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'Forget global warming, prepare for Ice Age'

Discussion in 'Science & Technology' started by peastri, Apr 23, 2008.

  1. peastri

    peastri iD'Artiste Luxury Box

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    http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23583382-5009760,00.html

    Now this wouldn't surprise me based on basic weather changes we've had here of late. We've been in a severe drought for a long time but the last year and a bit the rain seems to have come back. These last two weeks it's been raining non stop which was unheard of two years back. Our lawns are green again!

    I'm not so sure it will go to the extreme of another ice age but it wouldn't surprise me if the world didn't end from global warming as we are being led to believe by the "let's grab that story and blow it way out of proportion, spreading fear in to the millions of drones forced to read this drivel every day" media :lol:
     
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  2. Miamian

    Miamian Senior Member

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    In summer I dream of an Ice Age. However this was my first winter with snow and ice and I don't think that I like that either.
     
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  3. cnc66

    cnc66 wiley veteran, bad spelur Luxury Box

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    don't have the time this am to discuss this much but I do pay attention to such things and subscribe to some weather sites. One of the thoughts is we really DO have a serious problem right this minute with co2 and global warming, BUT, it may be that it is being offset.. muted if you will, buy the reduction in overall solar energy that is reaching us(the sunspot issue). This would trump anything "we" might do locally (globally speaking). The evidence is overwhelming that the ice caps are reducing, but that may bring into being the interruption on the major ocean currents that distribute uneven heat.. THIS could lead to an ice age.. so much more to discuss.. any ol' time Penny, I love this stuff.
     
  4. JCowScot

    JCowScot So funky the dead dance

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    The ice caps are melting, yet this has been the coldest single year drop in temp. in recorded history. The Sahara is getting hotter, but isn't Antarctica growing??:confused1: WTH!?!? Can't this ol' round broad make up her mind??? Color me confused.

    Since you seem to have done more study that I cnc, do you think this is more of an earth-based trend, or is it really as the 'fear-mongers' say- us? In other words, is this just another one of the Earth's (and the universe's) natural cycles that we may/may not be aiding, or is it the general consensus that we are the one making the Indian :cry: and parsing ourselves right out of existence:jump: I am inclined to believe the former, but as my research has been superficial at best, I am open to other possibilities.:wink2:
     
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  5. Celtkin

    Celtkin <B>Webmaster</b> Luxury Box

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    It's really not all that confusing but the effects are complicated.

    We are indeed increasing global temperatures by dumping CO2 into the atmosphere and raising more cattle that produce an even stronger greenhouse gas, CH4 (Methane).

    On the counterbalance side, as Marty pointed out, we have seen a decrease in solar activities and cooler patterns in ocean currents and those changes traditionally signals a cooling trend.

    There is no dispute that we are long over due for an ice age. The jury is still out about which is worse -- a 4-6 degree rise in temperature over the next 100 years or a frozen earth scenario.

    I don't see modern man surviving on a frozen earth and even relatively small increases in global temperatures will have devastating effects on water supplies, food, and civilization in general. Without genetic engineering of food crops to increase their survivability in higher temperatures and lower available water while increasing yields, there will be major wars over food and mass starvation in the next few hundred years.
     
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  6. Mindwarp

    Mindwarp FFH

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    the fact that its "chilly" in Florida in Late April adds to this as well.. I can't remember the last time I left my house in April and thought.. Wow 65 degrees like I did yesterday. Of course it was hot has hades by mid day but still. and today its a nice temp also...
     
  7. unluckyluciano

    unluckyluciano For My Hero JetsSuck

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    You are correct, there is no debate, at least in my view, that we have had a negative effect on the earth. The question is how negative of an effect have we/will we have?

    As for the sunspot thing this has happened before, the little ice age and it caused alot of deaths up north. I guess the question now to that effect would be just how bad of an ice age would we get.

    I think we need to stop debating if we have had an effect on the planet, and start finding a way to cut back on our CO2 output. But since people rather not, if anything we should research alternative energy because of oil prices....
     
  8. CrunchTime

    CrunchTime Administrator Retired Administrator

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    The Earth has endured countless cycles of Ice ages ,global warming events,meteor impacts ,volcanic activities which has resulted in several extinctions of species.

    These cycles will continue and eventually could result in our extinction as well unless we colonize another planet.

    We know so little about these cycles that is dangerous IMO to change world economies in order to face global warming which is the topic that is in the forefront at the present time.

    There is another phenomena at work that counters the effect of global warning.Much less sunlight is reaching our fertile agricultural areas due to the screening effect of large pollution originated molecules that are mixed in with our clouds and atmosphere.

    Ground temperatures in such areas have been gradually decreasing for a number of years.

    Another threat is the possible reversal of poles where he earths magnetic poles are reversed .This apparently happens every 300,000 years or so.

    That also would result in the extinction of the species because our atmosphere would be completely boiled off by the Suns radiation.Before the reversal occurs there is a weakening of the earths magnetic field and our current earths magnetic field is gradually getting weaker so we may be in for another cycle.

    Fortunately for us these events are infrequent in the scale of time that humans have existed.
     
