Spiralling consequences of Consumption

[mkirkpatrick]

Michael, I sincerely hope this time we take global warming seriously.

Yes I do too,i see that our prime minister Blair has jumped on the bandwagon,and is
talking of ways to reduce carbon emissions,hopefully if a few more heads of state can
agree a plan,we may just save a calamity happening,Thanks foryour reply dipayankar/


regards michael.

[dipayankar]

In India, we have been using the alternate source of energy for a long time as dependence on petroleum products was proving to be way too costly..

Yes I do too,i see that our prime minister Blair has jumped on the bandwagon,and is
talking of ways to reduce carbon emissions,hopefully if a few more heads of state can
agree a plan,we may just save a calamity happening,Thanks foryour reply dipayankar/


regards michael.

[mkirkpatrick]

In India, we have been using the alternate source of energy for a long time as dependence on petroleum products was proving to be way too costly..

What is the alternate source they are using?I have traveled the highways of India,and there seems to be many more lorries on the road that any other form of transport!

I would think that solar power would be used much there,you get much more sun than
we do here in the UK.

The roads here in the UK are slowly becoming gridlocked,big cities are now charging a
fee to enter the cities at certain times of the day.trying to encourage more to use public
transport.

Our local news has reported that fish stocks are down around British waters,and retrictions may have to be imposed.


regards michael.

[dipayankar]

In some states we are using wind power. Also now we are seriously looking at nuclear power...

[mkirkpatrick]

Thanks dipayankar,would prefer wind power over nuclear.

Reported today in our newspapers,polar bears stranded many miles out to sea,on fast
melting iceberg,warmer air in the artic is causing the ice to melt weeks earlier than before.it is estimated that polar bears will become extinct within 25/50 years from now.

The same paper reported that the British climate is rapidly changing,and that we seem
to be heading for just two seasons a year,instead of the usual four!

regards michael.

[Elizabeth]

Thanks dipayankar,would prefer wind power over nuclear.

Reported today in our newspapers,polar bears stranded many miles out to sea,on fast
melting iceberg,warmer air in the artic is causing the ice to melt weeks earlier than before.it is estimated that polar bears will become extinct within 25/50 years from now.

The same paper reported that the British climate is rapidly changing,and that we seem
to be heading for just two seasons a year,instead of the usual four!


regards michael.

When I first moved from New Hampshire to Florida, I could not recognize any change of seasons, but after a few years I came to notice the subtle differences. Plus I came to recognize there are many seasons depending on how one wishes to divide the year. In addition to winter, spring, summer, and fall, we have hurricane season, snowbird season, brushfire season, termite season, and alligator mating season, just to name a few.

Even in the unlikely event that everyone woke up tomorrow fully concious and aware of all that needs to be done to prevent the changes - and actually did them - I don't think the momentum could be stopped soon enough that major climatic changes would not occur. Perhaps if we try not to be too attached to the way things used to be, then we can be more okay with the parts that are inevitable.

Yes, we should do what we can and encourage others to do so as well, but human psychology the way it is on pushing deadlines and a preference for crisis management rather than preventative measures makes it obvious that the wise need to recognize certain levels of inevitability and deal with reality.

[mkirkpatrick]

I agree Elizabeth that prehaps it is too late,some experts suggest that even if we stopped
all emissions tomorrow it would still be too late!Other more optimistic suggest that it would
greatly lessen the effects.

Yes crisis management seems to be in vogue at the moment,where I work for the National
Health Service they are always forming "crisis" teams,rather than tackling the root problems,such as stafff shortages,mis-management,underfunding,etc,they wait for a leak
to occur,then try and shore it up before there is a flood?


regards michael.

[Elizabeth]

I believe they are both correct in that it is already too late, but if we stopped all emissions tomorrow, it would greatly lessen the effect.

The question is "What does too late mean?"

"Too late" means that the avalanche is already in motion for the end of the world as we knew it, but what kind of existence might we have a chance of? The sooner we stop messing up the planet, the more of it we have a chance at preserving. Some things we will preserve just because humans like them - for example, polar bears will not really go extinct because they make a nice attraction at the zoo. Other species are not so lucky as to have garnered human favor.

Not all humans will survive, but there are too many of us running over the planet anyway. For those who do survive, life will be particularly unpleasant until things stabilize - so those who die early will actually, IMO, be the lucky ones.

There are obvious ways humans will survive, but people don't want to think about that until it is a crisis situation (which, unfortunatly, will subtract from the quality available if we were to start planning now). Underground living facilities within higher ground - and away from tectonic plates - makes the most sense to me. Ground temperature stays at 72F no matter how hot or cold the surface is, and that is an excellent temperature for humans. Mass transit would be able to be made much more practical than even can be done in urban sprawl, and security would be able to be vastly increased between the various pods. We could do it up really nicely if we started now, but they will probably wait until the only option is to shore up some old mines.

[mkirkpatrick]

Thanks Elizabeth,I hope they do not start shoring up the mines here,near where I live
within 60 miles,there are lots of abandoned tin mines,which at the moment are home
to many bats.I agree polar bears will survive in zoos,along with the tiger and the elephant,those less popular critters will be left high and dry.

As I am in advanced years 60s I will no doubt get by until I pass out of this level,it is those who are very young now,who will feel the caustic effects.


regards michael.

[Elizabeth]

Well, I rather imagine they will evict at least most of the bats... perhaps just leave one mine for bats and other animals. I understand that cattle emit a lot of methane gas, so I suppose that will help keep the bat population under control in there.