Only the most urgent global warming mission

[Hesten]

Ok, since the POSSIBLE outcome here dont seem to be understood by some people, lets try this example:

The school your kids go to find out that some materials the school was build from MIGHT be harmfull, but noone is really sure, there is an even 50/50 split between people claiming its harmfull and the people who claim its not harmfull. Hell, lets call it 70% the non-harmfull side.
Would you let your kids go to that school, knowing there is even a chance it might be harmfull to them to be in the building?

This is not so much different, we got plenty of data (on BOTH sides, to be fair), to prove and disprove that we are ruining the planet. But when its our ONLY planet, all of mankinds responsibility and our (currently) only chance of survival to keep this planet healthy, why do you keep denying that we COULD be harming it, and we should try to at least consider our options here.

Im not telling you to go hug trees, or vote for the green party (or whatever its called in your various contries), but just to consider what we are doing.

[Fash]

Ok, since the POSSIBLE outcome here dont seem to be understood by some people, lets try this example:

The school your kids go to find out that some materials the school was build from MIGHT be harmfull, but noone is really sure, there is an even 50/50 split between people claiming its harmfull and the people who claim its not harmfull. Hell, lets call it 70% the non-harmfull side.
Would you let your kids go to that school, knowing there is even a chance it might be harmfull to them to be in the building?

This is not so much different, we got plenty of data (on BOTH sides, to be fair), to prove and disprove that we are ruining the planet. But when its our ONLY planet, all of mankinds responsibility and our (currently) only chance of survival to keep this planet healthy, why do you keep denying that we COULD be harming it, and we should try to at least consider our options here.

Im not telling you to go hug trees, or vote for the green party (or whatever its called in your various contries), but just to consider what we are doing.

Look... I'm all for getting away from oil and moving to better energy sources... I just don't want to do it under the bullshit guise of global warming. how's that?.. We don't need awareness of global warming, we need awareness of the shitty aspects of oil, and incentives for people to innovate with other sources of energy.

[Funkmasterr]

Ok, since the POSSIBLE outcome here dont seem to be understood by some people, lets try this example:

The school your kids go to find out that some materials the school was build from MIGHT be harmfull, but noone is really sure, there is an even 50/50 split between people claiming its harmfull and the people who claim its not harmfull. Hell, lets call it 70% the non-harmfull side.
Would you let your kids go to that school, knowing there is even a chance it might be harmfull to them to be in the building?

This is not so much different, we got plenty of data (on BOTH sides, to be fair), to prove and disprove that we are ruining the planet. But when its our ONLY planet, all of mankinds responsibility and our (currently) only chance of survival to keep this planet healthy, why do you keep denying that we COULD be harming it, and we should try to at least consider our options here.

Im not telling you to go hug trees, or vote for the green party (or whatever its called in your various contries), but just to consider what we are doing.

Look... I'm all for getting away from oil and moving to better energy sources... I just don't want to do it under the bullshit guise of global warming. how's that?.. We don't need awareness of global warming, we need awareness of the shitty aspects of oil, and incentives for people to innovate with other sources of energy.

Precisely.

Or, if you can convince me that what we are doing (gas for cars, factory pollution, power plants, etc, etc) is going to speed up the natural process that the earth goes through by any significant time (lets say, 100k + years, anything less is irrelevant in the "bigger picture" (tm)) then I might change my mind..

If not, then my previous statement about spending this money on space research so we can get out of here before it's too late still stands (which no one besides fash even acknowledged, btw.) We can't fix this planet, only delay the inevitable. Eventually we are going to have to expand into space, and the sooner the better if you ask me.

[Arborealus]

Yes lets expand into space...Of course we cant create self-sustaining systems without understanding how the one we have works thoroughly...we can't terraform until we understand the form of terra...if we can't restore what we have how in the hell do we go about creating it from scratch? Carbon Dioxide clean up is pretty easy compared to creating a suitable atmosphere from scratch don't ya reckon?

I'm not sure how you can overestimate the ability of environmental scientists to create a suitable environment, when you underestimate their ability to predict what is happening in the one we have and ignore completely their recommendations regarding it. This all sounds very easy in science fiction but we are nowhere near creating self-sustaining systems...It is incomprehensibly dark cold and inhospitable in the rest of our solar system and a long way between oases in interstellar space...

I am all about funding space reasearch but counting on it to save us in the short term (even geologically speaking) is folly.

