerning the issue of global warming there seems to be a feverish attempt by the denialists to out shout and out insult everyone and anyone, with the hope of keeping reasoned and legitimate thought and conversation as crowded out as possible.

      If Slashdot is going to be something other than a place for technophiles to vent their spleens and demonstrate the reality of the Dunning-Kruger effect, then some thought needs to to be given to how a more effective and positive community can develop here or perhaps elsewhere with more rigorous moderation.

    16. Re:Climate change? by turkeyfish · · Score: 1

      That and the stranglehold of big carbon on way too many democrats as well.

      The average guy is just going to have to invest in electric cars and solar power and do what they can individually to remove the economic viability of fossil fuels, while there is still time. Yes, there will be many determined to try to cause global warming all by themselves, just as there are sociopaths everywhere. However, over time selection does work in the favor of the rational, we just have to apply more selection and work a lot harder than we otherwise would.

    17. Re:Climate change? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's called a democracy.

      One man, one vote.

      There's no such thing as having no opinion.

      It's your duty to inform your self and form an opinion, however lazily or thoroughly your attempt is.

      Unfortunately there is no escape from this as you can't give up your vote.

      Waste it sure, but you can't object to the process itself and so are ensnared by it as just another statistic, invairably in someones "us" or "them" column.

    18. Re:Climate change? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, cause saying the economy might be hurt is so much more alarmist than saying that plant life will die, cities will sink under the ocean, and humanity's survival will be imperiled.

    19. Re:Climate change? by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

      A more recent poll showed that 2/3rd of statistics are made up.

      The very latest statistics suggest that you are 100% full of shit. Read it and weep:

      http://slashdot.org/poll/2272/what-is-your-position-on-climate-change

      Believe it (not a researcher) + know it and can prove it = 64%

      Skeptic + believe it is a hoax + know it is a hoax and can prove it + real but not man-made = 33%

      (I know it doesn't add up to a hundred, but the Slashdot poll rounds down to the nearest %)

      "With us, or Against us" has been used many times in history; but it's not always true.

      This isn't with us or against us, it's scientific knowledge vs. backward science denial. Same as evolution, heliocentrism, and the long-running problem of bullshit medicine.

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    20. Re:Climate change? by SoupGuru · · Score: 1

      It's always interesting when logic and science gets pitted against libertarianism on Slashdot.

      --
      What doesn't kill you only delays the inevitable
    21. Re:Climate change? by BonThomme · · Score: 1

      volume and idiocy are correlated positively

    22. Re:Climate change? by oobayly · · Score: 1

      A few yeas ago a poll found that about 1/3 of Slashdotters are climate denialists.

      I'm not a climate denialist, in fact quite the opposite, I truly believe that the climate does exist.
      Oh wait you mean a climate change denialist? Nope, I'm not one of those either, in fact I'd be pretty bloody concerned if the climate suddenly stopped changing.
      Oh wait, you mean a man-made climate change denialist? Um, not quite, I do believe that we're changing the climate around us. What I take issue is that we're continuously told about the disastrous effects that the rise in CO2 will have, only to find that the predictions were nowhere near the target, but that really big storm last week, that was the result of MMCC. Some of these climate change groups appear to be better at retconing their stories than at science.

      Whenever I've run CFD calculation and got massive positive feedback I've gone back to work out how to correct it. With climate modellers, the opposite appears to be the case - if it's a shocking result, publish.

  8. Re:Hysteria! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    For example like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hmns6PMWs0

  9. Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by balise · · Score: 2, Insightful

    for your Grandchildren. Those ignoring or making fun of it don't care about their
    descendants. I guess Slashdotters may be clever, but not very respectful of science
    itself. Very sad indeed !

    --
    John Eadie [JE46] http://www.c-art.com `one of these days the dogs aren't going to eat the dog food' - Bill Joy
    1. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by OhANameWhatName · · Score: 0, Troll

      Global Warming is true, and deadly for your Grandchildren

      People truly concerned about the earth wouldn't be breeding more humans.

    2. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by fazig · · Score: 0

      Yes, global warming is true. But how much did humanity actually contribute to it by emitting CO2?

      In my eyes there are far worse things like methane released from massive cattle farms which also take a lot of space and require corn or other plants which could be also fed to humans, but tis is very important because we can't live without a cheeseburger at 3 am.
      And there's a lot more to be really concerned about which is far worse than the small CO2 contribution humanity adds by burning fossil fuels.

    3. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by ColdWetDog · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Well, I'm glad we've solved that problem.

      Random Slashdotter has said so. No need for the PhD's and such.

      Weep for the future, folks.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    4. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, global warming is true. But how much did humanity actually contribute to it by emitting CO2?

      According to Wikipedia:
      Natural world: 439 GT (gigatonnes)
      Humans: 29 GT
      So, about 6.6%

      On the flip side, amount of CO2 absorbed by nature: 450 GT. Humans don't have a number attributed to them. So, we're pushing nature about 18 GT of CO2 over its limit each year. I doubt there's reason to worry about high temperatures, though, if history (and/or Wikipedia) tells us anything.

      There were apparently only three mass extinction events "attributed" to global warming, but two out of three of them are inconclusive and the high temperatures could just as easily have been a side effect of the real cause of the extinctions (and with the cooling happening during the Triassic-Jurassic event, warming is not likely the cause of the extinction). The last one also seems to be less of an extinction event and more of a minor annoyance as the only group majorly affected appear to be deep sea amoeba.

    5. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by fazig · · Score: 0

      Well, I'm glad we've solved that problem.

      Random Slashdotter has said so. No need for the PhD's and such.

      Weep for the future, folks.

      Well, I think it would be prudent to widen the field of research to other factors in climate change than only CO2. Perhaps there are such studies, but nobody in journalism seems to care about writing articles about those.
      By now I've seen plenty of documentaries, which had renowned scientists in them, based on studies that debunk some of the popular CO2 theories and yet introduce other theories that were debunked in more recent studies or discoveries, and also show that papers were falsified to promote the public image of CO2 theories. For me enough reason to become a sceptic of these "everything revolves around CO2"-theories.

      This might be one of the most popular "documentaries".
      They speak about sun activity in this documentary, and I've already seen studies denying the link of sun activity with the recent increase in global temperature, but the rest is still quite interesting to listen to.

    6. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by gnoshi · · Score: 0

      It is possible to be concerned about the impact of environmental changes because of the impact they will have on one's grandchildren, rather than because of some abstract conception of 'harm to the Earth'.

      Of course, realising that would require thinking.

    7. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Those of us who have been judged unworthy by all potential mates have no incentive to care about their descendants...because there won't be any.

    8. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by microbox · · Score: 1

      Gee... an IPCC report will tell you the pretty-exact accounting. Suppose you think you know something about it, without ever having learnt something about it.

      Consider this: CO2 lasts 1000s of years in the atmosphere, where-as methane less than a decade. The CO2 is effectively permanent, and it *builds* over time. See the difference?

      --

      Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
    9. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by phantomfive · · Score: 3, Insightful

      but not very respectful of science itself.

      Science doesn't want respect, it wants you to ask, "How do we know?" As soon as you start believing things because it was said by "the institution of science," that's when it's no longer science anymore.

      And there are real scientists, respected climatologists, who are asking "how do we know?" about global warming. And some are coming to different conclusions. So the future is not as clear as some doomologists would have you believe.

      Be especially wary of the ones who use global warming as an excuse to take your money for their pet projects. Those people are out there.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    10. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by microbox · · Score: 4, Informative

      Well, I think it would be prudent to widen the field of research to other factors in climate change than only CO2.

      You'll find information about solar, methane, cosmic rays, and the full gamut of what *science* knows about climate change in the, wait for it, IPCC 2013 report.

      --

      Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
    11. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by OhANameWhatName · · Score: 2

      It is possible to be concerned about the impact of environmental changes because of the impact they will have on one's grandchildren

      You're saying that you care about the impact the planet has on you, not vice versa. It's time to recognise that 'harm to the Earth' isn't abstract and you (and your grandchildren) are co-dependant upon the Earth for your survival.

      The derision at the end of your post does you and the environment a disservice.

    12. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by gnoshi · · Score: 0

      You're saying that you care about the impact the planet has on you, not vice versa. It's time to recognise that 'harm to the Earth' isn't abstract and you (and your grandchildren) are co-dependant upon the Earth for your survival.

      Caring about the effects of environmental changes (and so, the resulting conditions of the planet) on humans and caring about the environment per se are not mutually exclusive.

      The derision at the end of your post does you and the environment a disservice.

      The derision at the end of my post is based on my reflections on your previous posts, the posting of which did the world a disservice.

    13. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If only there was something that needed CO2 to live.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYssYnALgHc

      http://co2generator.org/

    14. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by torsmo · · Score: 1

      Yes, those massive cattle farms exist to feed aliens, who otherwise would be feasting on humans.

    15. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by gnoshi · · Score: 1

      Another possibility is that I have been severely sarcasm-impaired while reading your other posts.

    16. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Global warming is a side-effect of human overpopulation. This overpopulation will be corrected by nature, one way or the other. For example, by limiting the food supply.

    17. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'll believe when there is sufficient proof. The last decade or so, the correlation between CO2 and global temperatures have been very poor. I'm still amazed that a large amount of scientists claim that there is a correlation while is it very much lost in the noise. But worse still, they proceed to scare the audience with wild extrapolations for the next 100 years.

    18. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by turkeyfish · · Score: 0

      "And there's a lot more to be really concerned about which is far worse than the small CO2 contribution humanity adds by burning fossil fuels."

      You really don't have much of a clue do you? Do you have any idea just how much carbon dioxide people are putting into the atmosphere on an annual basis?

      Do you really have any idea of just how fast the Earth is heating?

      You make a good point about eating meat, but it still doesn't address the problem caused primarily by the use of fossil fuels in transportation and in the generation of electricity.

    19. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by IRWolfie- · · Score: 0

      "In my eyes ...". Science isn't subjective, the opinion of your eyes is worth nothing.

    20. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by IRWolfie- · · Score: 1

      So what if journalists don't talk about other sources than CO2, they have been factored in by the actual scientists, and that's what matters. Whether or not they have good PR is besides the point.

    21. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by turkeyfish · · Score: 1

      Now that we have the unshakable opinion of an amoeba, I guess I can feel releived.

    22. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by turkeyfish · · Score: 1, Insightful

      "And some are coming to different conclusions."

      Who, where, and such as might we ask?

    23. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      www.climatedepot.com

      http://stevengoddard.wordpress.com/2013/05/12/antarctic-sea-ice-to-cover-the-planet-by-november-3054/

      No such thing as 'man made global warming'.

      CO2 is not the cause of 'warming', the sun is.

      The brainwashing here is unbelievable. It's the middle of May in the U.K. and it's FREEZING here - the temperature is 10 degrees C, it feels like February. Where is all this 'warming' the alarmists have been threatening us with?

      Their JOBS depend on making out there is a huge problem - no problem - no funding.

    24. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by Ironhandx · · Score: 1

      Corn is actually so hard for humans to process and so bad for you after you do that you're actually better off letting the cows eat it.

      There are other things the land could be used for sure, but I see corn mentioned a lot and thought I'd play devils advocate for a minute :)

    25. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is incorrect, there will always be missing data to interpolate and assumptions to be made. The method used to interpret the data is determined by a choice made by some person or group, as will which aspect of a phenomenon to measure.

      Science is subjective in practice, the holy grail is to be objective.

    26. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The only part of sweet corn that humans don't digest is the outer shell, which passes harmlessly through the body. Field corn (the stuff that's actually fed to cows) is not meant for human consumption in the first place.

    27. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by fazig · · Score: 0
      I'm not saying that CO2 is an insignificant factor in our global climate.

      Consider this: CO2 lasts 1000s of years in the atmosphere, where-as methane less than a decade. The CO2 is effectively permanent, and it *builds* over time. See the difference?

      Consider this: We as a species emit more and more methane each year because livestock is increased each year. Something can't be good combined with all those other environmental influences that come along with intensive livestock farming, if we want to maintain a 'convenient' environment on this planet.

      And as you already pointed out that natural methane sinks work far more effectively than CO2 sinks, but this should help to get quicker results from changes. The 2007 IPCC report states that the effects of methane reduction aren't well understood, perhaps we know more by now, but I have yet to find this 2013 IPCC report.
      Under the pretext that there doesn't exist enough research in this field, why not start here? We should be able to get results within a decade. Why always put the emphasis on CO2 and not something that might yield convincing results within a time period that more people would be able to comprehend? There are also plenty of CO2 emissions produced by the meat industry, for example in logistics, that could be reduced along with methane. Might this approach be even more inconvenient?

    28. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      Politicians only work for PR and will only take steps to address PR. If the release of gaseous nitric acid was slowly killing us but everyone was screaming about CO2, the politicians would take steps to deal with harmless CO2. Useless steps like shifting production from one fossil fuel to a different fossil fuel, claiming it's "greener" and "cheaper", and then taking credit for the expanded economy that results from cheap energy availability and greater output of CO2 and toxic gasses by way of burning more shit to produce more energy. It's an art form, making things worse while getting praise for making them better.

    29. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 2, Informative

      CO2 levels were up to 400ppm about 800 years ago. They've since dropped, but are now up again. Not exactly thousands of years.

    30. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by fazig · · Score: 0

      Yeah, the corn that is fed to cattle might not be the best food for us, but it might still be a better overall food source than beef on a global scale :).

    31. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Is it bad to just rely on those future generations to figure out their own solution? This isn't too different from the argument that we have to let those buggy whip makers figure out their next jobs on their own.

    32. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by khallow · · Score: 2, Informative

      Gee... an IPCC report will tell you the pretty-exact accounting.

      But will it try to tell the truth? People forget that there are massive conflicts of interest present among the sponsors of the IPCC and its reports. And these have resulted in deceptions which exaggerated the extent and impact of AGW in the past.

      Consider this: CO2 lasts 1000s of years in the atmosphere

      That hasn't been demonstrated.

    33. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by IICV · · Score: 4, Insightful

      And there are real scientists, respected climatologists, who are asking "how do we know?" about global warming. And some are coming to different conclusions.

      Name one who isn't Richard Lindzen, and you might have a point. Until then you're pretty much just making stuff up.

    34. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In my eyes there are far worse things like methane released from massive cattle farms which also take a lot of space and require corn or other plants which could be also fed to humans, but tis is very important because we can't live without a cheeseburger at 3 am.

      Unlike fossil fuel CO2, That methane was already part of the biosphere.

    35. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by microbox · · Score: 1, Informative
      I work in science. If you can demonstrate a good counter argument to something like this, you will win a nobel prize. There will also be a tonne of (hard to obtain) research money that will be funneled straight into your university department, which will give you a lot of political clout, even if your work is poor.

      This argument of "all scientists will not tell the truth" has about as much credibility as a conspiracy theory as 9/11 being an inside job.

      That hasn't been demonstrated.

      Riiiggghhttt. Do you even know how the carbon life cycle is studied? Have you ever read an academic article on the matter? I suppose you don't have to, since it is all lies.

      And what is being protected? It is the political influence of big carbon. The actual economic impact of doing something about climate change is negligible at most. There is empirical data for that as well, but I suppose all the economists are lying to, right?

      --

      Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
    36. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by operagost · · Score: 1

      Thanks for your contentless, scolding post.

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
    37. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by operagost · · Score: 1

      People truly concerned about the earth wouldn't be breeding more humans.

      People truly concerned about the earth wouldn't be wasting time and energy posting on Slashdot.

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
    38. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by operagost · · Score: 1

      Consider this: CO2 lasts 1000s of years in the atmosphere

      Yes, because it's stable and nonreactive. Fortunately, there are many organisms that can use it, so claiming that the only answer is to not release any is just dumb. I'd rather spend billions learning how to terraform our deserts than have some quacks allow government to make us live in cells in fascist mega-cities.

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
    39. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by operagost · · Score: 0

      You're on the internet, genius.

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
    40. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All you have to do is read the newspapers, news magazine to find "them". (Most of the ones I know about have been featured on the major TV networks in the USA.) Even the "main stream media" reports on "them". Under the rules of Academia, this has happened so many times and from so many different sources that it is now deemed, "Common Knowledge"--that is, it needs no footnote, endnote, localnote, or citation.

      (Gee all those years of slavish obedience to Ms. Date Turabian has finally paid off! I guess grad school was worth it after all.)

    41. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by dotancohen · · Score: 1

      You're saying that you care about the impact the planet has on you, not vice versa. It's time to recognise that 'harm to the Earth' isn't abstract and you (and your grandchildren) are co-dependant upon the Earth for your survival.

      No, the GP is saying that humans evolved on the Earth, and changing the Earth on short timescales will affect his offspring who cannot evolve quickly enough. I personally feel the same way.

      I really do not care what particular composition of gasses surround whatever rock that my offspring live on, nor the temperature of those gasses. I'm just concerned that the composition of gasses and their temperature are suitable for my offspring to live and grow food in.

      --
      It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
    42. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by organgtool · · Score: 3, Funny

      Those ignoring or making fun of it don't care about their descendants

      This is slashdot! In order for us to have descendants, we'd have to be able to find women willing to procreate with us. Solving that problem would be much harder than solving the global warming issue itself.

    43. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by phantomfive · · Score: 2

      John Christy.

      Richard Lindzen is a lead author of the IPCC report, and is actually well respected among everyone except alarmists, so I can tell what propaganda you've been listening to.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    44. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      You are lazy, but here is one example.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    45. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If these days were not cut short then surely all the flesh in the world would perish.

    46. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      CO2 levels were up to 400ppm about 800 years ago.

      No, they weren't.

    47. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Counter argument:

      The only way to truly demonstrate that CO2 lasts thousands of years in an atmosphere is to instrument an atmosphere for thousands of years to test it. Anything else is projection, modeling, or analysis by comparative circumstance. I don't discount that that approach might have validity, but it is a falsehood to call that "demonstrated." And nobody has had those sorts of instruments for thousands of years... therefore, it has not been "demonstrated" in a grammatically acceptable use of the word.

      Similarly, it has not been demonstrated that CO2 level have not been as high as they are now for millions of years; nobody instrumented the atmosphere millions of years ago to generate data to compare to.

      Note that I'm not intending this to be a counter argument to the issue of whether CO2 lasts thousands of years in an atmosphere or not--it very well might--but rather on the issue of whether it has been "demonstrated." Scientists throw the word demonstrated around way too loosely; they need better copy editors.

    48. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by The+Grim+Reefer · · Score: 1

      Do you really have any idea of just how fast the Earth is heating?

      Do you?

    49. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Like me! This spring was so warm it SNOWED IN MAY IN ARKANSAS!!! So cold it broke over 124 records to become the coldest spring in recorded history in the state. If Carbon is THAT much of an influence (highly doubtful being that it is not the #1 or #2 ghg) then its causing global cooling. They should have picked a different way to SCAM us out of our tax money. The problem is we can read a thermometer just like the so called "scientists" who get government grant money. But more importantly, recall that the same "scientists" said it would be too late to fix it (the planet) if we did not do it by the year 1996. So its too late. And remember, these are "SCIENTISTS!" They're never wrong (just ask them) and are never influenced by money or politics (guffaw).

    50. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Roy Spencer

    51. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by SolitaryMan · · Score: 1

      Be especially wary of the ones who use global warming as an excuse to take your money for their pet projects. Those people are out there.

      And thank god nobody actually makes money on polluting the hell out of environment.

      --
      May Peace Prevail On Earth
    52. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by khallow · · Score: 1

      This argument of "all scientists will not tell the truth" has about as much credibility as a conspiracy theory as 9/11 being an inside job.

      All scientists aren't involved. Aggregation of paleoclimate data, for example, is done by a few, publicly funded organizations.

      Riiiggghhttt. Do you even know how the carbon life cycle is studied?

      Like blind men studying an elephant. Too much remains unknown about where carbon comes from and goes.

      And what is being protected? It is the political influence of big carbon.

      There was a recent proposal for a climate change "reparations" fund. They were hoping to eventually fund it at about $100 billion a year. That alone would probably be on the order of the total global profits from "Big Carbon" in an average year.

      There are also substantial amounts spent on CO2 emission markets, renewable energy development and subsidy, and development of electric cars and related technologies. I would say that it is on the order of tens of billions per year. So what am I to think of the scientific prowess of someone who only pays attention to one part of a problem?

      The actual economic impact of doing something about climate change is negligible at most.

      For someone who claims to work in science, you are remarkably confident about your opinions.

      There is empirical data for that as well, but I suppose all the economists are lying to, right?

      Maybe you don't actually work in science and just pretend to on Slashdot. There isn't empirical data to support your claim. For example, electric power and transportation costs (for corresponding types of transportation, cars compared to cars) are more expensive in areas that have severely restricted or taxed use of fossil fuels than in areas that haven't.

      Second, there is ample evidence for the claim that interfering with an economy by making it less efficient has costs. These costs increase as the degree and extent of the interference increases. Monkeying around with the energy and transportation infrastructure for the world is not going to be a negligible impact. I think it immensely foolish to insist otherwise.

      In favor of AGW is the claim that there are global scale externalities which would also be a form of economic inefficiency. The problem with that claim is that the degree of these costs seems rather low. I think it reasonable to insist that we demonstrate that AGW has these costs first before we plunge into widespread mitigation of AGW. The people who claim to be in favor of the "science" don't seem interested.

    53. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There isn't empirical data to support your claim

      Yeah there is no evidence that costs are small in the USA.

    54. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by khallow · · Score: 1
      Costs are small because costs are small. From your link:

      The prices of CO2 allowances remained stable throughout 2012 with monthly average prices ranging from a high of $2.01 in February to a low of $1.93 in October. The auction clearing prices of CO2 allowances were also very stable as each auction cleared at the auction reserve price of $1.93.

      There's probably more costs with complying with the market regulation than with the actual trading of allowances. We didn't see drama in the European CO2 emission markets until they hit actual hard caps and emitting CO2 had large regulatory costs. Then things broke. Note that the price never passed $30 per ton (of CO2 not carbon as claimed in the article). So how will the RGGI region fare when CO2 allowance costs grow higher and surrounding regions aren't subject to these costs?

    55. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ROTFLMAO&PMP

      CO2 levels haven't been above around 300 ppmv in over 800,000 years.

      dfw

    56. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The only way to truly demonstrate that CO2 lasts thousands of years in an atmosphere is to instrument an atmosphere for thousands of years to test it.

      This in effect has been done by sampling the atmosphere from ice cores going back about 800,000 years.

      dfw

    57. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      Be wary of those people as well.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    58. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by Maritz · · Score: 1

      It doesn't gel with his political ideology, so he doesn't believe it. Pretty simple really. Don't forget, if you accept the consensus of climate scientists that AGW is real, you're basically a tree-hugging hippy and an enemy of progress and economic growth.

      --
      I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
    59. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by IICV · · Score: 1

      Erm have you actually read Christy's stuff? He disagrees on the magnitude of the effect of climate change on humans, the quantity of our contribution, and which mitigation measures we should take if any - not about whether or not climate change is happening, or if we contribute anything to it.

    60. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      but not very respectful of science itself.

      Science doesn't want respect, it wants you to ask, "How do we know?" As soon as you start believing things because it was said by "the institution of science," that's when it's no longer science anymore.

      I fear that you are confusing science with religion, where one makes up their mmind, then force fits everything into that conclusion.

      And there are real scientists, respected climatologists, who are asking "how do we know?" about global warming. And some are coming to different conclusions. So the future is not as clear as some doomologists would have you believe.

      I am really glad to meet the person who knows exactly who these scientiosts are, and has read and understands their different conclusions. I am looking forward to your providing me with the names of these scientists. Or at least the publications.

      I would most very respectfully suggest that you do a little research as to who is funding these scientists also, because so very often, their funding comes form groups who have a very vested interest in the effects of the so-called greenhouse gases not having any effect at all on average global temperatures. Starting from a conclusion, then force fitting the data.

      I've done a bit of research, and am having trouble finding the "AGW doesn't exist" scientists who aren't funded by groups that stand to profit by that conclusion, so how about some helpful cites?

      Be especially wary of the ones who use global warming as an excuse to take your money for their pet projects. Those people are out there.

      I'll say! That greedy money hungry scientist who is looking for a hundred thousand dollar grant to do research makes those millions given to politicians pale by comparison. You are being unknowingly hilarious.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    61. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If everyone weeping over this would just kill themselves, the decline in CO2 production would enable the rest of us to live just fine.

    62. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      CO2 levels were up to 400ppm about 800 years ago. They've since dropped, but are now up again. Not exactly thousands of years.

      Are you the same guy that says that NASA is reporting that CO2 makes the world colder?

      Anyhow, where is the citation about the 400 ppm level? I'm getting about 250 ppm from my cites, Wikipedia.

      On the debunking sites, there seems to be a common thread that goes something like this one from:

      http://www.philosophical-investigations.org/Historical_CO2_levels

      to wit:

      Another of the IPCC tricks, well-hidden (buried under mountains of Energy department paid trivia publicised by the likes of the Guardian and Realclimate) is the ludicrous claim that CO2 levels have been historically stable, and are now exceptionally high, leading to - you -know-what (okay, a runaway greenhouse warming effect). That is either wordsmithing, or a marked case of innacuracy.

      http://www.planetforlife.com/co2history/index.html shows a huge deviation, from around 300 to around 180 ppm.

      The original cite was from NOAA data, sorry for the planetforlife graph, it was just easier than making people sift through the original data. The NOAA links are in there if anyone wants to go through them.

      I get a lot of this cherry picking and other interesting claims when I go through the denier sites. We get a lot of "research shows", with no citations. We even get odd insinuations, like that philosophical investigations site making insinuations about an anonymous refutation of Ernst-Georg Beck's article that claims that scientists believe that CO2 levels were constant before the industrial age.

      Make up that strawman, then beat the living shit out of it, I guess.

      Believe or do not believe, it makes no matter.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    63. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by stenvar · · Score: 1

      Yeah, that's the oversimplification of a complex scientific subject for political purposes, complete with knee-jerk emotional appeals.

      Just THINK OF THE (GRAND-)CHILDREN!

    64. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      I fear that you are confusing science with religion, where one makes up their mmind, then force fits everything into that conclusion.

      Unfortunately, there are those who treat science like a religion, and scientists as the high priests.

      I am really glad to meet the person who knows exactly who these scientiosts are, and has read and understands their different conclusions. I am looking forward to your providing me with the names of these scientists. Or at least the publications.

      Certainly. We will now see if you are one of those people who treats science like a religion, or if you can think for yourself. Here is one example.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    65. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      Yes. There is a huge difference between what John Christy says, and climatologists who say that civilization will be destroyed by global warming.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    66. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      I fear that you are confusing science with religion, where one makes up their mmind, then force fits everything into that conclusion.

      Unfortunately, there are those who treat science like a religion, and scientists as the high priests.

