Global warming and your garden

[Bill]

Prince Charles an organic gardener weighs in.

[Billy]

In fact, the respected magazine Science has reviewed this Pentagon report and the alleged scientific support for The Day After Tomorrow and concludes that "it is highly unlikely that global warming will lead to a widespread collapse" of the Gulf Stream, and

"it is safe to say that global warming will not lead to the onset of a new Ice Age".

In Nature, another highly-respected scientific journal, a researcher finds that halting the Gulf Stream would be impossible, arguing that "the only way to produce an ocean circulation without the Gulf Stream would be to turn off the wind system or stop the Earth's rotation, or both."

Now, although it is not going to kill us the day after tomorrow, global warming certainly is a reality. It is caused at least partly by mankind's use of fossil fuels. The effects will be predominantly adverse

- although high-latitude nations might prosper in a warmer world, tropical countries will have to deal with more heat-days, altered precipitation and higher sea-levels. So what is wrong with using a piece of popular entertainment to campaign for action to save people from that? As the Nasa research oceanographer William Patzert says: "The science is bad, but perhaps it's an opportunity to crank up the dialogue on our role in climate change."

would be futile for me to try and refute the "nay-sayers" of "Global Warming", as is common in science and nature, there is contradictory evidence, some from erroneous measurements, some from oddities that can happen over a 500 million year of the geological record. Most of the quibbling comes from the use of models as predictors of future events. Models use hundreds of presumptions (premises) and not everyone can agree on the same presumptions.

The other argument is that science isn't science unless you can do it in a lab and get reproducible results. Obviously modeling the spread of a contagious disease, the effectiveness of a nuclear war head design. or the interaction of solar radiation variations and greenhouse gas concentrations can't be done in a lab but they can be approximated by computer models. The vast majority of the physical scientists believe that "Global Warming" is a fact but dither on putting a time table to it. The warm water passage that is developing in the Arctic, the melting of the ice sheets in Greenland and Antartica, coupled with the dramatic decrease in size of the worlds glaciers have many scientists on edge and they are talking of tipping points were the heating will be come irreversible leading to hellish repercussions as imagined by Steven Hawking

others

Now you may say that this is an alarmist attitude to take, but if we act and "Global Warming" doesn't happen, then we look silly.

If we don't act, and "Global Warming" is real, which again, most scientists believe is true, it could lead to another mass extinction, including humanity.

Which bet would you rather lose?

[aluckyguess]

This is all interesting to read. I think we run out of oil in 10 years, oil as we know it. Cars are changing, hybrids air cars, magnet generators.

will see big changes. That's why I say it will all work it self out. We cant hurt the earth we can only hurt ourself.

[Omelet]

Exactly. ;-)

The thing is, is it a normal, cyclical anomaly or is it really our fault?

[Omelet]

Running out of oil will be a gift...

[jellybean stonerfish]

Even if we are not causing global warming, we are killing the planet.

It is almost like the media is constantly reminding us of this overheating so we will forget about the other ways we are hurting the earth: land overuse, water diversion, recreational vehicles, factory farms, disposable everything, fertilizer, pesticides, herbicides, medicines, paints, solvents, logging... need I go on.

stonerfish

[Billy]

The United States has a 300-year supply of coal, if it continues to use it at the same rate as today.

of course, China wants to join the unsustainable 1st World, and will be bringing new coal burning electrical plants on line until 2030.

Ain't no joy in Mudville "lucky".

[Billy]

Like in those disaster movies, if we don't succeed, whose fault it is will be moot.

[Billy]

Recreational vehicles, disposable everything (plastic), packaging, fertilizer, pesticides, and herbicides are petroleum based.

[Omelet]

Good point.

[Omelet]

But if it IS cyclical and not controllable, it's better to just prepare rather than whine about it.

[enigma]

Omelet wrote in news: [e-mail]:

even if it's partly our fault (which i'm sure it is, along with the cyclical), it's better to prepare than whine about it. people in the US (& most industrialized countries) have this "manifest destiny" thing going on... entitlement. living beyond their means, in as grand & wasteful a manner as possible. plus no one teaches practical knowledge in schools anymore. lee

[Bill]

Neat tool deals with drought.

Bill

[Billy]

People are only whining about it because President Monkey Smirk hasn't taken the initiative. Part of preparing for it, is remediating the problem, not exacerbating the problem. If it really is a problem of "Titanic" proportions, then we're screwed because there is no place to run. We may even set a record for mass extinctions, and take everything with us. The idea is so over the top, we can't deal with it, and just keep pulling our weeds and stomping our snails, trying to put it out of our minds. We will all be long gone before the caca hits the fan, but what preparations can you make for 250C temps and sulfuric acid rain? It all boils down to the maximizing profits for the next quarter and thirty years from now, will sort itself out on its' own, i.e. bad management.

[Omelet]

VERY accurate statement. :-)

We try to conserve and recycle wherever practical for a start. How many kids nowadays know (or care about) what local plants are edible if you ever had to survive?

[Omelet]

The planet will survive...

one way or another. ;-)

[Billy]

Prepare for the worst, and hope for the best.

Our infotainment media keeps Americans pretty well insulated from reality. I don't think most Americans have any idea about how wasteful we are. There certainly is a percentage of Americans who think we have a "manifest destiny" (even though it is beginning to look like the same one the lemmings have) an entitlement to rule the planet. Unfortunately for them, even relatively frugal western Europe is going to have a hard time managing its' life style. Wars certainly aren't the answer, India and Pakistan are highly populated and nuclear armed. A war there would leave only a few humans to face the fruition of our industrial age, based on fossil fuel.

Some do but most of the manufacturing jobs have been out sourced.

lee

[Persephone]

Priceless!!!

The smirk comes up early in new book about our newest "dynasty".

Jacob Weisberg, editor of Slate on-line mag, has written

"The Bush Tragedy", which traces the Prescott, Bush and Walker families several generations back. VERY interesting analysis which goes deep into the Oedipal factor, and shows that W. is a throwback to the Walker side, rather than the Bush side.

Highly recommended for those interested not only in how America has been brought low, but also in our current topic, climate change: How leadership can either ameliorate or exacerbate the phenomenon.

Persephone

[Bill]

Some reviews of the book here.

One Way or Another 3:36 Blondie

Bill :))

[Omelet]

A good book for historians in a few years?