Scientists: "Global Warming" Debate over: Time To Act Now

[RestoreGore]

I really do not like the term global warming because it is not a strong enough phrase to describe what is happening to this planet now everyday we continue to just talk about it. However, those are the words used in the title of this article. Anyway, as this group of scientists has now also reported, the debate is OVER and it is time to act NOW. Let's hope that the Flat Earth Society gets a copy of that report.


http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=scienceNews&storyid=2007-02-27T200357Z_01_N27388428_RTRUKOC_0_US-GLOBALWARMING-REPORT.xml&src=rss

By Deborah Zabarenko, Environment Correspondent

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Declaring the global warming debate over, an international team of scientists urged the world's nations on Tuesday to act now to keep climate change from becoming a catastrophe.

The international community needs to take stronger steps to cut the pace of global warming, adapt to the climate changes that have already taken place and ensure development can be sustained throughout the process, the scientists said in a report released at the United Nations.

"We make the argument that it is essential that we get started now: not next year, not next decade, but now," said John Holdren, a professor of environmental policy at Harvard University and member of the scientific panel that crafted the report.

This report is a logical next step after the February 2 release of a much-heralded document by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in Paris, which stated that global warming is real and human activities caused much of it over the past half-century.

end of excerpt.

[sakabatou]

1. And still the talking heads will say that there is a debate

Such effing idiots...

[RestoreGore]

3. Their wallets are talking

That's why. And yes, I agree with your sentiment.

[The2ndWheel]

2. Act now...to do what?

Everything we do is based on growth. So we have to take action, to be able to continue endless growth. As far as I know, we're not changing that. Everyone needs good paying jobs and opportunities for advancement. Everyone needs the safety net. Everyone needs to be able to travel and communicate at all times. We need more education for all. We need more medicine for everyone. We can never stop demanding more. We need more people for that, we need more consumption for that, we need more production for that.

"The international community needs to take stronger steps to cut the pace of global warming, adapt to the climate changes that have already taken place and ensure development can be sustained throughout the process, the scientists said in a report released at the United Nations."

Well there you go. Right, we need to do everything, get everything we want, and not pay for it.

So we need to act now, so that we can keep doing exactly what got us into the mess. We continue to attempt to mold the environment for our needs, and our needs alone. Well that means that no matter what we do, we're going to alter the environment. Then we'll have to deal with the problems as a result of that, which will obviously mean more control of the environment.

Again, we need to act now...to do what? Finish the dream of an entirely artificial world of perfection? Is that the goal? If it isn't, then why do we continue to attempt to control the environment? During which, we, you know, destroy it. That is the dream, is it not? A completely virtual world, where none of our actions has any consequences, let alone the unintended kind? I just want to know if that's what we're acting towards.

[RestoreGore]

4. It's called sustainability

And actually, I see it as acting to give control back to the Earth, as we have coopted it.

[The2ndWheel]

5. We're going to do this voluntarily?

Giving control back to the planet would be fairly messy. Last time I checked, our species doesn't exactly like nature or evolution. That's basically why we want to control both, and ultimately, eradicate them.

[RestoreGore]

6. Honestly, probably not. Mother Nature will have the last word on it I fear n/t

[kestrel91316]

7. Everything I do ISN'T based on growth. Speak for yourself.

[The2ndWheel]

9. More the royal we

The dominant culture. The runaway train.

[brokensymmetry]

8. You make some really good points.

May I make a suggestion? It appears you haven't
started a DU Journal. Please, do so - and include
your cogent item in it.

At the very least, people need to question the
universal passion for eternal exponential growth.
It will be the death of us, in my opinion.

[The2ndWheel]

10. Well now that I have a fan

I've never even clicked that icon. I'll have to check it out.

If we have the energy required for exponential growth, then maybe we can make it work. There will be some type of downside to it, but, we will do whatever we have to. On a large scale, we can't stop, it would kill too many people.

[Shallah Kali]

11. Not everyone and everything needs unlimited growth. Gov. and Big Business will have to go on a diet

as will the consumers who feed them or we will all pay for their cancerous behavior. People already are with events like Katrina and pollution that sickens so many of us. We need a paradigm shift where most people realize that unlimited growth is unsustainable. Ratchet back expectations of keeping up with the Waltons.

It looks to me like we are all pretty much screwed when it comes to the damage done to all of creation. Our choice lies in how badly it will be. How much can we soften the blow. What can be salvaged while we still have time to act. Do people want to risk being driven back to substance living in return for living the high life now?