      Unfortunately there are deniers who treat science as a construct of the devil being true religion in the reliigious sense - as in an opmnipotent deity who foro some reason rewards faith over knowledge. I have the books, and can cite if you wish.

      Certainly. We will now see if you are one of those people who treats science like a religion, or if you can think for yourself. Here is one example.

      How odd that you declare that disagreeing with that particular presentation is an inability to form one's own ideas and opinions.!

      "Deconstruct, Propaganda, misinformation, sophistry, Propagandistic issue of repitition, absence of any intellectual critical faculties, I will begin with the issue of how the issue is maniiplulated.

      And we are 1 minute and 46 seconds into the presentation.

      Do you understand what science is? It is most definitely not spending your time with that sort of rhetoric rhetoric, That rhetoric is exceptionally political, and/or religious.

      Let's assume that a scientist dicsovers something that disproves anthropogenic global warming. How woulf s/he go about this?

      As likely as not, the title might be "Anthropogenic global Warming - new insights and perspectives"

      Next, instead of telling you exactly what you think, with words like "propaganda", accusing those who might disagree as being completely incompetent, as Lindzen explicitely does, the outline would be: The original view

      How the proven effect of CO2 and the so called "Greenhouse gases" does not apply to the real world

      Why and what mitigates that effect

      What the new view would be.

      Data would be presented to show how the mitigation effect works, and how much mitigation happens.

      Absolutely none of the weasel words used in the Lindzen lecture would be used. Ever, Every scientist I've ever worked with, and that is many, would immediately be suspicious of anyone who went political on them.

      In most cases, when one person accuses another or another side of propaganda, it indicates their thought process, and an astute observer can reasonably expect propaganda to follow.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    67. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      You attacked the format of his presentation, not the substance, a logical fallacy. You fail the "think for yourself" test, congrats.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    68. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1
      Sorry, I faile the Proopaganda test. That presentation was only to tell people what to think, as he explicitly to,d people at the beginning. The only possibile outcome that you would accept was my complete conversione top his own propaganda. Your grasp of science is immediately obvious.

      You sir, do not know the differnce between science and politics. You are cast of the same mold as the old soviets that did not believe in genetics.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    69. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Of course, the cjief greenhouse gas isn't CO2. It's H2O.

    70. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      The only possibile outcome that you would accept was my complete conversione top his own propaganda.

      Actually I would have been happy if you'd even watched it. Or even if you'd said that you were too lazy to watch it, which would have at least been honest and reasonable.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    71. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by rtb61 · · Score: 1

      Not people, no not people, bloody psychopaths, who can not see beyond feeding their own insatiable ego and lusts. We have constructed a society around it and modern mass media in it's insanity filled with clinical narcissists celebrates. The burning down of the environmental conditions under which we evolved by people who care not one whit how many die whether 10, 100, 1000 or a million or the whole planet as long as they get theirs now. Don't just be wary of their, either eliminate their control and influence or they will eliminate all of the rest of us.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    72. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      481 PPM. I've seen as low as around 364ppm, and I've seen claims of 1200-2000ppm around 1200AD; but I'm pretty sure 1000+ in modern age (i.e. not dinosaur age) is ludicrous.

    73. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      People are obsessed with CO2, they don't want the evidence in front of their eyes.

      Let's assume--I'm not placing this as fact, just an assumption--but let's assume that global temperatures are rising. People are standing around denying this because the oceans sink CO2 and algae consumes it. CO2 has been this high or higher in the past, but there's all kinds of jockeying to mess with the graphs--stuff like throwing out high-quality ice core data for low-quality tree ring data and correlating growth with available material (carbon), which is much less accurate (sunlight, water, temperature, etc, all affect tree growth; and they only grow in the summer!). With the facts staring them in the face, they continue to bicker because the cause is, apparently, imaginary and political.

      Now within our assumption that global warming is real, we've established that people are talking about CO2 = Global Warming. No CO2, no global warming, no matter what your thermometer says. Problem?

      The city I'm in is extremely hot today. I wonder why. There's 600 degree exhaust air being pumped out of an oil fire near me.. with 50F weather outside, being 12 feet away from an ambulance is like sitting in front of a roaring furnace. There's hundreds of cars on the road pumping out heat. We've painted the roads black, we've cut down trees that bind sunlight (heat) into stored energy, we've started to collect solar energy and bleed it as heat, we've been burning a ton of wood and coal and oil and belching hot gas into the atmosphere.

      The world is covered in one giant fucking heating network. Cooling systems move heat, rather than storing it out of the environment. Could that be it?

      The earth's magnetic poles are shifting around, magma flows are changing. We have accepted scientifically that this happens and this causes drastic climate changes; yet as weather patterns shift, we blame the global temperature and claim it rearranges things. Crazy, right?

      Stupid CO2 fetishists. The reason people don't believe we've ever had CO2 this high is because they don't want to. It used to be common theory, until someone decided it wasn't good for politics. Remember: We need something we can cite as a cause for a problem so we can look like we're fixing the problem.

      I'd wager the situation wouldn't improve much if we switched to 100% solar energy. Air quality would be better.

    74. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      The only possibile outcome that you would accept was my complete conversione top his own propaganda.

      Actually I would have been happy if you'd even watched it. Or even if you'd said that you were too lazy to watch it, which would have at least been honest and reasonable.

      Do you think that I just made up those words that he used?

      Do you not understand science versus politics?

      Hint - his piece was politics making a poor attempt at being science. Science does not deal in those terms.

      Spare me your accusations of dishonesty and other insults. I asked for science, and you give me political garbage, propaganda, and cherry picking. You have failed, not me

      So, why don't we take this to a different level?

      Give me the reason or reasons that the so called greenhouse gases fail to do what they are supposed to do? That's what I'm looking for. Or are your only tools to call anyone who disagrees with you dishonest, or lazy, or otherwise?

      Why doesn't the greenhouse gas model work?

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    75. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hey! I have a wife.... .....who doesn't like kids and doesn't want them and is a geek herself. Nevermind.

    76. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      The city I'm in is extremely hot today. I wonder why. There's 600 degree exhaust air being pumped out of an oil fire near me.. with 50F weather outside, being 12 feet away from an ambulance is like sitting in front of a roaring furnace. There's hundreds of cars on the road pumping out heat. We've painted the roads black, we've cut down trees that bind sunlight (heat) into stored energy, we've started to collect solar energy and bleed it as heat, we've been burning a ton of wood and coal and oil and belching hot gas into the atmosphere.

      Yes, most of what you are writing about is the heat island effect. Very real, and an issue for cities. Iven in my little city, the temperatures are always a couple degrees higher than where I live, around 2 miles away.

      The world is covered in one giant fucking heating network. Cooling systems move heat, rather than storing it out of the environment. Could that be it?

      That's a localized phenomena, and doesn't explain why the greatest warming is taking place well away from the cities. It's also almost a wash in the case of cooling systems, which are removing heat from one area, and releasing it in another. Just an exchange process.

      The earth's magnetic poles are shifting around, magma flows are changing. We have accepted scientifically that this happens and this causes drastic climate changes; yet as weather patterns shift, we blame the global temperature and claim it rearranges things. Crazy, right?

      That certain gases in an atmosphere are capable of retaining energy as heat is as much a fact as magnetic poles and volcanos. This is no open to debate. People might be able to debate that the CO2 generated by humans burning materials that release the CO2 into the atmosphere, but then it would not be possible to say that the CO2 emitted by volcanos could warm the earth - there would have to be a sulfur dioxide mitigiation or some such to counterbalance the CO2.

      Stupid CO2 fetishists.

      Okay - that's a little strange. You figure that people who accept that greenhouse gases exist are sexually aroused by that?

      The reason people don't believe we've ever had CO2 this high is because they don't want to. It used to be common theory, until someone decided it wasn't good for politics.

      I'm not sure, but I think you are agreeing with me.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    77. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      Do you think that I just made up those words that he used?

      I think you watched two minutes and gave up. Which is amusing for me.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    78. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      Do you think that I just made up those words that he used?

      I think you watched two minutes and gave up. Which is amusing for me.

      Glad it's amusing to you. I'll give that propaganda piece as much attention as I would a creationist piece telling us how humans and dinosaurs lived at the same time, and the earth was created in 4004 B.C.E. You may not like that, you might find it amusing, but it simply isn't science. Some time in th edark past, I asked for science that would refute the concept of CO2 atmospheric warming, or at least show how it was mitigated. Your Youtube video is none of that.

      To put it in a similar vein, you are acting like a person who claims that oil is abiotically created, and demands that I disprove the idea. Disprove AGW with science, not insulting anyone who believes in it. TTFN

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    79. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      I have no idea what you are talking about.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    80. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      Some time in th edark past, I asked for science that would refute the concept of CO2 atmospheric warming, or at least show how it was mitigated. Your Youtube video is none of that.

      You think that because you didn't watch it. And then you write many words to justify your laziness, which just make you look stupid.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    81. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by IICV · · Score: 1

      Are there climatologists who claim global warming will destroy civilization?

      Because from what I've seen, they mostly just say it'll cause drastic changes over the next hundred years, which is fairly well supported; whether or not those changes cause some sort of societal collapse depends on how we handle them.

    82. Re:Global Warming is true, and deadly .. by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      James Hansen perhaps is the most eminent proponent of that school of thought. Here is one example. He says, "If this sounds apocalyptic, it is."

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  10. Re:Hysteria! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Sadly, this is not the case for climate change.

    Right, it's made up on a bunch of data which can't even predict the past knowns of known events. The models are so poor, the data so cherry picked that it *disputes* the MWP, when the MWP was recorded as a world-wide event. And it even skips the little ice age which came after it.

  11. Re:more liberal propaganda by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    enough already

    I know! The next thing you know, those heathen liberals will be telling us the Earth is round and goes around the Sun! Why can't we get back to the simpler times when we worshipped the Sun and the Moon as powerful gods?!

  12. Maybe it's slashdot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Maybe the citation is slashdot, since this same story ran less than a week ago. But apparently on slashdot, anything aimed at generating hysteria over global warming merits a two-time appearance.

    1. Re: Maybe it's slashdot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Three time, the last one was also a dupe.

  13. Mularkey by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm pretty sure some deniers conclusively proved that this is all bunk in the last article. The problem is that 1) the scientists didn't know that the station is on a volcano, 2) they did know it was on a volcano and they still put the CO2 detector inside the volcano right above the liquid-hot magma, 3) there are no ice cores on Hawaii, 4) ice cores are completely unreliable for anything anyway, 5) the CO2 monitored is only applicable to Hawaii, more specifically a few meters around the detector and does not register global CO2 levels, 6) China still exists thereby making all readings void, 7) these readings don't matter, 8) these readings are all faulty because I don't know how they get them, 9) these readings align well with other CO2 stations across the globe, and we all know that repeatable and reliable numbers are a sign of confirmation bias not accuracy, 10) these numbers are void because of Climategate probably, 11) these numbers are valid but don't matter because I don't know why, 12) plants like CO2 therefore any changes in the environment are offset by wonderful new foliage, and 13) these numbers are void because Al Gore still exists.

    Why are we still even discussing this? It has been demonstratively proven false.

    1. Re:Mularkey by akboss · · Score: 0

      13) these numbers are void because Al Gore still exists.

      That is it in a nut shell. Al invented the internet. Al just saved us from rebellion. Al flies in his private jet to GW conferences yet tells everyone they need to do without. Al is not your best front man if you didnt know already.

      --
      "Remember, politicians and diapers should be changed often and for the same reason."
    2. Re:Mularkey by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Gore is a profiteer and capitalist not a scientist. He's only the "front man" for people like you who can't face the evidence so create a "strawman" like saying all the data is wrong because Al Gore.

    3. Re:Mularkey by Lendrick · · Score: 4, Informative

      You missed three very important points that the global warming denialists have made over the last decade or two:

      * Global warming isn't real.
      * Global warming *is* real, but it's completely natural and not at all man-made.
      * Global warming is real and man-made, but it's good.

    4. Re:Mularkey by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Last decade? Shit these idiots will make all three arguments in the same fucking paragraph.

    5. Re:Mularkey by microbox · · Score: 3, Insightful

      That is it in a nut shell. Al invented the internet. Al just saved us from rebellion. Al flies in his private jet to GW conferences yet tells everyone they need to do without. Al is not your best front man if you didnt know already.

      Yeah, Al is just this *horrible* guy, you see, and since he is for something, then we should be against it. 'Cause that's how us republicans roll.

      FACE-PALM.

      --

      Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
    6. Re:Mularkey by microbox · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Important? or convenient excuses for people who make lots of money from carbon, and have bought of the media, think-tank, and political system.

      Remember, tackling the ozone whole was going to *destroy* the us economy. So was tackling acid rain. Now taxing carbon is going to *destroy* the economy, so it *must* be true that global warming is no big deal. Except that it is a big deal, and doing something about it will have negligible (or positive) effect on the economy, as *evidenced* by countries that have done something, such as Germany, China, Australia, and northeastern USA.

      --

      Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
    7. Re:Mularkey by rrohbeck · · Score: 1

      You forgot

      * Global warming is real and man-made and bad, but now it's too late to do anything about it and we have to adapt.

      That seems to be the current line in the sand.

    8. Re:Mularkey by turkeyfish · · Score: 1

      Thank you. Maybe there is hope yet. Step 4 might just be another in the right direction.

      All that is likely needed for step 4 is a few more very hot summers, intense floods, and a few more Sandy-like superstorms and the deniers will be about as popular as members of the Westboro Baptist Church at a military funeral.

    9. Re:Mularkey by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      Al invented the internet.

      Of course he did. Why else would we program computers using "Al Gore"-ithms?

    10. Re:Mularkey by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/tsunami-ice-plows-dozens-canadian-homes-article-1.1341923

      Global warming my ass. Fuck you, the burden of proof is on you and you have failed repeatedly.

      You aren't getting my money, now go away.

    11. Re:Mularkey by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This reminds me of a sketch from "yes minister". The 4 stages of denial:
      1) X isn't happening.
      2) X is happening but it isn't a problem.
      3) X is a problem but there's nothing we can do about it.
      4) We could have solved X but it's far too late now.

    12. Re:Mularkey by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      LOL, sounds like scientists updating their beliefs in the face of further data.

    13. Re:Mularkey by CayceeDee · · Score: 1

      Al invented the internet.

      Every time I read a statement about this I question the research capacity of people. The fact that I see this on a computer technology forum makes my brain sad.
      No, he didn't invent the Internet. He just created the bill which underlay a lot of Internet development.

      Among the many technological achievements that resulted from the funding of the Gore Bill, was the development of Mosaic in 1993,the World Wide Web browser software which is credited by most scholars as beginning the Internet boom of the 1990s: Gore's legislation also helped fund the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois, where a team of programmers, including Netscape founder Marc Andreessen, created the Mosaic Web browser, the commercial Internet's technological springboard. 'If it had been left to private industry, it wouldn't have happened,' Andreessen says of Gore's bill, 'at least, not until years later.'

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Performance_Computing_Act_of_1991#Results

    14. Re:Mularkey by CayceeDee · · Score: 1

      Given the complete lack of doing anything about it, as exemplified by this reading, this should be the default position for everyone involved. There is no hint that anything will be done about it before it gets a lot worse. Not on a large enough scale to actually alleviate the problem so I take the adaptation approach in the hopes that humanity will get motivated enough to mitigate the damage. So far the bets are on human apathy.

    15. Re:Mularkey by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      Global warming is an arab plot. All those sand-bound camel-jockeys live in the desert where it's 150 degrees and they don't have AC. When the earth melts off the face of the planet, they'll inherit what's left easily. Europeans are so soft and gushy.

    16. Re:Mularkey by operagost · · Score: 1

      Sorry, but this is a problem the likes of which science and engineering have never had to face.

      The ozone issue had actually been faced before. The main industries using CFCs were for propellants and refrigeration. We already had other propellants, and for applications that they weren't suitable pump-bottles were substituted. For refrigeration, we'd had to replace the refrigerants before because the first ones were toxic! The replacements for the replacements weren't as efficient-- which creates another problem-- but engineering took care of that over the phaseout interval.

      What's happening with global warming is that we're being asked to change our entire lifestyles, and give up our human rights. We're basically being told to let governments and their corporate owners to decide where and how we live. That seems to be science's answer to the really tough problems: let government take over. Please excuse me if I'm not impressed.

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
    17. Re:Mularkey by Gr8Apes · · Score: 1

      You missed the largest wind farms of all, in Texas, a bright red state. The NE nor CA have sole dibs on alternative energy.

      --
      The cesspool just got a check and balance.
    18. Re:Mularkey by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You believe in Republicans and Democrats? As this blind individual face palms in a random indiscriminate direction.

    19. Re:Mularkey by microbox · · Score: 1

      Iowa and Indiana are red states and leading the way in wind energy. It is good business. The NE of america has a revenue neutral carbon tax that is driving down energy costs. The RGGI covers 20% of the US economy, all blue states, and that portion of the economy grew relative to the rest of the US economy. The notion that a carbon tax would trash the economy is scare mongering.

      --

      Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
    20. Re:Mularkey by phlinn · · Score: 1

      For global warming alarmists to be correct about what we need to do, all of the following must be true.
      1. The globe is warming.
      2. The warming is caused by us.
      3. There are not sufficient negative feedbacks to halt it.
      4. The net effect is bad.
      5. The proposed solution is better than leaving the status quo in place.

      It's not dishonest to note problems with all of those points, even if for the sake of discussion you occasionally stipulate one of the other points as true. Each has problems. Note that I'm not claiming the skeptics are right on every point, only that it's not dishonest of them to note problems with each of the above steps.

      1. Seems to be at a standstill. It appeared to be waming before, but almost all of the warming (USHCN at least, haven't double checked GHCN) was present in the adjustments not the raw data. Those adjustments can be questioned. My personal suspicion is that the mathematical model they use to adjust for Time of Observation bias magnifies the existing data. It's not a good sign that the successive iterations have had the warming in adjustments go up, while the rate of warming in raw data hasn't shifted significantly. Compare USHCNv2 to v3 sometime. If those adjustments need to be made according to the physics, than that's fine, but it still qualifies as deeply suspicious, and was a legitimate point of contention.

      2. Really hard to establish, since we know non human variation has included periods of much greater and lower warmth and CO2 concentrations. Even establishing climate sensitivity is iffy, and the number has changed several times over the past couple of decades. Protestations to the contrary, the form of the equation they use for climate sensitivity is not well sourced.

      3. Again, hard to establish. They net direction of water vapor isn't known for certain since more vapor -> more clouds, and clouds are cooling agents. It might not even be unidrectional. It could act as warming at some points, cooling at others. Gotta love chaotic systems. The recent unpredicted pause is evidence that there are negative feedbacks which have not been handled correctly or not included at all.

      4. Well, take a look at the warmlist sometime and see if you can understand why this claim is not trusted. Almost all claims on this point don't even acknowledge the possible positive effects of warming. http://wattsupwiththat.com/2010/01/06/winter-kills-excess-deaths-in-the-winter-months/ is one example argument that warmer temps cause fewer deaths.

      5. Lots of arguments can be found about adaptation being more effective than cutting CO2 emissions. Certainly more politically achievable in many countries. YMMV.

      --
      "Pulling together is the aim of despotism and tyranny! Free men pull in all sorts of directions" -- Havelock Vetinari
    21. Re:Mularkey by Gr8Apes · · Score: 1

      As long as it is applied evenly across all affects, a carbon tax will not harm the economy. The problem is taxing imports (allowed under the Constitution) and applying such a tax to even out costs.

      --
      The cesspool just got a check and balance.
    22. Re:Mularkey by stymy · · Score: 1

      The thing is, the last point is both true and false, depending on the place in question. For Canada, global warming will probably be very good, as it will open the Northwest Passage, allow far more land to be used for farming and so forth. For flat little islands with an altitude of less than 1 metre, not so much.

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

      Mostly they don't care. They just want a strawman they can beat up on.

    24. Re:Mularkey by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      there is more co2 because they keep cutting out the forests

    25. Re:Mularkey by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm pretty sure some deniers conclusively proved that this is all bunk in the last article. The problem is that 1) the scientists didn't know that the station is on a volcano, 2) they did know it was on a volcano and they still put the CO2 detector inside the volcano right above the liquid-hot magma, 3) there are no ice cores on Hawaii, 4) ice cores are completely unreliable for anything anyway, 5) the CO2 monitored is only applicable to Hawaii, more specifically a few meters around the detector and does not register global CO2 levels, 6) China still exists thereby making all readings void, 7) these readings don't matter, 8) these readings are all faulty because I don't know how they get them, 9) these readings align well with other CO2 stations across the globe, and we all know that repeatable and reliable numbers are a sign of confirmation bias not accuracy, 10) these numbers are void because of Climategate probably, 11) these numbers are valid but don't matter because I don't know why, 12) plants like CO2 therefore any changes in the environment are offset by wonderful new foliage, and 13) these numbers are void because Al Gore still exists.

      Why are we still even discussing this? It has been demonstratively proven false.

      Absolutely true. The whole issue is political agenda and what they are promoting. They are silent when it comes to something that has a much greater documented effect. Go to you tube and watch the BBC film "Global Dimming". Much bigger deal than CO2 and ignored. The mess we are creating with plastic in the oceans is another one.

    26. Re:Mularkey by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      sarcasm FAIL
      Gore is a douche.

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

      It's way better than warmists who have said:

      The oceans will climb 6 feet, 3 feet, 2 feet, 9 feet, 50 feet by 2050 or 2100.
              When oceans have actually risen 7 inches in the total of the last 2 centuries and are slowing down not accelerating.
      Warmists said the antarctic is throwing off 1FT of sea level increase by 2100, 3 inches of sea level increase by 2100, is actually reducing sea level by 2100.
      Temperatures will climb 2 C by 2020, 3C by 2100, 4.5C by 2100, 6C by 2100, 9C by 2100.
            When actual temperatures are up 0.7C for the last 2 centuries and havent budged a micro-degree in the last 17 years.
      Warmists said the temps rose as much between 1910 and 1940 as between 1970-2000 yet GHG rose 5% during the former period and GHG rose 20% during the latter period. Not only that but GHG rose 15% during the period 1940-1970 and temperatures declined and GHG has risen another 10% in the last 17 years but temperatures haven't budged.
      In order for the oceans or the temperature of the earth to meet their predictions there would have to be an enormous sudden acceleration of temperatures and sea level which aren't happening. You can wish all you want for it or wish against it but the models seem about as able to predict this as random guessing. In fact studies showed that the models are less predictive than random guessing.

    28. Re:Mularkey by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/ad-hominem

  14. time to set my filter at -1 again by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    the best comments always appear at -1. especially for stupid repetitive discussions like this.

  15. neverending FUDery by argStyopa · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It seems that the 'talking point' of the eco-marxists today "unprecedented" levels of CO2...was actually disproven in 2008:

    http://icecap.us/images/uploads/08_Beck-2.pdf (from 2008)

    "The record clearly demonstrates that [CO2 levels were] significantly higher than usually reported for the Last [Glacial] Termination, with levels of up to ~425 ppm about 12,750 years ago, which exceeds the present CO2 concentration of 395 ppm."

    This explains thoroughly that
    a) it's fundamentally a fallacy to compare Vostok data with Mauna Loa CO2 results (from 3000+ m altitude), and
    b) that CO2 values frequently exceeded 400 in both this and the last centuries (as high as 480 depending on how you look at it).

    --
    -Styopa
    1. Re:neverending FUDery by DogDude · · Score: 1, Flamebait

      I immediately wrote off anything you might have had to say after the phrase "eco-marxist". Grow up.

      --
      I don't respond to AC's.
    2. Re:neverending FUDery by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Some people will believe anything.

      In any case, where was that enormous amount of CO2 entering and exiting the atmosphere coming from and going to? The graphs that Beck shows are totally implausible.

    3. Re:neverending FUDery by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Of course I meant "two stoopid two lif". ;-P

      Now go cringe in a corner, because you focusing on the typo instead of the point is really funny and sad at the same time.

    4. Re:neverending FUDery by khallow · · Score: 0

      but sane brain

      No, on that. You have no reason for your relatively negative opinion on Ameritards. Such irrationality is a typical sign of insanity. But since it probably doesn't affect your day to day life, I recommend continue the treatment of ranting on the internets.

    5. Re:neverending FUDery by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Some context for Beck's publications.

      http://650list.blogspot.ca/2009/02/ernst-georg-beck.html

    6. Re:neverending FUDery by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      yeah because china, the ex-soviet countries, and the UK aren't also burning a shitton of fossil fuels?

    7. Re:neverending FUDery by viperidaenz · · Score: 1

      The amount of CO2 in the "carbon cycle" is massive. The current trend of rising atmospheric CO2 is less than 1% off balance.

    8. Re:neverending FUDery by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's fine because nobody gives a shit what you think anyway.

    9. Re:neverending FUDery by Rogerborg · · Score: 1

      If your counter argument is "nanny nanny boo boo", then aren't you rather confirming OP's point that this is a game of ideological mud slinging?

      --
      If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
    10. Re:neverending FUDery by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The "it's only one percent" excuse is based on taking the huge amounts outgassed from the oceans and ignoring the huge amounts absorbed. It's like saying that the splurge on cake and ice cream once a week is only one percent of the metabolic balance. After a few decades of a one percent imbalance, you'll be morbidly obese and heading for an early death.

    11. Re:neverending FUDery by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      LOL, the author of this "work" is a high school biology teacher.

      thats what i call real science...

    12. Re:neverending FUDery by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You should send this information to NASA, I'm sure they've never heard about any of the stuff you are talking about and would be thrilled to hear from you. Clearly you know more than people who actually research this stuff for a living. Thank you for setting us all straight!

    13. Re:neverending FUDery by SolitaryMan · · Score: 1

      The counter-argument is that it is absolutely impossible to have intelligent discussion about this (or anything, really) and thus impossible to get any valuable results if people are going to use phrases like "eco-marxist" to push their point.

      --
      May Peace Prevail On Earth
  16. These predictions by Kohath · · Score: 1

    By the year 2081, more than half of these types of predictions are likely to be shown to be more than half true.

    1. Re:These predictions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Your post shows a general misunderstanding of science. The hallmarks of science are fasifiability and predictability. Studies predict things so others can check the numbers and do their own calculations. By doing many calculations and comparing results (here predictions) we get a better understanding. Scientists don't do one study, predict one result, then sit back and wait for the result. The prediction is simply a statement that using these numbers and this analysis we get this result do others agree? No, you don't? Why not? Oh, that makes sense the prediction should be adjusted according to the new data and analysis. Each prediction is not it's own sure-to-be world. You're thinking of psychics who say "this will happen." Scientists just say this is likely what will happen but we'll update this prediction as new evidence comes in. Science doesn't demand every prediction be right, only that the general consensus be updated with new data.

    2. Re:These predictions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Propaganda is not science. 400ppm is not different than 399ppm in any scientifically significant way. Yet this story -- with the word "dramatic" in the headline to hype it up -- comes after the 400ppm "milestone" is reached. If this is about science, why aren't the facts enough? Why the drama? Why the artificial "milestone"? Why the photos of burning forests?

