400 ppm. Are we doomed or just tripping on Gore?
The troposphere of Earth now contains 400 molecules of CO2 for every million molecules of air.
The last time it was that high was millions of years ago when sea level was about 60-80 feet higher.
However, it's no big deal because we're way beyond fucked already, but there's nothing to see here because it never really happened in the first place.
"It amazes me how a society can paint itself into a corner by the laws it enacts." --John B. Wells.
The Endtimes.
Seriously, if chemistry and physics are to be believed the planet will be increasingly inhospitable to life as it currently exists on Earth, continuing for the next millennium or so until most all of the species become extinct.
It is a scientific fact that people being born now will see the slowly accelerating death of the oceans. They will witness the American Southwest turn into the Sahara. They will see all the coastal cities slowly succumb to and increasingly devastating storms and tidal surges, until they become uninhabitable. This is a fact so easily backed by science evidence to refute it or ignore it is simply dangerous.
I think this cannot be fixed with technology or science.
"It amazes me how a society can paint itself into a corner by the laws it enacts." --John B. Wells.
The question is what will be the trigger point to cause this to be widely acknowledged? It's not going to be gradual and it's going to hurt bad enough that doing something about it becomes a priority.
sudo open the pod bay doors, HAL.
You could say this about everything though.Originally Posted by Hayduke
It's the great cosmic harvest. A cornucopia of chaos!!
"If God manifested Himself to us here He would do so in the form of a spray can advertised onTV." ~ PKD
It does seem hopeless on the face of it. For starters, it simply cannot be solved without fixing the cause of the problem, using combustion as the source of all our energy. Combustion takes locked carbon and releases it. Now we have enough negative feedback loops to ensure constant heating for at leas a thousand years.
Second, half the population believes there is a scientific controversy over global warming being "caused in part by human activity". Most of the other half believe it, but think it will happen sometime off in the future, or will somehow be fixed by smart people or carbon trading or electric cars
Also, all the money is in keeping it going as long as possible--a sure course of disaster according to climate scientists at NASA and the UN. As Al Gore said, no need to worry about peak oil because there is more than enough petroleum to destroy the planet.
so, what to do?
"It amazes me how a society can paint itself into a corner by the laws it enacts." --John B. Wells.
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