Climate Change thread

[Baron99 809]

Greenland is becoming greener as the ice melts. 

https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/global-warming-making-greenland-green-rcna138570

[El Cid 221]

A group of older Swiss women have won the first ever climate case victory in the European Court of Human Rights. I believe a UK court would say the same!

The women, mostly in their 70s, said that their age and gender made them particularly vulnerable to the effects of heatwaves linked to climate change.

The court said Switzerland's efforts to meet its emission reduction targets had been woefully inadequate.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-68768598

[cressida 1,571]

Record hottest March.

[Anna B 1,417]

The Earth is warming, but then the Earth's temperature has always fluctuated alarmingly. In the past we've had ice ages, snowball earth, tropical rainforests and vegitation at the North Pole etc, so what's new? 

How come we never hear about sunspots anymore? They used to be blamed for all manner of weather fluctuations... 

 

The big change recently is that modern technology, burning fossil fuels, etc is now being blamed, and on the strength of dubious evidence, we are being subjected to all sorts of rules and restrictions. The authorities now have carte blanche it seems to impose their will without  mandate on all manner of daily activities. '15 minute zones' being a good example.

I am not convinced it's necessary. There is scientific evidence to support both points of view 

But as with many things these days opinions seem to be polarised between the two extremes. Is the threat genuine or Are we being flooded with doomsday scenarios simply to frighten us into compliance?

Whatever...   While China et al are continuing to pump out CO2 with gay abandon what is the point in our crippling restrictions which are a drop in the ocean compared to theirs?   

 

[Annie Bynnol 613]

58 minutes ago, Anna B said:

The Earth is warming, but then the Earth's temperature has always fluctuated alarmingly. In the past we've had ice ages, snowball earth, tropical rainforests and vegitation at the North Pole etc, so what's new? 

How come we never hear about sunspots anymore? They used to be blamed for all manner of weather fluctuations... 

 

The big change recently is that modern technology, burning fossil fuels, etc is now being blamed, and on the strength of dubious evidence, we are being subjected to all sorts of rules and restrictions. The authorities now have carte blanche it seems to impose their will without  mandate on all manner of daily activities. '15 minute zones' being a good example.

I am not convinced it's necessary. There is scientific evidence to support both points of view 

But as with many things these days opinions seem to be polarised between the two extremes. Is the threat genuine or Are we being flooded with doomsday scenarios simply to frighten us into compliance?

Whatever...   While China et al are continuing to pump out CO2 with gay abandon what is the point in our crippling restrictions which are a drop in the ocean compared to theirs?   

 

     We were not around for for "snowball earth, tropical rainforests and vegitation at the North Pole etc "  These events happened tens and hundreds of millions of years ago and lasted for millions of years.  We are in an Ice Age now at a stage called an interglacial period where the ice caps have retreated toward the Poles. These cycle around 50 000-to 100 000 years for the past 20 million years. Modern estimates suggest 70 000 years as the next polar max. 

 

      Climatologists will point out that it is the rate of change caused by human activity that is the concern.

[Annie Bynnol 613]

 continued...

 

   Economists will tell you that we live in a global economy where demand by consumers like us is met by suppliers from all over the world. Why do the Chinese produce so much? Because we want it as cheaply as possible and we don't really care how the energy or raw materials are provided  or how polluting the ships, planes railways and vans are.

[ads36 219]

8 hours ago, Anna B said:

burning fossil fuels, etc is now being blamed, and on the strength of dubious evidence, we are being subjected to all sorts of rules and restrictions. 

which evidence is dubious - and why do you doubt it?

 

and i'm sure you wouldn't mind sharing a few examples of these many rules and restrictions...?

[ads36 219]

8 hours ago, Anna B said:

The authorities now have carte blanche it seems to impose their will without  mandate on all manner of daily activities. '15 minute zones' being a good example.

these still aren't real.

[Padders 2,874]

I'm not into this climate debate at all, but if the planet is warming up, surely there will be advantages as well as disadvantages.

The human race, as always, will adapt to climate change.

I remember when I was a child, winters were horrific, snow and freezing temperature's were commonplace. Not anymore, very rare now to see heavy snowfalls, and any snow barely last's a couple of days.

[GabrielC 57]

20 minutes ago, Padders said:

I'm not into this climate debate at all, but if the planet is warming up, surely there will be advantages as well as disadvantages.

The human race, as always, will adapt to climate change.

I remember when I was a child, winters were horrific, snow and freezing temperature's were commonplace. Not anymore, very rare now to see heavy snowfalls, and any snow barely last's a couple of days.

The problem is animals and plants can't change like that we need them for food production. The insects population is falling fast this is not good news for our food production. Humans can only take so much heat or cold before our bodies break down environmental change is not good for our health.

[leviathan13 350]

15 minutes ago, GabrielC said:

The problem is animals and plants can't change like that we need them for food production. The insects population is falling fast this is not good news for our food production. Humans can only take so much heat or cold before our bodies break down environmental change is not good for our health.

That's it... WE need things to stay as they are.

 

Nature will be fine long after humans have gone...

[ads36 219]

42 minutes ago, Padders said:

The human race, as always, will adapt to climate change.

we live in a very benign climate - here in Britain.

 

it's rarely too cold/hot/dry/wet to live and grow crops. If it gets a bit warmer/colder/wetter/drier, we could be forgiven for not really noticing.

 

hundreds of millions (billions?) of people are living more exposed lives, in places closer to the limits of viability.

 

yeah, sure, humans can adapt. but when the driver is climate change, that adaptation will means hundreds of millions of people moving somewhere less hostile to farming/agriculture.