Envirologue by Dave Hansford

Read Post

Envirologue: The Agony of Vanuatu and the New Climate Colonialism

105 Responses

First ←Older Page 1 2 3 4 5 Newer→ Last

  • tussock,

    It's not that hard to erase human beings from the planet. Wet bulb temperature of 41C does the job neatly, as with most other similar life forms.

    'course, we'd have to release most of that off-shore methane in the Siberian Arctic to get there. The Russian scientists studying all have rather grim looks about them, pointing out that it's not impossible, you know. Almost so, unless we get really persistent about burning the big coal beds, like they're doing in Oz, push the average up past +6C, that pushes Arctic warming up around +30C in the summer, and that could just be the beginning of the end.

    Though there's some ocean scientists reckon the acidification process, if you kill enough of the microflora species quickly enough, it's happened before you see, the deep oceans all rapidly become anoxic as none of the land runoff enters the normal ocean carbon cycle, O2 production crashes, and the seas start feeding the old pre-oxygen life forms, which produce H2S as a waste product, and last time that happened very nearly everything on earth died.

    But even at +4C, with the oceans web of life just barely intact, the East Antarctic ice sheet on the way out, ocean eating their way kilometres inland, most of the world's forests in terminal decline, a lot of the earth's population will have to move to survive the heatwaves. Can anyone really imagine that? Three, four billion people on the move, hopeful about Russian and Canadian immigration policies on a world of ten billion angry people and ever so many diseases just waiting for a hungry mob with poor sanitation.

    Nuclear-armed states disintegrating in the heat. That's not the easiest future to be dealing with the category 6 cyclones rolling in every few months on every coast.

    I don't think people realise just how different the climate can get. Hadley cells reaching 45N and 45S, meeting massive warm polar cells directly. How we're pushing toward changes bigger than any seen over tens of millions of years and crunching them into the next century or two. So determined not to upset our GDP forecasts by trying to plan for a future of solar thermal.


    But it'll probably be alright, eh. There's still nearly a 50% chance we'll stay within +2C, if we stop digging, which we won't. A coin flip on it being only small parts of the world we have to abandon, rather than large ones. Just shift a few cities inland a bit, after the fuel runs out, hardly even a bother. Why do anything, really? Won't someone think of the oil barons? Can't we just pretend science doesn't work? I mean, I'll be dead anyway, right, fuck the next generation, let them adapt.

    That's our actual government policy here in deal old NZ. Fuck the future, let them deal with it.

    Since Nov 2006 • 611 posts Report Reply

  • andin,

    I’ll be dead anyway

    Well seems this current crop of esteemed leader and money worshipers don't even think they will die, or they act as if they won't. Perhaps their god will come thru for them. Perhaps money can solve all ills! (time for a Tui ad). And anyway they are having way too much fun slagging off anyone who doesnt think like them.And thinking up delicious ways of enslaving people's while calling it by all manner of grand sounding titles.Zero hours! yes time will stand still till The Grand Hassnumarse's are ready, Nature will bend to their will.

    raglan • Since Mar 2007 • 1891 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel, in reply to tussock,

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic, in reply to Bart Janssen,

    Any others.

    Yes, maybe that the Jewish Cultural Marxists run Hollywood and academia, and the entire West will soon be speaking Arabic?

    Seriously though, take a look at how many climate denialists also happen to have a neo-imperialist Huntingtonian 'Clash of Civilisations' outlook.

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Barnes,

    Its not just ruminants you know, there are "far more important" culprits...
    A contestant farting on the New Zealand version of The Bachelor has made headlines worldwide.
    Sigh...

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

First ←Older Page 1 2 3 4 5 Newer→ Last

Post your response…

Please sign in using your Public Address credentials…

Login

You may also create an account or retrieve your password.