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Wow, this thread is a huge joke! It was 34 degrees with a wind chill of 24 yesterday on March 16th! I’d love to know where the “global warming “ is? Lol
Okay, let's address some obvious problems with this post:
1. March is and always has been a transitional month in Ohio, but 3/4ths of the month is still astronomical winter, as the Spring Equinox doesn't occur until later in the month. It's MUCH more likely to have highs in the 30s than highs in the 70s. I can provide you with historical weather records for dozens of cities and towns across Ohio since the 1800s if you think it is somehow unusual to see cold weather in March.
2. Weather isn't climate. I know this confuses people like yourself and Trump who have little to no scientific knowledge, but a specific location's daily weather has absolutely nothing to do with global climate or how it is changing over time.
3. Denying scientific consensus is not a badge of honor no matter how many people agree with you. Being a flat earther or climate change denier doesn't make you smart, it makes you willfully ignorant. You get no points for being proudly wrong.
He’s a fool to think that any climate change is man made ��
Read post 1 again and see what the scientists are saying. What do you believe are the consequences of the cumulative atmospheric build-up of currently 37 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide annually as the result of fossil fuel burning? And mankind, encouraged by President Trump and his Republican and fossil fuel industry allies, continues to increase fossil fuel consumption.
And, BTW, the consequences of man-made climate change aren't just global warming, which primarily affects the oceans and not the atmosphere, despite significant atmospheric warming.
Ocean acidification is called the "equally twin evil" of man-made climate change, and wasn't even contemplated by scientists until the 21st century and is rarely discussed in the general American media or political arenas.
Persons who believe that man-made climate change is a hoax are totally indifferent to the ongoing destruction of the world's important coral reefs and the degradation of marine life in general, although we depend on marine microorganisms to produce much of the world's oxygen supply.
We are trashing the world's environment with disastrous consequences, even if antiscientists persist in promoting falsehoods and ignorance in the fact of a mounting calamity.
I heard a story on the radio yesterday which said that the midwest would be hit particularly hard by climate change, due to drought and increased heat. It made me think of this thread.
I heard a story on the radio yesterday which said that the midwest would be hit particularly hard by climate change, due to drought and increased heat. It made me think of this thread.
It would be great if you could provide links to your posts!
Extreme weather already is impacting farmers on the Great Plains. Hotter summers and longer droughts in America's bread basket were forecast by the 2018 National Climate Assessment. Too much rain too quickly is as problematic as droughts. This vicious climate scenario of opposing extremes, as evidenced once more by the current massive Mississippi River valley flooding, already is plaguing American farmers.
As evidenced in the above article, erosion is a mounting concern. Investing prophet Jeremy Grantham says that the loss of the world's topsoil will be among the greatest environmental disasters of this century.
Unfortunately, grain-growing "bread baskets" and food sources will be threatened globally. E.g., 25 percent of human protein is threatened by the combination of ocean warming and acidification which is ravaging marine life, yet no American politician discusses this reality even as the Great Florida Reef, third largest in the world, is being destroyed; Florida's Senators and many Congresspersons continue to maintain that man-made climate change is not a scientific consensus.
Food supply contraction is one reason that I said in post 3 there will be no winners if fossil fuel consumption continues without massive reductions sooner rather than later.
Persons living on the Great Lakes for some many decades will have an invaluable source of fresh water.
And, with ever passing decade, if not year at some point, mankind will become preoccupied with the accelerating inundation of ocean coastal areas.
I think there are a lot more climate deniers out there than people realize. Even those who don't think they are. If people really believed in climate change, why would they be dropping millions of dollars on homes on the coasts in areas that may bear the brunt on things?
I think there are a lot more climate deniers out there than people realize. Even those who don't think they are. If people really believed in climate change, why would they be dropping millions of dollars on homes on the coasts in areas that may bear the brunt on things?
Because the vast majority of Americans don't understand the severity of the problem. Many states, such as Florida and North Carolina, actively suppress warnings and statistics about the consequences of sea level rise.
Many news media outlets self-censor climate change news, and even the NY Times and the Washington Post don't bluntly discuss the consequences of climate change or maintain intense editorial efforts to hold politicians accountable for inaction on climate change or for supporting continued fossil fuel consumption.
Most Republican politicians refuse to acknowledge the severity of the consequences of climate change. President Trump maintains that man-made climate change is a hoax.
Most Democrat politicians only pay lip service to man-made climate change.
The 2020 election may be different, with Washington Gov. Inslee promising to make climate change the cornerstone of his campaign for the Democratic Party Presidential nomination. Inslee supported a carbon tax in Washington, but it's uncertain if he'll go to Florida and bluntly tell that state's residents what Florida's environment will be like in 15, 30, 50, or 70 years if mankind doesn't slash fossil fuel consumption. Will he echo University of Miami's Harold Wanless' warnings that Florida already is doomed?
I've heard no U.S. politician explain the scientific reality that present and rising temperatures in the Arctic and Antarctica cryosphere increasing are above the melting point of ice and that ice melt is accelerating rapidly. Most Americans don't know this and certainly have never heard the term cryosphere. Most Americans have no understanding that past moderate levels of sea level rise are a thing of the past and that the current exponential increases in sea level rise will inundate coastal areas in the lifetimes of many Americans and beaches, nature preserves and other low-lying coastal areas within just a few decades, especially if mankind doesn't slash fossil fuel consumption.
