Hey all,

I just watched a show on HBO titled "Too hot not to handle". Made in 2006, it is an hour long non-fiction show about global warming. Mostly just interviews with scientists and specialists about what is happening in our world, and what has been happening over the last 10 to 30 years. There are a lot of facts and figures about what we can expect to happen in the next few years and decades.

If you get a chance to watch it, you should. The message is very, very, very, very unsettling.

The bottom line is, our lifestyles are already changing, and they will be changing drastically in the coming years. You think oil is an issue... Imagine water shortages worldwide, which of course leads to food shortages since modern agriculture will be affected.

The question is, how much damage do we (as humans) need to do before we change what we are doing? The one good thing about the message of the show is that the scientific community absolutely believes that humans can reverse the trends of global warming.

Here are a couple of interesting facts.....
1) Heat/heatwaves are now the single largest (weather related) killer of humans, world wide. More than all other weather-related natural catastrophes (Including hurricanes, tornados, blizzards, rain, etc... Combined. This is just as true in fully industrialized nations as in third world nations.
2) Heat/heatwaves will be the single largest cause of death in our lifetime. (Not just in relation to other types of weather, but in relation to all types of death)
3) America has only 5% of the worlds population, but blasts more than 25% of the worlds Carbon Monoxide into the air.
4) At the current rates of melt, Antarctica and Greenland will be ice-less in a few decades, the worlds oceans are expected to rise more than 240 feet due to the melt. (Keep in mind, the seas rising 240 feet are the total at the end of a few decades.... That means the seas will be rising between now and then. A rise of only ten feet will will put most seaside communities under water.
5) The worlds coral is dying, and will be completely dead in the next decade or so. This is due to the warming of the oceans. A few degrees is all it took to kill the coral, a few more degrees is all it will take to kill most or all remaining sea creatures.

There is more in the show, a lot more. It is scary, it is depressing. And we need to pay attention to it.

On a positive note... Using current solar panel technologies, it would only take a solar array that is a 100 mile square (100 miles x 100 miles) to provide all of the electrical power needed for the entire unites states. The Mojave desert has been named as a good place to build this solar array, it is just a question of money.

Anyway, I don't mean to be a downer and I am sure some of you will think that I need to take a pill.... But if you do not believe the world is in trouble, then you need to take a look at the facts. Watch shows like this one, or watch (even just the movie trailer) for the film "The Inconvenient Truth".

We are in some deep sh%t, and we need to pay attention.

Last edited: Thursday, April 27, 2006 at 1:58:21 PM

1) Heat is now the single largest (weather related) killer of humans, world wide. More than all other weather-related natural catastrophes... Combined. This is just as true in fully industrialized nations as in third world nations.

Well thats a no brainer... What else would kill you?

#2 well yeah, if it is now it will be later.

#3 and China and India are another 50% if not more.

#4 yet nobody believes in the flood...

#5 you sure its that? The ocean went up like what 2 degrees and so it dies? Dumping garbage maybe?

J
Thanks for making me realize that I need to spell things out a little more.... I will re-edit my original post so that even the simplest person can understand.

Last edited: Thursday, April 27, 2006 at 2:01:52 PM

Talking about your own post or are you tring to provoke me?

Last edited: Thursday, April 27, 2006 at 1:57:50 PM

J,
I make an impassioned plea to get people to educate themselves about a really important topic, and seconds later you reply with gibberish. Trying to sound intelligent by disregarding the points made by this show is just kinda silly. Watch the show, watch "The Inconvenient Truth".
Take a quick look at this article on CNN regarding the current mortality rate of coral... http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/science/03/31/coral.death.ap/index.html

Bottom line, a "witty" retort is not going to help you, getting information and making decisions based on the facts IS going to help.

^ How is this relevant? If it's meant to be an analogy, then it's a terrible one. Global warming is a problem, you can't deny that. So is food shortage, but that's not what this thread is about.

EDIT: This post is referring to something that Tankster said, not what TheGhost posted. Lol, I think I chased Tankster out of this thread :P.

Last edited: Thursday, April 27, 2006 at 6:58:34 PM

Ummm... There is no shortage of food. Only surplus of EVIL.

