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What World Under Climate Change

Free episodes:

DISEASES ON THE MOVE: Climate change helps freeloading parasites spread illness. To fight future outbreaks, we need to think of the offenders in a whole new light.
LINK: Climate change helps freeloading parasites spread illness

TEXT: "In the mid-1990s, Brazilian mangrove crabs the size of dinner plates began dying en masse. They climbed out of their muddy burrows, flopped over, and expired. Crabbers who sold to local restaurants were used to harvesting a dozen bags in one trip; all of a sudden they were emerging from the forest with just one.

"At first, scientists thought a parasite from the local shrimp industry was to blame. When they dug deeper, they found that the culprits were actually black yeast-like fungi previously seen only in frogs, orange juice, and German drinking water. Why were they suddenly decimating the crab population? Turns out, climate change may have had made conditions better for the fungi to survive and attack new hosts.

"Those aren’t the only offenders moving to new locales. From the poles to the tropics, climate change is helping pathogens and parasites find new hosts to victimize. A worm living in white-tailed deer in Finland now infects moose and wild forest reindeer, and stronger storms in the American Southwest lead to more pinyon pine seeds, feeding more hantavirus-carrying rodents that come in contact with humans. Some of these organisms are annoyances. Others could wipe out an entire species or devastate a local economy.

"To combat the problem, we need to change how we think about pathogens, say Eric Hoberg, a zoologist at the U.S. National Parasite Collection, who sees them as a fundamental part of the ecosystem. “They really deserve far greater attention than we’ve been giving them." In a recent paper in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, Hoberg and Dan Brooks, a zoologist at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, point out how climate change is affecting the spread of infectious diseases.

"Scientists thought for a long time that parasites evolved to feed and develop on specific hosts, but they seemed to adapt to new ones, leading to the so-called “parasite paradox.” Biologists and parasitologists studied that puzzle for decades and eventually came up with a new theory called the “Stockholm paradigm,” explaining that under the right conditions, opportunistic organisms can jump to a number of species. “To the parasite, this is just more of the same kind of real estate,” says Brooks.

"From looking at historical records and models, researchers knew this occurred in the past. But as long as the climate is stable, pathogens usually stay put. Climate change forces hosts—and the little buggers that live on them—to new habitats, where they encounter other species, which might make perfect vectors for infectious disease.

"To prepare for future outbreaks, Hoberg works on an inventory of mammals and their associated parasites; the Wildlife Disease Association tracks illnesses; and parasitologists like Scott Gardner from the University of Nebraska collect information on biodiversity. Gardner is putting together a database of Mongolian species and their moochers to create what he calls a “snapshot in time.” That baseline will let us see how species and their miscreants change.

"It’s a start. But what we really need, say Brooks and Hoberg, is a worldwide database of outbreaks and parasites, which would help us predict how they could spread if introduced to a new environment. That, and to give these organisms the respect they deserve. "
 
Last Hours: The Frightening Reality of Global Climate Change
TEXT: "Published on Mar 6, 2015: A special segment of “Last Hours,” the frightening reality of global climate change, narrated by Thom Hartmann and Leonardo DiCaprio."
 
Costa Rica Has Only Used Renewable Energy For Electricity This Year
March 24, 2015 | by Justine Alford
LINK: Costa Rica Has Only Used Renewable Energy For Electricity This Year | IFLScience

TEXT: "Costa Rica deserves a huge round of applause, and perhaps even a high five, for managing to produce all of its electricity from renewables for 75 days straight. According to the state-owned Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE), the country hasn’t had to burn fossil fuels to supply the grid with electricity so far in 2015, a stretch that has never been previously attained by any nation. Of course, we don’t mean all of their energy has come from renewables as their vehicles, for example, still use fossil fuels, but what they have achieved is extremely laudable. “The year 2015 has been one of electricity totally friendly to the environment for Costa Rica,” the ICE said in a statement last week.

"As reported by Think Progress, the country’s clean streak is predominantly attributable to heavy rains experienced this year, which have kept four of the main hydroelectric power stations busy. In fact, these have been churning out so much energy that virtually all of 2015’s electricity demands have been met through these plants, according to Quartz. The remainder of the country’s grid requirements have been met through a combination of wind, solar, biomass and geothermal energy.

"In Latin America, Costa Rica ranks second in terms of electricity service provision (behind Uruguay) with a household coverage rate of 99.4%. And thanks to this boon in renewables, citizens are shortly due a 12% drop in electricity rates this year and given the reserves so far accumulated, this downward trend is predicted to continue in the second quarter, Latin American Herald Tribune reports.

