Write4U - 23 August 2012 06:17 PM

George - 23 August 2012 06:32 AM

When I heard about the record high of West Nile the other day, I immediately thought that the victims should be counted not only as victims of the disease, but also as victims of GW. I don’t know if or when people are going to start dying in huge numbers as a result GW raising the sea levels, but I am sure smaller catastrophes like the West Nile virus outbreak will become more common. And the scariest thing of all is that we may not even be sure where GW is going to strike next.

Earlier, we discussed Prof. Bartlett’s proposition that if humans don’t select a course of action, nature surely will and a zero growth in population will eventually happen.
You mentioned at that time, this may not be a gradually tapering off in birthrate and a gradually increase in death rate, but more like from human caused natural cataclysmic events. IOW, a sudden adjustment in the numbers.

Looks like you were right George. Somewhere along the line a warming environment will create another superbug which will cause millions to die and the growth rate will be reduced (at least temporary) to a negative number.

Yes, West Nile virus, is likely a harbinger of more difficult challenges to come.  If these challenges come gradually enough, we may be able to adjust without a sudden and catastrophic decrease in the population.  But who knows?

My thoughts:
1.  The idea of terraforming Mars is just plain dumb.  Gravity is a bit too low to hold a reasonable atmosphere.  It’s a bit too far from the sun to get enough energy to maintain a reasonable temperature.  There’s no evidence yet of large amounts of carbon which would be necessary for significant life.

2.  I believe climate change won’t do anything as dramatic as leading to new “superbugs”.  Rather, farmlands will dry up or get drowned, if near present sea level and most of the world’s population will die of famine or from wars as a consequence of competing for food.

Occam

Occam. - 23 August 2012 06:37 PM

My thoughts:
1.  The idea of terraforming Mars is just plain dumb.  Gravity is a bit too low to hold a reasonable atmosphere.  It’s a bit too far from the sun to get enough energy to maintain a reasonable temperature.  There’s no evidence yet of large amounts of carbon which would be necessary for significant life.

2.  I believe climate change won’t do anything as dramatic as leading to new “superbugs”.  Rather, farmlands will dry up or get drowned, if near present sea level and most of the world’s population will die of famine or from wars as a consequence of competing for food.

Occam

GW may not directly create new virulent, and deadly viruses, bacteria, and actual insects that carry those.  But the changes in regional climates will cause those regions to need to adjust.  The weather conditions, this year, are being held responsible for the unusual prevalence of Wst Nile carrying mosquitoes. 

We are ground and/or air spraying to kill off the mosquitoes, in some communities in Texas,  This, I imagine, could lead to future generations of mosquitoes that are more resistant to the current pesticide being used. IOW, the mosquitoes that carry West Nile may become hardier.  More mosquitoes carrying the virus means more virus. More virus means greater chances of it mutating to something more virulent.

Also, if we continue to have similar weather conditions in lots of consecutive years to come, it is not out of the question that we could be having to deal with other mosquito spread diseases such as Malaria, for instance.

So Occam, I would not so quickly exclude pestilence from your prediction of floods, droughts, famine, and war.

Coldheart Tucker - 22 August 2012 07:39 PM

citizenschallenge.pm - 22 August 2012 05:40 PM

Oh lordie, lordie   good ol Mars,
And when did they build the Yellow Brick Road to take all this crap to Mars to start our tinkering?
We spent 2.5 billion $ to get Curiosity up there.

  This country has been weened on way the hell too much Sci Fi and Hollywood.

Curiosity cost so much because it was a “one off” design.  Had NASA gone into production with them and churned out dozens more, the cost per unit would have been much lower.

OK. Fair enough.
...and I was thinking after I posted that, that’s it’s an unfair comparison considering the super high tech nature of Curiosity and the building requirements of the super clean high tech room and all that science that went into it’s construction.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Still at about a ten thousand a pound to send something into Earth orbit, plus who knows how much to push it to Mars… well you get my point

http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/feb2001/982347189.Eg.r.html
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And then of course there is the devil in the details…

Occam. - 23 August 2012 06:37 PM

My thoughts:
1.  The idea of terraforming Mars is just plain dumb.  Gravity is a bit too low to hold a reasonable atmosphere.  It’s a bit too far from the sun to get enough energy to maintain a reasonable temperature.  There’s no evidence yet of large amounts of carbon which would be necessary for significant life.

Occam

TimB - 23 August 2012 07:24 PM

GW may not directly create new virulent, and deadly viruses, bacteria, and actual insects that carry those.  But the changes in regional climates will cause those regions to need to adjust.  The weather conditions, this year, are being held responsible for the unusual prevalence of West Nile carrying mosquitoes. 

But wait there’s more.

http://library.thinkquest.org/08aug/02429/effects.html
It is possible that symbiotic species (species that depend on each other) will become incompatible. For example, plants could bloom earlier than their pollinating insects become active. Ecosystems will definitely change. Some species will migrate to more suitable conditions while some will stay and try to adapt. Not all will succeed and many species will become extinct. It is predicted that 20% of all mammals will become extinct within the next century.

http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/271-38/12588-focus-global-warmings-terrifying-new-math

With a heavy heart I feel I’m piling on.

http://money.msn.com/top-stocks/post.aspx?post=3e778bb2-3a8b-47e4-849d-4bd3b8ea90a4

It is imperative that we start some terraforming here on Terra.

Lol, in one of the replies in that link, someone said that the reintroduction of hemp, might be a solution to the US farmers.

It grows in almost any condition, it can be used in almost all industries, from clothing to newspapers to medicinal purposes.
Now if only we could find a way to use Hemp as a source for fuel…...., the revenue generated from hemp might just pay for restoring a healthy and happy economy…

Write4U - 24 August 2012 01:58 AM

Lol, in one of the replies in that link, someone said that the reintroduction of hemp, might be a solution to the US farmers.

It grows in almost any condition, it can be used in almost all industries, from clothing to newspapers to medicinal purposes.
Now if only we could find a way to use Hemp as a source for fuel…...., the revenue generated from hemp might just pay for restoring a healthy and happy economy…

This could be politically viable. All we need to do is annex Jamaica as the 51st state and make sure the political primaries start there instead of Iowa. (Suddenly ganja would become America’s #1 agricultural product instead of corn.)

And for energy production we could just organize Jamaican sprinters to train on electricity generating treadmills.