Global Warming:We are running out of time-

[Are_grits_groceries]

@Earth_Pics

I think we have long been over the tipping point. Acting now may minimize some of the damage ,but it's a fast train on a fast track headed directly for us. It can't be stopped.

[earthside]

1. Today is 'Earth Overshoot Day 2013'

'Earth Overshoot Day 2013'

[KurtNYC]

2. We are living in the global warming that was predicted in 1970

Weather events that used to happen every 40 years now happen every other year. The jetstream is messed up, agriculture is messed up. Too late to prevent it and it would take a massive technological advance and deployment to reverse course (massive carbon sinking).

No amount hybrid SUVs or bogus plug-in electric cars are going to reverse this thing. People should be thinking about where to move to to ride this thing out, for themselves and their children. For now, the "new normal" is a moving target.

[ananda]

3. Where would you move?

This where to live question has been plaguing me for awhile.

[caseymoz]

12. Think Canada.

That's probably going to be a pretty nice place in twenty years and stay that way for a century I'd say.

If you can't do that, move somewhere with a good water supply. Mississippi area comes to mind. That's the river, not the state.

And stay away from the coasts. That's my opinion.

[KurtNYC]

15. Me too. It is difficult to find models that show which parts of the world

are / will be least affected.

Easy to find the places to rule out -- New Orleans, Gulf Coast, Eastern Florida, much of the Atlantic beach front, Texas.

Places I would consider (if younger): Seattle, Oregon, Northern Cal, Burlington VT, Canada (especially Western Canada, BC, good healthcare, high ratio of farmland to population), Argentina (low impact so far).

[truebluegreen]

34. Try climatewizard.org

[KurtNYC]

39. That's awesome. Thanks.

[freedom fighter jh]

19. Look for:

* high altitude (doesn't have to be the Alps, but does need to be out of reach of sea level rise
* good water supply, preferably groundwater, which is not dependent on melting snowpack, at least in the short run
* a temperature you can handle. Higher latitudes will still be cooler than lower ones, but will warm faster. AC and heating may not be so easily available as they are now.
* distance from nuclear plants, existing or planned. Fukushima showed how dangerous nuclear energy is, but humankind will probably be willing to go to desperate measures to keep the electricity on. Don't set yourself up downwind of it.
* arable land. You'll be best off it you can grow your own food.

[northoftheborder]

4. I think you are so right, and it really frightens me.

I've questioned my decision to build a house here in part of the country likely to be a desert, perhaps even in my lifetime. Should I instead leave the funds to my grandchildren to be able to move north? I'm too old to move away from them, and my children are tied here with their jobs, but my grandchildren could have different choices.

[MelungeonWoman]

5. Well past the tipping point.

NASA's CARVE (Carbon in Arctic Reservoirs Vulnerability Experiment) mission recently found a methane plume 150 km wide in the tundra near Barrow, AK. Oh, and who would have thought that methane would exacerbate wildfires?

https://robertscribbler.wordpress.com/2013/07/15/the-arctic-methane-monster-stirs-nasas-carve-finds-plumes-as-large-as-150-kilometers-across-amidst-year-of-troubling-spikes/

[JRLeft]

6. This the point I tried to make in my Fall Foliage thread. The fact that the leaves are changing

color now is not good but on a bigger not the northern Canadian mountains are melting. With all of this evidence drilling must go on regulation must be defeated according to the predatorial capitalists.

[JRLeft]

7. Report: Climate change to leave Hammonasset Beach under water

MADISON, CT (WFSB) -

The future for one of the state's most popular beaches is looking bleak, according to a report by state officials.

Environmental officials suggested in a recently released report that Hammonasset Beach may become part of the ocean by the end of the century, or about 80 years.

The climate change report points to the once-in-a-lifetime storms that the state has seen just in the last few years. The report includes Hurricane Irene, Winter Storm Alfred, Blizzard Charlotte and Superstorm Sandy.

Because the weather is changing, officials with the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection said they expect to see big changes not only at the beach, but also in agriculture. From shellfish to syrup, production levels could drop.

The report goes on to say the other state parks will see sea levels rise, but only in Hammonasset will it be devastating. The following places could be affected:

Barn Island Wildlife Management Area & State Boat Launch in Stonington
Bluff Point State Park & Coastal Reserve in Groton
Charles E. Wheeler Wildlife Management Area in Milford
Great Island Wildlife Management Area in Old Lyme
Rocky Neck State Park in East Lyme

Video at the link: http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/22971344/www.hawaiinewsnow.com

[JRLeft]

8. Climate Change and Its Impact on Jamaican Farmers-Short Version

[hamsterjill]

9. Scares the hell outta me!

In my own particular life, what seems to scare me the most is that *I* see this happening right in front of my eyes. The seasons have changed, the extremes are much more extreme, and on and on and on.