"Costa Rica is determined to become carbon-neutral by 2021, which seems an achievable goal given that the country is currently meeting around 94% of its energy needs from renewables. Around 68% is sourced from hydroelectric power plants, followed by geothermal energy that contributes about 15%. This dedication to clean energy combined with the country’s broader environmental policies has meant that Costa Rica has been consistently ranked in the top five eco-friendly countries worldwide, according to The Telegraph.

"Although what Costa Rica is achieving is something to aspire towards, it won’t be easy for many countries to follow in their footsteps. The tropical country is adorned with a string of active volcanoes that allow for geothermal projects, such as the $958 million endeavor approved last year. Costa Rica also experiences high rainfall and features a mountainous landscape, both of which are ideal for the generation of renewable energy. Furthermore, the country is able to invest substantial amounts into environmental issues due to the fact that it ditched its military back in 1948.

"While Costa Rica’s dependence on renewables is commendable, it also has its drawbacks and leaves the country vulnerable to the effects of climate change. A drought, for example, would impede their ability to produce electricity from hydropower stations. Furthermore, hydroelectric dams can have negative effects on fish populations.

"Costa Rica is, of course, not the only country dedicated to going green. The EU has set renewable energy goals for 2020, but Sweden, Bulgaria and Estonia managed to meet these eight years ahead of schedule. China is also investing a substantial amount in renewables, which has been proposed to be a key factor in the fact that CO2 emissions stalled last year. Bonaire, a small Caribbean island, also currently produces almost all of its energy from renewable sources. "
 
China Develops World's First Hydrogen-Powered Tram - March 24, 2015
LINK: China Develops World's First Hydrogen-Powered Tram | IFLScience

TEXT: "As the world’s biggest polluter, China may have earned its reputation as the big bad wolf of greenhouse gas emissions. That being said, officials left many with their mouths open recently after their rare admission that they are aware of the negative impacts emissions have on global climate, which could threaten the country’s infrastructure projects, crop yields and environment.

Although still reluctant to set a target for slashing emissions, China is investing a substantial amount into green energy and was even a world leader in renewable energy production back in 2013. They generate more wind power than any other country in the world and their contributions accounted for almost 30% of all global investment in clean energy. Now, continuing with their push for clean energy developments, China has just announced the production of the world’s first hydrogen-powered tram.

The vehicle was developed by Sifang, a subsidiary of China South Rail Corporation, and was rolled off the assembly line in Qiangdao, Shandong Province, last week. Although hydrogen fuel cells have been around for a while and are currently being used and tested in various vehicles, including buses, nobody had managed to master the technology for trams before.

“It took two years for Sifang to solve key technological problems, with the help of research institutions,” said chief engineer Liang Jianying, according to Xinhuanews agency. But Liang did not give any indication as to when the tram would be in operation.

As pointed out by RT, hydrogen-powered trams are an attractive mode of transport for numerous reasons. Hydrogen is extremely abundant and can be extracted from a variety of sources, both renewable and non-renewable. Furthermore, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles arezero emission, producing only water. The newly designed vehicle will also help slash energy running costs as one tank will last for around 100 kilometers (62 miles), and it only takes three minutes to refuel.

“The average distance of tramcar lines in China is about fifteen kilometers [nine miles], which means one refill for our tram is enough for three round trips,” said Liang.


World's first hydrogen-powered tram rolls off assembly line
TEXT: "Published on Mar 20, 2015: The world' s first tramcar to be powered entirely by hydrogen rolled off the assembly line in east China' s coastal city of Qingdao on Thursday."
 
After 60 days being banned again...I'm BAAAACK! :p

@Tyger Since no one else cares to engage you in your one sided no debate allowed thread I will step up and have a "conversation" with you. Should we start at the very first post?
 
Thanks Stagger Lee.. During my banishment I had a chance to reflect on things and I have to admit that I am not a changed man. I will however be more courteous and sensitive to those here who are unable to handle their own affairs.

I am eager to start conversing on this topic but I think it may be another one of those one sided don't you dare disagree with me or I will tell on you threads. Let's hope not, we have enough of those here already.

@Tyger Lets bury the hatchet and start conversing.

Climate change is indeed real. Over 4 billion years of CC is pretty much proof of that. In the past history of the Earth all life forms have adapted to the many variations of climate. Climate change is an important natural process that stimulates evolution of species. Ironically Polar Bears the poster child of stopping climate change are a great example of this. To try and stop this natural and necessary planetary function from happening is interfering with Mother Nature. Maybe that is ok since we humans are a product of Mother Nature AND climate change as well.