      It's only a model anyway. A model can be crafted with whatever assumptions you want, to reach whatever conclusion you want. If the modeled system is complex enough, if the conclusions are vague enough, if the predictions are far enough in the future, it can nearly unfalsifiable. And if there are many many assumptions including many hidden ones, and if you conveniently "lose" the source data, and if you don't release the source code to the model, then your predictions and the psychic's predictions aren't much different.

  17. never encountered/every day by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    400 ppm sounds like a lot until it is compared to the count in an exhaled breath, about 45,000 ppm.

    1. Re:never encountered/every day by epyT-R · · Score: 1

      Except that life rarely responds to toxic exposure linearly. At some point it will become increasingly difficult for radically larger percentages of the population to breath. Of course, summers will be 65C by then..

    2. Re:never encountered/every day by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

      Except that life rarely responds to toxic exposure linearly

      That is correct. If your breathe in someones face repeatedly, you may be slapped.

      Although it might have more to do with your last meal than CO2 content.

      --
      "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  18. Timeframes by Wolfling1 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Seems we're suffering from a bit of Climate Change Fatigue... which suggests that the less than 1% of credible scientists who doubt AGW have managed to sow enough seeds of dramatic dissent for the rest of us to lose interest.

    Or perhaps, it is something a little simpler in the human psyche. Whilst we bemoan politicians who have no more future vision than the end of their current term, it seems that we too are particularly short-sighted about the future of this planet. I suspect that the majority of us look little further than how we're going to satisfy the physical aspects of Maslow's Heirarchy of needs.

    When our life expectancies are extended to 1000 years (or more), and we face the very real prospect of living on the planet we are currently terraforming, we may take a slightly different view. Somehow, I doubt it. Most of the people alive today will live to see an increase of 4-6 degrees C... and yet, we're far more interested in gun control and the Kardashians.

    I feel sad for our children (and their children) when I think about the world they will inherit from us.

    1. Re:Timeframes by rrohbeck · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Bah. You have it wrong. If you have kids you're biologically required to be optimistic. Cognitive dissonance trumps reality every time.

    2. Re:Timeframes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Most of the people alive today will live to see an increase of 4-6 degrees C

      once they retire to florida and arizona

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

      Just don't have children. Problem solved!

    4. Re:Timeframes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If it was just scientists, this level of scepticism in gereral society would not exist. You needed the involvement of advertisiing agencies and spin doctors who know how to sell just about anything to the general public and they've done a great job on this one. I wonder if any of those folks have children or grandchildren (I don't myself)?

    5. Re:Timeframes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ah shaddup ya hippie. your lion wants more tofu

    6. Re:Timeframes by srmalloy · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Seems we're suffering from a bit of Climate Change Fatigue... which suggests that the less than 1% of credible scientists who doubt AGW have managed to sow enough seeds of dramatic dissent for the rest of us to lose interest.

      ...and the media, seeing their advertising revenue flagging from the loss of interest in the continued "death, doom, and destruction from global warming due to rise in CO2 levels" news 'reporting' in the face of a 17-year stall in global temperature change (can't jack up the price of commercials if people yawn and change the channel when your newscasters announce another 'global warming' crisis), are starting to flock to a new crisis -- pollution causes global cooling .

    7. Re:Timeframes by SuperKendall · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The problem is (a) you are no-where near proving we'll see that kind of temperature rise, and (b) you also apparently have no clue what effects a rise would actually have. People like you were saying London would never see another snow, then after many brutal winters claiming that London was equally doomed to suffer harsh winters. Yes weather is not climate but you and your fellow cultists can't even predict how warming modifies weather, therefore you have no reason to validly claim there's really any reason for humanity as a whole to fear temperature increases.

      That's why people aren't excited. Not because they are tired of you telling them to be scared (boy that never gets old!), but because every single time (yes EVERY time) you give them some specific as to why they should be frightened with specifics and predictions, your guesses turn out to be wrong or backwards!

      If you cry wolf fifty million times, and every result ranges from bunny rabbits to benevolent aliens giving us hologram technology, it really should not take a genius to see why people become more skeptical of your fear-mongering.

      --
      "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    8. Re:Timeframes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Luckily, Florida is first when the Greenland ice sheet melts. No more hanging chads!

    9. Re:Timeframes by microbox · · Score: 1

      Did you even read the linked article? Scientists, as in, one?

      There is such a thing as considered scientific opinion. For example, if you have cancer, there will be a consensus on the ways to go about treating that. You can use homeopathy if you want, that's your private choice. Unfortunately there are no private choices when it comes to polluting the atmosphere.

      This link you made is a classic distraction. Just part of an endless process of dishonest argumentation. Why not choose the most *compelling* argument for AGW and try and argue against that. That would be honest. Do you even know what the compelling arguments are?

      Didn't think so.

      --

      Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
    10. Re:Timeframes by turkeyfish · · Score: 0

      "The problem is (a) you are no-where near proving we'll see that kind of temperature rise,"

      If that is true why do the oceanic climate models so accurately predict the record high ocean temperature in the Western North Atlantic this year?

      SuperKendall always eager to spread doubt about the results of the scientific process, but never able to provide any evidence to the contrary of his own. Some might begin to suspect that this isn't coincidental.

    11. Re:Timeframes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is a very odd approach to risk management. The funny thing is you probably consider yourself an ice-cold logician who cuts through the BS, when the truth is you are a big soft woolly thinker.

      As a general rule adding large inputs of what is known to be a forcing vector to a complex system you don't understand is risky. Consider the massive addition of leverage to the financial system, it makes the system unstable. This is fine if you don't depend on the system much, but if you do depend heavily on its current predictable operation, you should think carefull about such additions, even if there is no 'proof' they will change the system substantially.

      Some actions are so risky it is not worth finding out the result.

    12. Re:Timeframes by marcello_dl · · Score: 1

      What if this is the expected behavior? IMHO the climate change debate is basically a diversion.

      They ARE making this planet inhabitable (I say They, not We because nobody's ever been asked to make informed choices since the start of the industrial revolution), by pollution, and the reasons are very rational. Once you need treatments just to stay alive in a fscked up world, who owns treatments owns you.

      Insisting on a single aspect, CO emissions, and linking it to climate change, and most of all, approaching it with taxes (srsly?), means that the debate is chained to specific aspects, and forgets about the rest.
      After all the same system that taxes you for CO2 has no problems in introducing untested substances and organisms, and does not raise hell when unsafe toys or food are imported in your country. Strange, no?

      --
      ---- MISSING MISCELLANEOUS DATA SEGMENT --- [sigdash] trolololol
    13. Re:Timeframes by Alomex · · Score: 1

      Or maybe we all become a bit weary of Malthusian we-are-all-going-to-die predictions many of which have not panned out the way they were forecast to (admittedly in many cases because of the rather efficient response to said dire predictions).

    14. Re:Timeframes by operagost · · Score: 1

      How accurate have they been in the past?

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
    15. Re:Timeframes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Seems we're suffering from a bit of Climate Change Fatigue

      It comes and goes with the weather. If it is hot out (like during most summers) people are all screaming about it and how we are all doomed (DOOMED I TELL YOU). If it is cool out (like it has been most of this year) people do not talk about it (those guys are FULL OF IT).

      Want to make a difference? Plant trees that grow large and last 50+ years. Plant natural habitats instead of yards that need to be groomed every week. At the very least plant things that use low water. I planted something in between in my yard. A grass that grows slowly and looks good and can survive only on rain water. Needs to be mowed 1/3rd as much as the darker green grasses. I also mulch (good for your yard) so I do not pay for someone to haul it away.

      Going 'green' can save you money (not spending money on gas to chop grass into little bits to be hauled away). But it does not look exactly like what the jones's have across the street and makes you look weird.

      The funny ones are the ones who live in concrete jungles then yell we have to do something. But they can not do anything at all but consume due to where they live. Then the ones who have 200 acres and are actually doing something about it say it doesnt exist.

    16. Re:Timeframes by jwhitener · · Score: 1

      I doubt it is fatigue. More likely because our political and economic systems are incapable of dealing with 50+ year problems, the result is zero activity. And zero activity is kinda a non-story.

      My guess is that the non-story will become a story when the effects are so blatant and in society's face, that no one can deny that we have a problem with climate. But even then, we won't actually try to fix the source of the problem, instead we'll resort to engineering solutions, like dumping massive amounts of iron slurry into the ocean. Most right wing think tanks support geo-engineering solutions while simultaneously denying that global warming is a problem. It is an interesting display of cognitive dissonance.

  19. Re:Plants LIKE CO2 by pdabbadabba · · Score: 1

    You mean like elevated temperatures, arid conditions, or being underwater?

  20. Try reading the article by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    "so I dont see how more co2 will harm plants". Yes you do, you just wanted to do a quick denial thing. From the article:

    "An international team of researchers looked at the impacts of rising temperatures on nearly 50,000 common species of plants and animals."

    "They looked at both temperature and rainfall records for the habitats that these species now live in and mapped the areas that would remain suitable for them under a number of different climate change scenarios."

    "The scientists projected that if no significant efforts were made to limit greenhouse gas emissions, 2100 global temperatures would be 4C above pre-industrial levels."

    "In this model, some 34% of animal species and 57% of plants would lose more than half of their current habitat ranges. "

    So the models very much in line with the UN one at 4 degrees, it will expand the dessert along the equators and push species north into a smaller area presumably. But hey, if you deny it, it won't happen right?

    1. Re:Try reading the article by ganjadude · · Score: 0

      this is slashdot, you mean you expected me to RTFA?

      --
      have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
    2. Re:Try reading the article by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So the models very much in line with the UN one at 4 degrees, it will expand the dessert along the equators and push species north into a smaller area presumably.

      I agree that this is bad, but If it's also accompanied by delicious breakfast snacks, then I strongly believe the remaining species will resign themselves to a contented gluttony.

    3. Re:Try reading the article by khallow · · Score: 2

      "The scientists projected that if no significant efforts were made to limit greenhouse gas emissions, 2100 global temperatures would be 4C above pre-industrial levels."

      And if that is way exaggerated, then the rest of their paper is pretty much a waste.

      it will expand the dessert along the equators and push species north into a smaller area presumably

      The presumption would be incorrect. There is a lot of land in the northern latitudes.

      It's also interesting how AGW is being blamed for the more significant problem of habitat destruction. Back at the end of the last glacial period, there was a large shift of ecosystems towards the poles. We didn't see a massive extinction of species.

    4. Re:Try reading the article by bbelt16ag · · Score: 1

      its even worse then this people. I have been reading the articles on on reddit. here are two which should concern us all greatly. http://redd.it/1cswmm http://redd.it/1b6roo

      --
      NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER GIVE UP! "No limitations, no boundaries, there is no reason for them."
    5. Re:Try reading the article by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not so much land in the southern latitutes. Not all of us live in the northern latitudes..

    6. Re:Try reading the article by I'm+New+Around+Here · · Score: 1

      So the models very much in line with the UN one at 4 degrees, it will expand the dessert along the equators and push species north into a smaller area presumably. But hey, if you deny it, it won't happen right?

      There is a slight error there. Warming temperatures don't so much "expand" deserts, as they "move" them around. During previous warm periods, dry areas moved to the north or south as wind patterns changed, and rain fell in different areas than before. So as the north edge of a desert moved further north, so did the southern edge. Grasslands that bordered it to the south expanded their northern edge, as they received more rain in that area.

      And since it is often pointed out that warm air holds more moisture than colder air, more rainfall along those receding desert edges is more likely then simply from changing wind patterns alone.

      --
      If you think I voted for Trump because of this post, you're wrong. I voted for Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. Again.
    7. Re:Try reading the article by microbox · · Score: 0

      The presumption would be incorrect. There is a lot of land in the northern latitudes.

      Ah!!! You found the logic that makes you trash the whole argument!!! Not to worry about 4C climate change, there is plenty of land in canada/siberia!!!

      (Face-palm)

      --

      Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
    8. Re:Try reading the article by symbolset · · Score: 1

      Buy a jacket. The North end is going to get the best sun for about 500 years.

      --
      Help stamp out iliturcy.
    9. Re:Try reading the article by turkeyfish · · Score: 1

      You seem to have the erroneous idea that because there is a lot of land at high latitude its going to be suitable for growing plants, when things begin to warm up. As I posted above this is sort of Simple Simon thinking with respect to the bilogy of the organisms involved. There are many, many reasons why it will be difficult to grow corn on Baffin Island in 2100 even if the ground isn't covered by ice.

    10. Re:Try reading the article by turkeyfish · · Score: 1

      Perhaps, but still during only half the year.

    11. Re:Try reading the article by turkeyfish · · Score: 1

      There are some people with obviously zero knowledge of biology, who all of a sudden become experts in agronomy.

      If there is any place on the web where the Dunning-Kruger effect can observed in full glory and with incredible frequency, it is /.

    12. Re:Try reading the article by turkeyfish · · Score: 1

      The problem with hoping that new areas will be available to rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic is that it assumes that the location where you put the chair will be as hospitable as the last. For organisms that have extremely specific biological requirements and that evolved essentially within narrow habitats over the course of tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, and millions of years, the probability of that happening rapidly approaches zero for all but the already most widely ranging species. Often, just getting to the new favorable site should there be one, will be next to impossible given the organisms dispersal capacity. Also keep in mind that seeds and larvae may themselves have very special requirements that make it extremely difficult for them to make it, even when conditions are optimum, much less highly dynamic and erratic.

    13. Re:Try reading the article by I'm+New+Around+Here · · Score: 1

      The problem with hoping that new areas will be available to rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic is that it assumes that the location where you put the chair will be as hospitable as the last. For organisms that have extremely specific biological requirements and that evolved essentially within narrow habitats over the course of tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, and millions of years, the probability of that happening rapidly approaches zero ....

      You do realize the species we have today survived the last Ice Age when glaciers covered half of the northern continents. Right? There is no niche that's been constant for millions of years, or even tens of thousands.

      --
      If you think I voted for Trump because of this post, you're wrong. I voted for Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. Again.
    14. Re:Try reading the article by khallow · · Score: 1

      Not to worry about 4C climate change

      What 4C global warming? There isn't evidence to support that claim. But yes there is a lot of land in Canada and Siberia.

    15. Re:Try reading the article by khallow · · Score: 1

      If there is any place on the web where the Dunning-Kruger effect can observed in full glory and with incredible frequency, it is /.

      Like people who while suffering from the Dunning-Kruger effect attempt to analyze the Dunning-Kruger effect in others? I tire of people who clearly know little about science, climatology, biology, or psychology, lecturing me about their beliefs.

    16. Re:Try reading the article by khallow · · Score: 1

      You seem to have the erroneous idea that because there is a lot of land at high latitude its going to be suitable for growing plants

      No, something is erroneous, if it is in error. Instead, I merely note that there was a bit of climate change about 10-20k years ago which warmed the Earth and turned a lot of taiga forest, tundra, and ice fields into very fertile land. It is rather foolish to assume that process can't repeat itself given the same initial conditions.

      The problem happened before. And we can look at the extensive agriculture which operates on those lands as a profound refutation of your claim.

      There are many, many reasons why it will be difficult to grow corn on Baffin Island in 2100 even if the ground isn't covered by ice.

      There are many, many reasons why it is difficult to grow corn at all. And everywhere on Earth used to have absolutely zero agriculture. I don't see any new problems here. If Baffin Island or whatever should at some point become warm enough to grow corn, then there will be plenty of significant obstacles (such as lack of infrastructure, less sunlight, etc) that will make agriculture difficult, but not unfeasible.

    17. Re:Try reading the article by khallow · · Score: 1

      There's no physical reason you couldn't live in northern latitudes, if for some reason that becomes desirable.

    18. Re:Try reading the article by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You cannot grow corn in Baffin Island (or the arctic archipelago), on the scale as is done in the american midwest. There's no topsoil there, as in, not peat bog or taiga that would defrost and merely be unsuitable, but bare rock and lichen, absent the snow and ice. There are problems, and then there are problems. Our civilization will not survive global warming forcing crop production that far north.

    19. Re:Try reading the article by khallow · · Score: 1

      You cannot grow corn in Baffin Island (or the arctic archipelago), on the scale as is done in the american midwest. There's no topsoil there, as in, not peat bog or taiga that would defrost and merely be unsuitable, but bare rock and lichen, absent the snow and ice.

      Oh well, I guess we'll just have to grow corn or whatever in the parts of Baffin Island that do have topsoil and aren't that bare rock and lichen. Or maybe we'll grow it in the vast regions elsewhere that do have those conditions for topsoil.

      There are problems, and then there are problems.

      And you don't have a clue what a problem is.

      Our civilization will not survive global warming forcing crop production that far north.

      Why not? It's not like that is a particularly challenging problem. You know, a "problem". It's just a matter of either moving things around to better locales or planting crops that grow better in the new environment.

      As I've argued before, I see no evidence that global warming will even cause a noticeable constraint for human civilization. We are so fluid and adaptable over the time scales that AGW acts on that I think the effects of AGW will be near invisible to us.

  21. 2080? Who fucking cares? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'll be dead by then... Good luck suckers!

  22. The skinny on climate change by rrohbeck · · Score: 1

    I just ran across Kevin Anderson's lecture again. Watch it.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RInrvSjW90U

  23. My thoughts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't care. I do things for myself that have environmental benefit but I don't do it because the environment but more because it's the humane thing to do. I can't force others to do anything. I cannot bend the will of the government nor would I even if I could. I'll be dead by the time any of this stuff happens and I simply don't care what people do. So eat, drink and be merry. Human life doesn't need to continue for any real reason and I can't see any reason to think that even if we do continue as a species that it's going to matter in the long run. The more we're given the more of a bunch of assholes we become. Que sera, sera.

  24. Re:Hysteria! by interkin3tic · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You mention cherry-picking, but seem to be doing the exact same thing yourself. Well, except you're not even providing citations so we know WHICH models you're talking about and can provide the dozens of responses refuting the claims you are making. So it's more like "talking about a cherry on a tree in a vast orchard without specifying which one."

  25. Less water by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Biggest problem is the dessert band along the equator, and the reduction in habitable area further north (earth being a globe and all, as you squeeze the habitable zone towards the poles, the area becomes less).

    If you slowed down the change, then we could adapt a lot better.

    I don't think the loss in physical land area caused by rising water is the major problem here.

    1. Re:Less water by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The "dessert" band along the equator? Is that your belt?

      No more CO2, or we'll run out of pie!

    2. Re:Less water by PPH · · Score: 0

      earth being a globe and all, as you squeeze the habitable zone towards the poles, the area becomes less

      Not really. There are vast quantities of land presently tied up by permafrost in Northern Canada and Siberia that will become arable.

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
    3. Re:Less water by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 0

      Yes, that desert band around the equator. I remember dealing with it the last time I was in Singapore and Indonesia. Or when I was Northern Brazil, or the Congo. That desert was covered with trees and vines and jungles, but desert nevertheless!

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    4. Re:Less water by bbelt16ag · · Score: 1

      you dont want that to happen pph, trust me. http://redd.it/1cswmm http://redd.it/1b6roo read these please.

      --
      NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER GIVE UP! "No limitations, no boundaries, there is no reason for them."
    5. Re:Less water by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For those who don't like to click shortened links, here are the real ones:

      http://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/1cswmm/enormous_methane_releases_from_the_arctic_shelf/
      http://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/1b6roo/the_most_influential_climate_science_paper_today/

      The first one is directly responsive to the previous post (about northern permafrost areas becoming arable land). It argues that there are massive reserves of methane that may enter the atmosphere if the permafrost melts. This is important because methane is more of a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. The actual article is at http://enggpt.blogspot.com/2013/04/enormous-methane-releases-from-arctic.html

      The second one is one of the uncontrollable warming arguments. For some reason (unexplained in the article at http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20140213/climate-change-science-carbon-budget-nature-global-warming-2-degrees-bill-mckibben-fossil-fuels-keystone-xl-oil ), if we run over a certain level of carbon dioxide in the air, the Earth will turn into Venus. This is despite the fact that the Earth used to have much more carbon dioxide in the air than it does now.

      It's worth noting that the uncontrollable warming folks are the left's equivalent of the right wingers who argue that there is no global warming. It's easy enough to find older papers saying that the tip off point was a time that was in the future then but is now in the past. There are plenty of bad effects that can occur without uncontrollable warming. Especially for people who live close to sea level. Matching the right's hyperbole with bigger hyperbole makes the right look more sane as a result.

    6. Re:Less water by terjeber · · Score: 1

      You should look at that map once again. Find the equator. Look at where the deserts are. See? They are nowhere near the equator. Deserts are not caused by heat, they are caused by dry climates. Hot == wet. Cold == dry. The biggest desert on this planet is called Antarctica.

    7. Re:Less water by turkeyfish · · Score: 1

      It will be a problem in many areas because the elevation profiles are very nearly flat in many areas, such as Bangladesh and much of Oceania. The problem with the climate models is the assumption that 3-4 degrees C is what we are going to get by 2100. Newer data suggest that the sensitivity is much higher because the models do not account for the highly non-linear response to the loss of Arctic ice. Thus what may be 1-2 meters of sea level rise in 100-200 years, we may be looking at closer to 3-8 m or possibly higher in some places. Because the bulk of human population is in coastal areas, that is a huge number of people and an incredible amount of infrastructure that will have to be moved, abandoned, or rebuilt, all of which is likely to require tremendous amounts of new CO2 to accomplish.

    8. Re:Less water by stenvar · · Score: 1

      The desert band along the equator may well become more habitable/arable with higher CO2 and temperatures, as it has in the past, due to increased evaporation. And the habitable/arable area further north will actually increase because there is a lot of land in Canada and the USSR that is currently too cold for agriculture.

    9. Re:Less water by Pino+Grigio · · Score: 1

      Rubbish. Newer data suggests the sensitivity is much lower, for example here , here and here.

      You climate botherers can't have it both ways. Many of you refuse to even accept there's a debate (the science is settled, right?) and accuse sceptics of ignoring the peer reviewed literature. Yet you ignore the peer reviewed literature when it contradicts your opinions.

    10. Re:Less water by PPH · · Score: 1
      And then there's this article, where NASA scientists say:

      "Carbon dioxide and nitric oxide are natural thermostats," explains James Russell of Hampton University, SABER's principal investigator. "When the upper atmosphere (or 'thermosphere') heats up, these molecules try as hard as they can to shed that heat back into space."

      Face it. The current state of science is pretty pathetic. Yes, we should be concerned. And yes, we should study the issues in an attempt to make better policy. But right now, we don't know enough upon which to base potentially damaging economic policy. So if someone says, "Lets find a way to discourage CO2 production", I'm fine with that. So long as the plan can be reversed should it prove to have been based on bad science.

      When I hear "Panic! Do something now!" and that something involves irreversible legislation or treaties, I call bullshit. Someone is trying to pull another spotted owl scam and shove something through the courts to serve their own agenda.

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
  26. Button pushing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yet another call to curtail liberty. Prove otherwise.

  27. More FUD. It was much higher 450 million years ago by scrad · · Score: 3, Informative

    CO2 levels of more than 4000 parts per million (ppm) occurred during the Ordovician-Silurian (450 million years ago). There is also evidence of a glacial event occurring during this period. from: http://www.climatechange.gov.au/climate-change/understanding-climate-change/understand-cc-long-term.aspx

    --
    I tried to think, but nothin' happened!
  28. Re:more liberal propaganda by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Are you kidding? /. all but declared themselves for Obama. Nothing but Democrat propagandists the last two presidential cycles.

  29. More Big Scare by Nom+du+Keyboard · · Score: 0

    More Big Scare tactics. These articles belong in the Science Fiction category so far. We don't know what's going to happen, we've never been there before, but we're assured that it's going to be bad and only by taking and transferring hundreds of billions of our tax dollars to someone else who is more Progressive than ourselves can we save us all.
    HA! (because Slashdot won't let me type: bullshit)
    Back in 1975 we were supposed to be freezing by now. Anyone remember that?
    Take this with with an equal grain of properly salted password hashes.

    --
    "It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
    1. Re:More Big Scare by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      And yet.... your insurance company IS taking this seriously. THEY have access to a whole pile a data too showing how often floods, tornados, storm surges etc etc occur and they see a trend of them happening more often which is why insurance premiums are increasing.

      You can deny all you want, they will on the other hand look after themselves and charge accordingly , and if they decide large parts of the populated USA are too high a risk they WILL pull out or make the premiums so expensive that it amounts to the same thing.

      Thats is the nice side of the free market, they are free to make their own assessment, and they are. They are changing policies, making things like fences, driveways, pools, etc uninsurable, they are putting up premiums, putting up excesses.

      Insurance companies are not in either camp of denial or belief in global warming, they are in the business of risk management and at the moment the facts are telling them global warming is producing higher risks, so they are managing their risks accordingly. So one way or another, those who deny global warming is happening WILL pay for it because the increased insurance costs for businesses will get passed on, lower crop yields means higher food prices, more frequent more severe storms means more social disruption and costs, higher crime, etc etc etc, all of which will cost in taxes,insurances, etc.

      Thing is, if global warming is WRONG, the worst that can happen is we end up with a cleaner planet.

    2. Re:More Big Scare by viperidaenz · · Score: 0

      current trends and future predictions != fact.

      Insurance companies are not time travellers, they don't have knowledge of facts about the future. They rely on past and current trends and prediction models.
      Guess who are developing their prediction models? The same people who make global warming predictions. It's no surprise they support each other.

    3. Re:More Big Scare by gnoshi · · Score: 1

      Yet we make decisions based on predictions constantly. When someone had a tumor identified, it is predicted that unless treated it will kill them. We don't sit around waiting to find out if we're right; we commence treatment.

      Your argument is no more convincing than 'but evolution is just a theory'.

    4. Re:More Big Scare by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      And yet.... your insurance company IS taking this seriously.

      Your insurance company found an excuse to charge you more? Do you really take this as evidence of......anything?

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    5. Re:More Big Scare by microbox · · Score: 2

      Guess who are developing their prediction models? The same people who make global warming predictions. It's no surprise they support each other.

      You think you know that, but if you think about it, you don't know that they are the same people at all. Acturies calculate risk for insurance companies. They aren't authors in IPCC reports.

      Birds and plants aren't authors either, and they're moving/changing. So are glaciers. That's one hell of a conspiracy you got to explain there.

      But yeah, some guys working for "big-eco" are making the models deciding the fate of the world and you're fighting the good fight, right?

      --

      Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
    6. Re:More Big Scare by terjeber · · Score: 1

      We don't know what's going to happen, we've never been there before

      Depending on what you mean by "we" this is inaccurate. If you mean "we" as in "you and I" then you are correct, if you mean "we" as "planet earth and the life on it" you are wrong. For "us" in that definition, 400 isn't uncommon or particularly high.

