climate change is happening even faster and is going to be even worse than we'd ever suspected.
Not sure where there's room for the skepticism there.
I just finished the book A Great Aridness by William deBuys. It points out that the southwest portion of this country, extending into Northern Mexico, may well be entering a period of drought matched only by very long and terrible droughts in centuries past, which caused depopulation and the probably complete disappearance of some early groups.
I live in New Mexico. Until a week or so the entire state, every single square inch of it, was in drought conditions. Recent summer rains have brought one tiny corner of one county out of drought. Most of the state is in severe, extreme, or extraordinary drought. Not looking good.
The most important thing that deBuys addresses, but I see almost nowhere else in any discussions of climate change, is that the vastly larger population of the entire world is crucial. So many more people mean there's a lot less flexibility for things like population movement.
Another book to read is Cadillac Desert, by Marc Reisner, which originally came out in 1986. We were living in Phoenix, then, which was when I read it. Excellent read, and even though it was written before the idea that climate change or global warming was upon us, it directly addresses the problem of too many people moving into areas not suited for sustaining large populations.
It's been my belief for a very long time -- long time as in at least thirty years now -- that there are far too many people on this planet. There will eventually have to be a population decline. If we can't collectively reduce our numbers in a peaceful sort of way, it will happen violently. By war, famine, or disease. But eventually it will happen.
= new reply since forum marked as read