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Guest Post: Three Paths To Near-Term Human Extinction
Submitted by Guy McPherson of Nature Bats Last
Three Paths To Near-Term Human Extinction
About a decade ago I realized we were putting the finishing touches on our own extinction party, with the party probably over by 2030. During the intervening period I’ve seen nothing to sway this belief, and much evidence to reinforce it. Yet the protests, ridicule, and hate mail reach a fervent pitch when I speak or write about the potential for near-term extinction of Homo sapiens.
“We’re different.”
“We’re special.”
“We’re too intelligent.”
“We’ll find a way out. We always do.”
We’re humans, and therefore animals. Like all life, we’re special. Like all organisms, we’re susceptible to overshoot. Like all organisms, we will experience population decline after overshoot.
Let’s take stock of our current predicaments, beginning with one of several ongoing processes likely to cause our extinction. Then I’ll point out the good not quite so bad news.
We’re headed for extinction via global climate change
It’s hotter than it used to be, but not as hot as it’s going to be. The political response to this now-obvious information is to suspend the scientist bearing the bad news. Which, of course, is no surprise at all: As Australian climate scientist Gideon Polya points out, the United States must cease production of greenhouse gases within 3.1 years if we are to avoid catastrophic runaway greenhouse. I think Polya is optimistic, and I don’t think Obama’s on-board with the attendant collapse of the U.S. industrial economy.
Apparently — too little, too late — a couple people have noticed a few facts about Obama. This “awakening” might explain why his political support is headed south at a rapid clip.
But back to climate change, one of three likely extinction events. Well, three I know about: I’m certain there are others, and any number can play. With four months remaining in the year, the U.S. has already tied its yearly record for the most billion-dollar weather disasters. Russia is headed directly for loss of 30% of its permafrost by 2050. Tundra fires could accelerate planetary warming. This year, the Northeast Passage was open as of 27 July. This is a massively dire situation for the Arctic. In fact, we have passed a de facto tipping point with respect to Arctic ice. This latter outcome is stunning, but only to those who follow the horrifically conservative and increasingly irrelevant Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Nature is responding with hybrid bears, suggesting the near-term loss of all polar bears. Indeed, all Earth’s systems are rapidly declining. Many organisms can’t keep up as they try to stay ahead of an overheating planet.
As the living planet decays, we keep piling on. Examples abound. Here’s one tiny example among thousands, from that pesky BP well at Deepwater Horizon. It’s out of the news cycle, but it’s not done destroying life in the Gulf of Mexico. But perhaps this tidbit belongs beneath the heading of …
We’re headed for extinction via environmental collapse
Nature is bankrupt, just like Wall Street and the USA. Thanks for playing, but you lose. The banksters on Wall Street “win.” But only in the short term. In the long run, we’re all dead (as first stated by John Maynard Keynes).
Among the consequences of taking down more than 200 species each day: at some point, the species we take into the abyss is Homo sapiens (the wise ape). The vanishing point draws nearer every day. Our response, in the industrialized world: Bring on the toys. Burn all fossil fuels. Harvest the rain forests and strip-mine the soil. Pollute the water, eat the seed bank.
And, most importantly, figure out how we can make a few bucks as the world burns.
We have our hand in a monkey trap, and we can’t let go.
We’re headed for extinction via nuclear meltdown
Safely shuttering a nuclear power plant requires a decade or two of careful planning. Far sooner, we’ll complete the ongoing collapse of the industrial economy. This is a source of my nuclear nightmares.
When the world’s 442 nuclear power plants melt down catastrophically, we’ve entered an extinction event. Think clusterfukushima, times 400. Ionizing radiation could, and probably will, destroy every terrestrial organism and, therefore, every marine and freshwater organism. That, by the way, includes the most unique, special, intelligent animal on Earth.
Ready for some good news?
Meanwhile, back on Wall Street
The Securities and Exchange Commission is busily covering up Wall Street crimes, just as they did during the last presidential administration. And, as it turns out, they’ve been performing this trick for two decades. Finally, though, the S&P is taking the U.S. to the woodshed.
The S&P knows what the media and politicians know: U.S. national debt isn’t really $14 trillion and change, as we’ve been led to believe. In fact, it exceeds $200 trillion. And, back when it was a mere $10.5 trillion, it exceeded the value of all circulating currencies as well as all the gold ever mined. It cannot be paid off, ever. The response will be default. With luck, it’ll happen quickly and completely, thus sending us directly to the new dark age (with the post-industrial Stone Age soon to follow).
The ongoing crash of the stock markets differs from prior events because, for one thing, the Fed is about out of ammunition. At this juncture, there are no easy solutions. In fact, there are no solutions at all. We have just about used up all our “rabbits in the hat” as far as fiscal and monetary policy are concerned. Economics pundit Graham Summers agrees: The Fed is about to find itself completely powerless as 2008 redux appears.
Think of 2008 as an economic teddy bear, and 2011 as a grizzly. And I think I mentioned this one already: The hunters are out of bullets.
The all-too-expected political response from the final remaining superpower: ratchet up covert wars. Maybe, while we’re at it, launch another World War.
The bottom line
You’ve been warned repeatedly in this space, and the Guardian finally joins the party: The industrial economic system is about to blow. This burst of hope, our remaining chance at salvation, will undoubtedly be greeted with the usual assortment of protests, ridicule, and hate mail I’ve come to expect from planetary consumers who want to keep consuming the planet.
The underlying predicament — reduction in available energy — is described graphically by Gail Tverberg in this essay. She then tacks on fine analysis in this subsequent essay. Jared Diamond adds a dose of complexity, as described by Erik Curren at Transition Voice.
But these warning shots are only the most recent in a rich history dating back to Marcus Aurelius (and probably further). For materials only slightly older than me that focus on our energy predicament, take a peek at M. King Hubbert’s 1956 paper and the text of Admiral Hyman G. Rickover’s 1957 speech.
And then, let go.
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http://www.skepticalscience.com/solar-activity-sunspots-global-warming-a...
