West Antartica Ice Melt Now "Unstoppable": NASA

[Revoltingest]

Sorry, but your info is years out of date.
The Gores show that they have taken the scientific community's information to heart.
Al Gore’s Mansion
Gore greens his Tennessee home | ThinkProgress
We are all in this together....like it or not.

He finally took his own advocacy to heart?
Good for him!
He's catching up with Dubya in personal responsibility.

But I noted some mild fibbing & fudging in the ThinkProgress article's
aggressive defense of Gore. I wonder just how green he's become.

 

[Daemon Sophic]

Regardless. What do you think about the OP topic?
Should we take action? Simply fortify our infrastructure for the coming storms (literally), or both fortifying infrastructure and work hard to decrease CO2 emissions?
Should such actions (if you think them necessary) be the responsibility of individual people and businesses (with a whole lot of finger crossing)? Or does this planetary level event warrant some kind of governmental or multi-governmental response? If the latter, then how is it all gonna get paid for? And how fast need it occur?

 

[Sunstone]

The reality is that taking steps dealing with global warming is a win/win situation. By doing as such, we reduce pollution levels, conserve our natural resources, reduce costs in the long run, etc.

Yes, but is there an upside for the Coal, Gas, and Oil industry? I mean, the important people.

 

[YmirGF]

Oh Boo Hoo! Cry me a river.

The world's scientists figured this stuff out. Gore just had the gall/foresight to make a movie out of it.

Ahhh, St. Al.

If "An Inconvenient Truth" had been produced and narrated by Bob Dole, y'all would be screamin' about how its God's will that we adopt more energy conservation, and produce less CO2.
...and you UNDENIABLY know it. :yes:

I was never a fan of Bob Dole and I'm also not big on the idea of knowing this "god" fellow's so-called "will"... whatever that is, precisely.

Let's see.

Lets...

- Make the air (and God's gift of the green Earth) cleaner.

What is with all this "god" fellow nonsense? Is this supposed to appeal to me or are you projecting onto an imagined audience? That said, wouldn't it be more reasonable to go after those who are truly polluting their brains out - like China and India... Just sayin... If you really want to make a meaningful difference, that is.

- Reduce dependence on Arab oil zillionaires.

Since I don't own a car, I'm hard pressed to see how I could trim my carbon footprint in any meaningful way. America can become energy independent if it had the political will to do so... Heck even moving to LNG would be a boon.

- Reduce involvement in the middle east, especially in regards to decreasing funding to Islamic countries and their business interests.

That sounds almost like a racist slur. So you think isolationism is a good policy?

- Boost American jobs, technology, and research in a race to the top uber all other wannabe countries.

Well, if you can manage to ween people off the government teet long enough to take the required jobs.

Yeah. The Pugs would have loved that.....if only it had been some conservative delivering the message from the scientists to the world. :yes:

Who are "the Pugs"? I'm unfamiliar with the term outside the name of a type of dog.

Jeez Louise! :slap: Now suck it up! and do the right thing, without thinking of your short term worthless political hineys. :slap:

Yes, comrade. I will get right on it. Power to the proletariat!

 

[Daemon Sophic]

Yes, but is there an upside for the Coal, Gas, and Oil industry? I mean, the important people.

I know you're joking, but that's like asking how the insurance company CEOs can still come out on top if we were so inconsiderate as to pass single payer universal health insurance.



:sorry1: but

 

[YmirGF]

Regardless. What do you think about the OP topic?

Having studied weather patterns and severe storms for 3 decades, I find it mildly interesting.

Should we take action?

Um, the scientists said they thought it might be unstoppable. Shouldn't we feel them out a bit to see if it is worth the effort?

Simply fortify our infrastructure for the coming storms (literally), or both fortifying infrastructure and work hard to decrease CO2 emissions?

How do you propose to fortify structures to withstand F5 and the legendary F6 class tornadoes? Um, you can't.... unless you like deep holes. Likewise building to withstand Cat5 Hurricanes is easier said than done. Why not move people away from the lower, most affected regions instead. Do folks really need houses on those glorified sand bars off the Florida coast?

Should such actions (if you think them necessary) be the responsibility of individual people and businesses (with a whole lot of finger crossing)? Or does this planetary level event warrant some kind of governmental or multi-governmental response? If the latter, then how is it all gonna get paid for? And how fast need it occur?

My guess is that it needs a planetary response as it is a global challenge. How you would manage that without a totalitarian political system hellbent on effecting change is a bit beyond me. My guess is a lot of people will have to die before there is the political will to do anything meaningful.

 

[BSM1]

New data show glacial retreat could add four feet to earlier predictions of a three-foot sea level rise by 2100.

Looks like rough times ahead for coastal cities and communities. Please discuss.

If this true-that the glacial retreat is unstoppable-then why bother and why worry?

BTW isn't Al Jazeera Al Gore in arabic?

 

[Bunyip]

I think that one of the biggest consequences will be migration. Hundreds of millions of people will be on the move on a scale that will erevocably erode traditional geopolitical boundaries. Our whole 500 year old model of Westphalian geopolitics will be challenged by true globalisation - when a large proportion of the entire population move to higher ground.

Much of modern culture is obsessed with land title and territory, when these shift as they must do a very different world will emerge.

 

[Sunstone]

If this true-that the glacial retreat is unstoppable-then why bother and why worry?

Perhaps something could be done to ameliorate its effects. Actually, your defeatism is telling.