And yet I am surrounded by people who disclaim the very existence of any threat! I don't have to be a meteorologist to look back at weather patterns and understand that things have changed drastically and that effect is snowballing!

[busterbrown]

11. And the thing that really gets me is that when finally everyone agrees it here, the idiots who

denied the problem and made things wrong will say...”God wanted it this way...in order to punish the
sinners”"

[hamsterjill]

21. I agree. They want it to be the end of the world scripturally.

And that part scares me, too!!!

[busterbrown]

28. They are freaking idiots..Everyone of them!!!

But it ain’t about Religion... It always was about Money and Power.. which is obtained through religion.

Sinned? Give me 2 goats and a chicken and you're good to go...

[hamsterjill]

33. No, this is NOT about religion. It's about greed as you say.

First off, I am a believer. I believe in a higher power. But I do not feel the need to force anyone else to agree with me. And if someone disagrees with me - that's their right. It doesn't threaten me in any way. All I ask is that my right to believe as I choose be respected.

The "freaking idiots" are the overzealous ones who hate anyone who may not believe exactly as they do, and secretly wanna kill everyone because it's more important for them to be RIGHT than to take action to try to reverse a man made event. There are a LOT of them in my neck of the woods and there is no rational discussion with them. It is because the Bible says it is in their minds! Never mind any real interpretation of the Bible, nor the fact that it should be read as a whole rather than picking and choosing words and lines and verses that fit THEIR particular argument. They can justify anything with scripture. Why, just give 'em a minute and they'll find something that makes THEM right.

These people frighten the hell outta me because they are nothing more than sheep looking for a place to belong. They are really pathetic. They cannot or will not think for themselves. They simply want to take the easy way out and FOLLOW someone else (i.e, their pastor, etc.) so that they don't have to take responsibility for actually figuring things out on their own.

To me, the truth is that I don't believe we can stop global warming at this point. We are past that unfortunately. But that does not mean that we shouldn't be doing anything and everything in our power that we can do to slow it down! And who knows what we might learn in the process! Cooperation? Love rather than hate? Compassion? Equality? That money may not be THE most important thing?

The possibilities are endless...

[FarCenter]

10. The balding Arctic

Arctic sea ice extent maintained a steady, near-average pace of retreat through the first half of August, making it highly unlikely that a new record low minimum will be reached this year. Nevertheless, there are extensive areas of low concentration ice, even in regions close to the North Pole, atmospheric pressure and temperature patterns this summer have differed markedly from those experienced in 2012; cooler than average conditions have prevailed over much of the Arctic Ocean. By contrast, Antarctic sea ice is near a record maximum extent for mid-August.

http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/

[G_j]

13. K&R

[raouldukelives]

14. About the only action left to someone aware is to not collaborate.

If someone refuses to play nice, the only option left to someone of conscience is to not play at all. Corporations will not stop, they will not change, will not listen to reason, will not allow themselves to be regulated. They will chew it all up and spit it out in the name of shareholders.
All that is left is to decide for posterity is which side of the issue you would like your name attached. One of quiet acquiescence or one of truth in the face of power.

[JRLeft]

16. The only thing will save earth is earth. The capitalists are winning and do not give a fuck.

[blackspade]

17. We're out of time.

It will be our children that have to pay the piper.

[Auggie]

18. Congress allowed corporate capitalism and free enterprise to address climate change

and it answered by increasing carbon based fuel production in order to maximixe short-term profit.

There's no immediate change in site -- we're fighting over fracking and pipe lines, for goodness sake!

Game over.

[JRLeft]

20. We're already over 400 parts per million. (CO2)

[Iliyah]

22. Global warming, climate change

is real. Being in denial for that Almighty dollar only drown this world deeper.

World flat? Not everyone believed that especially the Polynesians.

[MrSlayer]

23. No one is going to do anything about it.

They just don't care.

[damnedifIknow]

24. If nothing is done

Taking no action risks extinction for many species, including humans, possibly within one human generation. With so much at stake, the cost of taking action is dwarfed by the price paid when no action is taken. The longer the delay in action, the larger the risk becomes and the more difficult, expensive and risky it will become to take measures to try and reduce the danger.

http://methane-hydrates.blogspot.com/2013/04/methane-hydrates.html

[MrSlayer]

26. I know.

But they still don't care. We're going to be the shortest lived "dominant" species the planet has known.

