Thursday, August 04, 2005

Some more global warming evidence

An Antarctic ice shelf which has collapsed (via Raw Story), provides one more indication of global warming. Especially since this event has no precedent for the past 11,000 years.

And, luckily, gas prices are at a record high. (via Raw Story) Hopefully this, if not global warming, will make people think twice before buying Hummers.

7 comments:

Hume's Ghost said...

Yet, sadly, the new environmental bill thats going through will not do anything to curb our dependency on foreign oil and does not do anything to improve fuel efficiency standards.

And a report by the EPA which was scheduled to be released at about the same time as the energy bill was being voted on and which found that car companies have been avoiding existing efficiency standards while actually getting worse rather than better was conspicuously delayed by a week.

And I haven't kept up with Bush's current energy model to know if its changed any or not, but his plans for a hydrogen economy are a sham since they would depend on non-renewable energy for something like 90% of hydrogen production.

Anonymous said...

I doubt it. People who afford to keep Hummers seldom look at the price per gallon when filling at gas pumps.
Sad that it is, I think majority of Americans (since I have had the pleasure of analysing this breed due my stay here for the last 6 some years) when asked about "Global Warming" would cater with "Global Warming eh ..yeah warm weather will be good .. Gotta love the sunshine !"

Hume's Ghost said...

It would help if people understood the consequences of global warming.

While discussing Bush's manipulation of sound climate science one of my friends sarcastilly remarked, "oh know, the it's going to be one degree hotter, big f'ing deal" What he fails to realize is that during the last Ice Age the global average temp. was only a few degrees lower. Small shifts in temperature can have significant environmental impact.

gawker said...

humes ghost : The favorite conservative reasoning behind the lack of interest in oil and energy "conservation" ironically, is that "a growing economy needs more energy". They are least concerned with it's impact on the environment.

As for not realizing the global impact of green house gases, that is just plain idiocy on the part of these people. It is not just the heat, also the amount of rainfall thats gona increase....look at what happened in Mumbai a few days ago : 37 inches of rainfall in a day ....This year's Florida hurricane season is already set to be a record one. Sure, this is all circumstantial evidence, but it is compelling.

Iknowwhatididlastwinter : Granted, Hummer people probably don't even fill their own gas, but there are other less expensive SUVs that give bad mileages. These people probably would think twice before buying an SUV now. In fact, SUV sales have gone down in recent months reportedly. And American car companies, which previously never even pretended to cater to the environmentally conscious consumer are now coming out with their own hybrids.

Hume's Ghost said...

"The favorite conservative reasoning behind the lack of interest in oil and energy "conservation" ironically, is that "a growing economy needs more energy". They are least concerned with it's impact on the environment."

True. But oil dependency and environmental degredation are going to come out of their pocket eventually.

Also, it seems to escaped some people's notice that at a time we're deeply committed to combatting terrorism that our involvement in the Middle East is one of the things that tends to direct terrorism our way. That and our history of cultivating Islamic nationalism to fight communism during the Cold War.

gawker said...

"True. But oil dependency and environmental degredation are going to come out of their pocket eventually."

Right. But when has this administration ever worried about the effects of their policy on the next generation, or the one after that? Heck, our president himself probably believes that judgement day is near. He might even have a nicely pressed suit all ready for the occasion. And to the question "How will history remember you", he has already replied "Heck if I care. I won't be there for it."

As for your other point, I think the conservative solution to this is not to reduce oil consumption, but instead milk the mid east for more oil, using force if need be.

Anonymous said...

Another little known (to the public) effect of global warming is the fact that difference in water temperatures and release of massive volumes of saline water from the melting polar caps can wreak havoc on the "The great conveyar belt" which is responsible for cirulating temperate water from south onto europe and eastern coast of US. If the great conveyar belt stops it would plunge much of europe and eastern US into a permanent ice age ...i think the media or the concerned parties are not doing a very gud job to informing the public about where all this is headed ...or the fact that this ice age scenario is something that can happen within the next decade if global warming continues at the present rate - MINOTAUR