One thing needs to be addressed when conversing about "what world under climate change" is what change are you thinking will happen? I assume you are thinking it will be a warmer world? This would in fact be a welcome "change" to plant life and mammals. I am not understanding why that would be a problem to carbon based CO2 emitting humans. We have a symbiotic relationship with plants in that we emit CO2 necessary for all life on earth and they give off oxygen and in many cases provide an edible resource that we humans need. Therefore is see the fear mongering about a few degrees warmer planet as being ignorant of our requirements to live on this planet.

My questions to tyger are,
1. what is wrong with a warmer climate?
2. why did you start off this thread with a video about climate models?
 
Lets explore What World Under Climate Change scenarios we will soon have to live with.

MOTHER JONES: STUDY SHOWS GLOBAL WARMING MAY CAUSE MORE RAPE

Link: Mother Jones: Study Shows Global Warming May Cause More Rape - Breitbart
Text:
The phenomenon of global warming has been used to explain many things, but now Mother Jones is quoting a study saying it might cause more rapes of women.

Matthew Ranson, an economist, avers that there is a historical connection between warmer temperatures and increased crime. He said, “Looking at the past, we see a strong relationship between temperature and crime. We think that is likely to continue in the future.”

Ranson utilized the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s projections of the effects of global warming in the U.S. to estimate that between 2010 and 2099, warmer temperatures will “cause” an additional “22,000 murders, 180,000 cases of rape, 1.2 million aggravated assaults, 2.3 million simple assaults, 260,000 robberies, 1.3 million burglaries, 2.2 million cases of larceny, and 580,000 cases of vehicle theft.”

That amounts to 2.2% more murders and 3.1% more rapes. John Roman, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute’s Justice Policy Center, agreed with Ranson that the warmer temperatures would indeed be a problem, saying, “To the extent that climate change causes people to be out and interacting more, there will be more crime.”
...more at the link....

Mother Jones offers a solution: “reining in the greenhouse gas emissions that are causing global warming in the first place.”

 
Under Climate change we will turn into hobbits.

Climate News: Only ‘Hobbit-Sized Humans’ Capable of Surviving Global Warming

Link: Climate News: Only ‘Hobbit-Sized Humans’ Capable of Surviving Global Warming | CNS News

Text:


The joint editor of the Climate News Network is warning that in as little as two centuries, global warming will lead to “mass extinction,” which may be good news for residents of “The Shire.”

“Hobbit-sized humans, able to exist on less nourishing food, will have the best chance of survival in a warmer world, scientists say,” said Paul Brown, a journalist and author, in an article entitled, “Mass extinction forecast with 6C temperature rise,” published on Jan. 7.

Brown bases his claim on findings by the “Bighorn Basin Coring Project,” a group of scientists from the United States, the UK, Germany, and Netherlands studying a “period 55 million years ago when the Earth’s temperature rose suddenly.”

He cautions that the planet’s temperature is "expected" to rise rapidly by 6°C this century, having disastrous effects that only fictional characters from J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy could sustain.

“What worries the scientists is that this current warming period will take as little as 200 years, if the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is correct,” Brown said. “The result will be mass extinction, and for the survivors, humans, animals and insects, there will be a scramble to eat a diminishing and less nutritious food supply.”
Brown says, "Animals, including humans, will shrink" in order to survive "a warming world."

 
Under climate change we will have no more bengal tigers.

Climate Change Threatens to Wipe Out One of World's Largest Tiger Populations this Century

WWF-Led Study Finds Bengal Tiger Habitat May Soon Disappear Beneath Rising Seas; Plight of Tigers Highlights Urgent Need for US Legislation and Global Climate Agreement

Text:
WASHINGTON, DC, January 20, 2010 – One of the world’s largest tiger populations could disappear by the end of this century as rising sea levels caused by climate change destroy their habitat along the coast of Bangladesh in an area known as the Sundarbans, according to a new World Wildlife Fund-led study published in the journal Climatic Change.

Tigers are among the world’s most threatened species, with only an estimated 3,200 remaining in the wild. WWF officials said the threats facing these Royal Bengal tigers and other iconic species around the world highlight the need for urgent international action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“If we don’t take steps to address the impacts of climate change on the Sundarbans, the only way its tigers will survive this century is with scuba gear,” said Colby Loucks, WWF’s deputy director of conservation science and the lead author of the study Sea Level Rise and Tigers: Predicted Impacts to Bangladesh’s Sundarbans Mangroves. “Tigers are a highly adaptable species, thriving from the snowy forests of Russia to the tropical forests of Indonesia. The projected sea level rise in the Sundarbans will likely outpace the tiger’s ability to adapt.”