The arguement that hig CO2 is bad is ingnorant. During one of the most lush biomass intensive periods of the planet CO2 was ~2% of the atmosphere....at present it is 0.4%.
http://cache.backpackinglight.com/backpackinglight/user_uploads/12075558...
Plant biomass thrives on high CO2...this is why things grow better in a greenhouse....its hot and has higher CO2. Water vapor is increasing and a far better holder of heat...so ban making pasta.
I do agree that humans will most likely cause their own extinction barring some MEE (comet, ice age, etc.). Most likely it will be world war, nukes, bioweapon...combination of factors.
Nice papaswamp. in my opinion though, we are driven to these MAD-nesses by forces that clearly move entire species into destructive behaviour.
Planetary changes (including the SUN and Moon) are at an all time observed high. The solar system is as never before.
The pole star is off. Look it up, literally! ;-)
Perhaps it's just time.
Vivek (ORI)
http://aadivaahan.wordpress.com/2010/06/18/of-tipping-points-and-shape-shifting/
http://www.skepticalscience.com/co2-plant-food-advanced.htm
The world is ending next Tuesday? Well then why not send a wad of cash to Ron Paul for his Birthday Money Bomb? You can't take it with you!
http://ronpaul2012.com/
As of June 30th filing with FEC, Ron Paul stood at $4.5 mil while Romney was at $18.3 mil. The moneybomb is at ~$650K as of 1pm; probably will hit the $1.5 mil goal. Every $2500 helps!
http://ronpaul2012.com/
just donated to RP--thanks for reminding us and providing the link. maybe nonpourosity doesn't give a shit about our good attitude. but sending some FRNs for a shot at ending the runaway issue of more FRNs is about as good a use of FRNs as i can think of.
dup/deleted
$828,426.51
$973,104.21
$1,085,632.78
I wonder if the good Dr. would appreciate a donation of a kevlar vest with a "FED Buster" patch on it?
McPherson,
Read up on the weather wars. We're maintaining a high pressure system over the gulf to prevent the biologically engineered life that's infesting it courtesy of Craig Venter's epic retardation from spreading to the rest of the world while the helpless morons at MIT try to figure out a solution and Barry pretends there is no more leak. As for the billion-dollar disaster number, hyperinflation, bitchez. Predictions out to 2050? Absurd. Polar ice melt = solar maximum.
As for the nukes and financial doooom, right on point.
And here were we all thinking that Munox didn't get deployed.
I'd ask for a citation / reference, but I already know the address of Icke & Jones' websites.
Back in the day it was known as global warming,now suddenly its climate change,its all bunch of global warm bull shit me thinks.
No, you don't thinks...that's the problem.
Actually he does. AGW is a fraud designed to tax and control us into oblivion for the benefit of a few. Or do you actually believe that the government will solve this problem??? What a joke!
Read above, clownboy. I have many problems with the proposed solutions, but denial of the problem at hand is suicide. Maybe ignorance suits you, but others would rather know than not.
Read above snowflake. You're a fanatic. A wild eyed bible thumper, just a different religion.
"denial is suicide"
Listen to yourself you idiotic cunt.
And you are pathetic ignorant troll who can't do anything beyond swinging your tiny fists like a sissy at the messenger. Let us know when you can bring yourself to actually make a point.
Let me guess, denial is suicide because, because the aliens will kill us if we don't stop producing CO2!
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/08/19/aliens-could-attack-earth-to-end-global-warming-nasa-scientist-claims/
The earth may be warming but it could be entirely due to factors beyond our control. The notion that CO2 is the primary driver of climate change is laughable and would never be taken seriously if it wasn't part of a political agenda to tax the air we breathe. I may be a clownboy but you are definitely a Leninist useful idiot.
Stay ignorant. You're less dangerous that way anyhow.
Ignore him.... he played his hand...
An MBA lecturing us about the ethical behaviour of scientists.
Helps being a whore to know one. The difference is I do not rely on a scientific con to rip off my clients. There are few qualities more repulsive that the stench of self righteous hypocrites.
So what?
Do some geology studying, and you'll see there've been worse things that have hit this planet.
Besides, we're all going to die.
So our species vanishes. So what?
So what? Do you really want an iguana or a merkat to take possession of your ETF's, physical silver and your collection of Michael Jackson albums? Dash it all to hell man...we must kill off all species before it's light out.
A fine point...
I am taking my shit with me!
I don't own any albums
Yeah but some might still be able to watch the Sesame street - maybe they've tentacles, three eyes, but they will enjoy the show.
But some day they will also see the Great Potus...in a galaxy far, far away...that might give them some headaches.
Agreed!
As soon as the author mentione climate change with a straight face, I stopped reading. Did ZH sell out to the PTB without telling us? Will they start plugging Rick "Builderburg" Perry next?
Have you seen what happens to a fish tank when it has more fish than the closed system can tolerate and you don't clean it for a while? You eventually get an extinction event in the tank.
Do you really think that humanity on the earth is any different in anything but scale? Do you really believe there are no consequences to 7 billion people worth of pollution (and growing)?
There are real conspiracies, for sure. At the core of a good conspiracy is the kernel of truth. Just because TPTB may use global warming to further their agenda does not mean there is not truth to it.
TPOG
Sad to say, I already did that.
Not because I give two shits about Perry, but because I'd rather see that tool get shot than Dr. Paul.
I vividly remember the Global Cooling scam which ended with the Mt. St. Helens eruption.
The Global Heating and later renamed Global Climate Change when warming could not be proven except for "cooked" numbers coming out of released E-mails.
Now NASA Satellite data has shown all of it to be false and faked.
New NASA Data Blow Gaping Hole In Global Warming AlarmismUmm.... why don't you provide the proper link, Forbes and cite the author's funding, The Heartland institute.
Now, you do understand, as any reasonable climate scientist does, that the heat is not trapped by the CO2, but is transferred to the oceans.
Classic junk science red-herring brought to you by a Institute that gets a good part of it money from the coal industry.
