Climate Change- What to do?

In my opinion climate change is happening, but we are approching it from the wrong angle now. Sure kyoto had a noble goal, but it is apparent now that its scope was not broad enough or effective enought to stall climate change.

We should be focusing now on preparing for and adapting to climate change. Money should be spent not on emmission reductions but on preparing evacution plans for coastal areas, beefing up disaster rescue teams and programs, reniforcing structures to withstand more wild weather, and educating the people about what is happening and what they can do to save themselves. Also research into geneticly enhanced foods, such as drough resistant grians, should go ahead despite concerns over the genetic engineering. Governenments should also be preparing programs to cut back on emissions, but not to the extent that we are now.

Recent weather has convinced me that climate change is happening now and i'm frustrated that governements are too caught up in politics to see it. Hurricane Katrina was a dry run for what is to come. Prepare now.

-DSO

I would like to know your opinion on climate change and what to do.

To be honest, I do not believe that there is really anything that can be done to stop climate change. The earth changes its climate, sometimes drastically, quite often. perhaps human activity have some impact. but if you were to remove modern civilization totally, I do not think that climate change would stop.

While the egg heads of the world figure out how to make things right the leaders of the world should be getting people out of the danger zones. Not just coast lines either.

That is exactly what most of the scientific and public policy world have been advocating. It's inevitable, regardless of any actions taken by man. At best, we could slightly slow the rate of change, but not change the course.

So adaptation and mitigation is the wisest action. Not wasting resources, time, money, and effort on a futile attempt to stop the unstoppable.


Of course, there are still idiots like al gore running around using global warming as a wedge issue to further their own political agenda. Most people are smart enough to see through that green smoke screen.

Here in Canada the conservatives have quietyly scrapped nearly every climate change program in the country (particularly kyoto) which is good. Still there are all these tree hugger, hippy's, and left wing nutcases (like david suzuki) runnning around screaming about climate change and who we must stop it. We can't.

^^^ my rant for today.

I agree with all of you, there is no stopping climate change, and there are still questions about who or what is casuing it. However that is all irrelevent. The fact is that it is happening and we need to do something about it, ie start adapting and mirating to safer areas. If governments are not going to take on this responsibility, then they have failed their citizens.

Adapting to the more exteme possibilities of climate change aren't advisable, not with this level of uncertainty. Change is happening, how much and how fast, to the point of being able to make informed policy decisions like that, we just don't know.

If I recall correctly, the majority of humans live in cities, and a huge number of those cities are on coastlines, not to mention that many low lying areas in the interior of the continents may also flood.

I don't think that we can relocate. New Orleans was below water level, and we didn't move it out.
If flooded, and was destroyed. We're rebuilding it.

How can we evacuate New York, Boston, DC, when the water level isn't even rising at the moment?

The thing is we can't do it if the current metality keeps up. People are concerned about climate change and see Kyoto as the solution to their problems. Well its not.

Relocating or even evactuating these cities is not the answer at all. These cities will have to deal with damaging storms, surf, and increased coastal erosion. This will lead to much higher costs for the citizens of these cities, either through construction of seawalls and other measures of protection, or though repair costs. These cities need to start thinking about these problems. I don't have the answers yet nor do they.

All i know is that we will face unprecidented challenges in the future due to global warming.

Oh and one more thing, Rona Ambrose (canada's enviroment minister) rocks!!!!!!!!

skady the evil elf yo are absolutely right. even with all peoples gone it would still go on. our earth, the solarsystem and the sun and the moon and all the celestrial objects in space, like asteroids ect. all can cause global warming or global cooling. we just happen to be in the global warming. im sure that some of the pollutants add to the problem and should be adressed, but the big issue to the global warming is left up to the objects in space. like the sun, example. unless people come up with controling these factors, global warming will continue with or without us. or maybe you can bring an asteroid down and make it hit the earth, causeing ash to go into the air, causeing the sun to be blocked out and then causes an ice age. until we have the power to manipulate the celestrial objects in space global warming will just have to go on. can anyone of you manipulate celestrial objects, not, so put up with the global warming and stop putting the blame on this or that or this. we know that knowone likes pollutants, i would love a cleaner earth and even if there were no pollutants there would still be global warming, so there.

