UK Predicts Social Chaos and Collapse of Biosphere in 40 Years
Submitted by advisor on Mon, 09/28/2009 - 12:07am.
The UK's Department of Energy and Climate Change have raised the predicted temperature rise to 4 degrees C (7.2 F) by the mid to late 2050's.
"Mark New, a climate expert at Oxford who has organised the conference, said: "If we get a weak agreement at Copenhagen then there is not just a slight chance of a 4C rise, there is a really big chance. It's only in the last five years that scientists have started to realise that 4C is becoming increasingly likely and something we need to look at seriously." Limiting global warming to 2C could only be achieved with new technology to suck greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. "I think the policy makers know that. I think there is an implicit understanding that they are negotiating not about 2C but 3C or 5C." The Guardian
The study, by Britain's Met Office Hadley Center, echoed a U.N. report last week which found that climate changes were outpacing worst-case scenarios forecast in 2007 by the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Reuters
This would mean Katrina flooding, or Los Angeles fires, or Georgia drought, or 1930's dust bowl simultaneously and from sea to shining sea, AND within the lives of many of our readers, and all of our children.
For appliance manufacturers it may mean a signficant replacement market if parts, materials, labor, and energy can be secured, and the roads are cleared of debris, and the factories are willing to work on barter.
Note of Explanation: UK did not exactly predict Social Chaos or Collapse of the Biosphere. It just seemed obvious to us if their 4C prediction became true.
Settled Science?
From BBC News yesterday. What Happened To Global Warming? This headline may come as a bit of a surprise, so too might that fact that the warmest year recorded globally was not in 2008 or 2007, but in 1998.But it is true. For the last 11 years we have not observed any increase in global temperatures.And our climate models did not forecast it, even though man-made carbon dioxide, the gas thought to be responsible for warming our planet, has continued to rise.So what on Earth is going on? For the rest of the article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8299079.stm Does it make sense to implement policies that will put our country, our economy at huge disadvantages to other countries? Increase energy costs and taxes on all of our citizens. Lose more manufacturing jobs when we don't even know if there is a problem? And if there is, if we are causing it. And if any of these actions will help whatsoever! In most cases our actions just shift the manufacturing to countries with far worse environmental records, i.e. China. But at least we can all feel good about ourselves in the mean time. That we are "solving" a problem that may or may not exist, that we may or may not be causing. I don't know that China is too concerned about what they throw up into the atmosphere. And........the Phillies Rockies game was snowed out.
Computor trouble.....
Sorry for the double posting,. My computer crashed
Good luck saving the world......
I think it is a little absurd that we as humans feel that we can save an earth that "accidently" formed at its own free will. How can we control something that just up and evolved out of nothing with no direction from anyone? I guess this once I am going to concede to the fact that the end of the world will come about in a giant "warming". I am also convinced that there is nothing we can do to stop it or slow it down. The One who created it has predicted how it will end.
2 Peter 3:12 - Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
We can guess, the "Big Crunch" theory is possibly true. At the core, all the elements will melt with fervent heat. And then.....booom!!!! As written, we look for new heavens and a new Earth.
2 Peter 3:13 - Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
2 Peter 3:10 - But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
Revelation 21:1 - And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
No more sea.........Relax all you doomsdayers. You will not be swallowed up by the oceans rising due to melting ice caps and glaciers. If you prefer you can go out in a ball of fire........
Can Do!
Really? Let's just say that the UK prediction is correct AND it is somehow foretold in the Bible.....you would still do nothing if there were something that could be done? Where's the American can-do'ish-ness that our people are so famous for? I would be more apt to do something even if there were nothing that could be done.
To be clear, there's no need to save the Earth. Earth's fine and very robust. Just need to save the thin finicky greasy layer that covers it.
Doing something not a bad idea....maybe
I am not against doing something, but doing something that could destroy the world economy without having clear direction of where it will lead is irresponsible. For the most part people on both sides of the argument refuse to believe anything pointed out by the other side. This is also irresponsible. You asked Whirlpool if they believe global warming is "natural or manmade". In my opinion I don't care which it is. I do care about being a responsible inhabitant of the earth and feel that trumps our belief on the cause of global warming. I knew of a local guy who was trying to save an old house and in doing so ended up unintentionally knocking it down. The "anti capitalist" crowds protesting in Pittsburg seem to be the type who don't really care if they knock America down as long as they get their way. Not sure if you followed the story but out of a few thousand protesters there were 190 arrests. On September 11 there was a protest against irresponsible government in our nations capital attended by well over a million and I haven't been able to find a report of a single arrest. I am glad to be on the side of the responsible people contributing to the cause of liberty and job creation and am always happy to see those "evil corporations" taking a stand to help the environment. I hope to be alive in 50 years and hope your website is still up and running. If the earth is still standing we will know who was right. Not that it matters, but would make an interesting conversation nevertheless....
Japan is 50% more energy
Japan is 50% more energy efficient per capita than we are. Cleaning up our act isn't going to destroy the economy, it's going to be the best thing that every happened for the economy. New domestic industries, replacement and retrofit work, engineering and research work. Europe has $6 - $8 gasoline, and they seem to be doing peachy.
Natural and Man made makes all the difference. If it's Man made, we can fix it, but if it's Natural we just sell bibles.
I'm not sure of the meaning of your last point.
There were a few thousand protesters but only 190 were arrested. They should have been able to do better than that.
Japan's robust economy?