And the funding for scientists who support man caused global warming bullshit? Frame that Flaky one in the job perpetuation category. You're an idiot...
No, no, really, Flak studied Climatology -- at the local community college.
Ok, actually he took one class.
Well, he signed up for the class anyway AND bought the book.
Maybe our learned poster could explain in his own words why global warming is fraud, from a science perspective, of course.
If you can't, then simply STFU.
Here we go again.....
http://assassinationscience.com/climategate/
Dr Patrick Michaels,at the cato institute
http://www.cato.org/people/patrick-michaels
Patrick Moore, at greenspirit.com
http://www.greenspirit.com/
I suggest you get off your academic ass and study in depth both of those authors...
No problem, I will STFU when you publish links to the 20 plus Peer Reviewed papers that you claim to have authored
Actually, Flaky claims to be a scientist as per his CV below:
Flakmeister
M. Sc. in Theoretical Physics, Ph.D. Experimental Physics,
Post Doctroral Experience: U. of Chicago, U. Michigan, Visiting scientist U. of Manchester,
Staff Scientist at Brookhaven National Lab
Primary author of ~20 peer reviewed research papers....
Referee for the Physical Review
Internationally known: Invited seminars and colloquia in 7 countries, 3 continents.... ~20 of the top 100 research universities in US, places like Stanford, CalTech. Featured speaker at 2 international conferences....
Over 20 years experience basic research....
And while not related 5 years experience in structured finance on Wall St.
Hope that helps....
I´ve been asking Flake to link to the 20 plus authored, peer reviewed papers that he claims in his CV. Still waiting....
Do you know a real scientist?
Do you know what motivates someone to forego a whole bunch of material pleasures in order to become a scientist?
Now, the vast majority (>98%) of climate scientists agree with the thesis of global warming. Unlike politics, opinions don't matter much here. They "support" Global Warming in the sense that the data tells them it is correct.
I can assure you that if some climate scientist could disprove Global Warming they would as it would guarentee lasting fame in the field.
Follow the money..... the money spent by the Fossil fuel interests dwarfs the salaries of the scientists...
Flakmeister, concur with your postion, couldn't have put it better myself.
HCE I support your position that supports his even though I'm fully dressed. Logic requires no clothes to hide its true face
Yes indeed. I know actual, real-life climate scientists and I can assure you they are not doing it for 1: To get rich 2: as part of criminal syndicate run by George Soros.
Regardless, the confluence of peak oil and ponzi-finance is going to put capitalism out of it's misery. I mean, it's dead now - we are just busy humping the corpse pretending she is still alive.
Hmmm Flaky, please prove to the rest of us that the vast majority (>98%) agree with global warming. Start with names, and affiliations, and please list the entire universe of scientists that comprise the sample.
On a separate note, since 100% of devout christians agree that God exists, that means he or she exists, doesn't it? Hmmn, I guess the same logic applies to AGW.
Let us pray to the great god Gaia, and his prophet Al Gore....
Don't conflate faith based religion with science.... they are not the same.
No Flaky, faith based religion and science are not the same. Yet why is it that AGW sceptics are called deniers??? Last time I checked, denier was not a scientific classification but a political designation. Anyways, I promise to STFU when you link to the 20 plus peer reviewed papers as per your CV, copied below for your convenience.
Flakmeister
Vote up! 0
Vote down! 0
M. Sc. in Theoretical Physics, Ph.D. Experimental Physics,
Post Doctroral Experience: U. of Chicago, U. Michigan, Visiting scientist U. of Manchester,
Staff Scientist at Brookhaven National Lab
Primary author of ~20 peer reviewed research papers....
Referee for the Physical Review
Internationally known: Invited seminars and colloquia in 7 countries, 3 continents.... ~20 of the top 100 research universities in US, places like Stanford, CalTech. Featured speaker at 2 international conferences....
Over 20 years experience basic research....
And while not related 5 years experience in structured finance on Wall St.
Hope that helps....
Whats the matter, jealous or something?
Flaky, jealous of what? Other than your good word, you have provided no evidence to support your CV. Kinda like AGW, just take it on faith. For all I know, you could be a hairy palmed geek taking it up the ass for Al Gore. Next time, when you post your so called CV, be prepared to back it up with more than cheap rhetoric.
And the billions spent by government support AGW research dwarfs the money spent by fossil fuel interests. So Flaky, when are you going to link to your 20 plus papers ?
www.dailykos.com/.../-Global-Warming-is-real-say-the-Koch-Broth... - Cached You +1'd this publicly. UndoDaily Kos: Global Warming is real say the Koch Brothers
Apr 4, 2011 – Global Warming is real say the Koch Brothers. The Climate Change Denier Scientist the Koch Brothers paid to debunk Global Warming has come ...
?
The Koch Brothers' Vast Right-Wing Media Conspiracy | Mother Jones
motherjones.com/.../2011/02/koch-brothers-media-beck-greenpeace - Cached You +1'd this publicly. Undo
Feb 4, 2011 – The Koch brothers are outraged—outraged!—that people were tricked into believing they care about global warming. ...
Koch Industries: Secretly Funding the Climate Denial Machine ...
www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/.../global-warming-and.../koch-industri... - Cached You +1'd this publicly. Undo
Charles and David Koch have quietly funneled over $55 million to ... that are working to delay policies and regulations aimed at stopping global warming. ... The Koch brothers, their family members, and their employees direct a web of ...
Koch Industries multibillionaire Koch brothers bankroll attacks on ...
www.climatesciencewatch.org/.../koch-industries-multibillionaire-ko... - CachedSimilar You +1'd this publicly. Undo
Mar 18, 2010 – The Koch brothers have stepped forward with deep pockets to bankroll ... Red Hot Lies: How Global Warming Alarmists Use Threats, Fraud and ...
New Yorker exposes Koch brothers along with their greenwashing and ...
thinkprogress.org/.../new-yorker-koch-brothers-smithsonian-tea-par... - Cached You +1'd this publicly. Undo
Aug 24, 2010 – TRENDING: Global Warming · Climate Change Deniers · Election 2012 · Science ... Koch Brothers Fund Bogus Study Bashing Offshore Wind ...
