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Questions for Brewster; A conversation
Topic Started: Feb 21 2012, 01:25 AM (988 Views)
Pat
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Here goes Brew.

I know you are alarmed by pollution and what you believe to be the affects it has on this planets' climate. So I thought I would try to bring all of this into some contextual form. Nothing gimmicky, just a line of questions. Feel free to ask me questions too. This will be a conversation between us if you are up to it. An exploration.

I suspect some side line chatter, so you might have to flip through a page or two of posts to get to my next answer or question.

At what point in the future Brew, do you believe CO2 emissions will begin to impact the civilization we share? A year or range of years.
Edited by Pat, Feb 21 2012, 01:27 AM.
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Brewster
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I believe it has started already.

Look at the droughts in Texas, wildfires fom California to New Mexico, the opening of both the Northeast and Northwest passages in the Arctic, and the "Hundred Year floods" which now occur every 4 or 5 years along the Mississippi/Red River corridor from The Gulf of Mexico to Hudson's Bay.

The US sets records in expenditures recovering from Climate disasters every year, now into the Billion$.

And the absolute decimation of the rice crops in Australia due to drought - up until a decade ago, Australia sold rice all over Asia, holding the price down. Now they are a net importer, and the price of rice has reached almost unaffordable levels for many countries.

I could also look right outside my window at this moment, and there is virtually no snow. It is said that one episode means little, but I can tell you that if anyone had told me when I was in my 20's that there would EVER be a year that there would be grass fires across the Canadian prairies in January, I would have laughed them out of the house and into the 40-50 below wind chill.

That lack of snow virtually guarantees that there will be a killing drought across the Canadian prairies, driving world wheat and beef prices to record levels.

And I believe it will get worse - not every year of course, but gradually building until sometime shortly after 2100 the cost will exceed the entire gross income of the entire world.

A question for you: How much can the US affort to pay each year for Climate disaster relief? It was $265 Billion in 2011. How much higher does it go before it becomes a major impact on the US economy?
Edited by Brewster, Feb 21 2012, 01:49 AM.
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Pat
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That does sound alarming Brew.

Do you think it is bad or unjust if nature adjusts the population to compensate for climate changes?
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Brewster
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If it were truly Nature, no it wouldn't be unjust.

But when Mother Nature is just responding to what we're doing to her, then that is inexcusable.

I am VERY MUCH against suicide.

Think of it this way, Pat. You often complain about "deadbeats" getting fat while living off the earnings of the industrious. So fat that they then need even more of your money when they are hospitalized because of their lifestyle.
I assume you accept the evidence that their overconsumption is what makes them fat, and their overweight is what affects their health, and costs you money.

Is that not what our generation is doing? Are we not wasting all the resources future generations will need to maintain their lifestyle? And in the process making our world so sick it will take even more of their money to help it recover?
Why is it so hard to accept that our overconsumption will have the same effect on a planetwide scale?


One more for you:

If you DID accept that Human actions were going to wipe out over half the species on Earth in the next 100-150 years, including ourselves, and that we COULD change that outcome, what steps would you take?
Edited by Brewster, Feb 21 2012, 02:27 AM.
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Tim from AL
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A side question, if you both don't mind...

What explains the unusual activity on the sun, like solar storms as we had the last week, unusual amounts of sunspot activity, and other things of the like i've seen, which also contribute to the climate? Could they, not, be a part of the global climate problems, since any sunspot of solar storm activity could, also, create more radiational impact upon the earth and the entire sphere of the planet itself? Shouldn't these, too, also be taken into account as part of the problem, since any such activity does affect us?

Clarify and explain if either/both of you will, and why this couldn't, also, be part of the climate situation, as it most definitely does affect it from stories i've read from scientists in the global warming and climate sciences.

