Zachriel
Posts: 2723 Joined: Sep. 2006
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Quote | DaveScot: CO2 is a very very minor greenhouse gas. Water vapor is the dominant greenhouse gas. |
Water vapor is an important greenhouse gas. However, CO2 has a disproportionate effect because it closes an important gap in the emission spectrum. This results in an increase in global temperature to return the system to equilibrium. However, even a rise in global temperatures of a few degrees can have a profound environmental impact.
Quote | DaveScot: The whole theory behind the CO2 bogeyman is that just a little bit of added greenhouse gas will throw the whole system into an unstoppable cycle of positive feedbacks leading to a runaway greenhouse, the sky will fall, and we all die. |
No. That is not the argument. There is no general threat to life on Earth, but only to life that humans value (such as humans).
Quote | DaveScot: The bad thing is mankind building a massive civilization that depends on the status quo of existing ocean level. |
Cities have been on coasts and coastal plains for millenia. That's because of trade and because most arable land is near water.
Quote | DaveScot: One thing that does surely happen on a warmer earth is sea levels rises and it rises a lot. |
Yes, that is one very important change.
Quote | DaveScot: What we should be doing instead of trying to control what we can’t control (global climate) is start planning to move to higher ground if and when the need arises. |
There will be less land for the human population, including for the production of food. Agriculture will be severely disrupted. People could be forced to migrate with all the attendant social friction, political instability and ecological destruction that would cause. Organisms with rapid reproductive rates will evolve quickly, aggravating further the ecological instability. Diseases and insect pests will migrate and proliferate. The pace of extinction, already massive, will increase.
Quote | DaveScot: Not much to worry about though, even the nattering nabobs of negativity at the IPCC are predicting a worst case sea level rise of no more than a few feet by the end of the century. |
Moving entire cities, even entire countries, may be necessary, but it is hardly a matter of just saying, "Not much to worry about though."
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You never step on the same tard twice—for it's not the same tard and you're not the same person.
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