Or/and a surplus of stupidity.

Unfortunately, people are going to have to see it to believe it. I.e., they will be ready to listen when they are standing chin high in luke warm salt water. Drink up, monkey boy.

Yeesh, the replies to this thread sure did get off on a clumsy start. Let's see if we can get things back online. I only have 5 minutes here.

Let's really simplify the concept here: our actions are "overlapping" the natural earth cycles.

We are causing global-warming. Earth also goes through global warming cycles. Because we are on the upswing of this cycle, many people have simply declared that the warming is due to the cycle, NOT by our actions. The truth is, our actions will greatly MAGNIFY this cycle. This cycle is riding on our shoulders, and it's going to hurt a lot more than it would if we adjusted our lifestyles a bit.

Have to go. More tonight. This'll be a good one.

Bomb...James Bomb

In the past twenty years, the average temperature of Alaska has risen 5 degrees. This is the highest rise of anywhere in the world. The interesting thing about the alaskan problem, is that it started like most of the world, a 1/2 degree higher average temps. But in Alaska, that caused a significant amount of snow and ice pack to melt off. Once that happened Alaska turned into a big swirling oven. Since a lot of dark land was uncovered, the earth heats up more than when it was snow covered. This in turn melts more snow, which exposes more dark earth, which heats up, raising the temperature.... And on and on. The problem is that it escalates. Every year hundreds of square miles of Alaska are being unfrozen for the first time in history. Same thing is happening to the ice caps, Antarctica, and Greenland.

A more startling development that will immediately affect our lives in America is the near total loss of snow pack in the western united states. The ecosystem of the west depends completely on a gradual allotment of water from the seasonal melting of snow. This is the only thing that feed the farms of California, and the only thing that delivers year around water to the area. The problem is, there is more rain and less snow, and with higher temps in the mountains, the snow runoff is more dramatic and immediate. The snowpack is mother natures water reserves for humans, the entire ecosystem depends on a timely release of melting snow into the system. Without it, there are not enough containers in the world to hold all of the instant runoff that would normally normally bring drinking water to 10 million people each year, and provide water for thousands of square miles of farms.

The additional problem is, since the runoff is not gradual throughout the summer, the fertile farms of California (which provide 80% of the fresh fruit and vegees to the united states) will not be able to survive. They are already starting to struggle.

I am not sure why the politicians of America are not paying more attention to this. The Kyoto Pact has brought scientists and governments from more than 140 countries together with the goal of reversing the trends of global warming. Bush will so far, have none of it. We are the only industrialized country who refuses to curb our carbon monoxide output.....

I'm back. Okay, now to answer some of J's questions:

Well, there's floods and freezing to death, but I admit that this is probably the weakest statement of the set. Let's move on.

Actually, I find it a bit amazing that they believe more of us will eventually die from heat rather than a car-accident or disease. It's a bold, serious statement that hopefully never comes true.

Yah, but their population is MUCH greater. We pump out the most smog per person in the world. Look at the chart in this reference: http://www.pollutionissues.com/Ho-Li/Lifestyle.html

Eeeee...am I suppose to take this counter seriously? Whatever. The point is we know how much ice we have, so we know what level the water will be if it were to melt. If you're referring to Noah's Ark, there is actually quite a bit of evidence of the flood. The story of Noah's Ark is still unconfirmed, but many religions refer to a great flood.

If you ever try caring for a saltwater tank with all the additional sea-life, you'll know that 2 degrees can be critical. The sea is generally much more consistent than the air and land, so the species have never really adapted to sweeping changes.

Anyhow, I gotta get to bed. G'night all.

- Bomb...James Bomb

Ty for answering.

PLEASE NOTE:GEORGE BUSH SHOULD SEE THAT SHOW,THIS THREAD AND THE DAY AFTER TOMMOROW !

Finally someone who actually knows that global warming is true. Another thing: PLANT MORE TREES & RECYCLE!!! This will slow down the CO₂ emissions from contributing to global warming. PLANT A TREE!!!! Trees are cool. B) global warming is not. XO

I am glad to see more people are starting to
WAKE UP.

Sheesh.

Peace

The film is unbelievable. I watched it last weekend. Highest recommendation.