[edit on 16-11-2006 by littlebird]

[edit on 16-11-2006 by littlebird]

I personally believe that we are atleast 50% responsible by the
major shifts that are happening, that is I believe that either we
started a climate change cycle artificially or we're accelerating
a natural one at an unprecedented pace.

That said, I think that we do need to put money into preventing
the disasters that will occur if we don't do anything, that is
New York city flooding.

But we should still be putting money into alternative enrgies
and emission reductions.

alternative energies, thats a good idea. now all we have to do is get rid of big oil that runs USA, because they keep buying up all the new technologies that come in conflict with big oil loosing buisness. i like the idea of a cleaner earth, but the ones on top with the power need to help the little guy to get this accomplished. do you know of a way to do this? cause all i see is just a few naturalists in a bind in riots and nothing happens. if you know of a better alternative , so please tell and maybe some big wig is listening so that he can make money off of it and maybe we might get lucky and get a cleaner earth out of it. GOOD LUCK. i sincerely wish you the best of luck on that one. i currently work in a plant that makes parts for the hydrogen car. the water car. i contribute to the clean earth cause , what do you do?

Umm what we're doing now, speaking out, electing those who will
force change.
I suppose boycotting oil companies could work, though since they
only have on prduct, it would'nt be a very diverse boycott.


Well if they converted to Biodiesel and Hydrogen, they could
just do what they do now, except with a cheaper (for them to
create) product



I walk instead of drive, I recycle, I conserve energy, I promote
alternative enrgy, I vote for those who advocate change in the
area.

Apart from that, there's not much I can do.

Well i am glad you used the word 'feel' as there seems to very little 'good' science involved in this scam. Even if we do everything as laid out in the Kyoto treaty we will at best gain six years in a hundred; that's if it is established that we are actually involved to any extent worth noting.



Well if you go read some reports you will find that the Arctic ocean sea level ( or the antarctic, i forget ) dropped 6 feet a year for a few years in the last ten or so; did you hear about that on the news?



We should be putting our energy in activism and spreading awareness of the sham that is human caused or aided global warming. Print stuff from the Internet and put together a few pages showing the main stream news reporting news that is in dark contrast to the global warming claims. If you can show them that the media is distorting the evidence ( and it's not hard in this specific field) you open the door to being able to show them all the alternative free energy possibilities a few months or years down the road. If you must drive around in a SUV to do this your not just making it easier for the biological entities of this planet but doing your part in retaining the relative high living standards and protecting and building the environment.



That is for now almost impossible as there is not a large enough public awareness.
First people must know the truth and then you can move them towards action...



We need oil and fuel to drive around and agitate for change and we can most certainly not hamstring ourselves by immobilizing ourselves. If you want to really help the planet join Shell and tell the world what relatively cheap fuel and energy have done for our living standards! Let the oil flow ( and keep improving our lives as it has) while we agitate and create the public awareness of vacuum energy and cold fusion technologies.



25 000 people starve to death every day for lack of food and or the resources to buy it so i think it unwise that we mess around with biodiesels when entire countries still practically float on oil. Oil supplies ( in the ground at 20 - 30 USD ) are not peaking and they will not for decades at the very least and anyone who tells you differently , as they have tried since at least the 60's is just plainly lying to you to try restrict your movement and thinking.



Hydrogen is just a way to store energy and it's pretty damn inefficient unless you create it at your home ( as one can very safely) . To centralize hydrogen production ( same infrastructure as oil then ) is rather more inefficient than what we are working with now and wont imo change all that much.



