New Study Says Climate Change Inevitable, Severity Depends on Current Decision-Making

[Nathanael]

Does a story like this inspire you to take action or does it do the opposite and resign you to the view that there is no way to affect change? How important are titles?


New research produced by scientists at the University of Calgary and Environment Canada's climate centre at the University of Victoria shows that even if the world stops emitting carbon dioxide right now, it will still be subjected to cataclysmic climate change.

Using a computer modeling system, the researchers analyzed how the world would change by the year 3000 in a zero emissions scenario. The results are quite striking. The Earth's land mass would shrink considerably, thanks to sea levels raising four meters in the next century; as a result, many coastal areas will be submerged in water. Additionally, warming oceans will lead to a collapse of the west Antarctic ice shelf -- the world's last marine ice sheet, which is the size of Texas.

Link: http://energyboom.com/policy/new-study-says-climate-change-inevitable-severity-depends-current-decision-making-0

[thereismore]

1. I had the feeling, unsupported by facts of course, that we were past the point

of no return.

[XemaSab]

2. I'm resigned

and I am at peace with my resignation. :)

[Celebration]

3. Resigned here

And frankly I hate the "cap and trade" idea. There has to be a better solution than that. It sounds like Goldman Sachs, et al, invented that.

[Nathanael]

4. What would it take to reinvogorate action and hope?

[GliderGuider]

5. What sort of action? Hope for what?

Seriously, there are all kinds of things we can do, and all kinds of things we can hope for.

If I saw a headline that said "Scientists have proven that we will all die of old age, accident or disease," would that make me stop going to work, stop attending my kids' piano recitals, stop improving my home? Would it make me give up all hope of finding love, of getting to know myself better, of making new friends, or of learning new things?

If my answer to that question is "No, I would not give up living in the face of the knowledge of my own mortality," then why should I tumble into the Slough of Despond over this intimation of a broader, more abstract mortality? Of course I know that people do -- I gave in to despair for many years until I figured out that there was a lot of life left, and all of it was worth living no matter what happened to the world's climate or oil supply.

I now hold the knowledge of Mortality in one hand and Hope in the other, and I revel in the juice that this contrast brings to my life.

[Nathanael]

6. That's a Great Worldview

And a very inspiring one. I stand right there with you. Unfortunately, I don't think that many people live their life with that kind of consciousness. So, I think the messaging around climate change needs to shift, because the "doomsday" tone is actually moving people away from listening to climate scientists and politicians advocating for change in our energy policy. More hope needs to be injected into the climate change discussion.

[XemaSab]

7. I think that false hope is worse than no hope

I think that we as consumers/citizens are virtually powerless to affect meaningful change on the climate front.

I think that we can be very powerful at affecting meaningful change on the conservation and restoration fronts. For example, 30 years ago NOBODY BUT NOBODY was recycling. Now most people in my little hick town are recycling, and we're saving energy, resources, and landfill space. Yes, there has to be top down direction in order to organize people, but the collective actions of individuals can promote positive change.

I think if we talk to people about issues like acid rain, protecting watersheds, and stopping oil spills, as well as getting us off foreign oil, we can affect meaningful change because there are simple, measurable baselines. Climate change alone is too big to tackle, and people will be easily disillusioned. :(

[marmar]

8. Based on current decision-making, we are f**ked eight ways from Sunday.

nt