very alarming..

[TMA_1]

Global warming is a very real threat, the most dangerous threat humankind is facing at this moment. gases and sediments are building at an alarming rate, and soon we will not have the ability to change what has been done. It is an obivous sign of the times (in my opinion).

I was reading some blogs from different sites and I came across this right wing blog. It is frightening! This publisher posted what some scientists from different committies have found, and what they want the UN to do.

WHat this publisher says is pure ignorance. Throughout his post, all he does is malign his peers, and spins what his peers say. He attacks the opinions as being vague, and because of this being untrue. He laughs it off as if the opinions hold no weight, but of course without adding any constructive criticism. He then takse what his peers are saying and interprits them as attacks! seriously, the delusion is so crystal, that it plastered a wry smile on my face. here are hte links.

this is why things wont change.

http://diplomadic.blogspot.com/2005/01/fight-global-warming-turn-on-ac-open.html

and the comments by his sycophants  here...

http://www.haloscan.com/comments/diplomad/110669525039311251/

pretty scary eh?

[nemafakei]

Some of his criticism is worthwhile, actually. The section following "Check out the recommendations in the intro. Aren't they original?" is very telling - of how much the Labour Party is influenced by its big donors (got to fill that

[GUNWOUNDS]

Thing is TMA..... technological humans have only been able to observe the earth for how long?  150 years?  We really cant know for sure whether we are warming the globe or if this is just some thousand year cycle the Earth Goes through.  Honestly, if you ask a scientist what the earth will be like in a thousand years he will just shrug his shoulders and give you an opinion....nothing more. I'm not denying global warming but i do know that we arent 100% positive that it isnt a natural global phenomenon.  I mean the earth did go thru many ice ages, freezing and unfreezing,  and whatever else before us.   And people up north have record blizzards...hell even in the Carolinas we had the blizzard of 96'.  Some say we have about as much effect on global warming as amoebas have on the temperature of a basketball.

[GUNWOUNDS]

found this in your link....

Interesting. Let's go see what footnote number 10 says. You'll find it on page 15,

Other influences on climate were much more important than the rising greenhouse gas concentrations for at least the next hundred years, and the global average surface temperature in 1850 was probably a bit cooler than in 1750. But thermometer measurements

[Edric O]

Thing is TMA..... technological humans have only been able to observe the earth for how long?  150 years?  We really cant know for sure whether we are warming the globe or if this is just some thousand year cycle the Earth Goes through.  Honestly, if you ask a scientist what the earth will be like in a thousand years he will just shrug his shoulders and give you an opinion....nothing more. I'm not denying global warming but i do know that we arent 100% positive that it isnt a natural global phenomenon.  I mean the earth did go thru many ice ages, freezing and unfreezing,  and whatever else before us.  And people up north have record blizzards...hell even in the Carolinas we had the blizzard of 96'.  Some say we have about as much effect on global warming as amoebas have on the temperature of a basketball.

Basketballs don't glow in the dark with thousands of lights from amoeba cities. All you have to do is look at the night side of the Earth to see what huge impact humans are having. Our agriculture alone uses up nearly half of the Earth's land surface... It's not that hard to imagine what our industry could do.

For example many scientific studies performed by medical scientists are totally bogues.  One report will say that lycopene is great for men and reduces cancer.  Another report will come out and say it increases cancer.  I have a friend who is so disillusioned with scientific journals that he quit working for a research lab in duke and decided to go back to school to become a Physicians Assistant.  He is tired of research....hell he disproved on company's research... so they withdrew their funding of his lab.  Because they didnt want his refutations results published.  Yes that how "honorable" and "inbiased" science is today.  Its just as corrupted with outside interests as is anything else.

Of course. The problem with outside interests, though, is that you can never be too sure in which direction they're pushing. For instance, I believe that outside interests are working furiously against the acceptance of global warming. After all, a lot of very big oil and car companies have a lot to lose from environmental legislation.

I expect all scientific studies to be more or less biased in favour of the political and economic status quo. That's the way things have always been. Those with the money and the power want to keep their money and power.

[Acriku]

http://www.physorg.com/news72539739.html

This story talks about how a massive blowout of methane escaped out of small volcanoes on the ocean floor and was blown out into the atmosphere. The scientists say that this is another piece to the puzzle of global warming, where decaying methane deposits may be cause to historical and current global warming. Interesting eh?

[GUNWOUNDS]

Fascinating.

[Dante]

Either we learn to adapt or we all die. Note I don't specify what we need to adapt to.

I'm so disillusioned with the human race that I don't think I really care which option comes to pass. Well actually I do, I'd prefer adaptation because that way I (might) live longer. But global extermination of the species would be very amusing, albeit briefly.

[Lord J]

I think (and a certain genius known as Stephen Hawking tends to agree) that space is the only answer for survival of our species.  No, it won't be easy, or cheap, or fun; but just building a colony on the Moon would double our chances for survival!

Of course, for most of your conservatives here, you start talking about colonizing the Moon and they start moving their finger in a circle pointed at their temple.  People are so freaking stupid when it comes to space.

Don't think a Moon colony is possible because there are so few resources on the Moon?  Do some research on something called the "Biodome" (I mentioned it in the Underwater Wars fanfic).

[nemafakei]

Mmm. Hawking is an astrophysicist, so he's not exactly the best person to ask when it comes to mundane things like how quickly we need to get of *this* planet. Even the climates of other planets aren't really anything to do with his field.

[TMA_1]

I feel you Dante, but I am staring to think that these evils have always existed in man, and that to look only at its darkest qualities would paralyse me to the core.