Scientists, such as Wanless, believe that at least 70 feet of sea level rise already are locked into the system given the current unprecedented levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (see post 1). Yet scientists have not yet factored in the impacts of the ongoing development of negative feedback loops such as rising levels of atmospheric methane as frozen methane in the Arctic region is thawed or the increased absorption of solar irradiance as highly reflective snow disappears from the surface of the cryosphere.
See post 9 about how the presence of the new ICESat-2 laser elevation measuring satellite likely will result in much more accurate projections of future sea level rise in coming years. The projections may be scarily eye-opening.
Most Americans have never heard of rapid hurricane intensification, although it has impacted the severity of recent hurricanes, such as last year's Michael, impacting the U.S.
The scientific research released just in the last 9 months has been startling and very discouraging. Little of this research or its implications are yet being reflected in the media or political debate.
So my belief is that many persons still flocking to coastal areas just are ignorant. There are some who belittle man-made climate change science, such as much of the fossil fuel industry and their captured politicians, who likely knowing misstate the threat facing humanity.
You live in Boston. Do you think anybody there is seriously contemplating 15 feet of sea level rise, let alone 30 feet of sea level rise in this century, let alone perhaps 5-10 feet of sea level rise by 2050? Yet, these are very real possibilities, perhaps certainties, especially if mankind doesn't act to slash fossil fuel consumption, and the rapidity of sea level rise may even exceed these levels. By 2025, we'll likely have a much better idea of what the future will hold given current scientific advances in data collection, especially if someone as committed to fighting the threat of man-made climate change as Inslee is elected President in 2020.
When projections of sea level rise begin to reflect accelerating ice melt, coastal property valuations likely will increasingly include significant haircuts to reflect the risks and limited lives of the property based on updated sea level rise projections.
Major real estate investors, such as insurance companies, already are crunching the numbers.
Increasing federal flood insurance premiums may be the first taste of the future for coastal property owners. Here are high-tide flooding projections based just on 3.3 feet of sea level rise by 2100.
Popular conception is changing, however. E.g., the March 17 episode of "Madam Secretary" on CBS discussed super-heated oceans, super typhoons, and the literal destruction of a Pacific island nation by one of these super typhoons. I've never seen anything like the plot of this "The New Normal" episode on a popular television series. The episode was heavily focused on the politics of man-made climate change and the generational gap in concern about this issue.
I heard a story on the radio yesterday which said that the midwest would be hit particularly hard by climate change, due to drought and increased heat. It made me think of this thread.
That AP story is an excellent article. Thanks for finding and posting it.
I would note that as dire as the prospects for the Great Lakes region, the negative impacts of man-made climate change will be greater in much of the country. E.g., warmer temperatures are reducing the severity of winters in the region, while making summers unbearable further south.
Disappearing winters bothers me immensely, but others believe that is a desirable outcome.
I actually know one person who relocated because of climate change but not to the Great Lakes region. I will refrain from giving his profession because his is a small community of experts in the general field of climatology, but he left Miami and moved his family to the Mountain West. He was quite explicit that the Florida Coast is not a safe place to live any longer and that many people there are in complete denial even as each high tide brings flooding to previously dry areas and ever more violent hurricanes wreak widespread destruction. As for me, I have no desire to move back to Ohio, but Canada is looking better and better.
I think there are a lot more climate deniers out there than people realize. Even those who don't think they are. If people really believed in climate change, why would they be dropping millions of dollars on homes on the coasts in areas that may bear the brunt on things?
Here's an article that explains human indifference to perceived "distant" threats, even in the face of overwhelming scientific evidence. Is it true that many humans are indifferent to the plight of future generations, partially due to cognitive filters such as "optimism bias?"
I have to admit that many intelligent persons with whom I've discussed the impact of man-made climate change believe that technological advances will solve the problem.... These persons, however, lack any knowledge about the accelerating rate of ice melt and the consequential sea level rise, ocean acidification, or even the destruction of the world's coral.
So I wonder if the deficiencies of our news and social media and of our political discourse do not share a great part of the blame for our inaction in reducing fossil fuel consumption and planning for the substantial amount of sea level rise already locked into the future. It's hard to have a knowledge "deficit" when the President of the U.S. declares that man-made climate change is a hoax.
What will happen if man-made climate change becomes a major issue in the 2020 elections, and if Presidential and other candidates actually alert the voting public to the scientific realities of man-made climate change? Yet do any political candidates have the fortitude to campaign in Florida and other coastal areas and warn that these areas already are doomed by "locked-in" sea level rise???
As late as last year, an intelligent, forward-thinking individual shocked me by asking whether I thought fossil fuel consumption actually was responsible for global warming. So I remain certain that there is a large public information deficit that, if eliminated, might actually result in a marked shift in American tolerance of continued fossil fuel consumption. E.g., few Americans know anything about negative feedback loops, such as methane thawing, or the persistence of greenhouse gases in the environment, nor that consensus scientific projections of sea level rise have yet to comprehend these negative feedback loops let alone accelerating rates of ice melt.
Yet as the article suggests, inaction against man-made climate change may rest in a revolt of the youth of the world, frightened about the squandering of their environmental future -- as Wordsworth wrote, "the child is the father of the man." Will voting parents be able to ignore the concerns of both scientific experts and their children?
Last edited by WRnative; 03-25-2019 at 10:44 AM..
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