Billionaire Koch brothers back suspension of California climate ...
latimesblogs.latimes.com/.../koch-brothers-global-warming-prop-23... - CachedSimilar You +1'd this publicly. Undo
Sep 2, 2010 – A company owned by oil billionaires Charles and David Koch has contributed $1 million to Proposition 23, a November ballot initiative to ...
How DARE you!
Hmmm, and let me think, who funds the scientists perpetuating the AGW fraud??? Why tax hungry governments looking for another excuse to rob us blind.
This is coming from a BA is PolySci....
Science is now a purely political construct....
When all you have is hammer, everything is a nail...
I know I'm special. A double Irish whiskey with a shot of spring water essence .
Survival kit contents check. In them you'll find: one forty-five caliber 1911 automatic; two boxes of ammunition; four days' concentrated emergency rations; one drug issue containing antibiotics, morphine, vitamin pills, pep pills, sleeping pills, tranquilizer pills; one miniature combination Chinese phrase book and Bible; one hundred dollars in Swiss Francs; one U.S. Mint white tube of 1/10 Au coins; nine packs of big red chewing gum; one brick of large prophylactics; three lipsticks; three pair of nylon stockings; one can of whip cream. Shoot, a fella' could have a pretty good weekend in Vegas with all that stuff.
10-4, Major!
Only thing left is a nuclear rodeo!
News clip caught Bernanke on the way to Jackson Hole.
I didn't know the slopes had snow this time of year.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcW_Ygs6hm0
So mass extinctions kill almost all humans, or destruction of industrial economy kills almost all humans. Ok, got it.
There is no privilege like the "privilege" of sending today's garbage into the future: the single most important point in this article is the denial of the need to shut down all nuclear plants. Nuclear is the most expensive energy there is because it destroys future generations and makes areas completely uninhabitable. What is most concerning, though, is not the nuclear plants, but all the nuclear waste "stored" for thousands of years...the United States is not quite 250 years old and yet we have the arrogance to believe that we will store nuclear waste for thousands of years? This reeks of the destruction of future generations. If the "oldsters" are to be "offed" for treasonous acts against the "youngers", this will be a primary reason. So if you are thinking that your old age will be peaceful, you might want to think again, for as those younger than, say, sixteen, come of age and realize the "dumps" of nuclear waste that you have polluted the earth with, they are not going to be happy with you, or compassionate toward you.
maybe the uranium we mine today, is the nuclear waste of a distant past.
It is, actually.
Astronomers refer to every atomic nucleus heavier than helium as "metals". Neon is a metal.
The uranium we mine today is nuclear waste from the supernova that blew up to provide the Solar System with its metals.
To solve the imminent retaliatory attack by aliens of our polluted world, perceived source of intergalactic problems, and caused by inconsiderate nation states in their irrational exuberance, we urgently need a world government to repair the damage to our environment and to fend off this imminent attack by aliens.
There is no room for despondency in these crucial times. "Never was so much owed by so many to so few"...will be chiming once again; as our New Leonidas, our new brave Spitfire pilots, take on the invading hordes.
"The sky is fallin'... the sky is fallin'!..."
First... the population bomb, then the global cooling, then the global warming, then the climate change... now the nuclear power plant disaster. Really... are these people paid to come up with these scenarios?
Next: "The Green Catastrophe"
Ups... already here, as in solar panels made in China, winterizing the White House and mandatory electric bicycles.
Somebody take these chickens to the woodshed, let's have a meal tonight.
Just because "The Bomb" didn't go off 2 week after the book came out does not change it's conclusions...
Irony of ironies, the amount of sulphates being dumped into the atmosphere by burning dirty coal in the 50's and 60's was actually hiding the global warming trends. FWIW, the quality and breadthd of data has risen exponentially since the 60's and 70's....
Global Warming was effectively changed in Global Climate Change via PR work done by Lunz (sp) who was being paid by the fossil fuel interests.
Some like it hot, me for one. Bring it on!
By the way, my mother said this would happen if I didn't close the front door - "Waddaya tryin' to do, heat up the world?"
Hahahahahahaha.
Right you are -- the book to this day still concludes that hundreds of millions of people are guaranteed to starve to death by the middle of the 1970's (nineteen seventies).
Read it. The author is completely unequivocal in his certainty.
Maybe you should go ask Mr. Ehrlich for some stock tips? Timing is everything!
Yep.... just like some people said that Gold was the only thing to own in early Jan. 1980....
They looked like fools very soon after and for 20 years no less, now who is laughing?
Suck a dick flakmeister, you foppish twit.
If you have nothing constructive to add, go off into a corner and fist yourself...assuming of course you aren't already doing yerself...
Capitalism makes people stupid, flak. It's inherently an idiot maker on a global scale. Profit motive is the gun to the head of humanity. The will deny deny deny any type of limitations because they are like 2 year olds that want to eat candy for breakfast and if anybody tells them they can't the howl about their freedom to act like idiots. We can only watch in horror as capitalism pushes the planet to the brink of population reduction through it's intense material demands and inherent junky mentality
Being an economic agnostic, I don't think capitalism per se is the problem; rather I think we have a problem of economic scale. I can imagine groups of people operating successfully under a variety of economic models, provided the scale was small enough to provide some required level of voluntary participation. I don't know what that level is. On the other hand, I've never seen a model of capitalism described that didn't require growth. It worked well in the Wild West - 'cept for the indigenous peoples - but globally I don't think there's room for non-conforntational competitive growth, even right now, and I certainly don't see how captialism as expressed through globalism could ever possibly work long term.
You could have posted a link to "zeitgeist the movie" to finish with a flourish.
"Global warming theorists make people stupid, flak. They're inherently an idiot maker on a global scale. Profit motive is the gun to the head of humanity. The will deny deny deny any type of limitations because they are like 2 year olds that want to eat candy for breakfast and if anybody tells them they can't they howl about their freedom to act like idiots. We can only watch in horror as global warming theorists push the planet to the brink of population reduction through their intense material demands and inherent junky mentality"
There you go, fixed it for you.