[Midnyte_Ragebringer]

Bad example, Hesten. You can close the school down, remove the harmful things and re-open it.

Global warming can only be hypothesized and cannot just be fixed in a week. In fact, no one can say by doing this and this it can be fixed or stopped or altered.

I sure hope we as a planet continue to wrok towards alternate sources of energy, cleaner sources of energy. It will be difficult with the people in power positions holding so much of their wealth in oil, but eventually it will be inevitable. We as humans who only get 70-90 years on this wonderful planet think everything is a crisis and emergency, but earth knows better.

[Animale]

You are finally starting to get it Mid. It can't be fixed in a week, a month, a year. It will take sustained, extensive effort by a large fraction of the developed world in order to find solutions (solar in particular for the long run, but possibly fusion and/or fission for the short to mid-term). Now, saying that it's difficult, or won't be an overnight fix is not reason to ignore it now. In fact, it's all the more reason to BEGIN now in a very serious way.

Securing our future is worth it... how about 0.5% of GDP? Too high? How about 0.1% of GDP? Still too high? The problem is immense. Basically, due to population growth and the on-lining of the developing world, if we want to keep carbon emissions at TODAY'S levels, by 2050 we will have to have enough energy "carbon free" as we use IN ENTIRETY today. That means we will have to have renewable energy on a scale equal to every source of energy we use today (electric, gasoline, wood, coal, etc. etc.). Right now, technology to do it on this scale DOES NOT EXIST. Market forces will not drive this, we have to do it pro-actively.

"Wait and see" means failure. No, it's not a big problem today, but we need to start NOW so we can figure out a solution for implementation in 10-20 years. Demand change from those in power. The earth will survive, it's made of stone. However, those of us more fleshy may not make it.

Animale

[Bagar-]

So I think we can agree that something has to be done. Regardless of global warming, something has to be done.

What's the problem? why waste time arguing about Al Gore and focus on a solution. This isn't directed at the VV community, this is more broadly directed at the... world.

[Funkmasterr]

Yes lets expand into space...Of course we cant create self-sustaining systems without understanding how the one we have works thoroughly...we can't terraform until we understand the form of terra...if we can't restore what we have how in the hell do we go about creating it from scratch? Carbon Dioxide clean up is pretty easy compared to creating a suitable atmosphere from scratch don't ya reckon?

I'm not sure how you can overestimate the ability of environmental scientists to create a suitable environment, when you underestimate their ability to predict what is happening in the one we have and ignore completely their recommendations regarding it. This all sounds very easy in science fiction but we are nowhere near creating self-sustaining systems...It is incomprehensibly dark cold and inhospitable in the rest of our solar system and a long way between oases in interstellar space...

I am all about funding space reasearch but counting on it to save us in the short term (even geologically speaking) is folly.

It seems to me that I was just reading something the other day about how they have had strong theories on how we could do such things for something like 30 years now, they just don't have the funding. I'll have to remember what it was I was reading so I can let you know.

[Gzette]

why is global warming partisan?

[Xyun]

why is global warming partisan?

because intelligence is partisan.

[Aabidano]

why is global warming partisan?

because intelligence is partisan.

It isn't, both political sides are equally worthless on this issue. The demoncrats just make more of a show out of support while derailing progress. Very few actually make an effort, even fewer actually care beyond their own personal agenda.

[Arborealus]

Yes lets expand into space...Of course we cant create self-sustaining systems without understanding how the one we have works thoroughly...we can't terraform until we understand the form of terra...if we can't restore what we have how in the hell do we go about creating it from scratch? Carbon Dioxide clean up is pretty easy compared to creating a suitable atmosphere from scratch don't ya reckon?

I'm not sure how you can overestimate the ability of environmental scientists to create a suitable environment, when you underestimate their ability to predict what is happening in the one we have and ignore completely their recommendations regarding it. This all sounds very easy in science fiction but we are nowhere near creating self-sustaining systems...It is incomprehensibly dark cold and inhospitable in the rest of our solar system and a long way between oases in interstellar space...

I am all about funding space reasearch but counting on it to save us in the short term (even geologically speaking) is folly.

It seems to me that I was just reading something the other day about how they have had strong theories on how we could do such things for something like 30 years now, they just don't have the funding. I'll have to remember what it was I was reading so I can let you know.

Yeah they tried those theories in the BioDome...They couldn't maintain a livable balance for a year without external input...<insert Pauly Shore joke about here>