The Upside to Global Warming

[academic punk]

GOOD NEWS!!

As the earth's sea bed continues to be annihilated, access to oil, gas and minerals will be easier than ever! (sadly, there's nothing ironic about the article itself)

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/A3912343-2610-4E43-86D7-2912110E01BD.htm

[Guitar Shark]

I agree global warming is a huge problem... but can't we find a more compelling source than Al Jazeera?

[academic punk]

Originally posted by Guitar Shark
I agree global warming is a huge problem... but can't we find a more compelling source than Al Jazeera?

Pretty amazing that that's the source one has to go to, rather than any of our nations media, for articles like this, huh?

[Guitar Shark]

Originally posted by academic punk
Pretty amazing that that's the source one has to go to, rather than any of our nations media, for articles like this, huh?

Touche.

It's truly scary when The Daily Show is the only place we can go for any serious analysis of the news. 99% of the media just takes what they are spoonfed and distribute it to the public without questioning anything. A very sad state indeed.

But back to global warming -- I read a very interesting article in National Geographic a few months ago, I will try and find it.

[academic punk]

Please do!

[Guitar Shark]

Damn, all they give you online is an excerpt from the article. But here it is, you can at least get the flavor. There are some good links at the bottom too.

http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0409/feature1/

Signs from Earth

By Tim Appenzeller and Dennis R. Dimick
Photographs by Peter Essick

There's no question that the Earth is getting hotter—and fast. The real questions are: How much of the warming is our fault, and are we willing to slow the meltdown by curbing our insatiable appetite for fossil fuels?

Get a taste of what awaits you in print from this compelling excerpt.

Global warming can seem too remote to worry about, or too uncertain—something projected by the same computer techniques that often can't get next week's weather right. On a raw winter day you might think that a few degrees of warming wouldn't be such a bad thing anyway. And no doubt about it: Warnings about climate change can sound like an environmentalist scare tactic, meant to force us out of our cars and cramp our lifestyles.

Comforting thoughts, perhaps. But turn to "GeoSigns," the first chapter in our report on the changing planet. The Earth has some unsettling news.

From Alaska to the snowy peaks of the Andes the world is heating up right now, and fast. Globally, the temperature is up 1°F (.5°C) over the past century, but some of the coldest, most remote spots have warmed much more. The results aren't pretty. Ice is melting, rivers are running dry, and coasts are eroding, threatening communities. Flora and fauna are feeling the heat too, as you'll read in "EcoSigns." These aren't projections; they are facts on the ground.

The changes are happening largely out of sight. But they shouldn't be out of mind, because they are omens of what's in store for the rest of the planet.

Wait a minute, some doubters say. Climate is notoriously fickle. A thousand years ago Europe was balmy and wine grapes grew in England; by 400 years ago the climate had turned chilly and the Thames froze repeatedly. Maybe the current warming is another natural vagary, just a passing thing?

Don't bet on it, say climate experts. Sure, the natural rhythms of climate might explain a few of the warming signs you'll read about in the following pages. But something else is driving the planet-wide fever.

For centuries we've been clearing forests and burning coal, oil, and gas, pouring carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere faster than plants and oceans can soak them up (see "The Case of the Missing Carbon," February 2004). The atmosphere's level of carbon dioxide now is higher than it has been for hundreds of thousands of years. "We're now geological agents, capable of affecting the processes that determine climate," says George Philander, a climate expert at Princeton University. In effect, we're piling extra blankets on our planet.

Human activity almost certainly drove most of the past century's warming, a landmark report from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) declared in 2001. Global temperatures are shooting up faster than at any other time in the past thousand years. And climate models show that natural forces, such as volcanic eruptions and the slow flickers of the sun, can't explain all that warming.

As carbon dioxide continues to rise, so will the mercury—another 3°F to 10°F (1.6°C to 5.5°C) by the end of the century, the IPCC projects. But the warming may not be gradual. The records of ancient climate described in "TimeSigns" suggest that the planet has a sticky thermostat. Some experts fear today's temperature rise could accelerate into a devastating climate lurch. Continuing to fiddle with the global thermostat, says Philander, "is just not a wise thing to do."

Get the whole story in the pages of National Geographic magazine.

[DrMaddVibe]

Originally posted by Guitar Shark
It's truly scary when The Daily Show is the only place we can go for any serious analysis of the news.

Isn't that on Comedy Central?

A MTV NETWORKS, A DIVISION OF VIACOM INTERNATIONAL INC. holding?

Out of their various holdings you choose a show on the Comedy Central to get your serious analysis?

[Guitar Shark]

Originally posted by DrMaddVibe
Isn't that on Comedy Central?

A MTV NETWORKS, A DIVISION OF VIACOM INTERNATIONAL INC. holding?

Out of their various holdings you choose a show on the Comedy Central to get your serious analysis?

Detecting sarcasm isn't your best skill, is it?

[DrMaddVibe]

No. These daggone bulletin board/chat rooms/forums just don't capture the true essence of the writers intentions.

[FORD]

At least Jon Stewart admits his show is "fake news". Unlike FAUX, MSRNC, or the Corporatist "News" Nutjobs.

[Guitar Shark]

Jon Stewart is also pretty damn smart when it comes to politics and the media. My post above was in fact sarcasm and tongue-in-cheek, but he does have a skill for pointing out the flaws of the mainstream media.

[academic punk]

What does it say about us here at the Army when every Front Line thread eventually reverts into a discussion about Jon Stewart?

[DrMaddVibe]

Originally posted by Guitar Shark
Jon Stewart is also pretty damn smart when it comes to politics and the media. My post above was in fact sarcasm and tongue-in-cheek, but he does have a skill for pointing out the flaws of the mainstream media.

So did Norm MacDonald and Dennis Miller!

[FORD]

Originally posted by DrMaddVibe
So did Norm MacDonald and Dennis Miller!

Dennis Miller was great with Weekend Update on SNL. All the more tragic that he's become yet another neocon whore.

[Nickdfresh]

Originally posted by FORD
Dennis Miller was great with Weekend Update on SNL. All the more tragic that he's become yet another neocon whore.

And he sucked on Monday Night Football too!