Thanks.
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Brewster
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Tim, Pat wanted to keep this between the two of us, and I'm trying to respect that, but yours is a legitimate question, and I'll tryn to answer it in a separate thread.
Edited by Brewster, Feb 21 2012, 02:38 AM.
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Tim from AL
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Brewster
Feb 21 2012, 02:38 AM
Tim, Pat wanted to keep this between the two of us, and I'm trying to respect that, but yours is a legitimate question, and I'll tryn to answer it in a separate thread.
Thanks, or maybe Pat may have the same question, and if you answer it here to him, i'll just watch and read. Carry on.
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Pat
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Brew, as far as I know, nature does not judge or have any particular ethics or morality. Just my opinion. So I don't tend to become emotional over how nature reacts to changes in climate. I have read some material about evolution and natural selection, so as far as the human species is concerned, I assume it will evolve to deal with changes in the environment, or die out as other species have and will when the environment changes. This is all speculative on my part as I don't have any reason to believe anything will be here once I'm dead.

Your questions:

I assume you accept the evidence that their overconsumption is what makes them fat, and their overweight is what affects their health, and costs you money.



I think most obese people cause this condition to come about, and some have genetic issues that affect metabolism and such. Bottom line, they are fat and will probably die young and while alive, not have very prosperous lives. Just my opinion.

I read yesterday that the companies who build school desks are now super sizing the desks to fit the kids who eat the super size meals. Don't quote me, but I think the article said 40% of school age kids are obese. They reap what they sow.



Is that not what our generation is doing? Are we not wasting all the resources future generations will need to maintain their lifestyle? And in the process making our world so sick it will take even more of their money to help it recover?

I think our generation is using the available resources as previous generations did. And I don't thin any generation considers future generations much. In my case, I consider my three kids, grand children, and relatives and friends who are alive now. I don't give any thought to what happens when myself and these people have had their lives run their course. It's a question that has no meaning or reality in my life.



Why is it so hard to accept that our overconsumption will have the same effect on a planetwide scale?

I do accept that what we consume affects the planet as a whole. Cause and affect. I believe there will be enough resources for my family and friends to use in our lives. I leave speculation of any future generations to those who think there will be something to consider about this existence once they are dead. Do you believe once you are dead, that there will be a future here?

Are you a religious person Brew? Do you believe in reincarnation or after life concepts having to do with the earth?
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Brewster
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Quote:
 
Brew, as far as I know, nature does not judge or have any particular ethics or morality. Just my opinion. So I don't tend to become emotional over how nature reacts to changes in climate. I have read some material about evolution and natural selection, so as far as the human species is concerned, I assume it will evolve to deal with changes in the environment, or die out as other species have and will when the environment changes. This is all speculative on my part as I don't have any reason to believe anything will be here once I'm dead.
Of course Nature does not judge. It simply reacts to what's done to it. And were doing it so fast that it's reacting violently. Evolution cannot keep up - never has.

Your questions:

Quote:
 
I think most obese people cause this condition to come about, and some have genetic issues that affect metabolism and such. Bottom line, they are fat and will probably die young and while alive, not have very prosperous lives. Just my opinion.

I read yesterday that the companies who build school desks are now super sizing the desks to fit the kids who eat the super size meals. Don't quote me, but I think the article said 40% of school age kids are obese. They reap what they sow.
And we will as well.

Quote:
 
I think our generation is using the available resources as previous generations did. And I don't thin any generation considers future generations much. In my case, I consider my three kids, grand children, and relatives and friends who are alive now. I don't give any thought to what happens when myself and these people have had their lives run their course. It's a question that has no meaning or reality in my life.
The worst answer I can imagine. Previous generations didn't worry about what they were doing because (a) in most cases they didn't have the technology to affect the overall Earth anyway, and (b) they didn't have the ability to monitor the whole Earth even if they did.

But regardless of your selfish answer about future generations, as I said before, the changes are happening NOW. Never mind your kids, there's a very strong chance that YOU will be affected seriously in your lifetime.
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Pat
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Why do you think I will be affected by changing weather patterns Brew? I will be 72 in the summer and may live six more years, if I consider the average life span of males, or ten to twelve if I consider how long those in my past family generation lived. The grand kids have about sixty to seventy more years on average. That place their check out time in 2072-2082.
Edited by Pat, Feb 21 2012, 04:14 AM.
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