Alpaca

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Posts by Alpaca

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  67

  Global Warming Is Irreversible, Study Says

  by Alpaca in

  1. social
  2. current

  we are in for a very rough ride in the coming decades.. this was reported on npr:.

  all things considered,january 26, 2009 climate change is essentially irreversible, according to a sobering new scientific study.. as carbon dioxide emissions continue to rise, the world will experience more and more long-term environmental disruption.

  the damage will persist even when, and if, emissions are brought under control, says study author susan solomon, who is among the world's top climate scientists.. "we're used to thinking about pollution problems as things that we can fix," solomon says.

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  Alpaca

  Gregor,

  You are clearly a bitter old man. Give it a rest man. And, read a little...it'll do you good.
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  67

  Global Warming Is Irreversible, Study Says

  by Alpaca in

  1. social
  2. current

  we are in for a very rough ride in the coming decades.. this was reported on npr:.

  all things considered,january 26, 2009 climate change is essentially irreversible, according to a sobering new scientific study.. as carbon dioxide emissions continue to rise, the world will experience more and more long-term environmental disruption.

  the damage will persist even when, and if, emissions are brought under control, says study author susan solomon, who is among the world's top climate scientists.. "we're used to thinking about pollution problems as things that we can fix," solomon says.

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  Alpaca

  6 o' 9,

  Is this a denial thing that people don't want to hear what the scientists have to say?

  Wow....this whole conversation really knocked me back!!!!

  Thanks for the comments on this critically important issue.

  Alex
• 
  67

  Global Warming Is Irreversible, Study Says

  by Alpaca in

  1. social
  2. current

  we are in for a very rough ride in the coming decades.. this was reported on npr:.

  all things considered,january 26, 2009 climate change is essentially irreversible, according to a sobering new scientific study.. as carbon dioxide emissions continue to rise, the world will experience more and more long-term environmental disruption.

  the damage will persist even when, and if, emissions are brought under control, says study author susan solomon, who is among the world's top climate scientists.. "we're used to thinking about pollution problems as things that we can fix," solomon says.

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  Alpaca

  Kudra,

  I would like to see it if you can post it. Or, if you have a reference, I can look it up on our university's library system.

  BTW, you have a PM.

  Alex
• 
  67

  Global Warming Is Irreversible, Study Says

  by Alpaca in

  1. social
  2. current

  we are in for a very rough ride in the coming decades.. this was reported on npr:.

  all things considered,january 26, 2009 climate change is essentially irreversible, according to a sobering new scientific study.. as carbon dioxide emissions continue to rise, the world will experience more and more long-term environmental disruption.

  the damage will persist even when, and if, emissions are brought under control, says study author susan solomon, who is among the world's top climate scientists.. "we're used to thinking about pollution problems as things that we can fix," solomon says.

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  Alpaca

  Is that supposed to be a logical argument?

  If you break Humpty-Dumpty and you can't put him back together, does that mean that you were incapable of breaking him?
• 
  67

  Global Warming Is Irreversible, Study Says

  by Alpaca in

  1. social
  2. current

  we are in for a very rough ride in the coming decades.. this was reported on npr:.

  all things considered,january 26, 2009 climate change is essentially irreversible, according to a sobering new scientific study.. as carbon dioxide emissions continue to rise, the world will experience more and more long-term environmental disruption.

  the damage will persist even when, and if, emissions are brought under control, says study author susan solomon, who is among the world's top climate scientists.. "we're used to thinking about pollution problems as things that we can fix," solomon says.

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  Alpaca

  Is there room for doubt about global warming or global climate change?

  Absolutely! In science, it is often not possible to declare something to be true or proven. That is how science works. Scientific "proof" of something usually exists on a continuum between "true" and "false." Hypotheses are advanced, they are tested, and as they are refined theories based on them are formulated. As hypotheses and theories are tested the evidence pushes them toward one end of the continuum of the other--i.e., either tending toward true or false.

  It is no different with the climate change issue. Credible scientists have come down along the whole continuum. The fact is that most of them believe that humans are the cause for much of the change we are presently experiencing. It could turn out that the climate change advocates are wrong or their theories may be verified. Only time will tell. The problem is that if they are proven right the stakes are very high.

  Anytime someone gets dogmatic about an issue like this (either becoming a rabid advocate or a blind naysayer) they have thrown the scientific method out the window, and that gets us nowhere.
• 
  67

  Global Warming Is Irreversible, Study Says

  by Alpaca in

  1. social
  2. current

  we are in for a very rough ride in the coming decades.. this was reported on npr:.

  all things considered,january 26, 2009 climate change is essentially irreversible, according to a sobering new scientific study.. as carbon dioxide emissions continue to rise, the world will experience more and more long-term environmental disruption.

  the damage will persist even when, and if, emissions are brought under control, says study author susan solomon, who is among the world's top climate scientists.. "we're used to thinking about pollution problems as things that we can fix," solomon says.

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  Alpaca

  Elsewhere,

  That has been discussed.

  I think the consensus among most scientists is that climate change is going to produce extremes and highly variable, difficult to predict weather patterns.

  It will be interesting to how things unfold.
• 
  44

  What steps did you take to stop your association with the congregation?

  by RULES & REGULATIONS in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  when i finally knew that the wts didn't have the truth,i decided to take steps to slow down and become an inactive member.

  ( i still have my whole family in.......so..... i prefer to remain inactive).

  i took these small steps :.