But I do still hold a gloomy view on the future of mankind. So many things seem to be going wrong. There are so many things I have yet to learn. I feel so ignorant and yet I know something is deeply wrong. I want to help but I dont see how I could learn all that I could to do anyhting to help. I have doubts, but I know that what I believe is truth. I believe mankind can be redeemed, but the chances of an awakening are slim to nil. I believe the reckoning is close, when, I am not sure. Now I am pontificating, and I will stop.

[Edric O]

But I do still hold a gloomy view on the future of mankind. So many things seem to be going wrong.

I am much more hopeful about the future, because, as bad as things are now, they used to be far worse in the past (by "the past" I mean previous centuries). Mankind is, overall, improving. Of course it's a slow improvement and there are occasional setbacks, but that is to be expected.

Believing that the future will be better than the present is the first step in making the future better than the present. Pessimism tends to leave us paralyzed and unwilling to act, because we think that anything we do is futile. Hope is a great motivating force, and we need more of it.

There are so many things I have yet to learn. I feel so ignorant and yet I know something is deeply wrong.

Socrates once said that wisdom is knowing what you don't know. ;)

[TMA_1]

I dont know, I mean I think it is pretty clear. We can see a direct correlation between the rising CO2 rates and the rate of temperature growth. CO2 buildup has caused severe greenhouse effects on this planet before, and are associated with the extinction of thousands of animals. Right now we can see an unnaturally high rate of growth in CO2 and other greenhouse gas levels. You can even see the effect this is having on the environment already in places like Greenland.

[Purge]

But that's more the ignorance of man than the evil of man.

[MrFlibble]

If you ask me, I think war, famine and poverty are far more alarming than certain global natural processes our narrow human minds haven't yet come to completely understand. IMHO, the illusion that the scientific approach is the ultimate tool of cognition should be dismissed. Humanity if not limited to its rational side; and it seems to me that our science is not (yet) ready to adequately assess the impact that the evolving humankind is having on its habitat.

[Dante]

That's ridiculous. Even if the scientific method were inadequate, just ignoring the problem in favour of something else is a recipe for disaster.

War is not so alarming. At least wars end when the participants all die. Poverty is another issue altogether, and famine is directly linked to global warming anyway.

As for moving into space... I don't like that idea, but not for reasons of practicality. Firstly, it sends the wrong message to the population. "We've cocked up things so badly here, we have to leave it to rot and move on in order to save ourselves." Secondly, it will leave behind far too much. Thirdly, it will create a pattern. Once the moon or wherever becomes uninhabitable as well, the population attempts to move on and repeat the process. Humanity would essentially become a plague (moreso than already that is), moving into an area for a few millenia, sucking all of the life out of it, and then moving on again.

Actually I think that would be nicely ironic. Hmm.

[MrFlibble]

Once the moon or wherever becomes uninhabitable as well, the population attempts to move on and repeat the process. Humanity would essentially become a plague (moreso than already that is), moving into an area for a few millenia, sucking all of the life out of it, and then moving on again.

Space colonization would only add a new dimension to a tradition approved by generations.

[Acriku]

Well, so we've messed up the world (assuming we did it). What can we do about it? Being more "green" has yet to achieve the level of phenonema spread throughout the world, and changing 6 billion people's mindset is extremely difficult. So, with that said, are we a hopeless race with instinctive tendencies to ignoring the long-term consequences of our actions? The realization of that is somewhat alarming...

[MrFlibble]

Well, my opinion my sound unusual, but I think humanity really didn't screw anything up. I mean, the natural conditions become better or worse for certain species over time. Yes, conditions have changed (probably worsened) due to the impact of human civilization on its surroundings. But, I perceive this as a natural event (like the Ice Age, or dinosaurs dying out), so there are two ways here: either there is a way of remedying the situation without the need to abandon/destroy our current accomplishments and with minimal risk to the existence of humankind as it is, or, if no such way exists, then humanity will have to adapt to worsened conditions to ensure survival.

As it seems to me, the factors that are causing global warming cannot be simply removed without drastically changing the whole way of our life, so the only option is to take measures that will counter the negative effects of it.

[alchemi2]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/5236482.stm  ;)

[Ford]

Well, media is known to overreact. But maybe we would do good in creating new environment-friendly technology, even if the current problem is not true.

[TMA_1]

hmm I dont think that there is anything natural about the condition of our planet. I think the blame  runs squarely with us humans. I agree it mainly is a matter of ignorance. At the same time though, we have shut our ears to the problem, and this is more than ignorance.

Colonizing space is hundreds of years away. We have not nearly put enough funds into space projects to even think of a plan for making any sort of colony outside the grips of this planet.

[Ford]

Colonizing space is hundreds of years away. We have not nearly put enough funds into space projects to even think of a plan for making any sort of colony outside the grips of this planet.

President Bush seems to be eager to build a base on the moon by 2030  :) .

[MrFlibble]

hmm I dont think that there is anything natural about the condition of our planet. 

This is because your view is influenced by the "nature versus civilization" opposition. I, on the contrary, am inclined to view civilization as a part of the human species' nature. Truly, mankind can be viewed as a parasitic species, but heck, what can we do about it? Are you ready to live in a cave or under a tree with a fig leaf as your only garment? Won't that be more unnatural than our current ways of life?

As for space colonization, I think ocean floor goes first.

[Dude_Doc]

As for space colonization, I think ocean floor goes first.

I doubt that. Space is easier.