Amusing. So where are the links to the 20 plus papers that you claim to have published? Below, please find your CV for reference.
Flakmeister
Vote up! 0
Vote down! 0
M. Sc. in Theoretical Physics, Ph.D. Experimental Physics,
Post Doctroral Experience: U. of Chicago, U. Michigan, Visiting scientist U. of Manchester,
Staff Scientist at Brookhaven National Lab
Primary author of ~20 peer reviewed research papers....
Referee for the Physical Review
Internationally known: Invited seminars and colloquia in 7 countries, 3 continents.... ~20 of the top 100 research universities in US, places like Stanford, CalTech. Featured speaker at 2 international conferences....
Over 20 years experience basic research....
And while not related 5 years experience in structured finance on Wall St.
Hope that helps....
Mmmm. Farm fresh chicken. I'll take a drumstick- trade you for a pint of canned homegrowed 'mater spagetti sauce, if you're not inclined to share out of the goodness of your heart.
We wont go extinct. There will be the Pharaoehs [ Wall St, The City, DC] and the bushmen and eskimos. The elites will survive and the primitives. City folk will turn into primitives 1% or die 99%.
The eskimos are in for one hell of a fight with the hybrid bears.
lol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6V4KN___9U&feature=channel_video_title
...eh, accept the mercy of our Father in Christ and you shall rise in agreement.
Probabilty of acurately assesing our extinction date, very near zero.
Don't you have a small Best if Used By date stamped on the bottom of your foot?
Utter bullshit. Uber-fail.
Why don't you kill yourself first so you're spared the coming of your prediction.
And please give away your estate to the poor so they might benefit between now and then.
Can I give negative star rating? 1 star is waay too much.
Rant, flail, gnash your teeth, but don't provide evidence to the contrary by any means.
Our species has survived several super volcanic eruptions and several ice ages. It would take something truly catastrophic to drive humans into extinction. A little global warming is not going to do it. Civilization on the other hand is a different story, but it's doomed with or without global warming.
There seems to be a coordinated effort to relaunch the global warming hysteria. Probably 'the outfit' trying to distract people from the real problems.
"Our species has survived several super volcanic eruptions and several ice ages. It would take something truly catastrophic to drive humans into extinction. "
I'd say a few more of his articles would do it...
No, that will only kill you- the vibrations being directed into your brain by those ears of yours will turn the inside of your head into mush. :)
Our species has never survived an extinction event. Hope that sums it up for you?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/166869.stm
Yeah, but have human beings at any point in history survived a Michelle Bachman presidency? Come to think of it, any species that would actually encourage or allow such a travesty truly deserves extinction.
You have made no attempt to acknowledge your obvious bias in western religious philosophy. I don't even understand your point. We are nature; and the known facts are that all life is limited. Even the sun will burn out. There are no exceptions. So what?
You first.
Wow, I guess I thought that Climategate and all the other examples of the manipulation of climate data would have put the whole AGW nonsense to bed. I guess I am too optimistic. Thumbs down to Zero Hedge for posting this.
You will note the the followups were never publicized... eg.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=climategate-scientist-cleared-in-inquiry-again
Sure Mann was cleared.... by a Penn State University University investigation. Yeah, the same university that received tens of millions of dollars in grants to prove AGW. Do I smell conflict of interest???? Do I smell whitewash? What other conclusion could they have reached? C'mon, you have to do better than that.
They hung their egos on AGW.
Have to admit they were wrong ( suckered ) in order to change.
Thumbs up to zh. We need not get biased against debate. Many will learn from reading this. I found some new links and got to see where other hers come from.
Maybe it's just me, but it has to be said.
I can dig the tit avitars, but you are just one nasty fucker. We all like our own sacks, but they are not exactly picturesque. Can't even bother to read what you wrote, so I guess it's counterproductive in that reagard.
All else being equal, it's a free country, so do what you have to do- just don't expect anyone else to like it.
Wow, I guess I thought that Climategate and all the other examples of the manipulation of climate data would have put the whole AGW nonsense to bed. I guess I am too optimistic. Thumbs down to Zero Hedge for posting this.
False flags.
How many mainstream articles have you seen on well-paid deniers touting for oil companies?
You "seek truth" with a bag over your head; how fitting.
Hmmm, I seem to remember a CEO of a rather large oil company called BP giving political support to carbon trading.....
http://www.upstreamonline.com/live/article209369.ece
Gee, I guess he didn't get the anti-AGW memo...
Don't worry. The Free Market will take care of everything!
Amen brother.
Times they are a'changin ..
The only thing i will miss about the human race is all the wonderful times we sat around discussing its eventual end. Such fond memories, unforgettable, the long nights of endless passionate discussion about that fatal day, the happy discourse filled with idiosyncratic ventures of helpless wonder, the classical and romantic thought processes vying for dominance; the classical pragmatists opting for a deadly flesh eating pandemic or nuclear meltdown and the weepy romantics opting for a meteor hit by the seaside(you have to love them old romantics, they‘re so silly sometimes), to name but just a few of the inspiring scenarios of death. I'll miss that badly, i already feel a hole in my life even at the mention of it, i don’t usually get emotional, always thought I was too much of a man...
ROTFLMAO... I like your wit!!!
You have a groupie here, send her your photo... in your seer sucker trousers...without your glasses but with your hat on. Send me one too I'll put it on the P G Woodhouse memoralia blog. That is if you allow me to and be a lover of golf.
+ 5 BILLION EARTH YEARS
Superb. *sniff*
People forget that the earth has been warming, since the end of the last ice age.
Did prehistoric man walk to alaska over a man-made bridge? No
Newsflash for the idiots. The climate has been changing, since the Earth was formed. Mankind didn't die then. Not with the temps on the way up or down.
