OldManOnFire

...environmental issues appear so important to the best and the brightest around the world, why do you suppose that only a handful of people can be found in this Environment/Energy section??

What can be presumed from this obvious lack of interest?

Does the Sun need to extinguish itself before PEOPLE truly pay attention and get involved?

Does this stem from a lack of understanding or ignorance of science?

Is it based on arrogance in which many of us feel invincible?

Is it based on greed in which many of us refuse to change our lives or sacrifice for the good of the world?

Is everyone fully aware of these things and simply have deemed them low priority?

Or is this the good old-fashioned way we do things in the US where most of us won't do a damned thing until our asses are fully engulfed in flames????

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Did you know both our problems and the solutions can be found simply by looking in our mirrors...and...Never confuse the extraordinary stuff I think and write with that of a well-balanced person...

Malkavian

Hey, i live up north. If global warming chases winter away, i'm all for it

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Woof!

Jonesy

It's because people like Bush keep dumbing-down science. Suicidal fascists want to take us all down with them. These days, because of things like environmental problems, we need scientists more than ever. We should be breeding a new generation of scientists, but instead, thanks to religious idiots, we've moved closer to extinction.

VKMHVM2

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It's All Here!

Dr. Albert Pastore: An Independent Investigation of 9-11 and the War on Terrorism

"Missing Links" - the 911 film THEY do NOT want you to see!

Vicariously I

I’ll break it down for ya.

“Greatest” Empires in the world and why they fail.

First comes the idea. This idea changes the face of the planet by engulfing people in its purpose and creating an empire that influences the entire world. Instead of learning from the past these people believe they are IT. The greatest thing to ever grace the planet with its’ presence.

Leader after leader becomes consumed, one-way or another by the power they obtain.

They convince the people that no matter WHAT happens they are superior.

Arrogance sets it, followed by ignorance, then apathy and finally indifference.

Suddenly the idea is gone. Forgotten because the people now alive have done nothing to earn it. Living off the deeds of others long gone they are now the fortunate ones.

The fortunate ones that have been blessed by God to have more then they could ever need while others die from not having enough.

The fortunate ones who because they were born between this line and that one, should feel NO shame for the fact that they throw out over 11 billion pounds of fruit and vegetables every year while millions starve.

The fortunate ones who have been so brave and fought so hard to obtain true freedom so they could spend it watching 8 hours of television a day. So they could live vicariously through media while the real world dies.

We are now the fortunate ones.

We have no need to care for the world because we ARE the world. Everything else like global warming and war are some far away thing that cannot harm US.

Sure others feel the pain of these things, we see them suffering from the comfort of our homes.

But it will not harm us.

We are the pigs dinning and snorting while the ship we built sinks

And like we looked upon those who failed before us the future world will have no pity for us.

One might even say, “They got what they deserved”.

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"It's hard to face reality when you're busy living in the American Dream."

Vicariously I

OldManOnFire

Scientifically we are not experiencing 'global warming'...we are experiencing 'global climate changes'.

Generally, places that are cold and wet now will become colder and wetter, and places that are warm and dry will become warmer and dryer. With exceptions.

So depending on where you live, if you are referring to cold weather, then the trend might be a direction that will not please you...

__________________
Did you know both our problems and the solutions can be found simply by looking in our mirrors...and...Never confuse the extraordinary stuff I think and write with that of a well-balanced person...

OldManOnFire

How about the 200 million adults in the US who should be able to read?? Why are they not interested?

It is not required that we have scientific training in order to generally understand a topic like global climate change.

Regarding needing more scientists, our society is based on for-profit business enterprise, non-profit enterprise, academics, and government run programs. If you think some about this job profile, you will see that today there's probably not a huge demand for lots of scientists--so it's one thing to obtain the education but then where does one work to earn a living?

We move closer to extinction every day no matter what we do...this is out of our hands...

__________________
Did you know both our problems and the solutions can be found simply by looking in our mirrors...and...Never confuse the extraordinary stuff I think and write with that of a well-balanced person...

OldManOnFire

In other words...we're screwed???

__________________
Did you know both our problems and the solutions can be found simply by looking in our mirrors...and...Never confuse the extraordinary stuff I think and write with that of a well-balanced person...

Titanium Cat

Most of the discussion on this board is current events political topics. It centers heavily on the presidential race. Right now climate change has been almost invisible in that race. All three remaining candidates have a similar position on the issue so it's less combative and not one of the push button items that has been dominating the press. Perhaps it doesn't help that the ABEC, a front for the coal industry, has sponsored three or four of the Democratic debates.

Nobody is really talking about it in a way that goes beyond a short soundbite. If anything McCain is taking a bit of a hit from the conservative wing of the Republican party on it but that is largely being ignored by the mainstream press. It's a bigger issue on the state level with several fights going on over the authorizaton of new coal burning power plants as well as the EPA contraversy about stricter state regulations.

I don't think it is necessarily a lack of understanding, ignorance, or priority. It's just not the topic that is going to decide who the next president of the US is going to be.

Titanium Cat

This is true but in an ironic sense. Climate change is a more accurate description because it includes changes in precipitation and severe weather both of which could be more significant than the temperature increase. It's ironic because Frank Luntz was one of the lead Republican strategists who started coining the term not because it was more accurate but because it sounded less frightening and ominous than global warming did. It was part of a strategy to downplay the issue and delay any meaningful legislation to combat it.

This is not accurate. While there will be localized exceptions especially on shorter time frames, in general most places will experience warming to some degree. The place that will experience the most warming (and currently is) is the arctic and this aspect of global warming is predicted and well understood.

As to changes in rainfall that is more regionalized in nature and will vary depending on wind and ocean patterns, it's less predictable in a generalized sense.