 

[Daemon Sophic]

....... Power to the proletariat!

Better than power to the plutocrats. We (as a species) have tried that route (deregulated capitalism) in many nations through thousands of years. The result in every civilization has been the same. Aristocrats and peasants. The one thing our nation was founded to fight against.
Please show me an exception if you are aware of one.

As for China and India.....why not worry about them when they begin to faintly approach the per capita carbon footprints of U.S. citizens. eh? Meanwhile, we should be leading the way with improving and decreasing the cost of clean and durable tech. :yes: Perhaps by the time those other nations get close to our own per capita demands, it will be cheaper for them to go clean.

.....Why not move people away from the lower, most affected regions instead. Do folks really need houses on those glorified sand bars off the Florida coast?

We should....and they don't.
As for hurricanes. Yes. Improved housing designs and materials (i.e. insulated concrete forms) are 0-15% more expensive, but even that price would decrease given more widespread use of the materials and techniques. Not to mention improved efficiency, comfort, and general (non-storm) durability and resale value.
Tornadoes? Pray to your gods if you think they're there.

But infrastructure is more than just house building.....

My guess is that it needs a planetary response as it is a global challenge. How you would manage that without a totalitarian political system hellbent on effecting change is a bit beyond me. My guess is a lot of people will have to die before there is the political will to do anything meaningful.

Agreed.

 

[Willamena]

Regardless. What do you think about the OP topic?
Should we take action? Simply fortify our infrastructure for the coming storms (literally), or both fortifying infrastructure and work hard to decrease CO2 emissions?
Should such actions (if you think them necessary) be the responsibility of individual people and businesses (with a whole lot of finger crossing)? Or does this planetary level event warrant some kind of governmental or multi-governmental response? If the latter, then how is it all gonna get paid for? And how fast need it occur?

Whole scale evacuations. If we start now, we might finish in time.

 

[dust1n]

On the bright side, I might get to see the actual landmass that is Antarctica before I die.

 

[Curious George]

On the bright side, I might get to see the actual landmass that is Antarctica before I die.

Nope, w. Antarctica is underwater. Makes me sad. But maybe we can find cool stuff as that ice melts.

 

[kadzbiz]

.....Untillllll.......that's right! Industrialization. :yes:.....

The way is was portrayed, I got the impression that that would make no difference once all the factors were prevalent.

 

[illykitty]

Why aren't we using all the tech we've got already to make this place clean? We've got so many sources of power that we could use, there's green chemistry, there could be a social change in thinking where we could focus on making things last and not consume till everything is gone...

Oh right, there's too much money greed to the short sighted higher ups... But we aren't kicking them out of power and put someone better up there? We're too distracted by everyday life worries and then stupid things like reality shows and celebrity obsession keeps minds away from real issues when we actually have time to think.

I wonder how we're not going to be screwed. Why can't humanity be forward thinking and actually live in harmony with nature? We can already do this and we're not. It's outright depressing and to think people have children... What sort of world will it be for them? They will curse past generations.

 

[Revoltingest]

Regardless. What do you think about the OP topic?
Should we take action? Simply fortify our infrastructure for the coming storms (literally), or both fortifying infrastructure and work hard to decrease CO2 emissions?
Should such actions (if you think them necessary) be the responsibility of individual people and businesses (with a whole lot of finger crossing)? Or does this planetary level event warrant some kind of governmental or multi-governmental response? If the latter, then how is it all gonna get paid for? And how fast need it occur?

Take action on multiple fronts (prevention, rezoning & fortification) by individuals, business & gov.
Emerging economies like China & India will be problems though.

 

[Revoltingest]

If this true-that the glacial retreat is unstoppable-then why bother and why worry?

"They" don't know how irreversible it is, since climate models are a primitive work in progress. But many of the measures we could take against AGW have other benefits, eg, reduced pollution, energy independence.

BTW isn't Al Jazeera Al Gore in arabic?

Actually "Algore" is an Arabic term for "plump old sanctimonious bore".

 

[BSM1]

I been thinking about Sunstone's post and I realized something. Al Jazeera never sites or links to the study it refers to (I tried to find it in the article). But I think I read this misleading report that A J is using as proof just last week. The report never states that the glaciers are melting, just that this would happen if the glaciers ever melted (duh-uh). The report also stated the this "catastrophic" melting would take hundreds of years to produce any noticeable effect. This is just another example of of GW disciples using alarmist speculation instead of hard evidence to support their tenuous arguments (and Heavens know that Al Jeezera would never lead us down the garden path).

 

[metis]

The glaciers are indeed melting as what has been established over and over again by climate scientists and just general observers. The only real obstacles to understanding this are either ignorance of what's been established and/or political positions that deny the obvious.

 

[Daemon Sophic]

Nope, w. Antarctica is underwater. Makes me sad. But maybe we can find cool stuff as that ice melts.

:sorry1: Antarctica is a land mass. It is covered by ice, often kilometers thick, but underneath it is soil. In this map, the grey is where the ice sticks out into the ocean, while the white is where the ice covers the soil.

The NORTH pole (the Arctic) there is no landmass. That is why it is so much worse to have Antarctica and Greenland melt. Melting the acrtic is bad for multiple reasons, but like melting an ice cube in a cup of water, it doesn't make the total water level rise. . Melting Antarctica and Greenland means dumping all that landlocked water into the sea. ("blub blub" goes Florida and Denmark).