Anyways, mankind will only destroy itself if it chooses not to take the right direction. Our minds ARE good enough to last. We CAN develop alternatives. The universe is basically limitless, fusion is within reach if we try, and once we have fusion, we'll be on the cusp of creating whatever element we need. Eventually the universe is our oyster.
But not with a monetary system. The incentive is to stay in the dark.
Glass-Steagall
Why is it only the US that has to urgently cut greenhouse emissions ? Not China, not India ?
Newsflash to the idiots:scale.
100,000 years =/= 100 years.
No-one ever argues that climate is perfectly stable (although there is a lot of work on how it remains so relatively stable to constantly maintain life), everyone is worried about the time scale. Evolution of most species happens in slow time, if said climate changes too fast, this leads to precluding precluding abaption/adaption to changing situation => die off.
http://www.skepticalscience.com/climate-change-little-ice-age-medieval-w...
www.dailykos.com/.../-Global-Warming-is-real-say-the-Koch-Broth... - Cached You +1'd this publicly. UndoDaily Kos: Global Warming is real say the Koch Brothers
Apr 4, 2011 – Global Warming is real say the Koch Brothers. The Climate Change Denier Scientist the Koch Brothers paid to debunk Global Warming has come ...
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The Koch Brothers' Vast Right-Wing Media Conspiracy | Mother Jones
motherjones.com/.../2011/02/koch-brothers-media-beck-greenpeace - Cached You +1'd this publicly. Undo
Feb 4, 2011 – The Koch brothers are outraged—outraged!—that people were tricked into believing they care about global warming. ...
Koch Industries: Secretly Funding the Climate Denial Machine ...
www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/.../global-warming-and.../koch-industri... - Cached You +1'd this publicly. Undo
Charles and David Koch have quietly funneled over $55 million to ... that are working to delay policies and regulations aimed at stopping global warming. ... The Koch brothers, their family members, and their employees direct a web of ...
Koch Industries multibillionaire Koch brothers bankroll attacks on ...
www.climatesciencewatch.org/.../koch-industries-multibillionaire-ko... - CachedSimilar You +1'd this publicly. Undo
Mar 18, 2010 – The Koch brothers have stepped forward with deep pockets to bankroll ... Red Hot Lies: How Global Warming Alarmists Use Threats, Fraud and ...
New Yorker exposes Koch brothers along with their greenwashing and ...
thinkprogress.org/.../new-yorker-koch-brothers-smithsonian-tea-par... - Cached You +1'd this publicly. Undo
Aug 24, 2010 – TRENDING: Global Warming · Climate Change Deniers · Election 2012 · Science ... Koch Brothers Fund Bogus Study Bashing Offshore Wind ...
Billionaire Koch brothers back suspension of California climate ...
latimesblogs.latimes.com/.../koch-brothers-global-warming-prop-23... - CachedSimilar You +1'd this publicly. Undo
Sep 2, 2010 – A company owned by oil billionaires Charles and David Koch has contributed $1 million to Proposition 23, a November ballot initiative to ...
You and Buckminster Fuller. And Gene Roddenberry.
BENZODIAZAPINES! STAT!
As far as climate change goes, the first thing anyone should do is study the graph of temperature and CO2 from the Vostok ice core data: http://www.daviesand.com/Choices/Precautionary_Planning/New_Data/. Also, the added analysis about the CO2 lag: http://joannenova.com.au/global-warming/ice-core-graph/. Then one should think about this data. A couple of conclusions stand out:
1. We've been here before - 4 times in 400,000 years.
2. Temperature increase causes CO2 increase - not the reverse.
At this point, one might choose to ignore these conclusions and retreat into the verity of one's doctrinal beliefs. Or, one might choose to consider that climate science is in its infancy and much is both unknown and undecided.
The author needs to spend some serious time in quality thought and research - unless of course he wants to create another apocalyptic doomsday religion.
Newsflash to the idiots:scale.
100,000 years =/= 100 years.
No-one ever argues that climate is perfectly stable (although there is a lot of work on how it remains so relatively stable to constantly maintain life), everyone is worried about the time scale. Evolution of most species happens in slow time, if said climate changes too fast, this leads to precluding abaption/adaption to changing situation => die off.
http://www.skepticalscience.com/co2-lags-temperature-intermediate.htm
As one leading climate scientist has said: (paraphasing) the climate is like an angry beast presently lying dormant in a fragile cage. Do you really want to poke it with a stick?
TPOG
You mean, paraphrasing, that a so called leading climate scientist said that the climate is like an angry beast lying dormant in a fragile cage. Do you really want to poke it with a stick? No wonder that the science of AGW is in such a pathetic state. What legitimate scientist would use such a stupid analogy or metaphor? Really, an angry beast that better not be poked by a stick? At least you did not cite vengeful aliens attacking us for producing carbon.
Lots of shit flying from you..but nothing about the science...
Could it be that you don't understand it and are afraid of it?
Sorry Flaky, but there is no science to debate, only the output of computer models that prove nothing. I might as well debate the validity of the existence of Pandora.
The earth is subject to constant climate change... it is called spring, summer, fall and winter. It is now obvious to all that AGW is driven by a political agenda, hence the reason why climate scientists are held in such disrepute. The good news is that a majority of the population sees through the tissue of lies spun by Al Gore and his bankster buddies and rejects the AGW fraud. The bad news is even if the climate scientists were not lying, their past actions have permanently discredited the study of climate. Yes, governments will keep promoting and pushing this lie, because they want the taxes and control, and the banks and oil companies want to earn the billions that will accrue to them trading carbon credits, but the majority of people rightly refuse to pay for the right to breathe. Breathing air is a birthright, not a privilege.
Wow, now that was deep, spring summer fall... the climate is changing all the time...
Care to discuss the NAO, intensification of the El Nino, La Nina cycle? OHC data?
It's just wind man, it blows all over.
Hey Flaky, you claimed to have authored 20 plus peer reviewed papers, let's see them.
And BTW, as a great scientist, what would it take to falsify the theory of AGW anyways? I am all ears.
