Global Warming is Here. Now What?

[RedEarth]

Global Warming is Here. Now What?
By Don Monkerud, Register-Pajaronian
Posted on January 2, 2007, Printed on January 3, 2007
http://www.alternet.org/story/45981/
The world's economy appears to be robust, but masks an approaching crisis -- the sustainability of future generations "can no longer be taken for granted." That's the opinion of the 1,300 scientists who participated in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, a four-year analysis of the world's ecosystems sponsored by the Worldwatch Institute and reported in Vital Signs 2006-2007.

Examining 24 major ecosystems that support human life, scientists found that 15 are "being pushed beyond their sustainable limits," toward a change that will be "abrupt and potentially irreversible." Humanity's genius at economic development has taxed our ecosystems to the point where we face "imminent ecological and economic crises."

Economically, the world is booming. Steel, aluminum, vehicle production and Gross World Product set records in 2005, as did Internet usage and cell phones. Unfortunately, the production of atmospheric CO2 concentrations, the main greenhouse gas, is also booming -- 2004 measured the highest annual increase ever. Average temperatures in 2005 were the hottest ever recorded on the earth's surface, the warmest in 10,000 years.

Warming has led to the destruction of 20 percent of the world's coral reefs and 25 percent of the world's mangrove forests. Sea ice fell to the lowest levels ever recorded and almost a third of the Arctic Ocean, normally covered by ice in the summer, has melted. Weather-related disasters, attributed to global warming, reached a record cost of $204 billion, with record hurricane, forest fire and tornado seasons in the US.

Global warming is here and scientists predict that the number and severity of weather-caused disasters will increase as the earth warms through the heat trapping effects of greenhouse gases created by burning oil, coal and natural gas, which accounts for 80 percent of the world's energy use. With the US consuming roughly a quarter of the world's oil and, along with automobile exhaust, creating almost a quarter of the world's greenhouse gases, pressure is mounting to switch to alternative sources of fuel to modify the amount of damage created by global warming in the future.

http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/45981/

[Deep13]

1. It's too late.

At this point I doubt if even draconian measures would be sufficient.

[phantom power]

2. Now the fighting and the dying begins.

[NMDemDist2]

3. that gave me a chill

i'm off to start digging the garden for food this summer

:scared:

[phantom power]

4. Don't mind me. I'm suffering writers block at work, and I'm sublimating...

all my angst into the E/E forum. Either that or I'm suffering angst from E/E which I'm sublimating as writers block. Yeah. One or the other.

[NMDemDist2]

5. but it's true PP

maybe not here, maybe not right away but the oil is almost gone and the fresh water is close behind

I can live with out Oil, but water is another story

[phantom power]

7. Well, it is true. But I'm also wallowing in my gloom.

I'll just schlep on back to my damned gloomy place and face my writing demons.



"Remember, nobody minds, nobody cares."

[MountainLaurel]

12. I think you could be right

Sigh.

[brokensymmetry]

6. Now comes the die-off.

Questions remain about who dies, and perhaps about
the shape of the curve (when it starts, how fast it
proceeds), but I suspect that's all pretty much
a done deal, too.

Ironic, is it not, that we fancy ourselves to be
smart - but behave like a colony of yeast cells.

[Delphinus]

8. From the article:

The transition should have been begun 20 years ago: Every delay makes it more difficult.

I know it's too late to stop it - but perhaps, with concerted effort, we can mitigate its effects upon us, and future generations.

[The Traveler]

9. I think at this point

we need to focus more on preparing for the inevitable consequences. Obviously, we need to transition to a low emissions technology base as soon as possible ... if possible.

Grrrrr ... somehow "I told you so" offers little comfort, don't you think? I think it is too late to stop climate change. But we can martial our wits to survive it, and we can stop throwing gas on the growing fire.

[hatrack]

10. More studies, that's what! Lots and lots and LOTS of them!

I'll bet President Pantload is going to talk about research a WHOLE BUNCH in the next State oF the Union speech!!!

[Javaman]

11. Now we wait for the other shoe to drop; peak oil

Then it's game set and match.