I was under the impression that Japan's economy has been stagnant for 20 years. Is that not the case? As for my last point, those whose one track mind is "climate change" do not care about anything but that. Not life, liberty or the pursuit of happiness. Those of us with reasonable goals care about the environment, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
You mentioned that a
You mentioned that a directed drive for efficiency would destroy the world economy. I commented that Japan uses 1/2 the energy per capita we do. You said Japan's economy is stagnant. Are you afraid of a destoyed economy or a stagnant economy? The Japanese economy is not destroyed, and its problems are not energy related, they are real estate bubble related. By the way, do you realize that our own economic bubble burst for reasons of energy. Fuel rose to $4/gallon, the recession hit, and the house of cards, (real estate, GM, Madoff, really everything) which had already started to tilt, collapsed.
Technically........
Technically what we are dealing with right now is a "stagnant" economy. And I will agree that there are worse things than no economic growth. That said, using the Federal governments reasoning not having an increase is a cut. If we did not increase spending on (insert your favorite government program) for 20 years it would be the worst thing that ever happened. So, using that reasoning an economy with no growth is an economy that is in a depression. I agree with you 100% that the price of oil is what burst our real estate bubble. People could afford their over mortgaged homes but they had 1 penny left over at the end of each month. Heating Oil and gas went up and cost them an extra $400 a month and everything tanked. Imagine this - If our economy hadn't grown in the last 20 years how much less energy would we be using today?
This is freedom
Did our economy really grow in the last 20 years? I was under the impression that a whole heaping helping of pre-September prosperity and ALL of whatever prosperity we are seeing today was borrowed from the Chinese. Big picture, we should be pulling our own weight, we should finance ourselves, build our own products, teach our own kids, grow our own food. Like countries which have always been energy dependent (Germany, Japan, South Africa, Spain, Holland) we should be building an independent energy future. You can't be free Steady if you are dependent upon the Middle East for the basic building block of your economy. I would rather have that, a country independent from the lug nuts which control the oil, than a Dow of 15,000 or 12,000 in 5 years.
And so, while we're at it......why the heck would we do this with coal?
Now your talking......
I agree with you 100%. There are a lot of things that should (dare I say must) be fixed for our nation to continue to prosper. Starting with Energy regulations I believe is a mistake, but those regulations should come in the next 5 years. In the meantime we need to fix everything else. If we force our companies to comply or tax them for not complying we will just send more jobs to China. For us to survive we need to follow Japan's ideas of limiting imports or have a global . We may need to pay more for stuff but at least we will have jobs and may not be forced to actually have to fight a war for oil at some point.
Other memorable doom predictions
I have heard these stories before. Which ones should I believe?
Hmmmmmmmm ...
Gee, Mookie ... you forgot to quote Nostradamus & DaVinci !!!
... and then there's L. Rod Hubband !!! Hmmmmmmm ...
Dr. Doom
I would say 2 for 3. One of list doesn't make sense.
-Population Bomb. I think Ehrlich underestimated a drop in population growth in the developed world (good), and the economic growth in India and China (bad), and that Nature (like the Amazon) will always lose when people are hungry (bad). This is ongoing throughout Africa, but for the rest of us it is delayed by accelerating other bombs (water, fisheries, CO2, erosion, deforestation)
-Club of Rome. This makes no sense to me and shouldn't be in this list. You can't run out. Prices rise, and or substitutions are developed to reflect reduced supply. You should check that you are quoting them correctly.
-Lowell Ponte. He might be wrong, though I haven't read it. There is a theory of a global warming related temperature drop in Europe.....but in 1976, that wasn't a very active theory.
-Jimmy Carter's full quote is: "World consumption of oil is still going up. If it were possible to keep it rising during the 1970s and 1980s by 5 percent a year as it has in the past, we could use up all the proven reserves of oil in the entire world by the end of the next decade."
To prove that this is true or false, one would need to know what the reserves were in 1977, and what 5% compounded increase of demand would be. I have not done this. Have you? Jimmy Carter started an oil shale program to create a substitution (which no longer exists). Expensive polluting substitions exist. The annual finds of pumpable oil are less than the annual production of pumpable oil. We are on the back side of the global oil production bell curve. But we will never ever run out.....since price will rise and rise and rise to match supply.
The avoidance of a disaster foretold is not really an excuse to beat up the messenger unless you know how you ducked the bullet.
Believe None !!!
What are You/They Smoking ??
You guys must be in a smoke filled room with Mark New.This guy is delusional .Maybe the dinosaurs will make a comeback.
Loaded on behalf of Cohiba
What we do for our readers!!! The following image is uploaded on behalf of Cohiba.
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Cohiba: After seeing the attached evidence, I am now a believer ! Please feel free to use the attachment to support your position.
Loaded by Cohiba
For those who have followed the Global Warming debate, you'll know that while I have maintained that there probably is Global Warming, I have stated that it has been a natural process that has only been exacerbated (and not caused) by man. However, I find the above evidence to be irrefutable and even more convincing than the Inconvenient Truth provided by Mr Gore. Based upon this, I am now a true believer and will trade in my gas guzzler for a Prius, start wearing Birkenstocks, and grow a pony tail. Go Green!
When you're right, you're right !!!
Excellent visual aide, Cohiba ... it indeed proves that a picture is still worth a thousand words !!!
So, because of your new enlightenment, might I suggest CROCS instead of Birkies because they can be recycled ... and ... grow that pony tail long enough so you can donate it to LOCKS OF LOVE !!!
I've left being right !!!
Bob - thanks for the good advice. I'm kind of new at this perspective and need all the help I can get. But, CROCS ? Somehow I just can't see myself in yellow shoes. Maybe by the time I grow that pony tail, I will have transformed enough to take that final step.
Sure thing ...
Once you get into the pony tail, a variety of CROCS to match each ensemble' is no big deal ... besides they're better feeling and less expensive than Birkies ... trust me, I own 12 pair !!!