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January 27, 2005
worried about weather
This Story entitled "Global warming approaching critical point" has me quite worried. This is not the first warning we've had that we're reaching a critical point regarding weather change but this time they've suggested that the change could be irreparable in less than a decade. With the major offender being the US and Bush in for almost half a decade yet, there is no chance that they will be working on cutting back their emissions. China is becoming a bigger part of the problem as they feverishly try to 'modernize'.
I'm sure we're going to see more and more that the 'strange' weather we've been seeing in the last few years becomes the new normal. Bigger winter storms like we're seeing on the East Coast, heavier rains like we're seeing on the West Coast. Warmer than ever in Utah, snow in Texas.
I can imagine that once the weather patterns change and widespread famine and calamity spread, anarachy will follow close behind. How will farmers know when or what to plant when the weather can no longer be predicted? Society will begin to break down and groups of armed bandits will rule the streets at night. (Sounds a little like Iraq, doesn't it?)
Yesterday on Daily Planet they had a story which talked about how 14% of the garbage in landfills in North America is food that people had thrown away. I'll bet once produce becomes more scarce we'll learn to use more of what we have.
I read somewhere that the balance of the world's ecology began to shift the moment man learned agriculture and began to settle down. Since that time we've acted like we aren't part of the planet but lords of it. We've hacked and built and altered it to fit us rather than working with it. This is not a new idea but I thought it was an interesting thought that it's been a downward slide since way back then.
I don't know what's going to happen but I have no doubt that it will radically affect all of our lives. World War 3 may be more about humanity versus the weather rather than some countries against others.
Quotes from the CNN story:
Global warming is approaching the critical point of no return, after which widespread drought, crop failure and rising sea-levels would be irreversible, an international climate change task force warned Monday.
According to the report, urgent action is needed to stop the global average temperature rising by 2 degrees Celsius above the level in 1750 -- the approximate start of the Industrial Revolution when mankind first started significantly polluting the atmosphere with carbon dioxide.Beyond a 2 degrees rise, "the risks to human societies and ecosystems grow significantly" the report said, adding there would be a risk of "abrupt, accelerated, or runaway climate change."
It warned of "climatic tipping points" such as the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets melting and the Gulf Stream shutting down.
Posted by John at January 27, 2005 02:52 AM