    7. Re:More Big Scare by sl149q · · Score: 1

      Insurance companies make money by selling insurance to people.

      They would have absolutely no incentive to sell expensive insurance to people scared that something might happen EVEN if there was little chance of it happening.

      Translation, insurance companies are big business. They will do everything they can to increase their profits, including profiteering on peoples fears.

    8. Re:More Big Scare by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Insurance companies know only about their customers. When more and more people move to areas where these natural occurances happen, there is more damage to the properties and people. The fact that insurance companies have more insidents does not mean those "acts of god" have actually increased.

      This is a fact that has to be accounted, when making predictions from insurance company data.

    9. Re:More Big Scare by Daniel+Dvorkin · · Score: 1

      Back in 1975 we were supposed to be freezing by now. Anyone remember that?

      No, and neither do you, because it never happened.

      --
      The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.
    10. Re:More Big Scare by operagost · · Score: 1

      Insurance companies attempt to predict future events based on past events. They don't perform analysis of the environment, and they certainly don't presume to describe the cause. They work with the expectation that is something is happening more often, it will continue to do so in the future until evidence is found pointing in the other direction. Regardless, even if insurance companies expect more disasters in the future, that doesn't mean that AGW is causing them. Insurance companies don't care why something is happening unless they can affect it, like how they give discounts for air bags and passive security systems in cars. So until you see insurance companies seriously begin to lobby for government intervention in AGW, we'll know they are just executing business as usual. BTW, you really don't want to see these guys lobbying our government any more than they do. We'll be living in cells in megacity skyscrapers like the Chinese.

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
    11. Re:More Big Scare by viperidaenz · · Score: 1

      I didn't make an argument. I pointed out the word "fact" was used incorrectly.

    12. Re:More Big Scare by viperidaenz · · Score: 1

      I was explaining how the word "fact" was incorrectly used.

      I don't know where you got the conspiracy from.

    13. Re:More Big Scare by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A tumor is IDENTIFIED. There is no question about that. Warming is indeed questioned when its friggin snowing in the south in the month of friggin MAY!!!!! Its supposed to be HOTTER, not COLDER. How you call yourself a believer in science while ignoring new data to the contrary is the very antithesis of science. I have a prediction of my own: since global warming is the thing that never gets here and contrary observations pile up too high to ignore, AGW cultists will switch to another bogus pseudo-scientific claim to scam easy money. I remember in the 90s writers saying that children would grow up never knowing what a snowfall looked like and that the previous winter was most likely the LAST snowfall that many would ever see. Now we are getting it in * MAY * in the southern U.S.

    14. Re:More Big Scare by microbox · · Score: 1

      Actuaries don't use IPCC climate models to calculate near-term risk for insurance premiums. The "conspiracy" is all the different converging data sets.

      --

      Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
  30. Re:Horse excrement by rossdee · · Score: 1

    "And NYC was supposed to be 3 feed underwater by 2015. "

    2015 hasn't happened yet - its still 2013 where I live.

  31. I can only hope this reaches politicians by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    who actually represent us. Not their interests. But then again, if you knew the ship was already sinking because of a small hole, and you're in the middle of the ocean, would you tell anyone?

  32. Guns don't kill people, not burning fossil fuels.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Stop burning fossil fuel? Sure, if you want to kill millions of humans, because they / we all need the fossil fuels to get along."

    Dude, just stop driving your SUV 50 miles to work each day, just so you can live in a nicer neighborhood. It won't kill anyone if you drive less.

    Oh and do you really need the aircon running at 20 degrees C? Mine runs at 28 when its turned on, and nobody died yet of it. On the other hand it cuts my energy bill a heck of a lot.

    " That results in an average 6.5 years shorter lifespan, and if the poverty is experienced as a child, the life shortening is not reversible."
    If you spend less on fossil fuels to do the same things, you're richer and thus live longer. Being rich, is not the same as 'burning a lot of fossil fuels'! You are not putting years onto your life by driving that long daily commute. You are not putting years on your life by buying the mineral water shipped from the other ends of the earth.

    "Meanwhile, if we could get _this_ to work:"
    Why would you do that? If you can get mirror solar electro power to work like that, you'd use *THAT* energy instead of fossil fuels, rather than use the fossil fuels and use the solar energy to capture the carbon! But at least you're not in denial about either the problem (CO2 increase), or the cause of it (fossil fuels).
    So we're at least in agreement on the key points, just not about what to do about it.

    "Just get prepared for the sort of winters that George Washington had to deal with at Valley Forge."
    Ahh a man with a dream! We can't slow down the acceleration, let alone the velocity, let alone reduce CO2 currently!

  33. Re:More FUD. It was much higher 450 million years by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    CO2 levels of more than 4000 parts per million (ppm) occurred during the Ordovician-Silurian (450 million years ago). There is also evidence of a glacial event occurring during this period.

    from: http://www.climatechange.gov.au/climate-change/understanding-climate-change/understand-cc-long-term.aspx

    And how were mammals handling those environmental conditions? What's that? They didn't exist yet? I'm sorry, what? Yes, apology accepted. No, no, it's okay, we put up with demonstrations of subpar intelligence around here all the time. All is forgiven. :)

  34. Re:More FUD. It was much higher 450 million years by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Sorry, that's irrelevant. And you can't even see it. The rate of increase in CO2, and the rate of increase in temperature, is the problem. Because today's organisms (and not those of 450 million years ago), on which depend, have evolved under the stable climate of the recent past, and many will have difficulty adapting to such rapid changes. And other things, like glaciers, don't adapt--they were in equilibrium with the stable climate of the past, which is why they are now undergoing changes. Why are you so eager to accept the science that you *believe* supports your "side", and so eager to dismiss science that doesn't? That is fundamentally dishonest.

  35. Here's the evidence you're looking for by Pollux · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Allan Savory gave a really good Ted Talk a few months ago backing up that claim with a substantial amount of science and experience. I hope you're not too lazy to watch all twenty-two minutes of it, but if you are, let me give you a quick synopsis. Dr. Savory states that the majority of our global warming issues are due to desertification (the destruction of grasslands and their transformation into desert areas), and he claims that 50% of the CO2 in the atmosphere can be removed simply by ceasing unsustainable agriculture practices and converting these lands into grasslands for grazing.

    1. Re:Here's the evidence you're looking for by microbox · · Score: 3, Insightful

      majority of our global warming issues

      Except he didn't say that. He believes that global warming has something to do with desertification, but doesn't have a model that explains the data -- just something that he thinks is worth looking into. Besides, he is an expert in other fields.

      I hope you're not too lazy to watch all twenty-two minutes of it

      Ain't it true that a man sees what he wants to see and disregards the rest.

      --

      Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
    2. Re:Here's the evidence you're looking for by jklovanc · · Score: 2

      I believe I've shown you how we can work with nature at very low cost to reverse all this. We are already doing so on about 15 million hectares on five continents, and people who understand far more about carbon than I do calculate that, for illustrative purposes, if we do what I am showing you here, we can take enough carbon out of the atmosphere and safely store it in the grassland soils for thousands of years, and if we just do that on about half the world's grasslands that I've shown you, we can take us back to pre-industrial levels(emphasis mine), while feeding people. I can think of almost nothing that offers more hope for our planet, for your children, and their children, and all of humanity.

      This is the last part of the speech. Notice the bolded text? Wouldn't taking carbon dioxide levels back to pre-industrial levels solve most of the global warming issues?

    3. Re:Here's the evidence you're looking for by turkeyfish · · Score: 1

      Of course that's a lot easier said than done. How do you propose to feed those who are presently just scrapping by on these marginal lands already? People here seem loathe to let in an immigrants, much less a few hundred million of them, many from the Middle East, South Asia, Africa, and Latin America, where desertification is expected to intensify.

    4. Re:Here's the evidence you're looking for by turkeyfish · · Score: 1

      Its pretty clear that when you look at periods in Earth history that had high CO2 and high temperatures, vast deserts were a very prominent feature of the landscape.

    5. Re:Here's the evidence you're looking for by rrohbeck · · Score: 2

      Allan Savory has been torn to shreds. His speech was blatant advertising for his private advertisement and real scientists wrote papers that took him down.

    6. Re:Here's the evidence you're looking for by rrohbeck · · Score: 1

      s/private advertisement/private enterprise/

    7. Re:Here's the evidence you're looking for by TapeCutter · · Score: 1

      He believes that global warming has something to do with desertification, but doesn't have a model that explains the data

      Yes cutting down trees can exacerbate the problem but land use is not the primary cause of AGW, it's not even in the top three. It's also true that AGW is expanding the subtropical deserts via convection currents known as "Hadley cells", scientists call this phenomena "positive feedback". The feedback simultaneously increases monsoonal rains and broadens the sub-tropical deserts. The entire thing is driven by warmer tropical sea surface temps which is a direct result of increased CO2 concentration, in this situation scientists call increased CO2 a "forcing".

      CO2 has a somewhat unusual property in that it can be both a forcing (industrial/volcanic emissions) and a feedback (melting permafrost, larger forest fires).

      --
      And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
    8. Re:Here's the evidence you're looking for by Joce640k · · Score: 0

      Why Allan Savory’s TED talk about how cattle can reverse global warming is dead wrong

      PS: Typing "Allan Savory criticism" into google comes with a long list of articles like that one.

      --
      No sig today...
    9. Re:Here's the evidence you're looking for by LordLucless · · Score: 1

      Besides, he is an expert in other fields.

      If you discount the opinions of every climate scientist who is an expert in other fields, you're pretty much eliminating every climate scientist.

      --
      Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face
    10. Re:Here's the evidence you're looking for by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      which doesn't tell us whether CO2 is a cause or an effect of desertification.

    11. Re:Here's the evidence you're looking for by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      McWilliams has an ax to grind, he's an anti-meat fanatic.

      I would like to see him attempt to explain why the American prairies weren't turned to deserts by the buffalo in the thousands of years when herds could be seen that often stretched from horizon to horizon.

    12. Re:Here's the evidence you're looking for by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 1

      I believe I've shown you how we can work with nature at very low cost to reverse all this. We are already doing so on about 15 million hectares on five continents, and people who understand far more about carbon than I do calculate that, for illustrative purposes, if we do what I am showing you here, we can take enough carbon out of the atmosphere and safely store it in the grassland soils for thousands of years, and if we just do that on about half the world's grasslands that I've shown you, we can take us back to pre-industrial levels(emphasis mine), while feeding people. I can think of almost nothing that offers more hope for our planet, for your children, and their children, and all of humanity.

      This is the last part of the speech. Notice the bolded text? Wouldn't taking carbon dioxide levels back to pre-industrial levels solve most of the global warming issues?

      He didn't say carbon dioxide, he said carbon. Humans are almost 20% carbon, so the solution to taking more carbon out of the atmosphere is obvious: make more people.

      --
      "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
      --- Jerry Garcia
    13. Re:Here's the evidence you're looking for by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No it wouldn't there should be any CO2 in the air ever period. Hello??? what are you stupid. CO2 killed my father in the mine shaft. Get rid of it all. C02 BAD with capitalized letters ANY amount of C02 in the air is BAD and will over time be the end of all life on earth and the universe. It's like saying one part per trillion of chrome in water is acceptable. Just ask Julia Roberts, I mean Erin Brockovich.

    14. Re:Here's the evidence you're looking for by pastafazou · · Score: 1

      ??? You do know that below 220ppm of CO2 in the atmosphere, plants die, correct?

    15. Re:Here's the evidence you're looking for by pastafazou · · Score: 1

      citation please. Your statement is contrary to everything I learned in Geology 101, 105, and 201....

    16. Re:Here's the evidence you're looking for by lgw · · Score: 1

      The world grows (more than) enough food to feed the world. When people starve, it's always because the local government is using starvation as a tool to control the people. Immigration is a response to the government problem, not the food problem.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
  36. Re:More FUD. It was much higher 450 million years by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Yeah, life on earth was different then. Mamals didn't even exist, much less humans.

  37. Re:More FUD. It was much higher 450 million years by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    At the time, all known life was confined to the seas and oceans.

  38. Idiocracy by freedom_surfer · · Score: 1

    Reading the comments on this post today so reminds me of the movie and ideas behind Idiocracy. The future, today!

  39. dupe, dupe, goose! by larry+bagina · · Score: 1

    wow, 3 dupes. Is that a record? Oh, I guess this one isn't a dupe because some idiot failed 5th grade science and doesn't understand that plants like carbon dioxide.

    --
    Do you even lift?

    These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.

    1. Re:dupe, dupe, goose! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or, some people learned in 5th grade how science works: you come up with a hypothesis, and then you test it through experiment.

      For example, you might think "won't increased CO2 help plants grow?" and then try to find out whether that's true.

  40. As long as the economy grows... by felixrising · · Score: 1

    Well, lets face it, the most important thing is the economy grows, and if indefinite human population growth is required to achieve this, then so be it.. who cares about anything else?!

  41. Re:More FUD. It was much higher 450 million years by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Not FUD. Read the summary. It says it's the highest level ever encountered by humans, not the highest level of all time.

    You climate change deniers are---without exception---fundamentally dishonest, completely misinformed or both.

  42. and... by viperidaenz · · Score: 1

    How many plants and animals are going to see their living spaces increase?

    1. Re:and... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are you hoping the answer is "idiots" so you have something to be optimistic about?

  43. Different range? by jklovanc · · Score: 3, Insightful

    An international team of researchers looked at the impacts of rising temperatures on nearly 50,000 common species of plants and animals.

    They looked at both temperature and rainfall records for the habitats that these species now live in and mapped the areas that would remain suitable for them under a number of different climate change scenarios.

    The scientists projected that if no significant efforts were made to limit greenhouse gas emissions, 2100 global temperatures would be 4C above pre-industrial levels.

    In this model, some 34% of animal species and 57% of plants would lose more than half of their current habitat ranges.

    The interesting part is that they looked at the "habitats that these species now live in". They did not look at habitats that are not currently suitable for the species to live in. For all we know there could be more area that species could live in when the climate changed. By concentrating on current species ranges the scientists are skewing the results. One should look at the whole system before coming to a conclusion.

    1. Re:Different range? by microbox · · Score: 1

      For all we know there could be more area that species could live in when the climate changed.

      You think that ecologists don't study changing clines? This is a *huge* field of study, and scientists try to measure the speed at which species and travel, and the various obstacles. You could learn something about it, but it might not jive with your politics.

      --

      Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
    2. Re:Different range? by jklovanc · · Score: 1

      I never said that other scientists don't study changing climates. All I said was that this study is flawed in that it does not show the whole picture of changing climes. It was designed to make thing look a desired way and is therefore skewed science. Politics have nothing to do with my comments. I am questioning the science not the politics.

    3. Re:Different range? by Eugriped3z · · Score: 1

      The interesting part is that they looked at the "habitats that these species now live in". They did not look at habitats that are not currently suitable for the species to live in. For all we know there could be more area that species could live in when the climate changed. By concentrating on current species ranges the scientists are skewing the results. One should look at the whole system before coming to a conclusion.

      I see your point, but you seem to be oversimplifying the complexity of 'the problem'. Some plants are capable of dispersing their seeds on the wind. Others don't use mechanisms which allow them to 'migrate' as quickly. Regardless of the natural methods they depend upon, including dispersion via carriage in the guts of birds or mammals, the environment in which the seed finds itself has to be favorable for germination, growth and reproduction, including pollination.

      With or without human intervention, the probability that existing plant species will find favorable habitat and do so in a timely manner so as to avoid extinction is a crap shoot. Even animals can't outrun climate change if there's no path suitable; case in point, the Golden Toad that used to exist in the cloud forests of Costa Rica. Remember, Man has to support +7 billion people and therefore, we're competitors for the habitat that wild species need as well. Farmers that depend upon the 'conventional' means of production are apt to be far more concerned with finding reliable fields for their monocultures and pesticides than they will be interested in taking on the task of assisting the rest of the naturally occurring species. The destruction of rainforests in Brazil is accelerating due to just such 'free market' forces.

      And lest ye forget, there are plenty of specialized relationships between plants and pollinators. In many scientifically documented cases, earlier and earlier warm weather causes the plant to flower before the insect has pupated. Fewer and fewer flowers feed decreasing numbers of butterflies or moths. The feedback loop dooms both the plant and the insect.

      The Checkerspot butterfly (now endangered) used to be so common that vast clouds were seen in California. Now up and down the west coast, there are only isolated pockets left. They depended upon a relatively common plant which is also in decline. A subspecies in the northwest, the Edith's checkerspot, exists in only 5 small micro-niches. The temperature and timing of the plant's life cycle caused these populations to exist in concert at higher and higher elevations where the plant would grow and butterflies would hatch out consistently within the appropriate time frame. This mutualism is common place in nature, but it's developed over vast amounts of time.

      Raising the temperature of the earth an average of 4 degrees Celsius over 100 years is hardly enough time for Man to respond in order to protect his infrastructure and interconnected economies. If you think the current crises in Europe, the U.S. or those that recently preceded in Japan, Thailand, Argentina or Chile were large or that they took a while to iron out, get ready for what's likely to come with increasingly frequent drought, decreased snow pack and agricultural yield volatility which results from these two phenomena in tandem. The notion that nature will be able to respond to such radical change while competing with the 800 lb. hairless gorilla who now dominates the entire world with his agricultural needs is ludicrous.

      Unless we develop our collective prefrontal cortex and create a plan to deal the predictable results of the last 150 years of accelerating environmental abuse, it really won't matter

    4. Re:Different range? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I never said that other scientists don't study changing climates.

      Yes you did! You said "For all we know", which directly implies that we don't.

    5. Re:Different range? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thank you, exactly!

      We all appreciate your defusing the whole scare-mongering thing with your insightful, "but what about this thing I pulled out of my ass that I don't know anything about", defense.

      Now, would you mind solving the Western unemployment problem?

    6. Re:Different range? by Xyrus · · Score: 1

      The interesting part is that they looked at the "habitats that these species now live in". They did not look at habitats that are not currently suitable for the species to live in. For all we know there could be more area that species could live in when the climate changed. By concentrating on current species ranges the scientists are skewing the results. One should look at the whole system before coming to a conclusion.

      Oh but they have looked into it my friend. In fact some areas are already experiencing the lovely influx of new wildlife. Like the harmless little bark beetle that has been destroying acres upon acres of forests in Colorado. Or the migration northward of the harmless killer bee. In fact there have been several studies on the influx of invasive species and diseases due to a warming world, and the picture they paint isn't pretty.

      Despite what you may think, scientists don't earn Ph.D's by being stupid.

      --
      ~X~
    7. Re:Different range? by jklovanc · · Score: 1

      They did not look into it in this study.

      By the way warming has nothing to do with the Africanized bees spreading. They were let loose in South america and take time to spread. Africanized bees can currently survive quite well in Canada but they just have not arrived yet. Care to cite any of these studies?

    8. Re:Different range? by Reziac · · Score: 1

      I recall a study on coyotes, which concluded that they originated in the southwestern U.S., and their spread across the continent *followed the spread of human civilization*. (Which should surprise no one aware of how well coyotes get on in Los Angeles.) One wonders what other adaptable critters follow the same patern... rats, anyone??

      --
      ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
    9. Re:Different range? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yup. It's obviously impossible for polar bears to live in warmer places, which is why no zoos outside the Arctic have polar bears.

  44. Re:Hysteria! by I'm+New+Around+Here · · Score: 1

    Are you claiming that temperature proxies (tree rings, ice cores, lake sediment, etc.) from around the world do not show the Medieval Warm Period and the following Little Ice Age as global conditions?

    --
    If you think I voted for Trump because of this post, you're wrong. I voted for Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. Again.
  45. Re:More FUD. It was much higher 450 million years by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It doesn't matter what the level was. It only matters what the CHANGE SPEED is.

    If you need a car analogy, try stopping from 200mph over a period of 60s versus stopping from 200mph in a period of 0.1s by slamming into a wall, straight on.

    Plants and ecosystems can adapt to change. But it takes TIME. And 100 years is as much time as that car stopping in 0.1s. Climate change occurs at frequency of 10,000s of years, not 10s of years. Forests can "walk" a few kilometers per century, but as hell, they can't sprint any faster no matter what.

    The article is not FUD. The only FUD I see here is poasts like yours.

  46. Stop Exhaling on the CO2 Monitor! by njhunter · · Score: 1

    Ever breathe out on one of those conference room CO2 detectors?

  47. Plants and animals? by c4tp · · Score: 1

    Plants and animals? That's me!

  48. It's the big band here: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You see that big band of grey and red, grey where desert is, and red where desert is soon to be

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Desertification_map.png

    You can see it extends right across the USA? Not good.

    1. Re:It's the big band here: by I'm+New+Around+Here · · Score: 1

      Does your image show desert at the equator?

      I know it doesn't without even looking at it.

      --
      If you think I voted for Trump because of this post, you're wrong. I voted for Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. Again.
    2. Re:It's the big band here: by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 1

      Question: do you know how to use a map? Do you understand what those "latitude" and "longitude" lines mean? Do you know what the equator is? What countries does the equator intersect?

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    3. Re:It's the big band here: by I'm+New+Around+Here · · Score: 1

      Well, I can't really blame them. When I was a teenager (in the 1980s), I thought the Equator must go through the Sahara Desert, that's why it is so hot there.

      Even after Geography class and traveling, it is still a misconception my brain refuses to give up.

      --
      If you think I voted for Trump because of this post, you're wrong. I voted for Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. Again.
  49. It's not just CO2 by viperidaenz · · Score: 1

    If you burn all the methane in the atmosphere you'd lower the greenhouse effect.
    Methane is 72x better at trapping heat.
    CH4 + 2(O2) = CO2 + 2(H2O)
    There are other compounds worse than CO2 too. Like nitrous oxides produced by plants fed with high nitrogen fertiliser.

    1. Re:It's not just CO2 by microbox · · Score: 1

      That is a terrible idea, even if it was possible. The methane will be in the atmosphere for less than a decade. The CO2 will be there for 1000s of years. The CO2 accumulates, and feeds back on H20 which amplifies the effect.

      --

      Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
    2. Re:It's not just CO2 by viperidaenz · · Score: 1

      What's H20?

    3. Re:It's not just CO2 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Seriously? H20 is hydrogen dioxide, aka water. Microbox was specifically referring to the gaseous form, known as water vapor.

  50. What about the other half by Hentes · · Score: 1

    Climate change will cause one half of species to decline, but the other half will take their place, that's how nature works. Question is, which half will we belong to?

    1. Re:What about the other half by BeCre8iv · · Score: 1

      one half relies on the other - its called an ecosystem.

      For example.. coral bleaches and dies (due to temp and PH change) - fish lose their habitat or breeding grounds - top predators (humans) starve

      --
      This perpetual motion machine Lisa made is a joke, it just keeps getting faster and faster. - Homer
  51. Re:Proof is in the posting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There ya go! Don't refute the evidence just make more unsubstantiated claims. You "refuted" the whole paper, not the article unless you think science is done by the journalist reporting it instead of the scientist (which it appears you do considering you admit your refutation of the animal issue is based solely on your reading of the article. Way to go, sport!). All you did was say "you're an AC therefore everything is invalid." And then, I guess, your big science moment is saying it's "blatant fear mongering" instead of addressing a single point in the study. I doubt any of your scientific illiterate buddies care so don't worry about backing up your crap with science just keep spewing shit like Captain Branagan spewing pickup lines on a date. I mean, this is your guys' moment. Think of it like Tropic Thunder, this your chance to go full retard. Or, go 110% retard in your case.

    You're not laughing with us. Your laughing because the windows on the short bus actually DO taste like snozzberries. I don't need to lick any windows to know that they don't, but hey, you guys sure seem to enjoy it.

  52. What will replace Maize in 50 years? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What species of plant will evolve to replace Maize within 50 years, and if it could evolve, why isn't it growing in the deserts now?

    It's interesting seeing this video where a scientist dissects the predictions:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RInrvSjW90U

    The whole thing is worth seeing, but at 45:26 he points out that a global average of 4 degrees, the number the models predict if everything goes right (which includes carbon capture etc.) would mean land temperatures much higher (the sea is more difficult to warm up), 8-10 degrees in central europe, :

    40% reduction in maize and rice production near the equator. Wow.

    So given the short timescales and such a huge rapid change, I don't think evolution will be the magic cure for this.

    " By concentrating on current species ranges the scientists are skewing the results."

    But I am glad you're not one of those who denies evolution too!

    1. Re:What will replace Maize in 50 years? by jklovanc · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I am not talking about evolution but that other areas will support plants and animals that it currently can not. There are areas where it is currently to cold to support Maize. When it warms up it will be hot enough. The point is the old area will be unsuitable but other areas will be suitable. Since this study did not look into new areas that can support the plants it only shows part of the picture. I live in Canada and global warming will lengthen our growing season and broaden the kinds of food we can grow here. The study concentrated on decreased suitability of current ranges and ignores increased suitability of currently unsuitable ranges.

    2. Re:What will replace Maize in 50 years? by idlake · · Score: 1

      We don't need evolution to fix this. With increasing global temperatures, more land will probably become suitable for cultivation of mainstream varieties of corn and other food staples. In addition, we have a wide range of other varieties that we could plant.

      In fact, climate change does not mean that you can simply add the average increase to local temperatures to get the new climate. Higher temperatures have historically meant an extension of plant growth to more northern latitudes without an increase of temperature near the equator. Instead, regions near the equator just tend to see higher precipitation. Overall, AGW may well result in a significant increase of arable land both up north and near the equator.

    3. Re:What will replace Maize in 50 years? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It may lengthen the growing cycle. It may also turn what is now good farmland into arid desert.
      Just because it's warmer doesn't necessarily mean it's better (for us).

    4. Re:What will replace Maize in 50 years? by LienRag · · Score: 1

      True, but plants (and even most small animal) do not move fast enough to follow such a change of geographic conditions.

    5. Re:What will replace Maize in 50 years? by jwhitener · · Score: 1

      "The study concentrated on decreased suitability of current ranges and ignores increased suitability of currently unsuitable ranges."

      That may be true (I didn't read the study), but I thought one of the problems with this warming trend is the speed at which it is warming. The species will not have time to adapt or move to their new habitat before their numbers are diminished or driven to extinction.

  53. Re:Proof is in the posting by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    I would respond in more detail, but why bother responding to someone who obviously doesn't even believe what he is saying (Mr AC)? You like the other Alarmists at this point are just global trolls, trying to waste people's time. Pathetic. I Note you didn't yourself bother to address a single point I made which did in fact point out why the basic argument was flawed.

    At this point you guys also post AC I think because you are hiding from response, hoping that more reasoned people overlook what you say...

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  54. Re:More FUD. It was much higher 450 million years by noobermin · · Score: 4, Informative

    TFS:

    [...]reaching an amount never before encountered by humans, federal scientists said.

    There weren't any humans around 450 million years ago.

