AlterNet: Unavoidable Climate Change: We've Passed the Point of No Return

[Freeper]

marmar  Donating Member  (1000+ posts)  Journal  Click to send private message to this author  Click to view this author's profile  Click to add this author to your buddy list  Click to add this author to your Ignore list      Sun Nov-21-10 09:28 AM
Original message
AlterNet: Unavoidable Climate Change: We've Passed the Point of No Return   Updated at 10:26 AM
   
Edited on Sun Nov-21-10 09:32 AM by marmar
AlterNet / By Peter Gleick

Unavoidable Climate Change: We've Passed the Point of No Return
How bad it gets depends on how much longer we fail to act and how much longer Congress and others hide behind ignorance, political ideology and religion to deny reality.


November 20, 2010 | It's too late. The world has missed the opportunity to avoid serious, damaging human-induced climate change. For a variety of reasons ranging from ignorance to political ideology to commercial self-interest to inertia to intentional misrepresentations and misdirections on the part of a small number of committed climate deniers, the United States and the rest of the world have waited too long to act to cut the emissions of damaging greenhouse gas pollutants. We are now committed to irreversible long-term and inevitably damaging consequences ranging from rapidly rising sea levels, far greater heat stress and damages, disappearing glaciers and snowpack, more flooding and droughts, and far, far more.

For over two decades, there have only been a few people and groups that have argued against climate change, and very few of these have done so in good faith (though there is no denying that they've been effective). Sometimes they have tried to hide behind scientific "uncertainty" to mask their anti-climate-change arguments. But the fundamental science has long been irrefutable, and so recently, we've seen all pretense of caring about science thrown out the door by elected officials such as Congressman John Shimkus (vice chairman of the Republican Party's Congressional campaign committee and vying to become chair of the influential House Energy and Commerce Committee), who simply rejects climate change by turning to the Bible to refute the science or as justification to ignore it.

"The earth will end only when God declares it's time to be over. Man will not destroy this earth," Shimkus said. "I believe that's the infallible word of God, and that's the way it's going to be for his creation."
................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/food/148928/unavoidable_climate...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9601877

If it's already too late why bother then?
 

[Happy Fun Ball]

[thundley4]

One or two more good volcanic eruptions and we all are doomed.

[Randy]

One or two more good volcanic eruptions and we all are doomed.

Don't forget one moderate sized asteroid either 

[USA4ME]

The world has missed the opportunity to avoid serious, damaging human-induced climate change.

Sometimes I think the world has gone completely mad.  And then I think, "Aw, who cares?"  And then I think, "Hey, what's for supper?"

- Jack  Handey (Deep Thoughts)

.

[JohnnyReb]

We can no longer maintain 72 degrees year round....we are in for some weather wheather you like weather or not.[DUmmie/mode]

Obama can't play golf if it rains...snows...gets to hot...gets to cold...or Me-Shell won't let him.

[TVDOC]

From the article:

How bad it gets depends on how much longer we fail to act and how much longer Congress and others hide behind ignorance, political ideology and religion to deny reality.

Err.....I certainly don't ever remember "religion" being a factor in the debate over AGW..........unless we consider the historical evidence that certain followers of Islams, tendancy to blow up large buildings, and set oil fields on fire, a contributor........nah......that certainly couldn't be what the author meant, could it?

That comment alone places this piece in the "veiled anti Christian conservative drivel" category, without any further discussion.

doc

[jukin]

Doc, it is not a religion but a cult of AlGore.

[true_blood]

Someone tell Al Gore to stop flying in his private jets, stop heating/lighting up his huge mansion and stop driving his SUV's. I wonder how many solar panels he has on his mansion anyways?
Man, you DUmmies/libs are so gullible and easily duped.

[PatriotGame]

Sometimes I think the world has gone completely mad.  And then I think, "Aw, who cares?"  And then I think, "Hey, what's for supper?"

- Jack  Handey (Deep Thoughts)

.

...And then I think, "Hey! is my beer cold? No? WTF - warm beer is better than zero beer."

What was the question?

[TheSarge]

Someone tell Al Gore to stop flying in his private jets, stop heating/lighting up his huge mansion and stop driving his SUV's. I wonder how many solar panels he has on his mansion anyways?
Man, you DUmmies/libs are so gullible and easily duped.

 

[DumbAss Tanker]

Well DUH!  ***IF*** the entire AGW/AGCC hypothesis was correct or even roughly so, it's frickin' obvious that by the time an effect that took 200 years of cumulative emissions to generate became apparent, the trend would already be irreversible.  An idiot could see that, but the AGW/AGCC proponents lack the analyticaltu rigor or intellectual honesty of an idiot.

[Randy]

Someone tell Al Gore to stop flying in his private jets, stop heating/lighting up his huge mansion and stop driving his SUV's. I wonder how many solar panels he has on his mansion anyways?
Man, you DUmmies/libs are so gullible and easily duped.

Ummm that's mansion's

[true_blood]

Ummm that's mansion's

Thank you Randy. I stand corrected.
So, I wonder how many solar panels he has on his mansions? You know, being a globull warming nut job and all.