Russki
PS as an added bonus, I am attaching your CV so that others may understand that you know what of you speak.
Flakmeister
Vote up! 0
Vote down! 0
M. Sc. in Theoretical Physics, Ph.D. Experimental Physics,
Post Doctroral Experience: U. of Chicago, U. Michigan, Visiting scientist U. of Manchester,
Staff Scientist at Brookhaven National Lab
Primary author of ~20 peer reviewed research papers....
Referee for the Physical Review
Internationally known: Invited seminars and colloquia in 7 countries, 3 continents.... ~20 of the top 100 research universities in US, places like Stanford, CalTech. Featured speaker at 2 international conferences....
Over 20 years experience basic research....
And while not related 5 years experience in structured finance on Wall St.
Hope that helps....
Thanks for calling out my typo, dude! Your argument is all the better for it! ;-)
As someone who often has to explain technical subjects to business executives I can appreciate the value of a simple analogy when I need them to sign the check. The value of the underlying premise is delivered in the results, and so far the data backs up the climate change story.
TPOG
Solution: Mandatory sterilization at age 11.
Lights out in just a couple of generations. Except the banksters and other ultra elites holding their hourd of gold.
Always special exceptions for the wealthy.
Like Vietnam, And Isn't it amazing that Vietnam is not now part of China or Russia ? Another example of the BIG LIE v'v Domino Theory.
POTUS and staff are always blowhard egomaniacs.
The author clearly has no idea how nuclear reactors work. Do they pose a risk? Sure. But modern reactors have all kinds of fail safes that old ones like Fukushima don't. New advancements in nuclear make it cleaner every day. With our growing electrical thirst, they are saving us from relying on even more, immediately impactful alternatives. As for the "waste" lasting "thousands" of years, we have learned how to burn 50-90% of that "waste" and are working on ways to burn even more "waste." We may get to a point where we gleefully harvest our old "waste" that has been sealed up.
The same thing happened with many other resources. Gold comes to mind. Some ore contained gold that was considered not economically retrievable, so it was considered waste until someone figured out how to separate that gold.
Wow, living about twenty miles from the the Hanford Project - former home of the world's first plutonium production reactor and current home to 2/3 of the United States' high level radioactive waste by volume - I'm glad that all the problems with waste disposal have been figured out. Funny - folks around here, even the engineers, still seem to think that we have big issues. Thanks for the chin up!
If you're scared, move.
But you still live there, so STFU, and stop trying to kill us all with B-movie horror senarios.
You all want science, here it is. Fukishima was/is going to kill us all? I've seen the maps, and since the fallout was supposedly right over my house, we pulled out the geiger counter to see how long it was going to take us to die. Nothing. Nada. Zip. There is no radiation whatsoever from Fukishima at my home, even though the maps show it travelling right over the place.
Sucks to be Japanese right now, and I, for one, would be on-board with helping the whole lot of them repatriate to make a New Tokyo in one of the less populated areas of the US. Accidents happen, and we can deal with them if people stop behaving like retarded monkeys.
We need energy. Now. Not in a million years, and not from a source that doesn't exist. We have the potential to make all we need, if the fear mongers can just shut their stupid fucking anti-human traps and go off to die. You care about Mother Gaia so much, go home and eat a bullet- take one for the team, you POS. I don't give one shit about spotted owls, rare butterflies, or near-extinct forms of lovely little buttercups if it means that I have to watch human beings starve and die en masse. I am pro-human, period- if the other animals can't compete, that's evolution for you. I will kill and eat every single representative of a competing species if they get in my way, but I will not watch a single human child die without intervening. Don't like it? Too bad, I can absolutely guarantee that I am bigger, stronger and more ruthless than you are. Keep pushing, bitch- the reaction is on it's way. Those of us with energy will roll over you Farmer Brown types, and your shitty oxen and non-GMO seeds won't save you.
You said all you need to say in your own post- "former home of the world's first plutonium production reactor." Since when does it make sense to compare a prototype to a production model with sixty years or more of development behind it? Nobody is talking about making a 50's era first-attempt model nuclear reactor. We learned one or two incidental things in the last sixty fucking years, so go back to sniffing glue and leave the energy discussions to people who do not want to watch the world burn.
Where the fuck do you people come from? Why is it supposed to just be hunky-dory that you want to starve and freeze billions of people so that the relative handful that are left can be "pure" like some kind of idealized story about tribal savages? I know, I know- you're fucking special, and your farts don't contain damaging methane and CO2. Go to hell, go directly to hell- do not pass go, do not collect $200.
Far more people die in car crashes than have ever died as a result of nuclear power. So run along, and promote the absolute ban of automobiles. There, fixed your crusade for ya.
Yes, Spastica- it's true that you didn't specifically deserve that. It was a good place to insert a rant, and I had reached the requisite degree of inebriation to let fly. You lucky dog, you.
The Club of Rome: Global Warming and the environmental elite [Rockefeller's CFR] think tank
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By thecounterpunch
"In searching for a new enemy to unite us, we came up with the idea that pollution, the threat of global warming, water shortages, famine and the like would fit the bill ... All these dangers are caused by human intervention and it is only through changed attitudes and behaviour that they can be overcome. The real enemy, then, is humanity itself."
— in The First Global Revolution, pp.104-105 by Alexander King, founder of the Club of Rome and Bertrand Schneider, secretary of theClub of Rome
Club of Rome is the Elite Think Tank behind ideas such as "Sustainable Development" and "Global Warming" like the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.
Henry Kissinger is one of his member - as many like who is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) - a Rockefeller's organization founded by one of his agent Colonel House - and one of his secret president has been Dick Cheney by his own confession see his video speech here.
Originally this group was organized in 1968 by the Morgenthau Group and the majority of Club of Rome executives were drawn from NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization).
During the period 1968-1972, The Club of Rome became a cohesive entity of new-science scientists, Globalist, future planners and internationalists of every stripe.