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  9. FinsPensFan

    FinsPensFan Professional Slacker

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    I'm still waiting for all of the acid rain from the 80's.
     
  10. unluckyluciano

    unluckyluciano For My Hero JetsSuck

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    Yes but we have never had a cycle change with the population we have, or with the technology we possess now. This is new territory given the current state of our society, population, etc IMO.
     
  11. Miamian

    Miamian Senior Member

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    From what I had understood, the Ice sheets didn't cover the entire land mass of the planet, so warmer areas should make out okay. Miami could be the new capital of the U.S., lol.

    On the other hand, I also distinctly remember my meteorology professor stating that compared to geologic history, today's earth is very cold.
     
  12. CrunchTime

    CrunchTime Administrator Retired Administrator

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    A sideffect of Ice ages is that he water is drawn up from the oceans to make the glaciers and Ice sheets so the oceans are reduced to ponds.

    In Australias great barrier reefs there is evidence that it was once part of the land during a previous Ice age

    Miami might be in the center of the heartland rather than on the coast
     
  13. JCowScot

    JCowScot So funky the dead dance

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    To quote a certain Spaniard: "Lemme esplain....No, ther is too mush. Lemme sumup." So we ARE affecting the environment negatively, but no one knows just how much OR if anything we do will have a serious impact long-term.

    Are there tables that show the marked increase in CO2 and CO4 over the past 150 years or so vs. say, the Jurassic or Cretaceous periods, in which there was an abundance of both flora and fauna?

    In appears that, IMO, we are taking the place of the volcanoes during said eras, spewing carbon and related gases/pollutants into the atmosphere. If the earth responds in like form, there should be an overall warmer climate with higher sea levels and a wider temperate zone around the equator, followed by a cooling period and a decline in species of both flora and fauna. If one is to hold to Schroeder's assessment of time distorting as the universe expands, one could expect such an occurrence to happen over hundreds or thousands of years, instead of tens of thousands or millions. This is only my extrapolation of the opinions presented here and what little knowledge I possess. If anyone has evidence or ideas to the contrary, I would like to hear your reasoning. Thanks! :up:
     
  14. Dol-Fan Dupree

    Dol-Fan Dupree Tank? Who is Tank? I am Guy Incognito.

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    My understanding that no matter what we do on the earth or what happens with the sun, in at least 5,000 years there should be another ice age.
     
  15. Celtkin

    Celtkin <B>Webmaster</b> Luxury Box

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    No, the earth probably was never completely covered in ice, though there are some scientist who believe it was but, even with limited land left uncovered, and given the cold temperatures, agriculture would not be able to keep up with the needs of man or beasts and there would be a major collapse of many species.
     
  16. unluckyluciano

    unluckyluciano For My Hero JetsSuck

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    Yes there were more co2 in the atmosphere if I remember correctly what I read, which they found using ice cores. However, what one hast to remember is if you follow evolution the progress would have been steady unless some given cataclysm caused it to accelerate. One such example would be the theory that a series of volcano eruptions one after another caused a severe drop in temperature. Also known as the extinction of the dinosaurs. So to answer your question the problem is not IMO can the earth handle it, the question is, what happens when you accelerate the process. We can in a sense end up killing whole ecosystems, devastating our own food supply and the worst of the worst causing very erratic weather, and the very worst melting the polar ice caps causing the poles to switch.
    Again there are natural cycles, but they are rarely accelerated and if they are they are usually cataclysmic IMO.
     
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  17. jason8er

    jason8er Luxury Box Luxury Box

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    The real question is: How will the Republicans now be blamed for this sudden cooling?
     
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  18. NJFINSFAN1

    NJFINSFAN1 Premium Member Luxury Box

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    Somebody better tell the glaciers in Alaska to stop melting than! :yes:
     
  19. Miamian

    Miamian Senior Member

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    That requires innovation.
     
  20. gafinfan

    gafinfan gunner Club Member

    I fear we are lost in the land of what may be instead of using each day to do and be the best we can. Of course; plan for the future but with the reality that our future may end tonight at midnight.
     
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  21. unluckyluciano

    unluckyluciano For My Hero JetsSuck

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    and probably a massive loss of life before the innovation can catch up.
     
  22. texanphinatic

    texanphinatic Senior Member

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    IMO none of it will matter when the Yellowstone supervolcanoe explodes in a few years ;)
     
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  23. Themole

    Themole Season Ticket Holder

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    Sounds to me like something Dirk Pitt needs to look into!
     
  24. cnc66

    cnc66 wiley veteran, bad spelur Luxury Box

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    snort.. just finished Cyclops this am.. again...
     
  25. Themole

    Themole Season Ticket Holder

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    I think I've read about all his Numa novels. Which was the one that they discovered the remains of the Alexandria Library? That one got the hair up on my arms. Also Sahara, for obvious reasons.

    Have you read Randy Wayne Whites, Doc Ford series? He lives over on Sanabel, and most always starts his books with a story about the Calusa. If not, start with the first one. Here:

    http://docford.com/books.html

    If you are disapointed, let me know and I'll send you your money back. :up:
     

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