[Article] – Discover Magazine – 65ft Sea Level Rise Already Baked In
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With Sea Level Rise, We’ve Already Hurtled Past a Point of No Return
– Climate negotiators in Madrid are trying to avoid 2 meters of sea level rise, but research suggests 10 times that — 65 feet — is already inevitable.Snip …
But there’s just one problem: Research on past climates suggests we’ve already hurtled past one significant point of no return, one that should prompt us to pay more attention to adapting to climate change.
The research has focused on sea level during past times when carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was as high as today. The work suggests that we’ve already committed ourselves to sea level rise far higher than the 2 or so meters that climate negotiators are trying to avoid with CO2 cuts.
“We’ve already baked in 20 meters of sea level rise,” says James White, a University of Colorado scientist who has studied ancient climates to gain insights about the future. “The coast is toast.”
Twenty meters is 65 feet — enough to inundate vast swaths of coastal territory, displacing hundreds of millions of people.
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“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."
- John F. Kennedy"The further a society drifts from the truth the more it will hate those who speak it."
- George Orwell"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society."
- Jiddu Krishnamurti"Sometimes a pessimist is only an optimist with extra information."
- Idries Shah"A riot is the language of the unheard."
- Martin Luther King -
December 12, 2019 at 9:01 AM #237496
On the bright side, some land that will be waterfront property some day is pretty affordable right now, 😉
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December 12, 2019 at 2:11 PM #237525
And my drive to the beach will be much shorter… and cheaper too! You know those damn Hummers sure do like their fuel.
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December 12, 2019 at 2:19 PM #237527
I love the map showing Delaware completely inundated. Someone should ask Joe Biden about that.
Never let your morals stop you from doing the right thing.--Isaac Asimov
The United States is also a one-party state but, with typical American extravagance, they have two of them.--Julius Nyerere
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December 12, 2019 at 3:05 PM #237534
Obama bought a $12 million home in Martha’s Vineyard right on the coast. What does he know the rest of us don’t?
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December 12, 2019 at 3:24 PM #237540
Hi fp,
Obama knows that levees and dykes will be built around the compounds of the 1% to forestall the inevitable for as along as possible. Because, you know … they are more important than the rest of us. And this will all be done at taxpayer expense. Welcome to reality in America.
TAT
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."
- John F. Kennedy"The further a society drifts from the truth the more it will hate those who speak it."
- George Orwell"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society."
- Jiddu Krishnamurti"Sometimes a pessimist is only an optimist with extra information."
- Idries Shah"A riot is the language of the unheard."
- Martin Luther King-
December 12, 2019 at 11:22 PM #237745
Exactly
The majority of mankind is ground down by industrial oppression in order that the small remnant may live in ease.
—Helen Keller, 1911Joe Biden, you're no Jack Kennedy: "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."—John F Kennedy, 1962
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December 12, 2019 at 3:42 PM #237552
Here’s a question that would have gotten me banned from SV –
How can we remove carbon from the atmosphere? There must be a way. If we put it in the air, we can extract it, somehow. I realize we may not have the technology today, but there must surely be a way to do that.
The opinions and personal views expressed herein are solely those of the author, and should never be taken seriously.
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December 12, 2019 at 3:55 PM #237555
@closeupready Besides planting lots of large photosynthetic plants, I don’t know of any. I do know that people used to feel the same way about alchemy, that there must be some way to turn lead into gold, but it never happened.
Never let your morals stop you from doing the right thing.--Isaac Asimov
The United States is also a one-party state but, with typical American extravagance, they have two of them.--Julius Nyerere
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December 12, 2019 at 4:24 PM #237568
About those large photosynthetic plants… There used to be millions of square miles of such in South America. Now they are burning uncontrollably, so farmers can grow stuff for a few years, till the rather poor soil gives up what little nutrients there are.
Maybe somebody can GMO us humans so we can use photosynthesis to take in carbon dioxide, and split off the oxygen we need, by lying out in the sun for a few hours a day. Maybe also giving new meaning to Soylent green.We are an arrogant species, believing our fantasy based "facts" are better than the other person's fake facts.
If Row vs. Wade is overturned, women could lose the right to not get pregnant in 26 states.
The Republicans are four year olds. The Democrats are six year olds. There are no grownups. -
December 12, 2019 at 4:28 PM #237570
It has happened. They did it years ago in a cyclotron, I think. Trouble is, it costs way more than the gold is worth.
If plants can do it, humans should be able to figure a way. Doesn’t mean we shouldn’t start reducing, immediately.
"Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent." - Asimov; "If you push something hard enough, it will fall over." - Fud's First Law of Opposition
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December 13, 2019 at 12:16 AM #237795
Plants have been known to be able to procreate also without human assistance. But if you want to help, seedbombs (including big variety of edible etc. useful plant seeds if you wanna be really smart) are often better idea than planting and then choosing to plant dumbly.
Terra Preta was formed by human activity of dumping charcoal in ground, and at least in Amazon microbial processes have taken over so that Terra Preta replenishes by itself and ties carbon to soil directly. AFAIK they don’t know how to replicate the microbial process elsewhere (asking advice from Ayahuasca might not be a bad idea), but biochar is still a good idea to tie carbon in soil and improve fertility.
Aloha!
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December 12, 2019 at 4:38 PM #237577
Hi cur,
There are technical proposals and some demonstration systems collecting data. However, as of now, there has not been an identified solution that will scale to the level necessary to remove the billions of tons of CO2 already emitted into the atmosphere by global industrial society since 1750.
Think about the scale of the problem like this. Any solution would have to be on the order of the system that has emitted the CO2 to begin with. That would be a system with the relative size and scale of all the cars ever manufactured, all the trains ever made, all the buses ever made, all the heavy equipment ever made, all the ships ever made, all of the manufacturing plants ever made, etc., etc … And even if such a technology did exist, it could never be manufactured and deployed with sufficient impact in the next 10 years to substantially change the trajectory we are now on.
People, in general, have no idea the magnitude of the problem created by Western Industrial Civilization. CO2, once emitted in the atmosphere, lasts for up to 1,000 years. Think about that for a second. All of the CO2 you emit, I emit and all other human activity emits will remain in the atmosphere for essentially 10 centuries after we are long gone. And each and every day that we forgo a reduction in emissions is another day we add to the hangover of our presence on planet earth. Another example brings this home. When you, or anyone else, drives a car the heat generated to create CO2 by engine combustion is amplified 60,000 times in the atmosphere as day in and day out each CO2 molecule continues to trap the sun’s energy for 1,000 years.
Since we have already waited too long, any meaningful response to Climate Change requires three things to occur globally.
Capitalism as we know it must die – (all growth-based political economic systems must end)
Per Capita emissions must be reduced – (consumption per person must decline, especially in Western democracies)
Global population must decline – (birth rate must be reduced below global death rate)Anything less is whistling past the graveyard as we walk steadfastly toward a cliff.
Scientists have calculated how much more CO2 can be emitted into the atmosphere to remain below both 1.5C and 2.0C. For 1.5C we have ten years to act; for 2.0C a little longer, but not much. This is what Greta Thunberg was highlighting in her COP25 speech.
It is up to us to make the sacrifices necessary to forestall disaster. The honest climate scientists place our chances of choosing wisely at no better than 5%.
TAT
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."
- John F. Kennedy"The further a society drifts from the truth the more it will hate those who speak it."
- George Orwell"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society."
- Jiddu Krishnamurti"Sometimes a pessimist is only an optimist with extra information."
- Idries Shah"A riot is the language of the unheard."
- Martin Luther King
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