Hmm. Let's hope the methane doesn't come out of suspension in the oceans, then, because it may go into a runaway feedback loop and lead to a firestorm - literally like fuel-air explosives being set off, perhaps over major cities. Methane being such a potent greenhouse gas, the whole thing could happen in a far shorter time than the human race's sluggish reactions could cope with.
On 22 November 2013 14:46, Chris de Morsella <[email protected]> wrote: > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Russell Standish > Sent: Thursday, November 21, 2013 1:19 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: Here is why nothing will be done about climate change > > On Thu, Nov 21, 2013 at 08:57:59PM +1300, LizR wrote: > > I'm not completely sure why this is "why nothing will be done about > > climate change". For one thing, some things are already being done > > about it - the rise in emissions dropped in 2012 (not wonderful, I > > know, but some improvement). Interesting article, though. An even > > stronger case for thorium reactors, if one is needed. > > > > > > Not having RTFA, I may be getting the wrong end of the stick here, but I > would say, of course something will be done about climate change. > > The real question is when, and what. > > That's what differentiates conservatives from progressives. > > > Long ago, I thought the when would actually be when the last drop of oil > was > squeezed out of the ground, or maybe later when the last seam of coal was > unearthed. Consequently, the what will be whatever changes are required to > survive in the changed world. > > More recently, I've become more optimistic that renewable energy technology > will economically displace fossil fuel technologies within a few decades. > This will limit the amount of "what" we have to do to adapt to the new > world. > > It despairs me to see politicians deny that there is a problem at all (such > as our new PM, although his rhetoric is now changing :). That is > approaching > the problem with the eyes shut. > > >>ISTM, we have long since passed the stage when we could have prevented > climate from changing at all... > > Unfortunately I think you are correct. It is also highly likely that the > political will to do anything at all will only materialize once the > situation is desperate. There is far too much wealth tied up in the future > evaluations of carbon reserves -- literally trillions of dollars of > evaluations that if they became marked down from the future hypothetical > values they are currently pegged at would have immediate real time effects > on the balance sheets of very powerful fossil carbon interests. > This is more of a political problem than a technical one. Technically we > could do a lot, even right now from our current point of time, but nothing > will get done as long as the vested carbon interests succeed in log jamming > everything. > Chris > > -- > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prof Russell Standish Phone 0425 253119 (mobile) > Principal, High Performance Coders > Visiting Professor of Mathematics [email protected] > University of New South Wales http://www.hpcoders.com.au > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Everything List" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Everything List" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