    Furthermore, you copy-and-pasted directly but left out the rest of the paragraph

    CO2 levels of more than 4000 parts per million (ppm) occurred during the Ordovician-Silurian (450 million years ago). There is also evidence of a glacial event occurring during this period. This has been used by some to attempt to disprove the link between temperature and CO2. Royer et al. (2006) considered the CO2 forced climate thresholds over the Phanerozoic eon (the last 545 million years). It was found that there is insufficient proxy data to determine that a high CO2 event coincided with the Ordovician-Silurian glacial event. The only proxy CO2 data near this glacial event could be up to five million years younger than the event. Further, the Earth was a very different place during this period including differences in solar luminosity, albedo, distribution of continents and vegetation, orbital parameters and other greenhouse gases.

    You should try to think more, brah. It can actually save you from embarrasment.

  55. Re:Proof is in the posting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So you have nothing then? You said the basic argument was flawed but with no examples or detail (again, in the paper. Saying the article doesn't say how therefore the paper is wrong doesn't cut it. The article isn't the entire paper). Let's see how this works: your basic argument is flawed because you refuted all of climate change theory by just saying it's fear mongering. Well, guess I win.

    I think it's telling that your only real argument is that I'm anonymous. But it doesn't really matter does it? I didn't write the paper. Your argument is nothing more than "you're an AC therefore the paper you didn't write and I didn't read is wrong." The "more reasoned people" you refer to won't read the actual study either so I guess you guys can all go have another circle jerk together laughing about how much time you saved refuting climate change but simply remaining ignorant against the massive amount of scientific evidence (quite the feat actually, do you put that on your resume?).

    The actual "more reasoned people" wrote the study that you didn't care to read.

  56. More AC alarm from the warming cultists by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    your insurance company IS taking this seriously. THEY have access to a whole pile a data too showing how often floods, tornados, storm surges etc etc occur and they see a trend of them happening more often which is why insurance premiums are increasing.

    Wow, that sounds really scary!!!

    Except my house insurance premiums have not gone up. In fact, I don't remember any news stories whatsoever about premiums overall being on the rise across the globe.

    But really any issue with premiums going up in one area is no mystery - climate changes and will continue to change, altering conditions over time at various locations. If insurance rises somewhere because there is more risk but fails to fall somewhere else risk is now reduced, you would attribute that to climate change - but why is it not simply greed? Why would an insurance company after all reduce rates for people who are happily paying already... so any altering anywhere would tend to ratchet up rates, making any argument even based on insurance rates invalid.

    But again, that's even IF insurance rates were going up all over because of climate change and not simply greater regulation...

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:More AC alarm from the warming cultists by microbox · · Score: 1

      Yeah... junkscience says that insurance premiums aren't going to go up, so that must be correct. After-all, the founder Milloy, was never involved in disinformation campaigns, for example, saying the there are no problems with tobacco.

      And he isn paid to fight for big carbon, but I'm sure he's a man of science.

      But what of his claim? What does the insurance industry have to say on the matter.

      But I'm sure the skeptics are right. After-all, they're right about everything.

      --

      Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
  57. Get off my lawn! by LodCrappo · · Score: 1

    pesky plants and animals be gone.

    --
    -Lod
    1. Re:Get off my lawn! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      pesky plants and animals be gone.

      Unfortunately pesky plants and animals seem to be the ones that adapt faster to this sort of change and thrive. We'll likely end up with more of the pesky ones and fewer of the useful and pleasant ones. Including people.

  58. Re:More FUD. It was much higher 450 million years by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If you go a bit further back than that, the Earth was a smoldering ball of lava. So if it's up to you I guess it's fine if it becomes that again?

  59. Oh scary AC, we are so scared! by SuperKendall · · Score: 0

    It doesn't matter what the level was. It only matters what the CHANGE SPEED is.

    Currently temperature changes are slightly down over ten years.

    To put this in the terms you can understand, it's like your car was about ro run into a wall, only accidentally you left it in neutral and it rolled backwards into a curb.

    That slight bump you feel is your argument grinding to a frustrating halt, with everyone outside the car wondering just why they wanted to get on your bandwagon to begin with when you apparently can't even tell which way you are driving.

    The argument against taking this ten year flat/decline into account by your fellow cultists appears to be that you are measuring over too short a period of time. Yet if we are to believe in a 4C rise by 2080, that leaves less than 65 years to proceed to 4C. Since the average rise before the start of the flat period was about0.16C per decade. Do the math; that's 1.04C in 65 years going by the only evidence of any sustained warming we actually have to go by...

    What's also funny about that "your timeframe is too short to really judge" argument is all the scary looking graphs like to show temperature increases from just 1965 or so... so 10 years is WAY to short to judge, but 40 or so years is apparently OK to derive the next thousand years of climate change from. Huh.

    Sorry buddy, but we aren't drinking the kool-aid from a bunch of guys who can't even pour into the cups accurately.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  60. in 50 years how does it adapt? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If life hasn't adapted to live in the desert in millions of years, how will it adapt now, in just 50-100 years? I don't believe evolution can save us.

    Human Ingenuity? You realize that the climate models, *presume* we will get carbon capture working and CO2 to peak by 2016 (!), to keep the global difference at 4 degrees. So we don't just need that human ingenuity, we need it two decades ago!

    " If the Arctic Circle rises in temperatures by 8C again - or even 16C - then Mankind gets more arable land and living space, not less, because polar temps increase disproportionately to equatorial temps. "

    Earth is a sphere. Wide in the middle tapering to a point at the poles. We can't live at the poles, they're ice, they'll melt, and underneath rock not soil (no centuries of vegetation to make soil). There's some land under the Antarctic, but it a sphere, 6 month days 6 month nights. We'll need evolution for plants to evolve for that, and still the lack of soil problem.

    And you'll be losing the big food producing areas including across the USA:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desertification

    So it might be true, that polar temperatures will go from zero to 8 degrees (x8), while the equator goes up 1 fraction of that, but it doesn't mean the poles can save us.

    I think for that human ingenuity to kick in, we need to stop lying to ourselves about the reality here.

    1. Re:in 50 years how does it adapt? by symbolset · · Score: 1

      I knew I was going to get the AC with the Reality Drop when I posted that.

      Frankly, you could represent your crew better than this frenetic and fragmented post but I will try my best to address it anyway.

      If life hasn't adapted to live in the desert in millions of years, how will it adapt now, in just 50-100 years? I don't believe evolution can save us.

      There is no place on Earth that we know of: not the fiercest desert, not the deepest depths of the Mariana Trench, not in the deepest borehole ever made, nor even in the insanely radioactive core of active boiling water reactors - where life does not thrive.

      And you'll be losing the big food producing areas including across the USA:

      I believe I mentioned that this local increase in atmospheric temperature trended toward the poles. Implicit in that is that equatorial regions are less affected. It has to do with your own assertion: Earth is a sphere.

      I think for that human ingenuity to kick in, we need to stop lying to ourselves about the reality here.

      I think for human ingenuity to kick in we have to start with having a rational, fact-based discussion informed by all of the science.

      /There was some other stuff in there, but I can't make out where you're going with it. Give it another go sober.

      --
      Help stamp out iliturcy.
    2. Re:in 50 years how does it adapt? by terjeber · · Score: 1

      If life hasn't adapted to live in the desert in millions of years, how will it adapt now

      This may be counter-intuitive to some, but still:
      Cold == dry == desertification
      Warm == humid == more plant life (both through the humidity and through the increase in CO2

    3. Re:in 50 years how does it adapt? by TrollstonButterbeans · · Score: 1

      There is no place on Earth that we know of: not the fiercest desert, not the deepest depths of the Mariana Trench, not in the deepest borehole ever made, nor even in the insanely radioactive core of active boiling water reactors - where life does not thrive.

      Bullshit. The Dead Sea.

      --
      Priest: "Universe from nothing, no laws of physics, sped up time"+ huge discrepancies. Creationism? No. Big Bang Theory
    4. Re:in 50 years how does it adapt? by TrollstonButterbeans · · Score: 1

      There is no place on Earth that we know of: not the fiercest desert, not the deepest depths of the Mariana Trench, not in the deepest borehole ever made, nor even in the insanely radioactive core of active boiling water reactors - where life does not thrive.

      Especially for universes where "thrive" = "not thrive", honest discussion means willful ignorance and overwhelming evidence means grasping at straws.

      We cook food in ovens because it kills, we boil water because it kills. But at this point, I have to concede you aren't rational and there isn't a point to further discussion. May you grow wiser in the future and see the difference between dogma versus observation.

      --
      Priest: "Universe from nothing, no laws of physics, sped up time"+ huge discrepancies. Creationism? No. Big Bang Theory
    5. Re:in 50 years how does it adapt? by turkeyfish · · Score: 1

      "There is no place on Earth that we know of: not the fiercest desert, not the deepest depths of the Mariana Trench, not in the deepest borehole ever made, nor even in the insanely radioactive core of active boiling water reactors - where life does not thrive."

      Sure bacteria and microorganisms will make it in very harsh environments, some can live in near boiling mud pots or in Atacama desert sands, where it hasn't rained in 100 years. However, its not going to be the same species of vertebrate organisms that we tend to think of. So knowledge of this fact doesn't exactly get us out of the predicament we are in.

      If higher life forms are to be saved several things must be accomplished within the next 50-100 years.

      First you have to educate the deniers and those who can't be educated probably have to be locked away in a fashion where they can do less harm or perhaps sent to a moon base, where they can either better appreciate Earth or feel free to ravage the lunar atmosphere to their hearts content.

      We then need to move toward massive solar energy projects, as well as wind, hydrothermal and tidal. Some shift through natural gas and nuclear are probably unavoidable from oil and coal will probably be unavoidable, but we will need to move away from all fossil fuels quickly, except perhaps for tasks that can not yet be accomplished otherwise and as necessary for emergency situations. Fossil fuels will need to be banned for all other purposes. This will require a total transformation of cities and transportation of all kinds.

      It will be essential to figure out ways to get people and nations to work together collectively rather than individually so that maximum results can be achieved quickly with minimal waste and contention for resources. That may be the biggest hurdle along with the unavoidable displacement and disruption that is now almost certain to be massive.

    6. Re:in 50 years how does it adapt? by turkeyfish · · Score: 1

      This kind of mindless simplicity won't go too far as global warming is far more likely to produce more violent extreme weather, not some for of Goldilocks like conditions where everything is "just right".

      People who think this way only really show a remarkable lack of knowledge about biology and biological systems.

    7. Re:in 50 years how does it adapt? by symbolset · · Score: 1

      Weird bacterial life in the Dead Sea

      Thanks for being specific. Care to try again?

      --
      Help stamp out iliturcy.
    8. Re:in 50 years how does it adapt? by symbolset · · Score: 1

      Tell me this: How long did a bacterium that thrives in the core of a boiling water reactor have to evolve?

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      Help stamp out iliturcy.
    9. Re:in 50 years how does it adapt? by symbolset · · Score: 0

      Wow. I'm saving this post. I'm pretty sure this is a bot. I had thought that years ago botmasters had included "if symbolset" into their matrix not just here but everywhere on the Internet. Is this a new kid, or are they testing?

      --
      Help stamp out iliturcy.
    10. Re:in 50 years how does it adapt? by terjeber · · Score: 1

      Good to see that the religious nuts (that is you) are out in force again. Sorry, but what you say simply doesn't match observed realities. In the past, when CO2 levels have been substantially higher than they are today, and higher than the predictions for AGW too, life thrived on this planet. In fact, in volume and diversity, it did a lot better than it currently is.

      Yes, there is no doubt that the predicted warming will cause many issues for human kind, and it will even be traumatic for a good number of species tied to current habitats (but they will adapt quickly), there is no reason to think that the warming will be generally negative to life as such. Quite the opposite. When the earth warms it is far more likely that the earth, as was the case before, becomes a better place for life as such.

      To argue otherwise is to argue against observations, and it will take a lot of very, very strong evidence to argue that the next warm period is going to have a significantly different impact on life as such than the previous ones. There simply isn't any evidence for that.

    11. Re:in 50 years how does it adapt? by maxwell+demon · · Score: 2

      Sterilized scalpels. They are clearly on earth. ;-)

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
    12. Re:in 50 years how does it adapt? by symbolset · · Score: 1

      Tell me you're not headed toward some homeopathic theme here. Please. I thought better of you than that.

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      Help stamp out iliturcy.
    13. Re:in 50 years how does it adapt? by joh · · Score: 1

      Good to see that the religious nuts (that is you) are out in force again. Sorry, but what you say simply doesn't match observed realities. In the past, when CO2 levels have been substantially higher than they are today, and higher than the predictions for AGW too, life thrived on this planet. In fact, in volume and diversity, it did a lot better than it currently is.

      Yes, there is no doubt that the predicted warming will cause many issues for human kind, and it will even be traumatic for a good number of species tied to current habitats (but they will adapt quickly), there is no reason to think that the warming will be generally negative to life as such. Quite the opposite. When the earth warms it is far more likely that the earth, as was the case before, becomes a better place for life as such.

      Not for our species necessarily, though. Or for our economies even.

      Also: The changes that are happening right now are happening incredibly quick. Quick changes ARE negative to life as such. Environments and ecosystems that change over thousands or tens of thousands of years are much easier to adapt to than changes that happen within decades.

      Look at the Holocene Extinction -- we're right in the middle of a major extinction event and everything points at one species being the driver of it -- us. It's not looking very much as if many species are adapting at all to the changes we're causing. Most species are straight going extinct before they even get a chance to adapt. We're rapidly transforming the world into a farm to feed the pest that is called humanity and this farm is severely mismanaged.

      Life will adapt, yes. The question is if we and our economies can adapt too.

    14. Re:in 50 years how does it adapt? by terjeber · · Score: 1

      Not for our species necessarily, though. Or for our economies even

      Irrelevant considering the topic.

      Quick changes ARE negative to life as such

      This is not given, and according to ice-core data, earlier changes have also been quite quick, without the negative impact predicted in this discussion.

      we're right in the middle of a major extinction event and everything points at one species being the driver of it -- us

      Yes, we make species extinct by killing them, destroying their habitat through agricultural expansion etc. What does that have to do with this discussion? Please note, the links between species going extinct and global warming are actually non-existent. There is some research that would imply that at a local level, some animals go extinct from that area, but there is nothing to indicate a general extinction event tied to global warming.

      Again, look at previous warming periods, even periods where cold-blooded animals were in the majority (lizards, dinosaurs) and you will find that higher temperatures, more CO2 and more humidity means higher bio diversity. Also look at the current state of the earth. The places receiving the most sun - the equator - is the areas with the highest bio diversity (rain forests). These places are not the driest because the high amount of incoming heat generates high levels of moisture.

    15. Re:in 50 years how does it adapt? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      global warming is far more likely to produce more violent extreme weather,

      Nope. Warming tends to reduce temperature differences from low to high latitudes, resulting in fewer and less powerful storms.

    16. Re:in 50 years how does it adapt? by Xest · · Score: 2

      I'm struggling to understand how evidence that some extreme bacteria can survive in extreme circumstances in any way helps your case unless your suggestion is that it doesn't matter if all complex life dies, at least there will still be bacteria?

      You do realise that just because extremophobes have adapted to far reaching circumstances doesn't mean that anything more complex can right?

    17. Re:in 50 years how does it adapt? by tbannist · · Score: 1

      I'm not sure bacteria living near fresh water vents in the floor of the Dead Sea exactly counts as "thriving". Where do you draw the line between barely existing and thriving?

      --
      Fanatically anti-fanatical
    18. Re:in 50 years how does it adapt? by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 1

      There is no place on Earth that we know of: not the fiercest desert, not the deepest depths of the Mariana Trench, not in the deepest borehole ever made, nor even in the insanely radioactive core of active boiling water reactors - where life does not thrive.

      Bullshit. The Dead Sea.

      Nope. New Life-Forms Found at Bottom of Dead Sea.

      --
      "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
      --- Jerry Garcia
    19. Re:in 50 years how does it adapt? by BonThomme · · Score: 1

      perhaps the poster is assuming we can evolve into extremophile bacteria in a few decades. you know, until this blows over...

      though we would be quite incapable of drinking the coffee...

    20. Re:in 50 years how does it adapt? by maxwell+demon · · Score: 1

      You did notice I'm not the same poster as the one you were answering before?

      And you did notice that three-letter sequence at the end of my post, generally known as "emoticon" or "smiley"?

      And you are aware that on a sterilized scalpel life does not thrive because that's the point of sterilizing a scalpel?

      BTW, I don't think there are homoeopathic scalpels, so I don't know where you get a link from my post to a homoeopathic theme.

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
    21. Re:in 50 years how does it adapt? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      the single bacterium had no time at all, but if the bacteria worked their way up through the runoff from the heat exchanger, they had tens of thousands of generations at least.

      do you really have no desideratum apart from the continued existence of some form of life, no matter how basic? if so, it's a coherent position, i guess, but i don't really see the point of arguing it. almost no one is nihilistic enough to share your value system.

    22. Re:in 50 years how does it adapt? by TrollstonButterbeans · · Score: 1
      He said "where life does not thrive".

      And I don't consider whatever barely lives in the Dead Sea as thriving. Living, sure. Thriving? Well, I suppose if you have sufficiently broad definitions of thriving so large that it encompasses "not thriving" too, hey knock yourself out! No really.

      If your definition of thriving is broad enough to include "not thriving", you really do need to clobber yourself over the head. ;-)

      --
      Priest: "Universe from nothing, no laws of physics, sped up time"+ huge discrepancies. Creationism? No. Big Bang Theory
    23. Re:in 50 years how does it adapt? by TrollstonButterbeans · · Score: 1

      And life in the Dead Sea or Antarctica is "thriving" in what way? Maybe we will discover some weird stuff living on Titan or Europa, with minimal metabolism. You are free to label that as thriving, or perhaps you would describe the flora and fauna of the deep Sahara as a thriving ecosystem too. Perhaps you would describe whatever happens in live in a meat cooler as thriving. I mean, hey if words have no meaning there are no limits! Thrive = not thrive, up = down, rare = common, whatever I want to believe is true even if it is not.

      --
      Priest: "Universe from nothing, no laws of physics, sped up time"+ huge discrepancies. Creationism? No. Big Bang Theory
    24. Re:in 50 years how does it adapt? by TrollstonButterbeans · · Score: 1

      With your communication abilities, you should run for office. You could tell everyone the economy is BOOMING because you know this friend of this one guy that he says he knows that has tripled his income. And we wouldn't be much worse off compared to the politicians we have now. In fact, they could use the competition from a real bullshit-meister. And then if you knock one out of office, you could describe the dethroned ex-politician as THRIVING!!!

      --
      Priest: "Universe from nothing, no laws of physics, sped up time"+ huge discrepancies. Creationism? No. Big Bang Theory
    25. Re:in 50 years how does it adapt? by TrollstonButterbeans · · Score: 1
      No you would adapt to drink the coffee. And you'd be THRIVING!

      Ok ... I'm done beating the dead horse. THRIVING. Ok that's the last one. THRIVING. No really that was it. TH ... haha fooled you. Ok then.

      --
      Priest: "Universe from nothing, no laws of physics, sped up time"+ huge discrepancies. Creationism? No. Big Bang Theory
    26. Re:in 50 years how does it adapt? by symbolset · · Score: 1

      Sorry. On a sterilized scalpel as it enters the patient there is a quantifiable average number of bacteria on that instrument. The number is not zero.

      --
      Help stamp out iliturcy.
    27. Re:in 50 years how does it adapt? by symbolset · · Score: 1

      Let me help you out. Some three million years ago when CO2 levels were the same as now, and average temps were 8C higher than now, this place had a nice habitat for fir trees that has since moved South. Fir trees don't grow there now because it is too cold. If because the level of CO2 has again reached these prior levels the temperature increases in this place again, then fir trees will grow again. Implicit in that is that the region might support human habitation and agriculture without external logistical support. Because the latitude includes about one third of the Earth's terrestrial surface area, it's a pretty big deal.

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      Help stamp out iliturcy.
    28. Re:in 50 years how does it adapt? by symbolset · · Score: 1

      People who think this way only really show a remarkable lack of knowledge about biology and biological systems.

      It's my experience that people who say things like this are completely fucking clueless idiots poorly parroting what they think they heard.

      --
      Help stamp out iliturcy.
    29. Re:in 50 years how does it adapt? by symbolset · · Score: 1

      Let's go with habitable for humans then. How many degrees C increase do you think it would take before the vast expanses of the Russian and Canadian Arctic, more surface area than man lives in now, were rendered uninhabitable to humans because it was too hot for men to live? 20C? 30? 40? If summer temps increased by 40C in some of these places, the locals would take to wearing shorts in summer in the sunny spots but would still need polar down in winter and on the North side of the mountain. In the wildest possible extrapolation of your runaway global warming scenario, could 40C possibly happen? No. You're freaking out about 0.6C of warming as if it wasn't a good thing. If it swung the other way, billions would die.

      --
      Help stamp out iliturcy.
    30. Re:in 50 years how does it adapt? by Xest · · Score: 1

      Which has what to do with the question I posed? You were going down the route of implying that extreme circumstances don't matter because bacteria can survive in them. You still haven't explained what relevance this has to humanity surviving extreme circumstances.

      You understand that life adapts and that's great, but you're completely failing to understand that there are still constraints on that adaptation and that just because some extremophiles can adapt doesn't mean more complex beings like humans can. Birth rate matters and part of what allows bacteria to thrive is because they reproduce so rapidly so evolution can easily occur through natural selection due to changing circumstances. That's not the same with humans we can only multiply over much longer time spans.

      The problem isn't whether "something" will survive and it's not even whether life can adapt, we know it will and we know it does, but the problem is whether we can survive and adapt and you seem to completely fail to grasp the amount of generations required for evolution to adapt to change relative to the pace of change we've actually got forecast.

    31. Re:in 50 years how does it adapt? by symbolset · · Score: 1

      The Earth: It is a large sphere. As equatorial insolation becomes extreme it falls off as a sine of the latitude. It cannot go unsurvivable for humans without the Earth shifts its orbit or the sun goes nova. Climate changes happen gradually enough that you could walk to your new best climate. To suffer the ills projected by the warmists you would have to stand your ground on your beachfront property for three generations and refuse to move.

      --
      Help stamp out iliturcy.
    32. Re:in 50 years how does it adapt? by Xest · · Score: 1

      You're still assuming that liveable temperatures are the only measure of human survivability with your response, that's not the case, human existence depends on other species and ecosystems that are much more at risk from much smaller fluctuations.

      Your view of the world and evolution is grossly over-simplistic, we do not live in complete independence and isolation from the environment around us.

    33. Re:in 50 years how does it adapt? by maxwell+demon · · Score: 1

      As soon as it comes into contact with the patient, it's no longer sterile, and can no longer be used for another patient without a new sterilization.

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
  61. Modern Science by SuperKendall · · Score: 0

    Your post shows a general misunderstanding of modern science; the primary goal is to generate headlines via which government funding is obtained. The groups that get the most funding get the hottest lab assistants (and note here we are not specifying which gender, as the modern reader should not judge the sexual appetites of graft-seekers as any path is acceptable these days).

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:Modern Science by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yea, clearly they could never find funding from say, an oil company. Those poor oil companies just can't afford it.

  62. you win by superwiz · · Score: 1

    where should i send the money?

    --
    Any guest worker system is indistinguishable from indentured servitude.
  63. Which side is truly anti-science? by SuperKendall · · Score: 0

    It has also surprised by how many Slashdot posters are willing to utterly forgo the most basic tenets of science for religion.

    Take your post for example.

    The side that is FOR science is obviously the the one that demands claims followed by proof, demands scientists share data and methods. You know, the one that would demand scientists making claim at least somewhat track with the scientific method.

    Until very recently none of that was true of the Warming Cultists. You make claims, that are falsified within five or so years. You can't make a single accurate prediction of how climate will behave in response to changing variables; yet rather than decide perhaps your theory need revision,you decide that the theory just needs another layer of bullshit on top in order for it to grow into big and strong PROOF that you just know is there, because you have FAITH!

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:Which side is truly anti-science? by rrohbeck · · Score: 1

      The side that demands proof is clueless about the scientific method. There is no such thing as proof in science, only in math.

    2. Re:Which side is truly anti-science? by turkeyfish · · Score: 1

      So where is YOUR data?

      I am always asking those who don't believe in the theory of global warming to explain how if its not warming:

      1) all the world's glaciers are receding?

      2) why has 85% of the permanent ice in the Arctic Ocean disappeared?

      3) why did we have more than 36,000 record daily high temperatures across the US in 2012 as opposed to only about 6,000 new record daily lows?

      4) why has the past 20 years seen 11 of the warmest years on record?

      5) why is the jet stream slowing down?

      One could go on asking for some other data that would actually support a theory OTHER THAN forcing that results from the burning of fossil fuels (AGW), but one never gets an answer. Only some vague hand-waving and assertions that scientists don't seem to know how to do science.

      However, now that we have before us SuperKendal, who only accepts big and strong PROOF, I will finally get my answer.

      Lets all take a close look at what SuperKendall has to say in answering these questions. If its not carbon dioxide, just how do you explain what looks like to most thermometers at least and the vast majority of scientists, who have looked closely at these issues that its global warming that results of burning fossil fuels?

    3. Re:Which side is truly anti-science? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ... demands scientists share data and methods.

      That argument stopped being useful 5 or more years ago. All of the important data, both raw and cooked is online now. Try here.

      Methods have always been described in scientific papers but you need a certain level if scientific literacy in order to understand them.

      DFW

  64. Re:Hysteria! by grantspassalan · · Score: 1, Troll

    Chicken Little said the sky was falling. The earth may be getting warmer, but is that so bad? Where was all that carbon, some of which now is being liberated by our modern civilization? The global warming scare mongers tell us that the burning of fossil fuels is the cause of the earth getting warmer. If that is true, the carbon that is now being released must have once been in the atmosphere for living things to use while they were alive, then died and were buried. Therefore in effect our civilization is RETURNING the carbon into the air. Therefore, when the fossil fuels were formed it must've been much warmer than today, but not warm enough to harm life on earth. Most living things generally do better in warmth that in freezing cold. Therefore if mankind managed to liberate ALL carbon now stored as fossil fuels, the cycle would repeat itself.

    Recycling is generally considered good, so why is recycling the carbon be considered bad? We know most plants do better in warm places with a high carbon content in the atmosphere. This has been unequivocally established by EXPERIMENT, not mere mathematical modeling based on faulty assumptions. One real-life experiment is worth much more than hundreds of thousands of hours of computer time using up energy for mathematical modeling based on faulty assumptions and insufficient data. So far humanity has managed to release only a tiny fraction of the total carbon stored in the form of hydrocarbons in the crust of the earth.
    Global warming, bring it on! If the earth were warmer, humanity would need less fuel to keep warm and would have much more land available which is now freezing cold. There is a whole CONTINENT at the bottom of the earth that could become inhabited by people if it were warm.

