On Friday the journal Science published a remarkable Lead Letter supporting the accuracy of climate science. The must-read statement, "Climate Change and the Integrity of Science," is signed by 255 of the world's leading scientists. It begins:
We are deeply disturbed by the recent escalation of political assaults on scientists in general and on climate scientists in particular.It is hard to get 255 members of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences to agree on pretty much anything, making the import of this letter even more substantial..
.And the world goes whoop de doo.
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Here is the thing, Climate Change is the ULTIMATE long term payback issue AND is a worldwide problem. There has been, and will be, no appreciable action on it. Prepare for the new world youngsters.
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I don't mean to be pessimistic here, just realistic. A consensus has emerged that, in reality, it is already too late. Our early "pessimistic" estimates about how much CO2 it would take to change the climate were wildly optimistic. We have already hit the tipping point on this. A $100 of effort will cost $100 now and pay back $1000s, but only if a) EVERY country ponies up $100 and b) over the very long term.
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That isn't an indictment, just the truth. Hell, I won't move to a 1 bedroom condo with no windows to save energy and save the world. And if I was poor with dependent kids in China, you bet your ass I would be building the damns and burning coal rather than watching my child freeze or starve in another cold winter.
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As for mankind's technology saving us, it's kind of too late. You see we saw this problem too late. Just bad luck I think. I am sure the race and the country will struggle on, but we done used up the world we grew up in. The next generations will face a tougher, more hostile environment - and probably a less stable world.
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They will curse us, but the truth is, most of this happened before anyone noticed it. My grandparents taking me on a camper trip - none of us thought the worse for it. Plastic saved money, time and lives - only now do we know that making it was poisoning the planet.
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It is almost unimaginable to live without oil products of some kind now. No computers, cars, planes, televisions, furniture - hell it goes into everything. It was cheap durable and we integrated it everywhere. Turns out there was a cost.
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When I was in school a crazy man at the bus stop told me to study computers. Turns out he wasn't crazy at all - that is where I have made all my money. Crazy isn't always wrong.