Climate Change Thread

[Pannonian]

Iraq has always chafed my....whatever.

Neo-con hawks wanted regime change as a geopolitical lever against Iran. I get it. So where did all those bright bulbs come up with the "after Saddam it will be flowers and an eruption of republican democracy" scenario? Which is the only level for which we were staffed and prepared initially. Still galls me a decade plus later.

What got me was the pointlessness of it. There we were, living in a post-Cold War world, with the US far and away the only superpower on the planet. Yet they were picking a fight against a fourth rate power in order to effect change in third rate powers.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

What got me was the pointlessness of it. There we were, living in a post-Cold War world, with the US far and away the only superpower on the planet. Yet they were picking a fight against a fourth rate power in order to effect change in third rate powers.

A fair point, and you could view the whole effort as superfluous. Iraq's connection to Al-Queda was, at best, nominal only and how much "pinning" Iran on both sides would really have made a difference is clearly arguable.

But, having decided to do this for geopolitical pressure reasons (the neo-con goal at the time, albeit unstated), why not at least do it COMPETENTLY. Galling.

[Montmorency]

There really is no testing of these kind of spillways unless you somehow wanted to waste millions of gallons of water just to overflow a dam. The only real issue to pay attention to was the failure of the concrete main spillway.
But this just goes back to what we have learned many times over, we have no money for our own infrastructure, but tens of billions to build Iraq's.

I've seen a claim that Oroville was originally a dam designed for power generation and that in recent years it was redesignated as primarily a reservoir. Meaning that it was permitted to regularly tolerate a water level higher than specified for, and the main spillway was regularly employed when it was only meant and built for emergencies.

[Shaka_Khan]

My grandfather feels a big difference in the climate from when he was young to the climate nowadays. He mentions it every time winter comes. The winters are definitely warmer when we look at the long term.

[Gilrandir]

My grandfather feels a big difference in the climate from when he was young to the climate nowadays. He mentions it every time winter comes. The winters are definitely warmer when we look at the long term.

I'm not THAT old, but the winters I can remember with certainty from my childhood were definitely colder than those we have now.

[Tristuskhan]

Tree rings speak by themselves: since the begining of proper sylvicultural research (mid 19th), european beech's growth has doubled. We became good at sylviculture since then. Very good. But not THAT good.

[Husar]

When I was a child we sometimes had snow for 2 or 3 weeks, I mean snow that stayed. Lately we've been lucky to get snow for 2 or 3 days a winter that stayed for a few hours each time...

I'm not sure how that relates to the topic though because Climate deniers have long switched to merely denying that we humans have any influence on it while grossly exaggerating natural effects that normally lead to changes over much longer periods of time.

[Pannonian]

Tree rings speak by themselves: since the begining of proper sylvicultural research (mid 19th), european beech's growth has doubled. We became good at sylviculture since then. Very good. But not THAT good.

Stradivarius weeps.

[HopAlongBunny]

The Trump administration may be wishing to downplay climate-change; Mattis is following the tradition in the DOD of recognizing it as a present threat, with very real strategic implications:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/a...ity-challenge/

[Seamus Fermanagh]

The Trump administration may be wishing to downplay climate-change; Mattis is following the tradition in the DOD of recognizing it as a present threat, with very real strategic implications:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/a...ity-challenge/

The DoD is all about threat assessment. The motivations of a potential opponent can be completely fatuous -- and that would not, of itself, render the threat any less. Since notable global warming over the last century or so is documented fact, the strategic threat implications must be considered, pretty much regardless of one's personal position on the anthropomorphic character of that warming trend.

[Greyblades]

Blame Al Gore for giving the detractors so much ammunition.

[a completely inoffensive name]

Blame Al Gore for giving the detractors so much ammunition.

Gore hasn't even been in the front of the conversation for years. the denialists just keep generating new talking points to take the focus away from the consensus.

[HopAlongBunny]

Alt-Science meets policy in the Trump White House:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/a...-drive-policy/

The Twilight Zone in Washington!? Whodathunk?