[damnedifIknow]

31. We humans had so much potential

Damned if I know what happened.

[truebluegreen]

35. We were smarter than the average bear.

So much so we could alter our environment to suit ourselves, instead of living with (in) it.

I don't think "intelligence" is a survival characteristic for a species.

[JRLeft]

27. This is guaranteed at this point. Capitalism must bot be stopped ever.

[JRLeft]

25. Yep it's a wrap.

[jimlup]

29. I've thought about this for awhile

Here are my observations:

We are not at the scientific "tipping point" just yet. We still have a legitimate chance to settle for 2C of warming BUT that would require a significant and probably impossible change in political momentum.

Business as usual will continue for at least another 20 years with increasing use of carbon. Even after the situation becomes dire and we've hit 2C (3.5F) of additional warming carbon emissions will only stop getting larger. What this means is that by 2033 we will only (as a world) start to drop our carbon emissions and begin to deviate measurably from the business as usual curve.

By 2050 we will be a 3C to 4C of net warming and methane seepage tipping points will arrive. Carbon emissions will be curtailed as new renewable technologies come online. Society will face major disruptions due to climate changes. Sea level rise will be very significant and many coastal cities in the USA and around the world will be either throwing in the towel or building massive seawalls.

Warming will plateau at 5C to 6C (the most dire predictions at the moment) around 2080. Those who are children now will certainly live to see this bleak situation. Sea level rise will continue at an accelerating rate as we will be deep in the process of losing the Greenland ice sheet and much of Antarctica. Water and cool temperatures of the Northern latitudes will be sought after but not obtainable by large segments of the huge world population. Our species will face a great dying but it will not be an extinction event.

Geoengineering solutions will be attempted around 2050 onwards with limited success. The world will be a different place but many of the world's species will be extinct. Human culture will be dramatically affected. The economic cost of having done nothing will be so much larger than we predict today that most of our grandchildren will wonder what the hell we were thinking.

This is what I think we are really facing. Not an extinction event but saying that it will be a serious challenge to civilization as we currently know it is an understatement. We could still avoid this future but we need a very significant shift in the political momentum and this shift must start to happen now.

[chervilant]

40. Photosynthesis stops at 104°F,

and potable water (in those nifty little plastic bottles) will be a thing of the past. The social discord commensurate with global food and water shortages is unimaginable to most.

[Ganja Ninja]

30. We ran out of time 30 or 40 years ago.

We needed to start changing back then to avert where we are now. Baring another planetary disaster like an asteroid or super volcano interrupting the course we're on now it's too late. The only way this could be mitigated now is a sudden catastrophic reduction in the human population of the entire planet.

[wundermaus]

32. Uh, Excuse me...

Global Warming:We have already run out of time-

Climate Change: Hope for the Best, Prepare for the Worst -

[mick063]

36. The left is no longer needed for this

This is just another example of a purity test.

Totally unrealistic to expect any changes.

Now get with the program and do what is best for election day.

[pampango]

37. Will the American Right (with its scientific denial and historical fabrication) Kill Us All?

By wallowing in a world of scientific denial and historical fabrication, the Republican Right and its Tea Party allies have prevented the U.S. government from responding aggressively to the existential emergency from global warming ...

... the scientific consensus continues to solidify that human activity is causing global temperatures to increase dangerously, possibly causing a catastrophic rise of three feet in sea levels by the end of the century. Yet, right-wing obstructionism, which deems federal environmental activism unconstitutional, has hobbled any effort to enact a timely response to the emergency.

Aggressive action by the U.S. government, in particular, is required to avert this impending catastrophe, but today’s Right has politicized the near scientific certainty about global warming and the human role in its acceleration.

From the Tea Party to the “libertarians,” oil money from fossil-fuel energy tycoons, such as Charles and David Koch of Koch Industries, has fueled “populist” propaganda challenging the case for global warming, first by funding “scientists” who quibble with the research or who assert that the warming will be modest and manageable.

Beyond that, America’s political Right has added climate change to its list of perceived “statist” conspiracy theories, claiming that the scientific consensus is just a plot by Al Gore and “liberals” to find another excuse for overriding the supposed constitutional principles of a tightly constrained federal government.

http://consortiumnews.com/2013/08/20/will-the-american-right-kill-us-all/

[CrispyQ]

38. We're toast.

Some comedian said, "When they figure out how to put a meter on the sun, we'll have solar everything by midnight."

We're going down in flames, all the while partying like it's 1999.