13-Foot Sea Level Rise Now 'Inevitable'

[thatmikeguy]

Some excellent points. Historical global data indicates the earth has been slowly warming up for thousands of years now and evidence of this is by the points you mention. Entire cities which are underwater now and river beds in deserts. Yeah we could be spending that up some..but eventually the ocean water level may a significant impact on coastal cities anyway. No matter what we do.

Exactly, if you look into all these places and see where we find past sea life, and see the approximate time of change, it lines up with the pole core data.

[Garnier Fructis]

Therefore perfectly normal and nothing panicky to worry about.

If we survived the last Ice Age with stone tools and fire, we will survive a few degrees of heat.

It's not a question of survival. It's a question of whether or not we want to sacrifice the lives and/or livelihoods of millions who will be displaced refugees, who will die from extreme heat waves and who will have to find new sources of water as the snow-pack decreases and shifts around, among other things. These are all problems that we don't have to face for a very long time, and which we can mitigate effectively if we had enough time to deal with it effectively.

@Ghostpanther: Yea, shit happens in the future. That's a great argument for speeding up the process and endangering millions of people in other parts of the world.

Not.

[MCMLXXXII]

I see $ for us Dutchies. A lot of work to do.

[Varabently]

Or like the many times throughout Earth's history, the climate naturally warms and cools. The caps melt and thaw. The cycle repeats itself.

Right, but recall what happens when these climate changes happen: mass extinction in some cases. And if we have any sort of control over it (we do), why not exercise that control to avoid trillions of dollars in damage? Imagine if the oceans went up 100 feet? Everything at 100 ft above sea level or above is now underwater, at least those places that are on the coast. How many big cities are on the coast? There's 8 million people in NYC that are now homeless. That's one city.

The reality is even if it is the natural cycle, we still have to take steps to mitigate damage; avoiding the issue or denying it won't change that. I'm not saying we should panic or start doing anything drastic, but it's an important issue that needs to be addressed at some point.

[Mackwiss]

It's not a question of survival. It's a question of whether or not we want to sacrifice the lives and/or livelihoods of millions who will be displaced refugees, who will die from extreme heat waves and who will have to find new sources of water as the snow-pack decreases and shifts around, among other things. These are all problems that we don't have to face for a very long time, and which we can mitigate effectively if we had enough time to deal with it effectively.

If you look at the graphic, you can clearly see that changes in climate are normal and have always happened. With this in mind it is inevitable that sometime in the future there will be a change in climate.

there will be no tragedy at all look at the graphic and you will see how slow it happens... it will only happen adaptability just like we did since for ever.

[thatmikeguy]

Pyramids in the snow, ancient ships on mountains, sea life where there is none, civilizations under ocean water, desert where we find plants, oldest pyramids "not" built on lay-lines, calenders that run out around the same dates, the list goes on...

All may be because of the same thing.

[Mackwiss]

Pyramids in the snow, ancient ships on mountains, sea life where there is none, civilizations under ocean water, desert where we find plants, oldest pyramids "not" built on lay-lines, calenders that run out around the same dates, the list goes on...

All may be because of the same thing.

Deathwing?

[Deleted]

All of those resulted in changes of behavior or practices or other advances that mitigated their effects (largely; they still exist). You also forgot ozone, which is a great success story.

Not entirely true. In the case of HIV and BSE we had very little capability to combat them them: massive culling proved ineffective for BSE, and we had no effective antivirals for HIV. The media sensationalism was over hyped. The supposed decimation of entire forests was limited to a single species of susceptible tree. They were simply hyperbolic. Anyway, I'm not denying that beneficial change came about as a result; the same will happen with climate change, but should we go about worrying that itis literally going to be the end of the world?

It doesn't? Why not? Do you think if someone submitted a grant that had preliminary data that showed some sort of positive impact that it immediately goes in the trash heap?

Of course not. What's going to get more attention: 'manageable rise in sea levels' or 'evidence that New York will be under six feet of water'.

It's naive to think that any challenge can be overcome by technology.

Could carbon capture technology save us? Maybe. Is it wise to bet the future on it? Fuuuuuuuck no.

Unless you've been living under a rock for more than 99% of your life then no it isn't naive. People can comfortable expect to live to 70-years-old; can grow crops capable of withstanding drought, pests and pesticides; New Orleans can hold back the sea if it needs to; and HIV is incredibly treatable.

[Orlong]

Which is the perfect reason to give people tax breaks for switching to hybrid and electric vehicles.

Nope. I dont want to chip in (taxes) to pay for someone else's car. Also those leectric cars may not have emissions but the electricity they charge them with comes from plants that will have to generate MORE electricity to support charging all these cars, which increases emissions from the electric plant and in addition it will probably cost MORE than a gas car to operate because electric rates are so high now and it will need charged every day. Plus you cant drive more than to work and back without a charge.

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Maybe because it is a natural phenomenon, please look up temperature chart from the earth over several million years

And how in the hell do you think they know what the temperature was in enough places on the earth a million years ago (or even 1000 years ago for that matter). Sure they can guess based on fossils or however they do it, but they cant prove its an accurate measurement especially when we are talking about a tolerance of a few degrees

[Orlong]

Red states are trying to tax or make it outright illegal to 1. use solar panels 2. buy electric cars.

That's pretty much frivolous greed driven over regulation if I ever saw it.

I think Im going to need to see a citation for that.

[thatmikeguy]

Climate scientists have already controlled for solar influence and natural variations in global temperature; the only influence strong enough in this time scale is human activity.

Wrong. There is past plant life in ALL those core samples.