[Fragony]

Gore hasn't even been in the front of the conversation for years. the denialists just keep generating new talking points to take the focus away from the consensus.

He's at home, a gigantic house at the coast with an astronomic electricity bill, 1 meter above sea-level.

[Greyblades]

Gore hasn't even been in the front of the conversation for years. the denialists just keep generating new talking points to take the focus away from the consensus.

Gore's inconvenient truth was the introduction to climate change for the majoirty of the population, his over eagerness to present an end of the world scenario allowed false predictions to be put alongside actual fact and by association tainted the entire idea in many people's minds when his predictions didnt come true:

"Within the decade, there will be no more snows of Kilimanjaro."



"Whoops"

It is not exaggeration to say that Gore delivered kick to the nut's of climate change's credibility in the eyes of the public, a kick that is still hurting advocates to this day.

[Beskar]

I do find this site to be interesting.
https://climate.nasa.gov/images-of-change

[Strike For The South]

I dislike Scott Pruitt and coal.

[Greyblades]

I wonder if america could sustain the coal industry by only using the coal to make oil.

[CrossLOPER]

"Within the decade, there will be no more snows of Kilimanjaro."

Missing the point:

I do find this site to be interesting.
https://climate.nasa.gov/images-of-change

[Greyblades]

Whats there to miss?

The flagship was a lemon and the fleet suffered from it's example. Every redneck hick who looks at that picture and every other failed prediction his movie made of the last 10 years is saying to themselves "well if gore's movie was full of shit the rest of the people claiming climate change is real cant be any better".

No amount of hand waving and "you dont get it"s are ever going to recover from that dent to credibility in the eyes of the american voter.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

I wonder if america could sustain the coal industry by only using the coal to make oil.

Not a chance. The process is too costly compared to oil-sands and fracking.

[Beskar]

[Husar]

Language warning:




What are these people thinking? Do they hate their own children so much?

[HopAlongBunny]

Killing the Clean Power Plan turns out to be difficult; good thing the EPA has nothung but money to spend on the process:

https://arstechnica.com/science/2017...just-starting/

[Beskar]

It is 29th April and Mankind is still effecting the Climate.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

It is 29th April and Mankind is still effecting the Climate.

You give us too much credit. Affecting perhaps (most would say certainly), but effecting? A tall order for us "insignificant-on-the-scale-of-the-universe" hominids.

[HopAlongBunny]

24 hours of sunlight and warm water! Get your vacation getaway now!...for the future?

https://www.scientificamerican.com/a...s-unraveling1/

[Beskar]

You give us too much credit. Affecting perhaps (most would say certainly), but effecting? A tall order for us "insignificant-on-the-scale-of-the-universe" hominids.

Affecting is emotional. Such as.. I was affected (was made happy) when Seamus comforted me during a difficult time in my life.
Effect is causing a change which makes a different result. Like industry causing smog in cities like China which is technically a climate change caused by mankind.

There are difficult arguments in the scale. Some people say it is insignificant compared to natural processes, whilst others say it is very significant compared ot the natural processes. Outright denial is silly though.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Affect (v) to influence or alter

Affect (n) emotion -- this term is common in social science research, not in everyday speech

Effect (v) to enact, create, or begin

Effect (n) a change in condition or alteration from whatever previous state abtained

[Gilrandir]

Affecting is emotional. Such as.. I was affected (was made happy) when Seamus comforted me during a difficult time in my life.
Effect is causing a change which makes a different result. Like industry causing smog in cities like China which is technically a climate change caused by mankind.

There are difficult arguments in the scale. Some people say it is insignificant compared to natural processes, whilst others say it is very significant compared ot the natural processes. Outright denial is silly though.

Affect (v) to influence or alter

Affect (n) emotion -- this term is common in social science research, not in everyday speech

Effect (v) to enact, create, or begin

Effect (n) a change in condition or alteration from whatever previous state abtained

WARNING! You can't be arguing semantics without me putting my spoke in. Since I have nothing to add to the argument, it should be immediately stopped.