Take the time you spend walking to inform others, preferable those who do not spend time online. Recycling does not contribute much under the current laws and regulations ( which i guess could be change but that's another topic entirely) so there is not as much point in it as many may believe. It normally requires as much energy if not more to recycle... A lot is being said about environmental destruction and while some of it is in fact true most of it could have easily prevented ( at very low cost as well) had our governments not wanted to do as much damage as possible to the environment to later use as ploy to make us feel guilty about living as well as we deserve to.

Some stuff i posted in previous threads which suggest or proves what i say in more factual terms...

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Stellar

Here's a clip I think might be useful.

1. Start voting and buying Green.

www.greenfinds.com...

This search engine can help you with the latter.


2. Start a composting bin.

www.canadiangardening.com...

Here is a good howto.


3. Buy Local "Slow" Food.

www.slowfood.com...

Try to buy food grown/raised within 100 miles of your house. If that is not possible then 150, 200, and so on until you get into a "comfort" zone. Anything less than the current average of over 1000 miles is a good start. The primary goal should be 80% within 100 miles.


4. Eschew Fast Food

www.supersizeme.com...

This movie should help you do that.


5. Get rid of your wasteful Incandescent Lightbulbs with dimmable compact Fluorescent lightbulb, or if cost is not an issue, then buy LED lightbulbs. Also, If possible, try to buy from a company that manufactures them within at least 1000 miles of your current location. Bump up by 50 miles every time but stay below 2000 miles.


6. Join a Cooperative or Start one. I've seen urban growers cooperatives grow quickly the last year or two.


7. Adopt a piece of environmentally degraded land and try to "rehabilitate it". Try to get land owners involved in the process and always ask permission. If you convince them that it will increase land value, then they'll be glad to have the free labor. Another strategy is to start a Coop and lease roofspace and land to grow native perennial crops.

Enjoyed the list and while action is great i would just want to spread some understanding as well... If people think that environmental destruction is inevitable if we want these kinds of living standards it's just harder to get them involved in protecting it as people most certainly hate getting involved in such obvious contradictions.

So if your going to help move them towards action they must also be aware that it does not logically have to lead to changing their consuption levels or general standard of living.

Anyways

Stellar

Up until 7000bc the earth had its own climate control, it was called trees, and a lot of them, even Afrika was onced completely covered, We have so many natural process' that occur on this planet and it gives us an atmosphere to live, we could even survuve if we had a very low cooling or a very high warming, naturalkly of course. We have not had the level of GHG's in the atmosphere that we have and still increasing now. We need to live with the environment, not try and control it (as some have suggested) and that means using our brains, stop letting teh controlling factions on the planet doing there thing, they are not worried about the effects and changes that are hapopening, we have to ask ourselves why?? This isn't meant as a blame game, we each need to take responsiblity and reduce what we use (or only use what we need is a better way to put it). The only way things like this will happen is if we change the mentality of the stupid humans running around in the west, what we look like, what we have are completely irrelevant, how we live and how we take responsibilty is.

To be clear, there have been periods in the past where there were more greenhouse gases and also periods where it was much warmer, than it is now.

I keep hearing this bandied about - but need links, more info.

Do you have references Nygdan, please?

...I'm thinking that the periods of high atmospheric CO2 occurred before man's appearance or evolution...???

I suspect we should look at activity other than purely industrial...



BBC-Malaysia calls in Russian rainmakers










So i think there is 'climate change' in the most limited of ways and if it can be proven that it has anything to do with our industrial activity we know who to turn to to help 'fix' the problems.







So basically if they want to take away our toys ( cars, fridges, HD Tv's and what nots) just tell them to go to hell and use the weapons they built to actually HELP those who they taxed so heavily.

Stellar


[edit on 7-1-2007 by StellarX]

If someone could find a why to stop forest fires, volcanic eruptions, thermal venting, underground coal fires, oil fires and gas fires, then I say the chances of changing the earth's climate are pretty good.

Rationing electricity use from the grid or gas rationing are not the answers to any climate change scenario. Population control is probably the best answer, but conservation is probably better. Though conservation is weak at best as an answer.

Have less children, that's about all you can do.