According to the study, an expected sea level rise of 11 inches above 2000 levels may cause the remaining tiger habitat in the Sundarbans to decline by 96 percent, pushing the total population to fewer than 20 breeding tigers. Unless immediate action is taken, the Sundarbans, its wildlife and the natural resources that sustain millions of people may disappear within 50 to 90 years, the study said.

“The mangrove forest of the Bengal tiger now joins the sea-ice of the polar bear as one of the habitats most immediately threatened as global temperatures rise during the course of this century,” said Keya Chatterjee, acting director of WWF’s climate change program. “To avert an ecological catastrophe on a much larger scale, we must sharply reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prepare for the impacts of climate change we fail to avoid. In 2010, the Chinese Year of the Tiger, there is no better time for the US to pass domestic climate legislation and to reach an effective international agreement.”

The Sundarbans, a UNESCO World Heritage Site shared by India and Bangladesh at the mouth of the Ganges River, is the world’s largest single block of mangrove forest. Mangroves are found at the inter-tidal region between land and sea, and not only serve as breeding grounds for fish but help protect coastal regions from natural disasters such as cyclones, storm surges and wind damage.

Providing the habitat for between 250 and 400 tigers, the Sundarbans is also home to more than 50 reptile species, 120 commercial fish species, 300 bird species and 45 mammal species. While their exact numbers are unclear, the tigers living in the Sundarbans of India and Bangladesh may represent as many as 10 percent of all the remaining wild tigers on Earth.

Using the rates of sea level rise projected by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in its Fourth Assessment Report (2007), the study authors said an 11-inch sea level rise may be realized around 2070, at which point tigers will be unlikely to survive in the Sundarbans. However, recent research suggests that the seas may rise even more swiftly than what was predicted in the 2007 IPCC assessment.
 
The warmer it gets the more ice breakers we need
Link: The warmer it gets the more ice breakers we need | Ice Age Now

text:

Demand for ice-breaking capability is only growing, as several recent cases have demonstrated, says Coast Guard chief. This warning was issued by Admiral Paul Zukunft, commandant of the USCG, in his annual state of the coastguard address on February 24.


The heavy ice breaker USCGC Polar Star off Marble Point, Antarctica, on 23 Jan 2014. Photo – US Coast Guard


Polar-class USCGC Polar Star (WAGB 10), a 39-year-old cutter that has been reactivated, remains the United States’ sole heavy ice breaker, with sister ship USCGC Polar Sea laid up in disrepair. The 16,000-tonne medium ice breaker USCGC Healy is also in service.

The Polar Star in mid-February steamed 900 miles and broke through 150 miles of ice to rescue a 207-ft fishing vessel, Antarctic Chieftan, that had become stranded in the southern polar region, Adm Zukunft pointed out.

“What concerns me even more,” said Adm Zukunft, “is that the United States has no rescue capability whatsoever had it been Polar Star who suffered a catastrophic [mechanical] casualty and become beset in ice.”

 
After 60 days being banned again...I'm BAAAACK! :p

@Tyger Since no one else cares to engage you in your one sided no debate allowed thread I will step up and have a "conversation" with you. Should we start at the very first post?


"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
 
In a world under climate change we can expect the warming to start a new ice age.

Lawrence Solomon: Global warming doomsayers take note: Earth’s 19th Little Ice Age has begun

LINK: Lawrence Solomon: Global warming doomsayers take note: Earth’s 19th Little Ice Age has begun | Financial Post

text: With a century of cold weather ahead, the public won’t buy that cold weather is caused by global warming

The news was all gloom for global warming doomsayers this week — a double whammy of (for them) incomprehensible findings that proves (to them) that the world is either mad or in denial.

The first whammy came via Gallup, in a comprehensive study of American attitudes to the environment in general and global warming in particular. Despite the obvious-as-the-nose-on-your-face (to them) environmental calamities that are at this very moment overwhelming the planet, only 9% of the public rate the overall quality of the environment as poor. Inexplicably, 50% rate the environment as excellent or good — the highest degree of satisfaction with the state of the environment that Gallup has recorded since it began asking this question in 2001.

But the gloom for the doomsayers was only beginning. When Americans do worry about the environment, they worry “a great deal” about the quality of their drinking water, followed by pollution of rivers and lakes. They don’t worry a great deal about global warming, which ranks dead last on Gallup’s list of worries. Fewer than one-third of Americans lose sleep over global warming, fewer than express concern over air pollution, fewer than get stressed over environmental issues that haven’t dominated the news in decades, such as the extinction of plants and animals and the loss of tropical rain forests.