[thatmikeguy]

Spoken by someone who doesn't understand science, in ANY field. The variance of a "few degrees" will have CATASTROPHIC effects on the global weather system. We know, with ABSOLUTE certainly, what causes ice ages, when the last ice age ended, and when the next one should begin. What the entire greenhouse effect has done is simply accelerate that process. Will we see a massive freeze anytime soon? No. But will we see dramatically violent weather patterns increase? Absolutely. Warmer air temperatures over cold water = huge storms, it's why hurricane season is when it is.

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He's being overly dramatic (and shame on him), but Red State politicians are pro big business, especially the biggest business - oil/coal/gas and electric. They fight long and hard to keep electric/hybrid cars and green energy from being developed because it is another step away from fossil fuel dependence and grossly harms the bottom lines of these major businesses (who are international btw, and could give two shits about what happens to/in the U.S.). Why do you think President Obama signed an executive order after giving congress ample time to pass energy initiative reforms for federal buildings? Because the cost (2 Billion) will save the Federal Government (and by extension the tax payers) BILLIONS of dollars over decades in electrical power consumption reduction.

Tax payers LOVE it when the government gets to spend less money (on anything). You know who DOESN'T like it when the government spends less money? The corporations who profit off them. :O

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So. much. conjecture. And the moment you mentioned "ancient ships on mountains" and "lay-lines" anyone living in reality tuned out.

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Austin Power's father might have something to say about your signature. ;P

True, all that is conjecture. The data is not.

[Orlong]

Rubio will probably not even be alive by the time that happens, let alone running for anything :P At least at current expected rates and all.

And neither will I be alive, which is why I dont give 2 shits about climate change even though I believe its natural and not made made

[thatmikeguy]

So, are you making the claim that the incomprehensible amount of carbon we've pumped into the atmosphere has had no effect on the planet? The temperature has gone up during the last 200 years more than it has in 2,000 years collectively AND the ocean has become vastly more acidic, because of the absorbed carbon dioxide. But that's not actually happening, right? Even though it's observable, can be tested, and has been confirmed; you don't believe it, therefore it's not real?

Go home, have a beer, and shut up and let us thinking people try to salvage this mess the lot of your kind have made.

Not at all, read other posts. It's both, but mostly natural because of where we are in the change.

[Deleted]

Always funny to see random people overthrow the scientific consensus on any topic because they obviously know better than the majority of scientists who have studied said topic for decades.

Humans don't like to admit that they don't know shit. Wisdom is admitting you know nothing. If you haven't studied a certain topic, the only logical thing to do is follow the scientific consensus.

"I believe global warming is natural"

It doesn't fucking matter what you believe. It starts mattering when you get a peer reviewed paper through. Reading about it on blogsites and dailymail like websites doesn't make you qualified to say anything.

[Orlong]

So you don't care about what happens to your country or the human race or your descendants? Really nice guy. You're either very, very young, or older, and quite uneducated. Either way, that's just an awful attitude to have.

I get it. You don't want to take responsibility for anything. But, you do realize that by FIGHTING against people who are trying to effect POSITIVE change you are actually CONTRIBUTING to a problem that you simultaneously claim doesn't exist, right?

I have no descendants, so why should I care if the human race goes on after Im dead? My goal is to enjoy my life as much as possible while here since I dont have a lot of time and if it comes at the expense of people I dont know or love, then so be it.

[Pony Soldier]

I have a feeling people get it but they just don't care.

Yeah, the only time people will care is when it actually happens. Then it's going to be "would've, should've, could've". I find it sad that people have little to no respect for their own planet's health. It always takes a great loss for us to finally learn from and understand our mistakes. Then when we come up with something it's already way too late. If only people would just stop focusing so much on what celebrities are doing for once and focus on things that actually matter, you know, like the potential extinction of the whole human race. But I guess finding out what Kim Kardashian is wearing is more important.

[Orlong]

Spoken by someone who doesn't understand science, in ANY field. The variance of a "few degrees" will have CATASTROPHIC effects on the global weather system. We know, with ABSOLUTE certainly, what causes ice ages, when the last ice age ended, and when the next one should begin. What the entire greenhouse effect has done is simply accelerate that process. Will we see a massive freeze anytime soon? No. But will we see dramatically violent weather patterns increase? Absolutely. Warmer air temperatures over cold water = huge storms, it's why hurricane season is when it is.

I know a few degrees can be catastrophic. Thats why I said hw in the hell can they come up with an accurate average global temperature for the year 30,000 BC or even 1200 AD for that matter when there was no way for people bac then to measure temperature accurately if at all. It couldve been 78 degrees or it couldve been 74 degrees. And since 4 degrees is a huge difference overall how can they accurately make a temperature graph

And the last 2 years have had the weakest and fewest number of hurricanes on record

[Orlong]

I've never understood why people seem to think that shifts in nature that will cause death and destruction need to be "definitively" caused by anyone or anything before they need to do something about it.

The main reason I deny it (I dont know about others) Is because I dont want to be forced to sacrifice my quality of life, by using inferior products and reducing consumption of other products. I want to continue to live a life of unrestricted excessive consumption. You might call it selfish or greedy, but it is what it is. Its me enjoying the years Im given as best as I can

[thatmikeguy]

You have yet to explain what point you were trying to make about plant matter being in "all those core samples". That statement doesn't mean anything. Unless you're going to fire off some pseudo-science. In which case I'll get out my utensils and napkin so I can carve that shit up. You do realize that since life appeared on this planet, there hasn't been a period of time where there was no life somewhere, right?

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/study-no...-was-tropical/

http://cdiac.ornl.gov/trends/co2/ice_core_co2.html

http://www.dailyclimate.org/tdc-news...cient-ice-bugs

Life somewhere, yes. Everywhere, no. There are many sites, one is on NASA somewhere, I'll find it after work.