    --
    A sufficiently advanced simulation is indistinguishable from reality.
  65. Which side has real hyperbole... by SuperKendall · · Score: 2

    Matching the right's hyperbole with bigger hyperbole makes the right look more sane as a result.

    And what hyperbole on the "right" is that exactly?

    It's easy enough to find older papers saying that the tip off point was a time that was in the future then but is now in the past.

    Proclaiming the tip-off points were no-where near those points before the time had past, WAS considered hyperbole - before it was shown to be wrong.

    Was is so wrong about wanting careful scientific study or merely wanting to open data-sets to confirm theories based on them? There is no hyperbole in that, or at any rate NOTHING approaching the level of hyperbole in a statement like "we are all going to die when Co2 crosses point X". All anyone on the other side has ever said is along the lines of "are you sure it's actually warming even though CO2 levels are increasing" and "how exactly will we all die again"? and "why should we spend billions that could otherwise go to advance medicine or poor people when we can't accurately predict how climate change will affect us"?

    And going back to your fist point, this is not "right" vs. "left". This is about conformists vs. individual thinkers. It's about people who simply believe whatever "science" tells them to say, filtered through politicians and the media - with no question. It's about that kind of person vs. the kind of person who gets told at some point food X is bad for them and says "why" and "are you sure", then eventually comes up with new scientific research showing the old models of thought were totally backwards.

    Always be suspicious of anyone who claims you are stupid for asking questions and not believing outright what they say.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  66. FUDery indeed by microbox · · Score: 5, Informative

    This is what counts as evidence for you. Did you ever find some counter evidence? Almost certainly not, right?

    For those who are interested, you can read about Beck 2008 here, here, and here.

    For the full effect, make sure you actually read through Beck 2008.

    Proof that you only need a few bits of junk our there, and that's enough for politics.

    --

    Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
    1. Re:FUDery indeed by argStyopa · · Score: 1

      I just want to say thanks, in particular for the realclimate links (Rabett is a little too snarky for me) - specifically http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2005/11/650000-years-of-greenhouse-gas-concentrations/ .
      The article is interesting, as is especially the commentary, in which people raise a number of well-informed questions and get well-informed answers.

      I'm trying to honestly evaluate the claims of AGW as best I can as a layman. I'm not a climate scientist, and I'll admit, I have been made suspicious by the quasi-religious tone of the exercise (starting with Mr Gore) and the unquestioning adulatory tenor of its supporters (a Nobel and Academy Award for him, really?).

      Anyway, I sincerely appreciate anything that increases my understanding of the science and details.

      As a layman, it seems irrefutable that there is warming taking place. It seems that CO2 has recently spiked, and that makes anecdotal sense given the intense and constant consumption of hydrocarbons since industrialization.

      --
      -Styopa
    2. Re:FUDery indeed by rioki · · Score: 2

      As an engineer and laymen in climatology, I remain skeptical of the entire act. It is not that I do not think that man made C02 emissions can and will change the climate. The problem is that in many cases they it is very boldly stated, like the entire 395 ppm ordeal. The problem that I have with most climate science, is that not one single model was able to predict the near term, how am I to belie that they are able to predict long term with any reasonable certainty. It is and remains a complex problem. The meteorologists had about a century of daily feedback to refine their models and even they don't think that they can predict the weather for more then three days. Climatologists are wobbling all over the place only now are we starting to see feedback to the predictions. I think that it will take some time (a few decades) until Climatologists will start to get reliable results. Unfortunately this may actually already be to late to hold the status quo.

      The other problem I often have with the entire rhetoric and this time it comes from policy makers, is that they always talk about emissions. Never about the loss of CO2 sinks. The planet lost large amounts of forested land over the last few hundred years. Yes, CO2 fosters plant growth, to bad there are not so many around. If nothing is done about the CO2 sinks, even at pre industrial revolution emissions the CO2 levels will go up.

    3. Re:FUDery indeed by argStyopa · · Score: 1

      Further...the point of the AGW creed is not merely to prove warming or CO2. It is, in fact, to assert:
      1) that the sole (or at least dominant cause) for global warming (later amended to 'changing climate' - hah) is human activity, AND
      2) that this is an unmitigated catastrophe, AND
      3) the only solution is expanding government control of the activities of individuals "for their own good".

      #1 seems at least partially true.
      #2 may certainly be true in the short run for people in coastal cities, but let's be honest, these very-human things were never established in their current locations based on their durability/safety, and in long enough timescales the survivability of anything approaches zero. Nothing is permanent, not even stuff that we deem "really important or inconvenient to change". That it's true in the medium- or long-terms is absolutely not proved, particularly not in the case of the most adaptable species this planet has ever seen (AFAIK).
      #3 certainly doesn't logically follow either of the others, particularly considering some of the people volunteering (out of their own good nature) to be the ones making the decisions.

      --
      -Styopa
    4. Re:FUDery indeed by Maritz · · Score: 1

      Further...the point of the AGW creed is not merely to prove warming or CO2.

      Characterising the position of those with whom you disagree as a 'creed' is basically an ad-hom, and it illustrates how for you, at least, this is a political issue. This stuff about extra government control... I don't see how that follows.

      It is better to separate the scientific question of 'is AGW real' from the political issue of what can be done about it.

      --
      I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
    5. Re:FUDery indeed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If I know a weighted coin flips to heads 60% of the time, my predictions for the next toss will be accurate only 40% of the time. My predictions of the percentage of coin flips that come up heads over 1000 tosses will be much more accurate. In the same way, if I look at the weather over a three day period for the world for the periods 1/1/2010-12/31/2013 vs. the period 50 years before . . .

  67. THE SUNMMER WEATHER by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So what happens when you take this variability and subject it to climate change?

  68. Re:More FUD. It was much higher 450 million years by microbox · · Score: 1

    Yeah! Let's go back to 4000ppm! After-all, that's what it was 450 million years ago, so it must be good!!!!

    --

    Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
  69. Crony capitalism in action. by microbox · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Back in 1975 we were supposed to be freezing by now. Anyone remember that?

    As in some scientists asked the question, studied it, and rejected the theory after 5 or so years. There was never consensus, but the story was too good not to run in major newspapers.

    Do YOU remember it?

    More Big Scare tactics. These articles belong in the Science Fiction category so far. We don't know what's going to happen, we've never been there before, but we're assured that it's going to be bad and only by taking and transferring hundreds of billions of our tax dollars to someone else who is more Progressive than ourselves can we save us all.

    The only big scare tactics I see are those who preach that the economy was crash if we tax pollution. It is baloney of course. There is empirical data that shows that the effect on the economy is * negligible*. The effect on the Koch brother's political influence will be non-negligible, but that's crony capitalism for you.

    --

    Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
    1. Re:Crony capitalism in action. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Where do science and consensus intersect???

    2. Re:Crony capitalism in action. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Back in 1975 we were supposed to be freezing by now. Anyone remember that?

      I remember being told that as fact in elementary school.

  70. This. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    As an engineer, this is precisely why I have always questioned the global warming hysteria. Nature *abhors* positive feedback cycles. In any system that has been stable over long periods of time, negative feedback dominates.

    Positive feedback is critical to the disastrous global warming projections. Specifically, higher CO2 leads to slightly higher temperatures, leads to more water evaporation - and OMG water vapor is a greenhouse gas. If this positive feedback cycle actually worked, it would have been triggered by the massively higher CO2 levels of the distant past.

    No one doubts that the earth is warmer now than it was in the 18th century. What warmists avoid is the long-term historical evidence, by which standard today's CO2 and temperature changes are totally irrelevant blips.

  71. Tomorrow? Alarmists are killing children today. by SuperKendall · · Score: 0

    Those ignoring or making fun of it don't care about their descendants

    Is it any wonder we look down upon you who seek to protect future generations from an unlikely possibility when you are today killing the species you claim to be interested in protecting?

    Those who take action today out of irrational fear without knowing for sure real harm will come to the future generations, are literally killing people today.

    By pushing for less efficient forms of energy generation you are either taking money away from things like medical research or humanitarian aid. By moving to limit how poorer regions on earth can generate energy you doom millions to starvation and disease.

    So WHEN we find out just how much of a hoax the idea that climactic temperature rise can kill off our grandchildren really was, the only true criminals we will come up with are you and the cultists like you, that for a brief window of time had enough data and power to convince whole governments to act against the best interests of the people they were supposed to serve.

    Really your Global Cooling Alarmist forebears had a better case for panic, at least if there was truly global cooling on a large scale we'd have something to fear as a species. This new brand of fear is weak sauce and yet you've blown it into even more of a panic, it will take decades to undo the damage you have done to our Earth and the people upon it. Let the millions unnecessarily dead weigh upon you in later years as they should.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  72. I already refusted you by SuperKendall · · Score: 0

    So you have nothing then?

    I am waiting for refutation of my original points. It is you who have nothing yet, because obviously posting any information from the actual paper would reveal the farce it truly is (or you would have cited it earlier). I laid out a very reasonable case for why there is no claimed dissolution of habitat in a rise of 4C; it is up to you to provide one single idea that would show otherwise.

    I will let you have the last response, because it will simply be another factless ad-hominem attack that is as pointless to read as it is to respond to.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:I already refusted you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      for the sake of the song
      you are wrong

    2. Re:I already refusted you by Deluvianvortex · · Score: 3, Informative

      I live in New Mexico. We're already in the worst drought that we've ever recorded. The water we pull from the ground is so contaminated by arsenic that we're probably poisoning ourselves just by drinking it. We had a really dry winter, with little to no snowpack. We're going to have the shortest watering season ever (40 days, its usually 120). This basically means that no farmer is going to be able to grow jack shit, which means a whole shitload of plants and animals are going to die. You thought that last years' summer was bad, you just wait.. Your premise on this argument is that more land will become arable. You might be right, but animals are really dumb and don't listen to logical arguments in a language they can't comprehend, so its not like they're just going to up and move to canada when the going gets tough. No, they're going to die off and become extinct. You seem to be thinking the only creatures that matter are humans.

    3. Re:I already refusted you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What do you mean you laid out "a very reasonable case for why there is no claimed dissolution of habitat in a rise of 4C?" You made two claims. First, that sometimes science is wrong therefore should not be believed in the future. This is a basic misunderstanding of science. Science updates itself as it goes. It's not religion. Science does not make predictions that are set in stone. The prediction is nothing more than if all these factors remain the same we expect X to happen. No scientist in the world will say that the measured factors are set permanently just because a study is done. Factors change then scientists rexamine, reevaluate, and repredict. You can't to have refuted a study simply because you don't know how science works. Second, you simply state that you don't see how a rise in 4C would do anything but provide more land. That's just you simply saying "I don't understand why they've come to the conclusion therefore it's wrong." I responded to this "argument" in the first response. I told you that refuting the article is not refuting the study. You even admitted that the article doesn't provide the discussion for the conclusion, but for some reason you decide that if you can just come up with some alternative to the conclusion the study is void. I'm not your personal teacher. If you want to actually refute the study you have to read it then refute the evidence. You "refuted" an article about the study not the study itself. Congratulations. Most people wouldn't even "refute" a study by just reading the abstract, you have decided you are so smart you've "refuted" a whole study based on nothing more than an article and ignorance.

  73. A real low point in Slashdot thinking. by beachdog · · Score: 1

    I give the Slashdot posters a collective D- failing grade.

              The early posters get a D- for their really weird inability to say three fresh and funny things about the OP.

              The middle posters, get a D- because 90% of the posts are tired sighs.

                The tired sighs of many previous posts are an important sign that the global warming problem is a slow moving massive event where the principal indicator of it's progress ( CO2 levels) has not gone down even though we have been through a 5 year economic depression. The abating economic depression did not slow down society enough to affect CO2 levels. (There was a little decrease in the rate of increase, but not in the fact of increase.) The sighs reflect the disappointment and fatigue of many people on this list who have tried to reduce their CO2 footprint and see that all the effort produced no result. CO2 increase is an intractable, slow moving, massive problem.

                    And lets issue another D- to everybody that cites an expert and therefore excuses themselves from engaging with the global warming problem. If you live a typical drive to work life you are contributing 3,000 to 10,000 pounds of CO2 to the atmosphere every year. Could you possibly reduce your CO2 emission to the level of a 1776 pre steam engine individual? In this case, the phrase "massive problem" means exactly that: a large amount of human generated mass. No matter how subtle the argument, 3000 pounds turned into infra-red absorbing Carbon oxygen bonds is about the mass of your car. Rhetoric is not enough.

              Welcome to the lonely world of social change. The problem in front of us is still how to emit 1/2 as much CO2 every day for you, your wife and your kids without losing the happy and fun mechanical conveniences we enjoy and maintaining economic and social stability.

          (I am not a chemist, but 2 gallons of gasoline x 7 lb per gallon x 365 days => about 5000 lbs, not counting the weight of Oxygen from air making CO2.)

  74. Re:More FUD. It was much higher 450 million years by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I think the point was that 4000ppm doesn't doesn't cause global warming to an extent that prevents ice ages.

  75. Horseshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "We know that carbon dioxide has been a much larger fraction of the earth's atmosphere than it is today, and the geological record shows that life flourished on land and in the oceans during those times. The incredible list of supposed horrors that increasing carbon dioxide will bring the world is pure belief disguised as science."

    Wall Street Journal

    1. Re:Horseshit by maxwell+demon · · Score: 1

      Who cares if life as a whole flourishes. The question is whether humans will flourish. Heck, for life as a whole it would probably be good news if the human species got extinct!

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
  76. Re:Plants LIKE CO2 by terjeber · · Score: 1

    arid conditions

    Actually: Cold == dry == arid, warm == wet == quite nice conditions. Oh, and no, our deserts are not deserts because of the heat, they are deserts because of the humidity level (see weather systems).

  77. Re:More FUD. It was much higher 450 million years by rrohbeck · · Score: 1

    Assuming you didn't forget the /s:
    Are you aware of the state of the biosphere back then? You may want to look up what kinds of plants and animals lived back then.

  78. How Is It Possible To Have So Many Deniers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Reading through all these comments, I am amazed at the number of posters who simply deny that human activity has caused a sharp increase in the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide and that that in turn has caused a sharp increase in average global temperature. From a purely scientific standpoint, both of those things have been clearly established as factual and can be measured and verified by anyone, and yet there is such a large number of otherwise highly intelligent people who are adamant that it is not the case.

    What is the reason for this?

    1. Re:How Is It Possible To Have So Many Deniers? by vikingpower · · Score: 1

      Normally I do not care to answer to AC; here, however, I make an exception. I suppose that systematic denial of climate change is simply a comfortable position. is connected, IMHO, to a certain intellectual laziness: "After me, the deluge".

      --
      Religous speak to God. Insane are spoken to by God. When all shut up, one can finally hear Shostakovich in peace
    2. Re:How Is It Possible To Have So Many Deniers? by Pino+Grigio · · Score: 1

      Your question is begging. The idea that people "deny climate change" is ridiculous. What they deny is the hype surrounding the trace gas CO2 and Earth's temperature sensitivity to it at a few hundred parts per million.

    3. Re:How Is It Possible To Have So Many Deniers? by Pino+Grigio · · Score: 1

      On the contrary, the intellectual laziness is on those who uncritically accept the hypothesis. It takes effort and energy to object to it. Far easier to support the paradigm. You're more likely to get tenure (and grant funding).

    4. Re:How Is It Possible To Have So Many Deniers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/12/09/hockey-stick-observed-in-noaa-ice-core-data/

      So add your "belief" in temp rise by extrapolating the GISP ice core graph data and repost your guess for us?

  79. 80 years? but the boomers won't be alive then! by WOOFYGOOFY · · Score: 1

    Yeah but the boomers won't be alive then. Hell, the Koch brothers won't be alive in 10 years. What do they care? I got mine while I was alive, fuck you all, suckers.

    I have a dream.

    I have a dream where one day the people who today, in editorials and online, deny science, deny global warming will be forced to personally, individually, away from and distinct from the rest of the population be forced to directly bear the consequences of their beliefs. I have a dream .

    I have a dream that one day the people who deny evolution will also be systematically and permanently denied the medicine and treatments which exists only because doctors and researchers applied evolutionary theory to the problems of diseases . I have a dream.

    I have a dream that each individual, no matter who or how small, will be given the opportunity to live out in full the consequences of what they today advocate for the rest of us and the rest of us will live out the consequences of our own decisions, unencumbered by the science deniers who used to live freely amongst us.

    I have a dream.

    1. Re:80 years? but the boomers won't be alive then! by stenvar · · Score: 1

      Actually, the "terrorists" are people who are trying to spread "terror", namely people making hysterical predictions of doom based on AGW. You can accuse people who deny that AGW has serious consequences of many things, but not of spreading "terror", because "everything is going to be fine" is the opposite of terror.

      And I also have a dream, namely that people like you put up or shut up. If you believe that drastic CO2 emission reductions are possible, lead by example. Two thirds of American believe that climate change is a threat (a little higher, incidentally, as Germany and Sweden). If all these people voluntarily reduced their own carbon emissions by, say, 50%, we'd substantially reduce carbon emissions and prime a low-carbon economy through demand for low-carbon products. But of course, they don't want to, so instead they vote for politicians who falsely promise that they can fix it without the inconvenience of actually having to do something themselves.

    2. Re:80 years? but the boomers won't be alive then! by WOOFYGOOFY · · Score: 1

      >Terrorists are people who out of ideological reasoning kill other people , and at worst kill millions of other people. AGW deniers fully qualify under that definition.

      We'll see how the world looks on your *freedom of speech and opinion* argument when the bill comes due.

      History teaches us one thing- things change and people in power one day gleefully thumbing their noses at their fellow humans, at civilization and the things which undergird civilization often find themselves on some later day at the wrong end of a special prosecution and ultimately, a rope .

      Wait til the bodies start dropping, til the oceans refuse to take in any more carbon and there is massive crop failure, extinctions, mass migrations of starving people and societal chaos. Then we'll see how THOSE people feel about YOUR *freedom of conscience and opinion*.

      Remember your argument was exactly the Nazi's argument in Nuremberg. We broke no German law ! We are law abiding citizens exercising our rights under the laws of the society of which we were members!!!

      In response to that argument, the Allies whipped up out of whole cloth some crazy idea of "Crimes Against Humanity" which had been merely an idea floating around academic circles the way a lot of peace and justice ideas float around those circles at any given time. The Allies, grasped onto this idea, made it law - ex post facto law- tried the Nazis, found them guilty then hung them.

      How about that?

      History changes things for the losers. The people who were wrong. The people who hurt other people through their ignorance or malfeasance or ideological or religious beliefs or whatever.

      Don't kid yourself about your "safe harbors". .Justice, like beauty, is as it does.

    3. Re:80 years? but the boomers won't be alive then! by stenvar · · Score: 1

      Wait til the bodies start dropping, til the oceans refuse to take in any more carbon and there is massive crop failure, extinctions, mass migrations of starving people and societal chaos.

      When those things start happening, we can worry about them. Right now, you and people like you are just spreading FUD.

      History changes things for the losers. The people who were wrong. The people who hurt other people through their ignorance or malfeasance or ideological or religious beliefs or whatever.

      Oh, if only it were true. But history is full of doomsayers, and they are rarely held accountable for the harm they cause with their erroneous predictions. I suspect much of this AGW FUD would end quickly if people were actually forced to make specific predictions and held accountable when those predictions fail.

    4. Re:80 years? but the boomers won't be alive then! by WOOFYGOOFY · · Score: 1

      Golly all the doomsayers I know are generally right wing religious nuts or, more lately, seen lobbying Congress about how the financial sector needs to stay deregulated. I was not aware that the consensus opinion of the scientific community qualifies for "doomsaying".

    5. Re:80 years? but the boomers won't be alive then! by stenvar · · Score: 1

      I was not aware that the consensus opinion of the scientific community qualifies for "doomsaying".

      That's mostly a testament to your ignorance. If you read up a little on the history of science, you'll find quite a few other instances.

      Of course, in the case of AGW, except for the observed increase in CO2 and a small degree of warming, there is little consensus on anything else anyway.

    6. Re:80 years? but the boomers won't be alive then! by WOOFYGOOFY · · Score: 1

      Yeah your statement is just another lie being told by liars. It's a war, whether you like that fact or not and you've chosen the wrong side of that war, whether you acknowledge that fact or not.

  80. Life adapts but you may not by joh · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Life adapts. That's what it does.

    Yeah, it does. Life will survive this as it survived worse things than that.

    But our societies and economies as they are will not. That's the point. You can have "life" adapt perfectly well in the long run and still have global mayhem happening while it is adapting.

    Also, "life will adapt" just ignores the fact that changes that happen over thousands of years are easier to adapt to than changes that happen within decades. There's no time for slow migration, ecosystems and economies gradually changing and adapting. Fast changes are incredibly hard to adapt to and the changes we're looking at are happening really quick.

    It's the typical jump from "nothing is happening" to "life will adapt" while totally ignoring all the major shit happening to real people and real economies that makes me wonder about the will to face reality in many people. First they close their eyes while pretending "it's a lie, nothing is really happening", then they jump to "life will adapt". Yeah, but life may adapt by you and your children starving.

  81. Re:Proof is in the posting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Perhaps those replying to those denying overwhelming evidence, aka reality, might want to protect themselves from possibly unhinged types through the use of anonimity.

    Dramatic sea level predictions were way off, just that it's turning out to be above our previous worst case scenerio. Great.

    Warmer climage does not mean more arable land, try it again without the Mercator projection showing a giant Greenland.

    This study is not about the acres of habitat loss, it's more the rate of change. The forests and coral reefs that can't move away from the equator fast enough die out. Some of the animals can, others rely on the forests and reefs which will die out, so they end up dying out too. Great.

    You haven't looked at the model, but NIH so the science must be wrong?

  82. Yes, it was so bad for life on earth when... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...the oxygen was so rich that relatively inefficient mechanisms for processing oxygen like breathing through a thorax permitted dragonflies to grow 4 ft long.

  83. Um no. There are less, not more storms on record. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamestaylor/2012/09/05/dont-believe-the-global-warmists-major-hurricanes-are-less-frequent/

    http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/ClimateStorms/

    And that's the great thing about politicized science: The claim two incompatible things will happen simultaneously, then celebrate when one of the two actually comes true.

  84. Re:Hysteria! by pantaril · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Therefore in effect our civilization is RETURNING the carbon into the air. Therefore, when the fossil fuels were formed it must've been much warmer than today, but not warm enough to harm life on earth. Most living things generally do better in warmth that in freezing cold. Therefore if mankind managed to liberate ALL carbon now stored as fossil fuels, the cycle would repeat itself.

    You are completely ignoring the speed this change happened in the past (geological scale, millions of years) and the speed global warming is moving now (tens or hundreds of years). Yes, in the past earth was indeed warmer. Antarctica was a green continent full of life but also areas around equator were dry deserts without life.

    Note that there were also periods of time when earth was much colder then today. Even equator was frozen and life survived only in oceans. See Snowballl earth on wiki.

    Whenever in the past, there was sudden change of temperature like we are seeing today, it was accompanied by massive extinction of species (90%+ of species died, generally everything larger then mouse). Sure, live will probably prevail but if we don't prepare for this change it will cause big problems. Large areas of the earth will become uninhabitable, nations will move, territorial wars will erupt, seaside cities will be slowly flooded etc.

    In my opinion it is very reasonable to study climate changes, the implications they will have on life on earth and try to adapt to them or prevent the biggest problems if possible.

  85. Re:more liberal propaganda by turkeyfish · · Score: 1

    Thank you for giving me hope. Clearly a sign of progress! Yes we can!

  86. It wants you to listen to the answers, too by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Science doesn't want respect, it wants you to ask, "How do we know?" "

    It wants you to listen to the answer too. Otherwise all you're doing is going "Lalalalala! Can't hear you!" Which is the antithesis of science.

    "As soon as you start believing things because it was said by "the institution of science," that's when it's no longer science anymore."

    Oh dear, another "Science isn't consensus". Tell you what, since nearly 100% of science says that gravity exists, jump off a tall building: if you're just believing things because it was said by the institution of science, then you need to get out there and test it, yes?

    But lets say you do a less stressful test and confirm gravity.

    But then YOU become one of "the institution of science" telling me that gravity exists.

    So under your insane rant here, NOBODY should be doing anything other than confirming FOR THEMSELVES that EVERY SINGLE FACT of science is correct.

    So when do we get to advance science?

    1. Re:It wants you to listen to the answers, too by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "The grounds of probability are two: conformity with our own experience, or the testimony of others' experience. Probability then, being to supply the defect of our knowledge and to guide us where that fails, is always conversant about propositions whereof we have no certainty, but only some inducements to receive them for true. The grounds of it are, in short, these two following:-
      First, The conformity of anything with our own knowledge, observation, and experience.

      Secondly, The testimony of others, vouching their observation and experience. In the testimony of others is to be considered: 1. The number. 2. The integrity. 3. The skill of the witnesses. 4. The design of the author, where it is a testimony out of a book cited. 5. The consistency of the parts, and circumstances of the relation. 6. Contrary testimonies.

      5. In this, all the arguments pro and con ought to be examined, before we come to a judgment. Probability wanting that intuitive evidence which infallibly determines the understanding and produces certain knowledge, the mind, if it will proceed rationally, ought to examine all the grounds of probability, and see how they make more or less for or against any proposition, before it assents to or dissents from it; and, upon a due balancing the whole, reject or receive it, with a more or less firm assent, proportionably to the preponderancy of the greater grounds of probability on one side or the other. "

      http://www.ilt.columbia.edu/publications/Projects/digitexts/locke/understanding/chapter0415.html

    2. Re:It wants you to listen to the answers, too by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      I've tested gravity and know it exists. I strongly encourage you to do so also.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  87. NO. Primary assumption is wrong. by Narcocide · · Score: 0

    The carbon wasn't "in the atmosphere for living things to use" it WAS the living things, you idiot.

    How the hell do you fools moderate this crap up to +5 freaking insightful? Read a god damned book.

  88. Re:Hysteria! by empties · · Score: 1

    The problem with "Global Warming" is the marketing the term itself carries. It sounds so nice and cuddly: "Won't it be great to sunbathe in Antarctica once those pesky penguins are gone?" Also science denying dolts point to every unseasonably cool breeze (or, blizzards in April) as proof "warming" doesn't exist. But speaking of marketing, perhaps the science deniers should start to call themselves "Carbon Freedom Fighters!"

  89. analysis by stenvar · · Score: 1

    The paper uses a global climate model, combines it with assumptions about how that global climate translates into local climates, and then combines that with assumptions and models of how species adapt, but using models that have never been tested under the conditions that they are being used to. Along the way, the authors made dozens of assumptions and arbitrary choices, many of which aren't documented in the paper. The paper presents interesting scientific speculation, not scientific fact or results. For something to be a scientific result, we need replication using new data and independent methods.