The Club of Rome is famous for promoting the idea of "Limits to Growth" like in a 1972 book modeling the consequences of a rapidly growing world population and finite resource supplies. This is just the same kind of Malthus ideas when he wrote An Essay on the Principle of Population.
Not astonishingly, critics have charged the Club of Rome with "Neo-Malthusianism" and strong elitism in its membership, which interlocks with European power elite groups such as Bilderberg (with such members as David Rockefeller) and to a lesser degree Anglo-American elite members.
More recently the Elite Agenda of Club of Rome is hidden behind ideas such as"Sustainable Development" and "Global Warming" see Rockefeller Brothers Fund article.
"Club of Rome is the Elite Think Tank behind ideas such as 'Sustainable Development'".
The mind boggles at the nefarious intent, and sheer evil, of an entity slying plotting to foster development which can be sustained, versus development which cannot.
:)
- American Enterprise Institute
- Heartland Foundation
- Heritage Foundation
- Americans for Prosperity
- Freedomworks
- etc ad nauseam
No shortage of "think" tanks on the fascist side of the fence either.
My god! Rich people think about environmental consequences of an exploding population running and infinite growth economic paradigm. Unbelievable!
Everybody knows the earth is indestructible and all environmental concerns are liberal brainwashing. Economics is the only valid science - why the price point will guide us
" Economics is the only valid science..."
Yeah, and we all know that ALL economists ever in the history of the field ALL agree that ONLY free market system are valid and real and efficient and ALL other economic models are conspiracies of the ruling elites.
We also have to consider the religious bias of many of the folks who will do anything to dismiss climate change. Our Western culture is preloaded with the concept that the Christian Gawd gave us this planet to do anything we wish. And only their Gawd will determine the end of the world. We can't have all these scientists usurping Gawd's power by saying over population and environmental degradation might kill us off.
One thing I know for certain is the environment will impose it's own will whenever and however it wants and it will not care about our markets, political or economic theories, morals, or arrogant attitudes.
The only religious fanatics that you need to worry about are the AGW kooksters, who are demanding that you pay a tax for the air your breathe.
Two words for the author. LIGHTEN UP. And what's this nonsense about "When the world’s 442 nuclear power plants melt down catastrophically,"? You wanna explain how that is supposed to happen?
Yeah, a lot of things suck and there could indeed be a perfect shit storm on the way, but get a grip. When you start yammering about mass extinction and catastrophic runaway greenhouse effects and miraculous simultaneous nuclear meltdowns, people who would otherwise take these problems seriously just wind up thinking you're a paranoid goofball. You're making the legitimate doom and gloomers look like crazy doom and gloomers.
My guess is he thinks that industrial and power grid collapse would lead to a breakdown in cooling systems.
Personally, I'd like to believe that some kind of organized shutdown/securing of hot waste would be a priority in any systemic breakdown - but on the other hand we wouldn't need too many more Fukashima events to seriously make existence suck.
Look at Ft. Calhoun - how close was that to a catastrophe? 1-2' of water?
There's always next year. . .
Maybe I'm just too thick-headed to understand, but why, exactly, would the power plant be dependant on the grid? Stupid folk like me would be naturally inclined to think it might be the other way around...
Go out and research how nuclear plants are kept from melting down while in operation.
Then research what is done with the spent fuel (spent fuel pools).
Then reseach the estimated life span of a plant and how that can be extended by special regulations.
Then research solar EMP storms.
Now use some human deductive reasoning and perform a risk analysis.
Then go change your pants.
TPOG
Again, again, and again, for the the one billionth time.
How does it make sense to worry about what might happen, when what will happen is sharpening it's teeth and aiming at your neck? Nuclear power can buy us time, shitting one's proverbial pants will ensure we die off to the point where there are no nuclear scientists left to provide the option.
Worst case scenario GCC wise: 100 million people living along the Arctic Circle. Far inland as the liquid-gas interface at the land-sea boundary will be too volatile for year round habitation. Canada's immigration policy during this transition will have a preferenece for NATO allies who bring their land based armour along. Russia will have a similar program. Murmansk wil have a head start but will have to migrate south to avoid the batering from the sea.
Lets see - we can deforest entire regions - that changes the weather. Wildfires are doing the same at record levels - along with beetle plagues from early springs. Volcanos change the weather, and we've created the industrial equivelent for over 100 years, destroying native praries changed the weather, heat from cities can change local weather, yet any claim that pumping millions of years of sequestered hydrocarbons won't change a thing.
Facts:
Ocean temps are rising. Ice is melting. Permafrost is melting. Forests are dying. Record weather disasters are happening at increasing frequencies.
The number of climate shills and trolls that come out when this issue is breached constantly amaze.
Seen this?
http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/06/24/253299/masters-driven-by-global-warming-it-is-quite-possible-that-2010-was-the-most-extreme-weather-year-globally-since-1816/
Since 1816? An ENTIRE 195 YEARS????
Well, fuck me with a rolling donut, that changes everything. Here I was thinking that weather was just cyclical in nature, but since you point out that this is the worst year since the beginning of the world, I guess we'd better get to fixing things up.
The article is proof of nothing... just a interesting read to put into perspective what is going on in the world....
Not sure if you live in the Hurricane zone, if you do, Jeff Masters Blog is the best place for hurricane info on the web...
No, but i saw this.... the CV of the great Flakmeister. I am still waiting for links to the Primary author of ~20 peer reviewed research papers....
Flakmeister
Vote up! 0
Vote down! 0
M. Sc. in Theoretical Physics, Ph.D. Experimental Physics,
Post Doctroral Experience: U. of Chicago, U. Michigan, Visiting scientist U. of Manchester,
Staff Scientist at Brookhaven National Lab
Primary author of ~20 peer reviewed research papers....
Referee for the Physical Review
Internationally known: Invited seminars and colloquia in 7 countries, 3 continents.... ~20 of the top 100 research universities in US, places like Stanford, CalTech. Featured speaker at 2 international conferences....
Over 20 years experience basic research....
And while not related 5 years experience in structured finance on Wall St.
Hope that helps....