Worse, despite everything President Obama has told them about the absolute imperative to stop global warming, despite all the warnings in the mainstream media about how we’re running out of time, Americans are less fussed over global warming today than they were when George Bush was president, when more than 40% were very worried. The urgency has since vanished into the ether. When asked “Do you think that global warming will pose a serious threat to you or your way of life in your lifetime?” Americans now overwhelmingly — 62% — respond “no.”

Fewer than one-third of Americans lose sleep over global warming

Gallup’s research discovered that about half the public associates warmer weather with global warming (the other half sees it as normal variation); fewer associate snow and cold weather with global warming because “the connection [is] less intuitive.” With 51% of Americans saying the weather in their area was colder than usual this winter, and only 18% saying it was warmer, it follows that this winter’s cold weather has had a chilling effect on potential converts to the cause of global warming.​

It likewise follows that the failure of temperatures to rise for almost two decades now has dampened apprehension over global warming, and that the number of future converts will rise or fall with the thermometer.
 
Hi mike. Anything to contribute here or just trolling by?

target%20comment_zpsetoeqinw.jpg
 
Is it trapped in ice pixel ?.


Ship of fools: global warmists ice-bound in the Antarctic

Link: Ship of fools: Gobal warmists ice-bound in the Antarctic

TEXT: Climate change and media bias.

The majority of the mainstream journalists have become staunch advocates of the global warming hypothesis. Their reporting clearly favours reports from the warmists while they gleefully parrot warmist jibes at skeptics; phrases such as "deniers".

Australia's ABC is one of the leaders of the pack.

In November 2013 the ABC ran a two-part report in which it eagerly presented Professor Chris Turney’s Antarctic expedition as a serious scientific quest to prove how global warming was damaging Antarctica. Back then it couldn’t mention climate change enough.

But in a delicious irony, the ship load of warmist scientists and journalists were trapped by ice as they tried to prove global warming was melting Antarctica.

Suddenly the ABCs reporting changed.

What was astonishing was that not once in their reports did the ABC mention “global warming” or “climate change” or even “climate scientists”. It did everything humanly possible to cover up the most embarrassing PR disaster in years for the global warming movement.​

With Turney’s ship of warmist scientists and journalists embarrassingly stuck in ice for more than a week - the ABC’s 7.30 filed a report which no longer sold Turney’s team as “one of the largest Australian science expeditions to Antarctic” on a mission to “answer questions about ... climate change”.​

This time it sold them as merely “tourists” and a few unspecified scientists. This time it did not mention “climate change” once. Indeed, Turney, who the ABC in November identified as a professor from the Climate Change Research Centre of the University of NSW, was this time identified merely as “expedition leader”. Not once did 7.30 last night report the real story and the real joke - that a ship carrying warmist scientists and journalists, plus a Greens politician, was trapped in thick ice that those on board had insisted was melting away.​

Let there be no doubt, the mission was to document and record scientific changes in Antarctica and to broadcast that to the world. Most scientific missions don’t have a dedicated media team, but this one named a staff of five journalists. There is a journalist and a documentary maker from the Guardian as well as a senior producer from the Science Unit at the BBC world service. If they’d discovered less sea ice, fewer penguins, or big cracks, we know the images would be all over the mass media and it would be evidence for “climate change”.

But when the MV Akademik Shokalskiy trapped by thick sea ice, the mission apparently decided to call it a tourist boat. The BBC now tell us the mission was “to follow the route explorer Douglas Mawson travelled a century ago”. Don’t mention the climate.

Most other mainstream media also stuck with story of "tourists" ice-bound in the Antarctic.

Russian_ship.jpg
 
Trouble is Mike you are big on problems, but short on answers.

What can we do about 3rd world over-crowding except let nature take its course, between disease, famine, and butchering each other, generally takes care of populaton booms.

It saddens anyone to see those pollution pictures in your link, people should fight for their local environments i agree, no problem, and pollution as we know it, should be cleaned in the 'stack' not pumped out, [ it is here in our new incinerator ], it has to make more sense to use clean fossil generated electricity than spend billions on renewables, and irresponsible companies should be prosecuted out of business, for spillages.


We dont have landfill here anymore, just the reprocessing plant, waste into electric.
Its this kind of plant everyone will have surely, this is why i struggle to see the world view, the world warming half a degree over the next century is not going to have any effect on life here, it was beneficial to us for the last century, and will be the next.

Another thing does anyone care about future people in 200 years from now really ?



isle-of-man-incinerator-big.jpg
 
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