    Furthermore, the headlines and discussion mixes up "decline in habitat range" with "decline in species". Species have already experienced a more dramatic "decline in habitat range" than predicted in that paper due to human settlements and agriculture. And I would expect that even if this paper were spot-on, habitat loss due to other human activity would still dominate, climate change or not.

    Finally, the paper ignores the ability of humans to shape the environment and habitats. Animals and plants don't just randomly drift across the landscape, they are already managed by humans almost everywhere. Therefore, models that ask whether animals can adapt on their own really don't mean much in the real world.

  90. Whoop de doo. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So kill yourself.

    Will life on earth end? No.

  91. Re:Hysteria! by Joce640k · · Score: 1

    The earth may be getting warmer, but is that so bad?

    Yes.

    the carbon that is now being released must have once been in the atmosphere for living things to use while they were alive, then died and were buried. Therefore in effect our civilization is RETURNING the carbon into the air.

    That's all true, but knowingly returning the atmospheric composition to Paleozoic levels will lead to economic collapse, mass migrations, wars, famine, increased natural disasters and the loss of pretty much everything that makes your basement comfortable. Think: No Cheetos, no Mountain Dew, angry people constantly breaking in and hassling you, maybe even kicking you out so you have to sleep in the woods.

    --
    No sig today...
  92. Re:Hysteria! by letherial · · Score: 2

    Carbon dioxide is a green house gas, this is a scientific fact. We have more and its getting hotter, its not hard to deduce whats going on. The arguments always make it more complex then it is, bringing up this or that, but the fact remains, the more Carbon Dioxide we got in the air the hotter it gets, because Carbon dioxide traps more heat, like the laws of physics state that it will. If you don't believe that carbon dioxide is not a green house gas then that is one thing, but you would need science to back up that argument and well its kinda easy to prove.

    Let me just say again, as carbon dioxide increases, so does are average temperature the two are not independent because they cannot be, physics dictates that the earth will get hotter the more carbon dioxide there is, just like if you throw a ball eventually its going to land.

    However, there is other reasons to cut back on fossil fuels, for one its a limited supply, whether you think it will happen in 50 or 200 years, its going happen, the sooner we start transitions the better for everyone, stop talking like the oil company's sent you a check, they did not and they certainly have every reason to distort facts; clearly your falling for it

    Also, these things have proven health problems with a whole host of people, its air we all breathe, maybe your lucky enough to live in a place where there is little smog so lets just hope they put up the next refinery in your back yard. Ya, deal with that shit.

    Also, oil has been proven to be very hard to clean up and when its spilled its devastating to everyone in the area, its not clean so maybe your beach or land will get the next oil spill, how would you like your house to be ground zero for spilled oil...permanently? im sure you wouldn't

    And if your anywhere in the world, you realize that we kiss the ass of oil rich country's for a reason, you like being a bitch? i certainly dont, i hope my country can tell those fucked up dictators who allow women to get stoned to death to go fuck themselves and not have a 10.00 a gallon price tag to show for it.

    What that man above you was referring to is that there is a whole host of issues and reasons to get off fossil fuels, just because your not a scientific man who doesn't know basic physics and believe in global warming, and hey maybe you still think the earth is flat, thats fine, you can still find other reasons to want to get off fossil fuels, stop looking at one view of it and see the bigger picture...We need to move off that shit for a whole bunch of reasons, and you cannot deny most of them.

  93. Re:Hysteria! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Holy fucking shit /., how the fuck is this dickweed insightful!!?

    You know what? It rains a lot too, and all that water soaks into the ground... but we need water to live!! lets liberate all that stored water, right here, right now so we can have it all fall on us at one time *SPLOOSH* wasn't that fun.

    I don't give a crap if some people find the posters point of view interesting, but to act as if it's insightful to say "There is a whole CONTINENT at the bottom of the earth that could become inhabited by people if it were warm." is moronic of you all.

    I really do wonder at what people like this do for a living and whether they have any concept AT ALL of the logistics of their propositions.

    And what of the possibility that the cost of Antartica becoming inhabitable THE REST OF THE FUCKING PLANET DIES!?

    But I guess that's alright for the poster and friends as they think they'll have all the big fucking guns.

  94. And more points, from scientists by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You also missed two important points that a few global warming scientists have been making:

    * All accumulated factual data is good, but science is not a court of law and doesn't work simply by presenting evidence. It works by making mathematical models of the physical world (called theories once they've stood the test of time), deriving testable hypotheses from them, and testing those hypotheses in the real world. Most of this scientific method is absent in the AGW debate, so saying that AGW has the backing of Science is a misrepresentation. It's very early days still in this young science, and the closest we get to the scientific method is our many GCMs used as simulators. Unfortunately they're still very poor at what they do and can't replicate the paleohistory of climate without the help of all manner of prewired kludges, so we're still a long way from a trusted Theory of Climate Science. Very far. AGW is formally still just a belief.

    * "We're honest scientists and so we refuse to say that science supports something which it does not, but we're also concerned humans, so STOP POLLUTING THIS FUCKING PLANET, NOW!". This holds despite our current inability to justify this action through the scientific method. You just know it's right.

  95. misrepresentation of article by idlake · · Score: 1

    The article talks about a "dramatic decline of habitat range" for "half of plant species" and a "third of animal species". This does not mean a dramatic decline of species or anything like that.

    You could describe the same result as "The study shows that almost all species will have more than enough habitat to survive even under the worst case scenarios of global warming and pessimistic assumptions on their ability to adapt".

    1. Re:misrepresentation of article by iggymanz · · Score: 1

      I'd have added the phrase, "and the other half will find greater habitable range".....or even "less those that will adapt by various means including activating long-dormant parts of their genome, evolution, changing behaviour, etc.

  96. RTFA by idlake · · Score: 1

    Climate change will cause one half of species to decline

    That's not what the article says. The article says that a third of the animal species will see a substantial decline in their range. It says nothing about a decline of species or even their populations.

  97. bullshit - more misinformation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I dug up the National Geographic magazine that so many have quoted as de-facto evidence of the Global Cooling paranoia ... you know what.. the f'k'n graph has a big question mark with one line going down and the other one going up ( like um, warming.. doh ) and calling for real research. Go dig up the issue yourself.. you must know some educated person who had a subscription back then?

  98. Re:More FUD. It was much higher 450 million years by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    At the time there were also hardly any land plants and the Sun was dimmer. While factually correct it's hardly relevant. Likewise, CO2 concentrations are estimated to have been even higher than that in the Archean, more than 2500 million years ago. On the other hand, there also wasn't any significant oxygen in the atmosphere and the Sun was dimmer still.

    While Earth history is relevant, if you are looking for analogues, it is to better to focus on the more (geologically) recent Mesozoic and Cenozoic times when CO2 was as high or higher than it is now (e.g., the Paleocence-Eocene thermal maximum ~55 million years ago). Merely picking some random time in Earth history when CO2 was *much* higher isn't particularly instructive because of the many other changes that have occurred.

  99. Re:Proof is in the posting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Perhaps those replying to those denying overwhelming evidence

    Science isn't a court of law, it doesn't work by presenting overwhelming evidence. Try the scientific method instead.

    "Evidence" for a flat Earth was overwhelming too, absolutely everybody lived with the "evidence" every day.

  100. Re:NO. Primary assumption is wrong. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Oh, for christ's sake. How do you think carbon gets into the bodies of living things? Does the word "photosynthesis" ring any bells? Plants absorb it from the air (or water) around them, form it into sugars, proteins, lipids, etc, and animals eat the plants, digest them, and form it into other compounds. All of the carbon in a coal seam was once CO2 in the atmosphere or dissolved into water.

    You have no grounds to call anyone else an idiot, you pedantic twat.

  101. Munches the popcorn... by Drethon · · Score: 1

    anyone want some? The show is entertaining as always.

    Seems to me when there are major opinions (and egos) on both sides the answer is probably somewhere in between. Though not necessarily in the middle.

    I'd ask for tickets to Mars but I suspect much like jobs, people will be much the same no matter what planet they are on.

  102. Re:Hysteria! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    That's a great example of how you can make something look scary by exaggerating the Y axis. What it doesn't show or give ANY indication of, is the fact that CO2 at "OMFG 400 PPM WE'RE ALL DOOMED FUCK THE KOCH BROTHERS!" is 0.04% of the atmosphere.

    The "greenhouse effect" of CO2 is dwarfed by the effect of water vapor, which in turn is still far smaller than the heat retention of the oxygen and nitrogen that make up 20% and 78% of the air, respectively.

  103. Re:Hysteria! by cheekyboy · · Score: 1

    if your gona say traps more heat, specify what it trumps. Yeah it traps more heat than pluto.

    Why isnt mars hot.

    You know whats the real bad thing? Cutting trees, Brazil making high ways everywhere, indonesia, burma cutting down forests.

    As long as we keep buring 90 million barrels of oil a day, (its not going to drop) then you are not going to reduce any co2, especially with india,china using more coal each year on year.

    The ONLY option is 5x increase in Nuke Plants. Nothing else has that density.

    --
    Liberty freedom are no1, not dicks in suits.
  104. Ooops! We Were off. by jasper160 · · Score: 1
    --
    No good deed goes unpunished.
  105. Kassandra by jacekm · · Score: 0

    Earth will survive just fine. Stop this sky is falling BS. The green religion is becoming fundamental.

  106. Re:Hysteria! by dywolf · · Score: 1

    that whole continent could become the only habitable place on the planet, cause the rest of it closer to the equator became arid desert, no longer able to support life.

    global warming: you're right. its not necessarily bad. but its not necessarily good either. plants and animals, particularly plants, have limits when it comes to where they can grow. plants, upon which we are dependant for the majority of our food. imagine the lower half of the US no longer able to farm. the current weather patterns that our crops are dependent on, ie rain, exist in our current climate. but make everything warmer, and theres no garuntee the rain will move north with the usable growing area. in fact, weather scientists think that's unlikely given the general nature of the jet stream (the engine that drives the atmophere).

    nature adapted before through evolution. but a million years worth of climate change has occurred in the last 300.
    how confident are you in evolution that the plants and animals on which we rely can keep up on such a short timescale?

    --
    The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
  107. Oops! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
  108. Re:Hysteria! by dywolf · · Score: 1

    also, you're just plain ignorant of the past.

    many millions of years ago simple duckweed caused a massive planetary cooling. called the Azolla event. all that oil under the arctic ocean they want to free up for fuel use? came from that. so if duckweed locking all that CO2 away caused a massive planetary freeze.. ..just what in the hell do you think is going to happen when its released back into the system ?!

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azolla_event

    --
    The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
  109. Re:Plants LIKE CO2 by pdabbadabba · · Score: 1

    Did I say otherwise?

  110. Then and Now.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Predictions from the 1970's...
    Behold the coming apocalypse as predicted on and around Earth Day, 1970:

        1) "Civilization will end within 15 or 30 years unless immediate action is taken against problems facing mankind." — Harvard biologist George Wald
        2) "We are in an environmental crisis which threatens the survival of this nation, and of the world as a suitable place of human habitation." — Washington University biologist Barry Commoner
        3) "Man must stop pollution and conserve his resources, not merely to enhance existence but to save the race from intolerable deterioration and possible extinction." — New York Times editorial
        4) "Population will inevitably and completely outstrip whatever small increases in food supplies we make. The death rate will increase until at least 100-200 million people per year will be starving to death during the next ten years." — Stanford University biologist Paul Ehrlich
        5) "Most of the people who are going to die in the greatest cataclysm in the history of man have already been born [By 1975] some experts feel that food shortages will have escalated the present level of world hunger and starvation into famines of unbelievable proportions. Other experts, more optimistic, think the ultimate food-population collision will not occur until the decade of the 1980s." — Paul Ehrlich
        6) "It is already too late to avoid mass starvation," — Denis Hayes, Chief organizer for Earth Day
        7) "Demographers agree almost unanimously on the following grim timetable: by 1975 widespread famines will begin in India; these will spread by 1990 to include all of India, Pakistan, China and the Near East, Africa. By the year 2000, or conceivably sooner, South and Central America will exist under famine conditions. By the year 2000, thirty years from now, the entire world, with the exception of Western Europe, North America, and Australia, will be in famine." — North Texas State University professor Peter Gunter
        8) "In a decade, urban dwellers will have to wear gas masks to survive air pollution by 1985 air pollution will have reduced the amount of sunlight reaching earth by one half." — Life magazine
        9) "At the present rate of nitrogen buildup, it's only a matter of time before light will be filtered out of the atmosphere and none of our land will be usable." — Ecologist Kenneth Watt
        10) "Air pollution...is certainly going to take hundreds of thousands of lives in the next few years alone." — Paul Ehrlich
        11) "By the year 2000, if present trends continue, we will be using up crude oil at such a rate that there won't be any more crude oil. You'll drive up to the pump and say, ‘Fill 'er up, buddy,' and he'll say, ‘I am very sorry, there isn't any.'" — Ecologist Kenneth Watt
        12) "[One] theory assumes that the earth's cloud cover will continue to thicken as more dust, fumes, and water vapor are belched into the atmosphere by industrial smokestacks and jet planes. Screened from the sun's heat, the planet will cool, the water vapor will fall and freeze, and a new Ice Age will be born." — Newsweek magazine
        13) "The world has been chilling sharply for about twenty years. If present trends continue, the world will be about four degrees colder for the global mean temperature in 1990, but eleven degrees colder in the year 2000. This is about twice what it would take to put us into an ice age." — Kenneth Watt

  111. The most important thing by microbox · · Score: 1

    The most important thing to do is actually spot-check references. This is so poorly and rarely done that you will very quickly sort the wheat from the chaff when it comes to arguments about climate change. (And pretty much anything else.) Sure it takes time, but you learn a *lot* by following how people argue.

    It is not too difficult to separate the signal from the noise, but you have to eschew black and white thinking. There are plenty of "earth-is-holy" nutcases out there who desperately believe in AGW, and have no friggin' clue about anything other than their spirit guide. But those people do not work in universities.

    If you are interested in seeing some detailed analysis on "skeptic" arguments, then I recommend Peter Hadfield's excellent 5 video series on Monckton: Monckton Bumkin. Sure he makes fun of Monckton, but you'll see why if you actually watch some Monckton videos and then try and trace the arguments. Monckton walked away from a direct conversation with Peter Hadfield on Monckton responds to Potholer54 on the "skeptic" website WUWT.

    If you are interested in how information flows through society, then Naomi Oreskes has an excellent book on the disinformation campaign: Merchants of Doubt. It is a little too detailed for a light read, but the details are stomach churning in their audacity.

    Getting to the core of the scientific issues is more work. I'm working on a phd, and have a long background in math, modeling, and also some understanding of scientific culture. That type of experience doesn't just fall in your lap. skepticalscience does a good job.

    --

    Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
  112. Re:Hysteria! by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 1

    You mention cherry-picking, but seem to be doing the exact same thing yourself. Well, except you're not even providing citations so we know WHICH models you're talking about and can provide the dozens of responses refuting the claims you are making. So it's more like "talking about a cherry on a tree in a vast orchard without specifying which one."

    That's SCIENCE! It doesn't matter WHICH observations refute your theory, if they exist then the theory is wrong. Seeing people that claim to be "scientists" going around claiming their theory has to be protected so ignoring actual data is very disheartening. When real scientists come across observations that don't match their theory, they go back and work on a different hypothesis, they don't go around trying to discredit the people that found the data.

    --
    "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
    --- Jerry Garcia
  113. Silly Summary by Pino+Grigio · · Score: 0
    What is this stupidity?

    Co2 levels reached 400ppm

    and

    Plants and animals likely to see their living space halved.

    It seems even when Co2 has absolutely nothing to do with it, it's the cause. Well, I suppose it prevents you from suggesting that if only Human's weren't so successful and more of them died from malnutrition, the cold or their dentition, we could save so many plants and animals. That's what you want to say, isn't it?

  114. Re: Hysteria! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Except for the fact that carbon dioxide is causing the acidification of the oceans. Which has a huge impact on the organisms that form the base of all aquatic life.

  115. Re: Hysteria! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    CO2 is causing the acidification of the worlds oceans. That isn't speculation, it's fact. The effect of a lowering pH in the oceans is that it makes it more difficult for marine calcifying organisms, such as coral and some plankton, to form biogenic calcium carbonate, and existing such structures become vulnerable to dissolution. Thus, ongoing acidification of the oceans also poses a threat to the food chains connected with the oceans.

  116. Re: Hysteria! by davesag · · Score: 1

    Your argument has been well and truly debunked.

    http://www.skepticalscience.com/water-vapor-greenhouse-gas.htm

    Idiot

    --
    I used to have a better sig than this, but I got tired of it
  117. Re:More FUD. It was much higher 450 million years by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I think the point was that 4000ppm doesn't doesn't cause global warming to an extent that prevents ice ages.

    And I think the counter point is that, regardless of ice ages, there's no reason to assume that it'll be a cakewalk for homo sapiens.

    That period also ended with the second largest extinction event behind the Permian-Triassic.

  118. Denial is easier than Change by sl4shd0rk · · Score: 1

    People don't want to change so they deny the credibility of the evidence staring them in the face. Are you really that dense that you cannot see the effects of global climate change around you now? Bleaching of Coral reefs[0], Hurricane frequency[1], Shrinking of one of the largest glaciers on earth[2] not to mention the rate of change in global temps[3] for the past century. Yes it's been warm in the past, but the RATE at which warming occurred has never been seen before. These are the facts and they are happening now. I guess for a lot of people it's more comforting to glue their noses to the manufactured reality of Fox News and the like rather than accept what is happening and that change is needed.

    [0] - http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/coral_bleach.html
    [1] - http://www.ucar.edu/news/releases/2007/hurricanefrequency.shtml
    [2] - http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/science/2013/04/21/tracking-greenlands-fast-melting-ice-sheets.html
    [3] - http://www.npr.org/2013/03/08/173739884/since-end-of-last-ice-age-rates-of-global-warming-amazing-and-atypical
    [3] -

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    1. Re:Denial is easier than Change by TheSkepticalOptimist · · Score: 0

      The only thing easier than denialism is greenism.

      Greenism is spouting off "proof" that the planet is dying and then lecturing to us we all have to change, without offering a shred or an idea on how to do it other than trite platitudes like "lets all recycle and buy hybrids".

      Greenism is cool and trendy, greenists are just people that want to join the fight to alleviate their guilt but don't do anything real to save the planet as well so they are no more informed or proactive than a denialist.

      --
      I haven't thought of anything clever to put here, but then again most of you haven't either.
  119. Carbon dioxide has been much higher than this by Kodack · · Score: 1

    The world had much higher levels of carbon dioxide millions of years ago and the effect was that there were more species alive and thriving than at any other time since. The planet was also several degrees warmer but that didn't harm plant and animal life, they exploded in diversity and numbers. When are we going to realize that the planet is still in recovery from the last ice age? The global thermostat changes of it's own accord whether human beings live in caves and hunt in packs, or fly to a space station.

    There are bigger problems in the world. Disease, war, hunger, human rights violations, and our ever decreasing personal freedoms. How about we spend our time, effort, and money, on fixing things that will actually benefit society and spend a little less time worrying about carbon dioxide.

  120. So, le' me get this straight ... by krygny · · Score: 1

    If I give enough of my money the Government or the UN, as they ask, they're going to do something about this? They're going to control the weather?

    I may not be a climatologist and I can't argue the science either way, but I do know BULLSHIT when I hear it.

    --
    Research shows that 67% of those who use the term "research shows", are just making shit up.
  121. Fear based ignorance. by microbox · · Score: 0

    I'd rather spend billions learning how to terraform our deserts than have some quacks allow government to make us live in cells in fascist mega-cities.

    This really goes to the heart of the "skeptic" argument. And to think "skeptics" call scientists alarmists, when the whole a-science movement is based on fear of some imaginary future.

    Say, what's wrong with a carbon tax? To make it revenue neutral, you can reduce income taxes. The market can sort out how to factor in the cost of carbon pollution. Where are the fascists in that? By what right do a few well connected businesses get to use the whole earth as a big exhaust pipe without paying for it? Where is the personal responsibility?

    The economic evidence shows that mitigating climate change costs almost nothing. There has been no fascist take-over. In my experience, conservatives doen't even know what fascism is.

    It really is a case of science versus fear-based ignorance.

    --

    Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
    1. Re:Fear based ignorance. by Panaflex · · Score: 1
      --
      I said no... but I missed and it came out yes.
  122. Re: Hysteria! by BonThomme · · Score: 2

    I would add that this is only one of the ways we are screwing up various critical equilibriums of the planet. A year back, New Scientist published an article indicating 7 different ways we are destroying the planet. But if you can't get the population on board with the simplest of them, we are far more screwed than previously thought.

    And you better believe the scientists will be the first against the wall when it is all inevitably and irretrievably obvious.

  123. Who says? by hackus · · Score: 1

    What is this evidence they have for humans not being around since these CO2 levels began?

    Idiots like Al Gore and his climate carbon tax credit pushing morons, constantly point out man made climate change.

    Yet, they are shown to constantly make up and falsify the scientific evidence.

    Furthermore intelligent people don't deny climate change, the problem is:

    1) Is it man made, and how much?
    2) Paying _any_ sort of taxes to the globalists isn't going to stop _any_climate change.
    3) The SUN is _the_ primary (99.9%) of climate change.

    People who are called climate nay sayers usually answer 1) Yes, but the scientific process is corrupted by 2) Al Gore and his crony globalist friends who put together the carbon credits exchange is a scam, 3) Gigantic, TONS of evidence for the SUN being the primary driving force for all climate and nothing really matters that much besides. And when the sun has minimums, we have ice ages, or the earths orbit is changed.

    Contrary to popular belief, the whole climate research field is incredibly corrupt. Globalists are funding any research as long as it concludes the planet is doomed because YOU, mind you....YOU not THEM (i.e. Al Gore, Queeny England....etc.) have to endure enormous sacrifices, as they jet around in their lavish lifestyles.

    It is all crap.

    -Hack

    --
    Got Geometrodynamics? Awe, too hard to figure out? Too bad.
  124. There is nothing to be alarmed about. by microbox · · Score: 1

    The ozone issue had actually been faced before

    Wrong. It was the first time.

    . The main industries using CFCs were for propellants and refrigeration. We already had other propellants, and for applications that they weren't suitable pump-bottles were substituted.

    Wrong. I used to know someone working for a fridge company trying to figure out new safe coolents. Back then nothing came close to CFCs. They figured it out.

    What's happening with global warming is that we're being asked to change our entire lifestyles, and give up our human rights.

    Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. It will cost almost nothing to do something about climate change. Renewables as of 2013 are about price parity with carbon for electricity generation. The prices are /plummeting/. Google/walmart will be running their data-centres/stores on renewables in less than a decade -- TO SAVE MONEY -- and that is without factoring the real cost of carbon pollution.

    The economic scare-mongering on AGW was done by exactly the same people as the econommic scare-mongering on the ozone whole, and acid rain. The same people also fought tooth-and-nail over protecting the tobacco industry. The same people also fought tooth-and-nail to defend the GOP's hair-brained star-wars program.

    The term "alarmist" is just good marketing. It is projection. There is nothing to be alarmed about.

    --

    Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
  125. 1812 by DarthVain · · Score: 1

    This was already tried once. As I recall it didn't end well for the US.

    In any event, it would never be a military invasion. It would be slow capitulation by politicians (Conservatives) to the US over everything, until for all intents and purposes we might as well have been annexed.

    Canadian politicians need to grow some balls to stand up to the economic bully in the south.

    1. Re:1812 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We're not talking about annexing Great Britain. We're talking about Canada. The US has never been at war with Canada.

  126. Re:Hysteria! by turkeyfish · · Score: 1

    A serious problem with nuclear aside from the expense of accidents, potential terrorism, and construction is that a nuclear plant takes about 10-20 years to build. They also take up a huge amount of water and building on the coastline or major rivers is going to be just about impossible considering the cost and the opposition via NIMBY. We no longer have 10-20 years. Nuclear had its shot and it turned out to be a bust. The industry just can't survive on a scale without massive subsidies that the US al least no longer has.

  127. Re:Proof is in the posting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yes, the height of the denialist disdain for science. I saw "Men in Black." Agent K said people thought the earth was flat. Sorry to tell you, but man knew the earth wasn't flat since the ancient Greeks. Columbus was not afraid of falling off the earth. That's a 19th century misconception. There is no evidence that man ever widlely thought the earth was flat. Most religious creation stories have the earth as some sort of dome or bowl or even a turtle's back. All round. So, no, the evidence for a flat earth was never overwhelming. Now go back to your internet alien kook message boards and talk about you don't understand how the ancient Egyptians could make the pyramids therefore they didn't.

  128. ZPG! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The answer is so simple, but at the same time no one wants to acknowledge it. The human population must be reduced by at least 3/4. With the global population at 7.1billion and all the support infrastructure it takes to maintain that population. CO2 will never be reduced. Manufacturing will have to continue to cloth and feed and produce heat, etc. Zero Population Growth. It was a fantastic, but obscure movie from the 1970s, and I think it was quite prophetic. With all animal populations in decline, you would think someone would have started grasp the obvious.

    What gets rid of CO2? Plants! At least during the day. Start a global plant a tree frenzy. Or, perhaps the next big hi-rise in a metropolitan skyline should not be over priced town house condos, but a HUGE atmospheric processing plant. Whatever the solution is to this problem, it better happen with a couple decades, or we've fucked this planet up beyond all hope of supporting human life.

  129. Re:Citation please by BonThomme · · Score: 1

    ok, I hate to say it, but maybe we do need more H1-B's

  130. Plants like CO2 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Umm,
    Plants actually "like" CO2. So more CO2 in the atmosphere is good for plant growth. Why would there be less plants if they have more food? It's like claiming humans will die off if the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere increases a bit.

  131. Hipocracy by microbox · · Score: 1

    I don't know anyone who assumes that the government owns us. That's just absurd. Those tax receipts buy civilization. You don't want to pay any taxes? Move to Somalia. Problem solved.

    But really, this is about getting civilization and not paying for it. How about paying for the things you use?

    The GOP couldn't care less about reducing the deficit, or working out how to responsibly spend money. All the brohaha about cutting government in half is just bullshit. The tea party base do want to reduce the size of government, but not the things that they use, which is almost all of government, so they'll be the first to whine if their social security or medicare is cut. But by their own lights, they never used a dime of government either.

    Where is the responsibility?

    --

    Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
    1. Re:Hipocracy by ganjadude · · Score: 1

      the responsibly is simple. the FEDERAL (not state) government has no right to do 99% of what it does as per the constitution. that is my issue and what i assume the tea party issue is. The difference is that the left seems to think that the federal government should take care of everyone, I and the constitution disagree

      --
      have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
    2. Re:Hipocracy by ganjadude · · Score: 1

      anyone who says that "we give big oil XXX$" is saying that we dont own our money and the government owns us. if they didnt feel that way they would not say such insane things

      --
      have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
  132. yes it is by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    but is it caused by humans?

