Climate Change Thread

[Sigurd]

The equator would actually become unlivable and the population will move further north to Canada, Siberia, etc as the new temperal climates, whilst those in the middle suffer further drought and famine.

I don't think the ecological experts agree to this. They suggest minor to no differences in equatorial regions and more land being open to agriculture.

[Greyblades]

It would be a pretty difficult transition, a lot of the world's farmland being close to sea level and close to the coast or river, preserving them would be rather expensive.

We'd be better off if we still had africa's colonial breadbaskets, as they would be pretty much unaffected by a sea level rise but someone thought it would be a good idea to let them be taken over by various communists, psychopaths and communist psychopaths 50+ years ago.

[Husar]

It would be a pretty difficult transition, a lot of the world's farmland being close to sea level and close to the coast or river, preserving them would be rather expensive.

We'd be better off if we still had africa's colonial breadbaskets, as they would be pretty much unaffected by a sea level rise but someone thought it would be a good idea to let them be taken over by various communists, psychopaths and communist psychopaths 50+ years ago.

What??? Can you source that or are you just making stuff up now?

[Greyblades]

Could have sworn we've discussed Rhodesia before and how Mughabe screwed everything up.

To simplify; there was a pattern in the ex colonies, either the communists come into power and screw the economy up, or they get blocked by a western supported president/dictator who was invariably corrupt (and half the time turned out to be a psychopath) who proceeded to screw the economy up. It really didnt do much for what used to be a region of fairly respectable output in terms of agriculture.

Turn a breadbasket into a dustbowl with one neat trick; just add premature independance during a cold war.

As for a source: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine...ountry/302845/

Too anticolonial in tone by my reckoning but it is quite comprehensive.

[Gilrandir]

Turn a breadbasket into a dustbowl with one neat trick; just add premature independance during a cold war.

How do you judge that independence is ripe?

[Seamus Fermanagh]

It would be a pretty difficult transition, a lot of the world's farmland being close to sea level and close to the coast or river, preserving them would be rather expensive.

We'd be better off if we still had africa's colonial breadbaskets, as they would be pretty much unaffected by a sea level rise but someone thought it would be a good idea to let them be taken over by various communists, psychopaths and communist psychopaths 50+ years ago.

Be fair. Psychopaths and sociopaths surely, but there was and is no shortage of good old-fashioned capitalist kleptocrats to go along with the communards.

[Greyblades]

Considering we havent really had a ripe one I wouldnt know; even India's release was marked by an immediate bloodbath.

I'd say when the lower classes have become as accustomed to the status quo of a western society as the middle class, too many times we have taken a fully westernized middle class as a sign of sustainablility only for it to collapse as the newly emancipated working class/pesantry still have a bronze age mindset and let thier rights be stripped away without a fight.

Be fair. Psychopaths and sociopaths surely, but there was and is no shortage of good old-fashioned capitalist kleptocrats to go along with the communards.

I consider those covered under the general pscho/sociopath lable.

[Gilrandir]

Considering we havent really had a ripe one I wouldnt know; even India's release was marked by an immediate bloodbath.

I'd say when the lower classes have become as accustomed to the status quo of a western society as the middle class, too many times we have taken a fully westernized middle class as a sign of sustainablility only for it to collapse as the newly emancipated working class/pesantry still have a bronze age mindset and let thier rights be stripped away without a fight.

Ergo: independence is never timely?

[Husar]

Ergo: independence is never timely?

Yes, notice how Russia had to re-colonize some southern regions when the independent country that tried to run them failed because it wasn't ready yet.

[spmetla]

It'd be hard to argue that any of the African countries given full independence in the 60s-80s were ready for independence. Lots of them only had handful of educated people capable of running departments previously run by colonial officals. Then there are the violent tribal dynamics and infighting that came out once there was real political power to struggle for.

Just look at the independence of the Belgian Congo and the 30 years of warfare there that spread into all of the neighboring countries and colonies. Places like Angola which were actually well off economically under the Portuguese turned into warzones. The tribal dynamics for all their ups and downs were upset by communist insurgents that were happy to kill off any 'feudal' lords or collaborators.
While I don't agree with apartheid or minority rule in South Africa or Rhodesia it's no wonder that Ian Smith or the Afrikaners were not willing to welcome majority rule after seeing the chaos and bloodletting to the North of them.

It would have helped if the newly independent countries had had some sort of transition period so they could have security forces in place, functioning government service and offer at least some stability instead of the free for all that ended up happening.

I honestly think that the short sighted and selfish washing of hands independence by the European powers of their colonies was a greater crime than establishing them in the first place.

Back to climate:
I do think the new progress in the "Great Green Wall" in the Sahel region is nice to see. Using tree based farming techniques with trees and crops that complement each other, allow for more undergrowth and grow more crops that don't just deplete the soil. Would be great if Africa could feed and employ its own citizens better through smarter agriculture practices.
http://www.greatgreenwall.org/great-green-wall/