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  Alpaca

  I had been emotionally and mentally "checked out" for a long time. My Dad (not a Dub) was dying with terminal cancer for about 6 years. When he died, I just snapped. I did everything I possibly could to get disfellowshipped. No surprise...it worked. I was an elder right up to the week before the big DF event. Actually, if felt pretty good to just sever everything in one fells swoop.
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  67

  Global Warming Is Irreversible, Study Says

  by Alpaca in

  1. social
  2. current

  we are in for a very rough ride in the coming decades.. this was reported on npr:.

  all things considered,january 26, 2009 climate change is essentially irreversible, according to a sobering new scientific study.. as carbon dioxide emissions continue to rise, the world will experience more and more long-term environmental disruption.

  the damage will persist even when, and if, emissions are brought under control, says study author susan solomon, who is among the world's top climate scientists.. "we're used to thinking about pollution problems as things that we can fix," solomon says.

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  Alpaca

  Farkel,

  The difference here is that the whether or not there is a natural component to the current change, almost all credible scientists have come to recognize that the current changes are being driven by anthropogenic causes.

  The bottom line is that we are going to see very drastic climate changes within a very short time frame. We are not going to have the luxury of adapting to gradual changes.
• 
  67

  Global Warming Is Irreversible, Study Says

  by Alpaca in

  1. social
  2. current

  we are in for a very rough ride in the coming decades.. this was reported on npr:.

  all things considered,january 26, 2009 climate change is essentially irreversible, according to a sobering new scientific study.. as carbon dioxide emissions continue to rise, the world will experience more and more long-term environmental disruption.

  the damage will persist even when, and if, emissions are brought under control, says study author susan solomon, who is among the world's top climate scientists.. "we're used to thinking about pollution problems as things that we can fix," solomon says.

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  Alpaca

  We are in for a very rough ride in the coming decades.

  This was reported on NPR:

  All Things Considered, January 26, 2009 · Climate change is essentially irreversible, according to a sobering new scientific study.

  As carbon dioxide emissions continue to rise, the world will experience more and more long-term environmental disruption. The damage will persist even when, and if, emissions are brought under control, says study author Susan Solomon, who is among the world's top climate scientists.

  "We're used to thinking about pollution problems as things that we can fix," Solomon says. "Smog, we just cut back and everything will be better later. Or haze, you know, it'll go away pretty quickly."

  That's the case for some of the gases that contribute to climate change, such as methane and nitrous oxide. But as Solomon and colleagues suggest in a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, it is not true for the most abundant greenhouse gas: carbon dioxide. Turning off the carbon dioxide emissions won't stop global warming.

  "People have imagined that if we stopped emitting carbon dioxide that the climate would go back to normal in 100 years or 200 years. What we're showing here is that's not right. It's essentially an irreversible change that will last for more than a thousand years," Solomon says.

  This is because the oceans are currently soaking up a lot of the planet's excess heat — and a lot of the carbon dioxide put into the air. The carbon dioxide and heat will eventually start coming out of the ocean. And that will take place for many hundreds of years.

  Solomon is a scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Her new study looked at the consequences of this long-term effect in terms of sea level rise and drought.

  If we continue with business as usual for even a few more decades, she says, those emissions could be enough to create permanent dust-bowl conditions in the U.S. Southwest and around the Mediterranean.

  "The sea level rise is a much slower thing, so it will take a long time to happen, but we will lock into it, based on the peak level of [carbon dioxide] we reach in this century," Solomon says.

  The idea that changes will be irreversible has consequences for how we should deal with climate change. The global thermostat can't be turned down quickly once it's been turned up, so scientists say we need to proceed with more caution right now.

  "These are all ... changes that are starting to happen in at least a minor way already," says Michael Oppenheimer of Princeton University. "So the question becomes, where do we stop it, when does all of this become dangerous?"

  The answer, he says, is sooner rather than later. Scientists have been trying to advise politicians about finding an acceptable level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The new study suggests that it's even more important to aim low. If we overshoot, the damage can't be easily undone. Oppenheimer feels more urgency than ever to deal with climate change, but he says that in the end, setting acceptable limits for carbon dioxide is a judgment call.

  "That's really a political decision because there's more at issue than just the science. It's the issue of what the science says, plus what's feasible politically, plus what's reasonable economically to do," Oppenheimer says.

  But despite this grim prognosis, Solomon says this is not time to declare the problem hopeless and give up.

  "I guess if it's irreversible, to me it seems all the more reason you might want to do something about it," she says. "Because committing to something that you can't back out of seems to me like a step that you'd want to take even more carefully than something you thought you could reverse."
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  11

  Earthquake hits Oklahoma City.

  by jeeprube in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  http://www.news9.com/global/story.asp?s=9745183.

  does this mean the end is near?.

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  Alpaca

  With all due respect, jeeprube, you gotta let go of all that eschatological stuff.

  The "end," as presented in the Bible is a fantasy.

  The earth is going to keep rolling along for 100s of millions years in the future just like it already has for hundreds of millions years.

  Species have come and gone and will continue to do so--and as painful as it is to contemplate, that includes humans.

  The human species is just a blip on the geologic radar screen. So far we haven't demonstrated any unusual characteristics or abilities that indicate we are going to be long term evolutionary survivors. We could be taken out in a blink, just like the dinosaurs.

  That being said, this is a wonderful world with so much incredible life and diversity. Enjoy it to the fullest while you're here.