Climate Change

[Colossus 2]

Relax already seen this on Discovery Channel and read some on wikipedia so no need to explane, but I think "less then 20 years" is to put it on the edge.

Global warming

Climate change

[blackdog~ 0]

A lot of the strange temperatures this year are due to the somewhat weak El Nino. We've got 20 inches of rain this year in San Diego.

[Ade662081 0]

I have a bit of a scientific background, including some university work on the carbon cycle and climatological modelling (not a huge amount) and I have to admit to being undecided about global warming. However, I think that reducing carbon emissions is a very good thing for several reasons.

1. Do we really want to take a huge gamble with what is, let's face it, our only planet? If you thought there was a chance that something would happen to make your house uninhabitable, wouldn't you take preventive measures, even if you knew it might not happen?

2. Our current energy supply (fossil fuel) is finite. We have a while yet before we hit trouble (current thinking anywhere from 20-100 years), but we will need a replacement, possibly within the lifetimes of people on this forum. Meanwhile, anything we can do to use our supply more efficiently has to be a good thing.

3. There are dozens of other pollutants released along with carbon. A reduction in energy use, materials used etc coupled with recycling to reduce waste disposal will run down many of the other nasties which our air and water gets filled with.

Alongside this, poverty reduction and fair trade for the third world can play a huge part in improving the environment. If poor countries become better off, they are more able to implement the kind of environmental improvements seen in the West in recent years (clean air acts, better industrial regulation, more public transport etc etc).

What gets in the way of this? Too much self interest from the people who should be taking a lead here (ie developed countries) and ridiculous media scaremongering that clouds meaningful debate on the issue. Whether man-made climate change is a reality or not, we have a lot to do to get to a way of life that is sustainable beyond this generation.

Ade

[Postduifje 0]

For people finding the pentagon report a bit fictional, bear in mind that in these kind of research usually produce three scenarios for the future, and this probably is the worst-case one. Although odds are the outcome isn't as drastic as this, it still is possible so if you want to be on the right track the worst-case scenario is the one to anticipate to.

[nSe7eN 0]

Quote[/b] ]Now the Pentagon tells Bush: climate change will destroy us

· Secret report warns of rioting and nuclear war

· Britain will be 'Siberian' in less than 20 years

· Threat to the world is greater than terrorism

Mark Townsend and Paul Harris in New York

Sunday February 22, 2004

The Observer

Climate change over the next 20 years could result in a global catastrophe costing millions of lives in wars and natural disasters..

A secret report, suppressed by US defence chiefs and obtained by The Observer, warns that major European cities will be sunk beneath rising seas as Britain is plunged into a 'Siberian' climate by 2020. Nuclear conflict, mega-droughts, famine and widespread rioting will erupt across the world.

The document predicts that abrupt climate change could bring the planet to the edge of anarchy as countries develop a nuclear threat to defend and secure dwindling food, water and energy supplies. The threat to global stability vastly eclipses that of terrorism, say the few experts privy to its contents.

'Disruption and conflict will be endemic features of life,' concludes the Pentagon analysis. 'Once again, warfare would define human life.'

The findings will prove humiliating to the Bush administration, which has repeatedly denied that climate change even exists. Experts said that they will also make unsettling reading for a President who has insisted national defence is a priority.

This picture from worth1000.com describes what you mean, but that needs more than 20 years, as the quote you posted says the nuclear dust after a nuclear war could cause a new ice age that’s much faster than unnatural changes caused by pollution!

[breaker44 0]

Those pictures came from greenpeace. Better be careful w/ those.

-BreakerOut

[nSe7eN 0]

Those pictures came from greenpeace. Better be careful w/ those.

-BreakerOut

Its seems they are really for Greenpeace!

[theavonlady 2]

Those pictures came from greenpeace. Better be careful w/ those.

-BreakerOut

Its seems they are really for Greenpeace!  

I'm for Head & Shoulders!

This explains nSe7eN's picture, above:

Quote[/b] ]Dandruff is as bad for the Earth as it is for your image

By Geoffrey Lean, Environment Editor

10 April 2005

Millions of tons of dandruff are circling the Earth, blocking out sunlight, causing rain and spreading disease, startling new research shows.

Flaky as it may seem, the research - partly funded by the German government - may provide the solution to one of the world's most enduring pollution mysteries: the origin of much of the vast clouds of fine dust in the atmosphere. It suggests that more than half of the dust is a rich soup of organic detritus, including particles of decaying leaves, animal hair, dead skin and dandruff.

The research is published in the April issue of Science magazine by Dr Ruprecht Jaenicke of Mainz University - who has been leading the study for the past 15 years - and says "it has got to be taken very seriously".

The discovery has intrigued scientists, who have long known that countless billions of tiny particles - some 8,000 times smaller than the thickness of a human hair - are wafted around the globe, affecting the climate and reducing the amount of sunlight reaching the earth by one 10th, with incalculable consequences for agriculture.

It is known that about 60 per cent of them come from pollution, soot, dust, ash, desert sand and sea salt, but the origin of the rest has remained a mystery.

Now after taking air samples from the Amazon to Greenland, and Germany to Russia's Lake Baikal, Dr Jaenicke calculates that there are a billion tons of organic detritus in the atmosphere.

"Whenever you brush your hair or take off a sweater, you release a cloud of biological dust," he says. "When a bird flies through the air it leaves behind particles from its feathers, and when the wind blows through a tree it releases dust from the leaves."

He has, however, not yet done the work to break down the constituents of the dust clouds, so that he can tell precisely how much is dandruff.

He says that the particles take up water in the atmosphere, and that ice forms around them, increasing rainfall. But their effect on global warming is unclear, as they would be involved in different processes to increase or modify it.

Dr Gene Shinn of the US Geological Survey believes that the discovery could help to explain the epidemic of asthma around the world. He says that levels of the disease have soared in the Caribbean after increases in dust borne across the Atlantic Ocean.

[Acecombat 0]

DANDRUFF??

Is that what the pic shows , those white pieces are dandruff?

Hahaha ...

[Jinef 2]

It's amazing, a real problem is shown and people don't seem to get it. Too many computer games in my opinion.

[Daddl 10]

One comment: the pictures that started this thread don't prove Climate Change - they simply show examples of how the effects will look like. They serve to make people more aware of a real problem - but it seems people prefer trenchfights and nitpicking over looking at the big picture.

Long term climate change is a fact and it's a real problem for people around the world.