The New Climate "Normal": Abrupt Sea Level Rise and Predictions of Civilization Collapse

[marmar]

The New Climate "Normal": Abrupt Sea Level Rise and Predictions of Civilization Collapse

Monday, 03 August 2015 00:00
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | Report


We know things are a bit "off" when a rainforest is on fire.

Over 400 acres of the Queets Rainforest, located in Olympic National Park in Washington State, nearby where I live, have burned recently, and it is continuing to burn as I type this. Fires in these rainforests have historically been rare, as the area typically receives in excess of 200 inches of rain annually.

But this is all changing now.

The new normal is that there is no longer any "normal."

The new normal regarding climate disruption is that, for the planet, today is better than tomorrow.

.....(snip).....

As if that's not enough, Hansen's study comes on the heels of another study published in Science, which shows that global sea levels could rise by at least 20 feet, even if governments manage to keep global temperature increases to within the agreed upon "safe" limit of 2 degrees Celsius. The study warns that it is quite possible that 75 feet of sea level rise could well already be unstoppable given current carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere and recent studies that show how rapidly Greenland and several Antarctic ice sheets are melting. ...............(more)

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/32131-the-new-climate-normal-abrupt-sea-level-rise-and-predictions-of-civilization-collapse

[cilla4progress]

1. Agreed.

Better get ready. My reading is telling me that extra-terrestrials are watching and will be intervening shortly.

Sounds like I'm kidding ...

[NRaleighLiberal]

2. wow - what a sobering (and sadly, not surprising) read.

[Uncle Joe]

3. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, marmar.

[daleanime]

4. kick, kick, kick....

[JDPriestly]

5. Human civilization exceeded the capacity of the earth to nurture it

some time ago.

Is there really anything we can do to prevent a total or near total collapse?

[haikugal]

6. Good, sober read...

Thanks marmar.

[Hydra]

7. Lots of us have wondered and asked if we have passed the tipping point

And I fear the answer is: A long time ago.

[tex-wyo-dem]

8. Climate change is, without a doubt, by far ...

The most important issue of our time. Everything else pales in comarison, because if you don't have a livable planet, nothing else really matters.

I came to the conclusion several years ago that a major shift in awareness, attitudes, technonogy and lifestyles was going to have to happen in a hurry to have a snowball's chance (you know the thing Inhofe threw on the Senate floor trying to make the point that global warming was not real) of averting societal catastrophe. I've had little hope that this could ever happen, but the recent and rapid shift in attitudes towards same-sex marriage has given me some positivity that we will see the same sort of transformation towards CC.

[glinda]

9. Very true. But I think the only solution in part is

that those who are pressing the actions that continue to obstruct and promote must be warned or imprisoned. I see no other way unless we are just going to stand around talking about it forever and a day.

[cstanleytech]

10. I disagree that climate change is the biggest.

Sure its in the top 5 atleast but the #1 is our total population, thats just not sustainable in the long term even if the climate wasnt changing.

[hay rick]

13. Population and climate change are two sides of the same coin.

Our climate would not be modified by human activity if we had fewer people OR a much more efficient economy in terms of carbon footprint per person. Our current technology does not allow us to support our current population without increasing CO2 levels in the atmosphere. The problem can be diagnosed as too many people or inadequate technology. Either way we're fucking up big time.

[tex-wyo-dem]

19. I agree...cause and effect...

The effect is climate change, and the causes are numerous: over-population is right at the top of the list of direct causes.

[Egnever]

12. Ugh

"We need the deniers to get out of the way. They are risking everyone's future," Box told Esquire. "The Koch brothers are criminals.... They should be charged with criminal activity because they're putting the profits of their business ahead of the livelihoods of millions of people, and even life on earth."

I don't understand greed of that magnitude. It just does not compute.

[randome]

18. Not sure it's greed but a singular unwillingness to think outside the Present.

The Future implies aging and death so it's better to ignore it. Pretend that everything is fine.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]TECT in the name of the Representative approves of this post.[/center][/font][hr]

[hedda_foil]

14. Grim and Grimmer.

More bad news for the planets' oceans comes from a recent study that shows that plankton, the basis of the entire food chain, are threatened by ocean acidification. Some species of plankton will die out, while others will flourish, creating an imbalance that the report's authors say will be "a big problem," given that plankton produce half the total oxygen supply for the planet.

Pause for a moment before reading further and ponder the implications of that: The source of the world's oxygen is in major peril.

<snip>

Box thinks there is at least a 50 percent probability that the world is already on track to go well over the 2-degree Celsius politically accepted maximum limit of global warming, and agrees with most climate scientists that we are on a trajectory toward more like 4-5-degree Celsius warming in the near to mid-term future.

When asked what amount of warming would throw Greenland into irreversible ice loss, Box answered "between two and three degrees."

When Greenland goes, that is enough sea level rise to destroy every coastal city on the planet. Speaking of Antarctica, Box said: "Abrupt sea level rise is upon us."

[Admiral Loinpresser]

15. Let's keep kicking until people get it.

Let's hope it is not too late.

[7wo7rees]

16. Dahr minces no words and tells it like it is.

He is an amazing young man. We had the privilege of dining with him at the Vets for Peace National Convention in 2005.

[snagglepuss]

17. k and r