Jesus

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/sep/05/climatechange.scienc...

The last paragraph made me smile, though.

Right now I bet there's a chorus of climate scientists saying 'I told you so.'

I suppose we've got to resign ourselves to already having lost the arctic, and get our asses in gear to not loose anything else.

"The trouble is people will go from denial into panic without doing anything in between" - Al Gore. The scale of projects required now mean the government must take a lead, and not just aim to be better in, er, say, er 20 years??? I still think the main problem is peak oil rather than global warming though. Interesting times ahead!

We should look on the bright side...at least in 30 years time there will be no Arctic ice to worry about losing any more. Who needs Polar Bears anyway? They're dangerous! The little harp seals will owe us one. And think of all of that extra oil we can have a whale of a time fucking up the planet good and proper with. Hmmm...

I still think the main problem is peak oil rather than global warming though. Interesting times ahead!

From what I've heard, peak oil would be a problem on its own even if not for climate change, but climate change is more urgent. There is still enough oil (and other fossil fuels) in the ground that if we were to burn them all, the climate would be totally fucked. We've got to stop burning fuels sooner than we need to and leave some of the oil in the ground permanently.

I can't help but think that we're fucked whatever. Even if we do manage to prevent the worst effects of global warming, the effects on world economy would still be crippling. People in the west are used to a certain standard of life now that you'd be hard pressed to get them to sacrifice willingly, and there are billions of people waiting in the wings that desperately want a piece of this way of life. It's difficult to imagine a scenario that won't lead to conflict, but maybe that's me being pessimistic.

In the long-long term nature will regulate itself (and humanity)-it's all about supply and demand. As a race we like to think we have escaped the constraints of nature, but I think we're in for a big surprise.

sorry to be a negative vibe merchant.

No probs.

Another development re melting ice:

"The Greenland ice cap is melting so quickly that it is triggering earthquakes as pieces of ice several cubic kilometres in size break off."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/sep/08/climatechange

But it's going to be okay because:
"Christian, Shia, Sunni, Hindu, Shinto, Buddhist and Jewish religious leaders took a boat to the tongue of the glacier for a silent prayer for the planet."

Thank goodness for that.