    Nope!

    very sad indeed, lets all blame the sun

  133. Re:More FUD. It was much higher 450 million years by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How this for you? I live in a rural community when I visit friends and family that live in larger cities {like Chicago} the smog gives me a soar throat that lasts a couple days. I don't need a study to tell me we need to clean up our act. We can debate global warming, or just work on finding cleaner, better, more efficient ways of doing things because it will benefit us.

  134. Living Space Halved - But Not By CO2 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The living space will indeed be halved, but it will have nothing to do with the atmosphere. It will have everything to do with the human population choking the life out of everything else on the earth.

    Stop having so many brats.

  135. You can become a "lead author" by merely asking. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Oh, not so good.

  136. Not good enough. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    All that means is you're now the "science consensus".

    And I've seen birds. PROOF that gravity is a hoax!!!! Funded by the airline industry.

    You see, thing is that if something REALLY exists, then there will be a consensus of people who, having looked, agree it exists.

    Science is a consensus. If nobody agrees on some facet of theory, then it is not proven.

    1. Re:Not good enough. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So then god exists?

    2. Re:Not good enough. by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      Science is a consensus. If nobody agrees on some facet of theory, then it is not proven.

      Yes, for example, that's how we knew the sun rotated around the earth.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  137. Points #2 & #3 is of your manufacture by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    #1: you have agreed with.
    #2 you completely made up.
    #3 you completely made up.

    So the only thing you disagree with is what you've made up to scare yourself shitless at the thought of doing anything about AGW.

  138. Do any of those exist? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Because there's plenty who accept uncritically "It will be good for us" or "The economy will collapse" or "China will just take all the oil if we don't first!".

    But where are these people who " uncritically accept the hypothesis" of AGW?

  139. Re:Hysteria! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That is the deal... I see smog, I smell smog, I taste smog, and it gives me a soar throat when ever I leave my rural home and go into a city. I don't require a researcher to tell me it's bad. No matter what anyone says about global warmer you cannot deny that we would benefit from cleaner, cheaper, more efficient and this should be our goal regardless.

  140. Where to start? by wcrowe · · Score: 1

    I'll throw my two cents out into the "noise". I've noticed a depressing trend in recent years. People tossing trash out of their cars. Invariably it is the leftovers of some fast food meal, choked down in the car, and tossed out the window for someone else to pick up -- or not. The streets in my neighborhood are festooned with such litter. Originally, I blamed the problem on one particular ethnic group below a certain age. But in time I've noticed people of all colors doing the same thing, and of an age when they really should know better.

    What does this have to do with CO2 levels? My point is, how can we expect people to care about the larger problems, if they won't even deposit their trash in a proper receptacle? I would like to start improving the planet in ways that pretty much everyone can agree upon. Let us begin taking care of the trash. Then maybe we can start working on the bigger problems.

    --
    Proverbs 21:19
  141. 18 months already? by JimBilodeau · · Score: 1

    So once again, "CO2 at 400 ppm! The End is Near!" prophets have come out with yet another insane prediction. And people on the chat boards believe it, again! In my 45 some years on this planet I have seen no less than 20 doomsday predictions (it's about every 18 months, it's like Moore's Law for crazy people). Some of the best nuclear war, nuclear power, DDT, ozone hole, over population, Y2K, and of course Planetary Alignment, just to name a few. So here is my question for the skeptics out there. Why do people keep believing this BS? Is it new suckers being born every generation who just don't know any better? Or is it the same fools who are just so gullible that they firmly believe the world is going to end every couple years despite the fact it never has? When Professor Paul R. Ehrlich wrote "The battle to feed all of humanity is over. In the 1970s hundreds of millions of people will starve to death in spite of any crash programs embarked upon now. At this late date nothing can prevent a substantial increase in the world death rate...", are these the same guys who believed it then or an entirely new batch of suckers?

  142. Re:Hysteria! by interkin3tic · · Score: 1

    You're acting like the observations refuting climate change, and the sources promoting them, are accurate rather than lies paid for by fossil fuel interests to keep the gravy train going. You can't possibly be that stupid. So I'll just ask what you get out of trolling?

  143. WRONG by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Useless drivel from researchers trying to get their belly up to the feeding trough...

  144. Re:Hysteria! by pixelpusher220 · · Score: 3, Informative

    The "greenhouse effect" of CO2 is dwarfed by the effect of water vapor

    Yes, yes it is. It's what's called a Feedback Loop. Take a balanced seesaw with 1 lb on one side and 10 lbs on the other at distances that make the forces equal.

    Now move the 1lb weight outward a bit or add a some weight. Once the 10lb ball starts rolling it's going to be 10x harder to stop.

    Now multiply by the scale of an atmosphere and it's *really* a bad idea to play chicken with that type of situation.

    If we nudge water vapor to increase more heat, it keeps getting stronger as more water evaporates due to the higher temps...

    --
    People in cars cause accidents....accidents in cars cause people :-D
  145. Re:Hysteria! by I'm+New+Around+Here · · Score: 1

    This is why I love debating you guys. Whenever your opponents ask a direct question that will derail your arguments, the response is to change the entire conversation to avoid it.

    Your comment is just gibberish to avoid my question about whether temperature proxies show the Medieval Warm Period and Little Ice Age to be regional or global.

    But, I'll wait for interkin3tic to respond, since he was the one who implied they were local.

    --
    If you think I voted for Trump because of this post, you're wrong. I voted for Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. Again.
  146. Re:Hysteria! by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 1

    You're acting like the observations disproving many of the AGW models still being promoted are lies, because some arrogant academic can't acknowledge facts in opposition to his theories. You can't possibly be that stupid. So I'll just ask what you get out of flame baiting?

    --
    "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
    --- Jerry Garcia
  147. Re:Hysteria! by lgw · · Score: 1

    Carbon dioxide is a green house gas, this is a scientific fact

    WTF is a "greenhouse gas"? A greenhouse is warm because the glass blocks convection. The fact that glass blocks IR makes the greenhouse cooler, not warmer (because there's usually more incoming IR). If we were to reason from greenhouses, we'd conclude that atmospheric CO2 cools the earth. For someone sure of "scientific fact", you seem to lack even the most basic grasp of how things work.

    --
    Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
  148. Re:350ppm - best comment ever read by Torrn · · Score: 1

    I've been reading Slashdot every day for at least 6 years straight. And prior to that at least every week for a number of years. I've never logged on before. But, had to create an account and log on just because of this comment. You sir, or mam (as the case may be), have written (IMHO) the best comment I've ever seen ANYWHERE concerning this issue and definitely the best I've ever seen on Slashdot. And, as you expected, it was not taken kindly. Not a big deal. Don't let it get you down. Also, IMHO, this comment should be placed at the head of any future "climate" related threads. However, I doubt that will be the case. In any event, I will pass this forward to my children and friends. Pretty sure I'm going to print in out and post it on the wall also (let me know if that is NOT okay, I'll put your name at the bottom as the originator). Please feel free to make more comments in the future. I had almost given up hope on human intelligence. My hope has been somewhat renewed : ) Thanks, Torrn

  149. Re:Hysteria! by letherial · · Score: 1

    I suppose to understand that id need to go back in time, or study up on mediveal warming period and a 'little ice age'...id like my facts and understand the whole context to debating it...in the end, it doesnt matter because its a moot argument, who gives a shit if that happened or not, it doesnt change the fact that as carbon dioxide increases so does are temperature and the reasons is the inarguable physics.

    I am the one thats keeping the subject here, your the one thats bouncing around changing subjects. I am pointing out facts, your bringing up shit i dont even care about and for meaningless for the current situation. Who the fuck cares if there was a mini ice age prior to industrial age, it means nothing and certainly doesnt change the problems we face. Nor does it change physics.

    my comment is gibberish to you because you didnt read it or attempt to understand what i was saying, its akin to you sticking your finger in your ear and going "lalalala i cant understand you", just fucking read it.

  150. Re:Hysteria! by letherial · · Score: 1

    Well i want talking about glass, i was talking about carbon dioxide, but ya glass and carbon dioxide work about the same way.

    So here is a scientific fact, if you leave your windows up in the summer time the inside of your car will be hotter then the outside, why? Well that is because of the green house effect that the glass on your windows make happen. If you where correct, then your car would be cooler. Green house gasses as well as glass let the IR come in, it just has a hard time bouncing out. Please take a small physics course, its realy simple and you dont need a degree...infact, google green house effect and you will understand it better...see, information for free, what a bargain.

    Also, look at venus for example, a planet that is just slightly closer to the sun heated it up to where there was alot more volcanic activity then earth; spewing loads of CO2 into the atmosphere the end result? a planet we cant even explorer because of heat and pressure because of CO2, so if you where correct, Venus would be a paradise.

  151. Re:Hysteria! by letherial · · Score: 1

    Mars is not hot because mars doesnt have a atmosphere to trap heat, it lacks CO2...infact, if we where to do what what we are doing to our current planet to mars, then we could teraform it to a habitial planet, it needs greenhouse gasses because the suns radiation leaves mars to easy...thats why mars is cold.

    Yes mars air is mainly CO2, but its very thin, so it has little effect, unlike Venus who also has the same composition but has a much thicker atmosphere, more CO2 crammed together. Here, i cared enough to go to wikipidea to explain why mars is not hot

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Mars

    It is a very bad thing to be cutting down trees, we need them to take the CO2 and convert it to oxygen, and your right burning 90 million barrels a day is not going to stop, but it needs to, if we want a livable planet it then we need to change that, and how do we do that? well we use alternative energy and stop letting the oil company's rule the day.

    Also, if you think that we cant use solar power to power our shit, then just understand this. The entire life on our planet is ran by the sun, all the energy that you consume in a day, that everything in the whole planet consumes in a day is ran by the sun, just because we are not as efficient as plants doesnt mean we cant be, it requires us to study and try things out and experiment, it requires money and effort but i promise you that it can be done because well, look around, you wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for the energy that the plants can convert.

    We need the shift, your answer is to just not do anything, but lets just suppose that global warming is not real and we dont need to change. Imagine in 30 years paying 20.00 a gallon because oil is runing out, at that point you would be wishing that 30 years ago someone got working on other energy ways, but since they didn't now the world is going to collapse, if we lost oil without having a replacement energy source, say goodbye to everything you know and like about this world. No longer will you be able to get on the internet, go to the store and get food, get to work, etc...if this happens are entire civilization will collapse on itself, its a avoidable situation if we work on it now, not when the crisis is to the point where we cant do anything about it.

    The arguments get so twisted by people who just want to make money, but its realy simple, we need alternate forms of energy eventually, the ealier we get this introduced into the economy the less impact it will have on the economy when oil is gone. Also, we dont want to use all our oil, we also need it for plastics and other shit, not just driving around.

  152. Re:Hysteria! by lgw · · Score: 1

    Green house gasses as well as glass let the IR come in, it just has a hard time bouncing out.

    This is simply false, for an actual greenhouse. Glass blocks IR in both directions. A greenhouse (and your car) because convection is blocked - any IR-related effects are small in comparison. Opening your sunroof a small crack will make a big difference in the temp of your car on a hot day, because it defeats this effect.

    Using the phrase "greenhouse gas" or "greenhouse effect" related to Earth's atmosphere is misleading at best, and has been discouraged in formal papers for many years now.

    BTW, Venus isn't very useful for comparison - CO2 at combustion chamber temperatures behaves quite differently (it reflects IR rather than absorbing it, IIRC).

    --
    Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
  153. Re:Hysteria! by letherial · · Score: 1

    "The greenhouse effect is a process by which thermal radiation from a planetary surface is absorbed by atmospheric greenhouse gases, and is re-radiated in all directions. Since part of this re-radiation is back towards the surface and the lower atmosphere, it results in an elevation of the average surface temperature above what it would be in the absence of the gases"

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenhouse_effect

    "The primary greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone"

      "In the Solar System, the atmospheres of Venus, Mars, and Titan also contain gases that cause greenhouse effects"

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenhouse_gas

    So that wasnt very hard, i didnt spend much time and if wikipedia is wrong, and thats always a possibility, you should easily be able to prove me wrong by providing some source better then wikipedia...that to shouldnt be hard.

    In the end your right that the windows block radiation in Both directions, both in and out of the car, but stuff still goes in but doesnt come out...unless you crack a window, while maybe you didnt intend to prove my point...you did just that.

  154. Re:Hysteria! by Vancorps · · Score: 1

    That's a silly question though, if you take one tree ring from one location then it's local. If you take a hundred from a hundred different locations on the earth then it becomes global.

  155. Pie in the sky by microbox · · Score: 1

    Savory's talk is great. He has a gut belief that this may be a large factor in warming. There is no statistical or scientific analysis that challenges the IPCC findings. The bit about reversing climate change has effectively nothing to do with his speech, but is great advertising to get people like you to spread it around. I hope he succeeds in his goals of fighting desertification. I hope he is right about warming. Both are speculative, the later pie in the sky.

    --

    Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
    1. Re:Pie in the sky by Panaflex · · Score: 1

      It's sad to see good empirical evidence casually tossed by the wayside because it doesn't "fit" with your world view. I find it highly irrational that real possible solutions are ignored, while "pie in the sky" ideas such as carbon-taxes are foisted upon economies.

      Instead of Carbon Taxes, perhaps you'd be interested in another form of carbon reduction? I'm sure it's right down your alley.
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgpa7wEAz7I

      --
      I said no... but I missed and it came out yes.
  156. Re:Hipocracyw by microbox · · Score: 1

    I don't know anyone who thinks that the federal government should take care of everyone.

    The constitution does agree with federal law, because the actions of the supreme court are part of the constitution. Like all fundies, there is always a danger of mistaking your interpretation of a document as the literal meaning of the document.

    And the tea-partiers are /still/ mainly old people who receive government money for social security and medicare, who want to cut the size of government, without touching their windfalls. And the military. According to some yet-unknown math.

    --

    Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
  157. Really? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The weatherman cannot accurately predict the weather one week from now. An intellectual cannot possibly predict a species seeing their living space halved by 2080.

  158. Re:Citation please by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If CO2 is not a pollutant then let's up the level in your bedroom to 50%.

    Strictly speaking a pollutant is any substance or radiation that is present in greater abundance than is desirable.

    dfw

  159. Re:Hysteria! by lgw · · Score: 1

    Try reading your own links.

    The "greenhouse effect" of the atmosphere is named by analogy to greenhouses which get warmer in sunlight, but the mechanism by which the atmosphere retains heat is different.[33] A greenhouse works primarily by preventing absorbed heat from leaving the structure through convection, i.e. sensible heat transport. The greenhouse effect heats the earth because greenhouse gases absorb outgoing radiative energy and re-emit some of it back towards earth.

    There's a reason using the terms "greenhouse effect" or "greenhouse gas" has been discouraged in formal papers for many years now.

    --
    Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
  160. Re:Hysteria! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Well, that's just the point. Do the tree rings from around the world show that the temperature for the last 1000 years was steady except for Europe? Or did it vary on a global scale for the MWP and LIA periods?

  161. eco-Marxist by Any+Web+Loco · · Score: 1

    WTF is an "eco-Marxist" other than someone you don't like? Calling people names isn't really an argument.

  162. Re:Hysteria! by grantspassalan · · Score: 1

    If the change occurs in a few hundred years time span, humanity can adapt easily. The earth cannot get only warmer without also getting more humid, because warm air can hold considerably more water. More moisture in the air and warmer oceans distributes the heat more evenly, reducing extremes of dryness and coldness. There were obviously more species alive in the days when the fossil fuels were formed and they became extinct not because it the climate became too warm, but it became too cold. It is an incontrovertible FACT, and that is that life thrives better in warmth than in freezing temperatures.

    --
    A sufficiently advanced simulation is indistinguishable from reality.
  163. Re:Hysteria! by grantspassalan · · Score: 1

    What makes you think the Penguins will be gone? There are penguins in zoos all around the world and they don't mind living in temperate places at all. Polar bears also do rather well almost anywhere. Life is remarkably adaptable. Of course it's always easier to attack the messenger if you don't like the message.

    --
    A sufficiently advanced simulation is indistinguishable from reality.
  164. Re:Hysteria! by grantspassalan · · Score: 1

    I agree with you that this could come true if this change happened in the space of a generation or two. Most global warming scare mongers are thinking in terms of at least centuries for this to happen. Are you telling me that a population such as is in Florida could not be moved in three or 400 years? Besides that, the rise of the ocean levels that is predicted may be wrong. When the earth was warmer, the areas called the continental shelves were not underwater, even though there was little ice on the earth at that time. When the fossil fuels were made there was no ice anywhere on the whole planet.

    --
    A sufficiently advanced simulation is indistinguishable from reality.
  165. Re:Hysteria! by grantspassalan · · Score: 1

    Life is amazingly adaptable. Penguins do just fine in zoos located in different places away from the cold of Antarctica. Polar bears will also thrive almost anywhere if they can find enough to eat. You also ignore the fact that when the entire Earth warms up, there is MUCH more moisture in the atmosphere, so that it will rain even in places that now get very little precipitation. With more moisture in the atmosphere worldwide, there will be less water in the oceans, so the ocean rise will be minimal if it happens at all. Even people and their civilization can adapt easily, if the change happens over a few centuries. After all, the population of the US went from about 3 million to over 300 million in a little over 200 years.

    --
    A sufficiently advanced simulation is indistinguishable from reality.
  166. Re:Hysteria! by grantspassalan · · Score: 1

    There was way more life on earth in the time when fossil fuels were formed, including the duckweed. It is a FACT that all forms of life do better when it is warm, rather than freezing cold. When the fossil fuels were formed, there was no ice anywhere on this planet, but as the carbon was removed from the atmosphere by living things, it got colder and life had a harder time. There were other events, such as meteor strikes and volcanic activity that also caused cold and subsequent extinctions. The dinosaurs went extinct because it got too cold for them and their food sources. Do you think that it is an accident that the internal temperature of mammals is in the temperature range at which life processes operate the best?

    --
    A sufficiently advanced simulation is indistinguishable from reality.
  167. Re: Hysteria! by grantspassalan · · Score: 1

    Why is it then that evolutionary science tell us that life originated in the warm primordial seas at the time when the CO2 content of the atmosphere was much higher than today? Why is it then that dinosaurs and countless other species became extinct? Was it because it became too warm or was it because of cold? If life got started in warm "acidic" oceans, why won't it continue to thrive there, especially if the water is warmer?

    --
    A sufficiently advanced simulation is indistinguishable from reality.
  168. Re:Proof is in the posting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    We already know that dramatic sea rise predictions were way off ...

    That right there just shows you're talking out of your rear end. Sea level is rising at least as fast if not faster than predicted by the relevant scientists. You just haven't paid any attention to the time scales they put on those predictions.

  169. Re:Plants LIKE CO2 by terjeber · · Score: 1

    You implied that increase in temperature == arid and dry, which is not the case.

  170. Re:Hysteria! by dywolf · · Score: 1

    more life? based on what scientific research that you are privy to and no one else is?
    everything does better when its warmer? really? so i guess over the past few million years while the earth was colder evolution jsut stopped, and no one adapted to the colder planet, everyone will be just hunky dory if we jack up the temp 10 or 20 degrees?
    and the internal temp range of mammals ranges from 50F to over 120F. and just because our internal temperature is X doesnt mean we will function well when the outside temp is also X. in fact thats not true at all. we function best when the external temp is somewhat less than X because it's precisely what allows for heat dissipation to prevent our bodies from overheating.

    nothing you said is factual, and has no basis in any science whatsoever.

    you are ignorant and know not of what you speak.

    --
    The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
  171. Re:Hysteria! by grantspassalan · · Score: 1

    I don't know where you get your information, but the lowest mammal temperatures is the three toed sloth at 82 F and some birds get up to 104 F. What mammal gets down to 50 F? Are you telling me that the number of species on earth are more now than in the past? The reason the dinosaurs died out, is not because it got warmer, but because it got too cold for them. What about all the extinctions?

    Polar bears that live in zoos where it is warm have the same internal body temperature as those out in the wild the Arctic. Mammals can adapt to a great range of external temperatures while maintaining their internal body temperature with remarkable accuracy. Humans are less able to do this physiologically, but have learned how to manipulate their environment through clothes and heated houses. Biological processes operate at their optimum rate at the internal body temperatures of most mammals. If you dispute that FACT, cite some data contrary to this. Life processes, ALL OF THEM slow down or stop at temperatures below which liquid water can exist. Warmth is better for life in general than freezing cold. Why are you disputing this?

    --
    A sufficiently advanced simulation is indistinguishable from reality.
  172. yea - this is "the pest" ! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    the human being itself is "the pest" ?! ;-)

  173. Cimate change - the real reason by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The basic reason it's happening is the radical depletion of the Amazon rain forest, pure and simple. That rain forest was and still is, in whatever measure, the LUNGs of this planet.

  174. That part that I dont get is... by drpickett · · Score: 1
    ...how some readers can think that politicians can do anything meaningful to influence this issue. The presumption that politicians have the time, will, intellectual capacity, common sense, and just plain patience to study an issue and formulate a response that is in any way useful, is a mind set that completely eludes me.

    The same holds for the media.

    Where does it say anywhere that the press owes you an accurate, well-researched story? The media exists not to inform but to sell advertising.

    Media and Politics are two sides of the same see-saw. Both sides want our attention and our money, but ultimately benefit us nothing.

    If you are passionate about global warming, stop consuming electricity, stop driving your car, stop eating processed foods, stop using air conditioning, stop heating your house with fossil fuels, stop wearing synthetic fibres, stop buying over-packaged products, make individual choices that get the attention of others.

    Just don't be a jerk about it. Be a positive role model. Don't be a pious martyr. Don't drive a Prius and think you are changing the world.

    The attention that you create causes questions to get asked, and you win hearts and minds one at a time. Nobody wants to do this because it takes work and time. They would rather see who can scream the loudest on the weekend news shows, and settle for a knee-jerk steaming pile of legislation that is a result of mis-informed horse trading.

    Totally expecting to lose karma points on this one.

  175. Stewards we are no more by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Used to be a time when one didn't have to proclaim or deny "science" or have a degree in a particular scientific field.
    It was in this time that there was a common understanding that we are all stewards of the planet and that it always requires our attention and focus. Today, it seems to be considered only upon whether you're speaking as a scientist or not?
    Why?
    We've lost the general precept that the Earth CANNOT sustain itself or repair all actions made to it.

    Today we consider fracking because it only provides a fuel at 1/2 the cost of gasoline, but destroys water tables and potentially threatens geologic formations deep underground.... It seems if you're against fracking, you're anti-American - which is really saying you need to be stupid, turn the other cheek and pretend nothing is really happening?

  176. What warming? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How long with CO2 rising and temperatures flat or declining will it take before this nonsense about CO2 being the control knob on the climate is thrown out? 20? 30? 50? Never?

    We have had CO2 go up 8-10% over the last 15 years but the temperatures have not. At some point you have to get your heads out of the models and back into reality. If your theory and reality differ then your theory is WRONG.

    1. Re:What warming? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The standard period for climatological research as defined by the World Meteorological Organization is 30 years. If the slope of the 30 year running mean of temperature goes negative then maybe you have may a point but it's not even close now. When you take into account the fact that we've just gone through the lowest solar minimum in a century, that La Ninas have dominated the ENSO cycle for the past decade and the PDO has shifted to a cool phase plus the increase in aerosols from the industrialization of SE Asia it's not that surprising that temperature rise has slowed down.

      dfw

  177. By 2080??? by doccus · · Score: 1

    Boy oh boy they must not want to scare anyone.. 2080 sound so.. "safe".. try 2020, if you want a more realistic date....

  178. I can still breathe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And, I live on Hawaii. Besides, the article is wrong.

    That's right, tree huggers. Look it up. Haven't broken "400" yet.

    Damn nerds, where the hell do you get information, anyway?

  179. Personal problem .. by rhalstead · · Score: 1

    Hmmm..I think the procreation problem is a personal one. I have kids and grand kids on two continents.

  180. I expect I'm still missing something basic by Faffin · · Score: 1

    But I have to wonder if climate science is too. I wonder what effect pure heat has on temperature :D. Anthropogenic heat generation has probably increased along similar, or perhaps even greater lines to that of carbon dioxide.

    Using figures pulled from wikipedia, average global temperature is 14C, current is 14.4, so from what I've found today, temperature is 5.6% above normal, and has increased 11.2% since 1880. Atmospheric carbon dioxide has gone from 280ppm to 400, so 0.012% increase...

    The greenhouse effect of carbon dioxide is far from linear too. The more there is, the less you get.

    Please only reply if you can shed some light on my observations. I've already tried to work it out for myself, and no, I don't want to trust the "scientific consensus".

  181. cyclic changes by rhalstead · · Score: 1

    The Milankovitch cycles are well known as the major reason for the climate cycles along with the precession of the equinoxes, The others are all bit players for the regular cycles. Normally the earth warms and the oceans give off CO2. It's been that way with all natural cycles as far as we can tell. Currently the oceans are serving as a giant sink for excess CO2 rather than giving off CO2. The accelerated melting of the ice packs, glaciers and polar ice caps has a tremendous stabilizing effect as each CC/gram of ice melting takes 100 calories. Nature's air conditioner is trying to hold the temperature down. That should stabilize at a higher temp once the North polar ice is gone and will go up more and faster as we lose each additional ice mass. Also as fresh water from the melting ice enters the oceans the "conveyor belts" will stop running. Who knows what that will do to the oceans ecological systems. Once the South polar ice cap shows even the beginnings of substantial melting we will be well past the point of no return. Just hope sea water temperature does not go high enough to release the Methane Hydrate deposits. Shallow deposits in the Arctic are already vaporizing in some areas just North and West of the US RUSSIAN border.

  182. Carbon dioxide is good for plant growth by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I thought everyone knew that. I guess I was wrong.

    Regarding global warming: I am willing to contribute any amount, up to 25 cents, to save the planet from global warming. I strongly oppose all attempts to make me pay any more than that to combat what I consider a total fraud.

    Of course, the nature of the people perpetrating this fraud contributed to my certainty that they are wrong.

  183. Projection by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Panaflex, do you know what projection is:

    You claim that I'm highly irrational for ignoring real possible solutions, even though I state that I hope Savory is right about AGW. That's pretty irrational.

    You claim that solutions are ignored, even though you ignore a carbon tax as somehow bad for the poor ("killing"). There is empirical evidence about that, and a body of theory that most economists agree with. YOU are the one ignoring possible solutions.

    You claim that I'm ignoring "good" empirical evidence, when Savory does not have good empirical evidence with respect to AGW -- just a theory. And besides, YOU are the one ignoring good empirical evidence from economics regarding a carbon tax and also regarding the causes of AGW.

    Projection, projection, projection. And you probably think you are smart than everyone else. That's projection too.

    1. Re:Projection by Panaflex · · Score: 1

      Sorry, I was just being a big jerk. I misread the emotion in the comment as sarcasm and spouted off. My apologies.

      --
      I said no... but I missed and it came out yes.