Denying Reality Means Disaster
Serious, serious development now unfolding in the Arctic… the ice is rapidly disappearing and then all that incredible heat goes directly into the world’s oceans… accelerating devastating storms, wildlife deaths, plankton die-off, oxygen levels dropping, etc. Summer 2016 will be either ice-free or nearly so, and that means RAPID AND DANGEROUS ACCELERATION of climate related events WORLDWIDE.
It’s unlikely hardly anybody realizes what an ice-free Arctic truly means for the rest of the planet. But I’ll tell you – it signals the death of the biosphere (all of it). It’s a mortal wound for tolerable temperatures on land and in the oceans in short order.
A good analogy is a gun shot wound to the lungs. You will live and gasp for a while, desperately trying to breathe and survive, but it’s a mortal wound as you thrash about. This is what the Earth will do as temperatures continue to climb, increasing evaporation and extreme storm events and drought, severely impacting all forms of life on land and water.
I have mentioned (many times) over the years on this blog that scientific projections (time lines and severity) have been constantly updated to account for reality – what is happening on the planet in real time. Models and projections have been seriously wrong, failing to account for the rapid acceleration and failing to even include essential elements.
This video is from 2008 – but still well worth watching. Here are some of the predictions science was making – and (some) of the things they were failing to take into account:
Note the proposed decline in growth as a climate change response – is that what is happening today? I’ve often thought that it must be since nothing is being done to restore jobs or the economy. But as a proposed solution, it has failed miserably to slow down climate change.
Here is an example:
What would it take to save the Great Barrier Reef?
Saving Louisiana’s Coast (watch the video if you can)
These proposals will not work because of rising sea levels are factually unstoppable, and CO₂ saturation (and pollution) in the world’s oceans isn’t solvable either. The world’s reefs are on death row, and so is the marine life in the world’s oceans. Rising sea levels cannot be abridged or defended against with higher abutments indefinitely. Storm surges and high tides are already washing away houses and businesses. Hurricanes will only get worse as the worlds oceans heat up. Eventually, all low-lying infrastructure – homes, businesses, roads, building – the whole enchilada – will have to be abandoned and relocated (somewhere).
This is going to become increasingly obvious in the days ahead, but not before silly humans expend trillions (yes, trillions) of dollars on foolish enterprises to deny reality. The waste of resources will be immense. It’s already a foregone conclusion what the results will be.
By the way, there is NO SUCH THING AS ZERO CARBON. I want to dispel this ridiculous notion (again). Anything mined out of the ground, transported, processed or manufactured will NEVER be “zero carbon”. That goes for products, cars, trucks, food, transportation, etc. There are still some blithering idiots that are still claiming that humans need to go “zero carbon” while maintaining this present civilization. What they’re really claiming as zero carbon simply isn’t – it’s a lower carbon emission idea that won’t do much at all at this point in time, and there is always Jevons Paradox to consider here too.
Humanity is not going to “fix this”. You will be reminded (constantly) of many proposals, idea, projects and efforts to reduce, reuse and restore the planet but the vast, vast majority of these asinine ideas will utterly fail to solve anything because they do nothing about:
a) population
b) energy consumption
c) resource consumption
d) restoring the ice
e) removing CO₂ from the atmosphere and oceans.
In effect, they are proposals to simply move the deck chairs around a bit on the sinking Titanic, in a desperate bid to buy humanity a little more time. Yes, “cooling the planet” is desirable, but is it doable? Unlikely. What’s been set in motion isn’t easily reversed, not even given dozens of years to do it should we somehow come up with a solution. But we don’t have ten years or a hundred, we’re already out of time, the ice is nearly gone now. And there is no point in wasting hope on flying monkeys.
Now please pay close attention here: You will be witnesses to new ways of ‘living’ as humanity scrapes everything down to the bottom of the food barrel. As resources deplete, die-off, or get used up (or are prohibited to be used), new sources of food, materials and energy will be tried. The claim will be as before – they’ll help save humanity and the planet. It’ll all sound good with slick videos and cool presentations, but the reality will be very different then the slogans. Unless items a) through e) are ALL addressed, then no amount of deck chair rearrangement will possibly forestall disaster for ALL living things on this planet.
I’ve deliberately left off the other bad things humans have done, such as pollution, deforestation, nuclear waste, soil depletion, aquifer depletion, rap music, etc. – that must also be solved because in truth, it’s just too much for us to consider or resolve. The damage we’ve done to our only home, the only planet we can inhabit, is unsolvable now. Even without us (no humans) and no climate change (impossible to claim now), the planetary biosphere will be impacted by the human imprint for millions of years to come (read The World Without Us for detailed examples).
Reality will dictate everything, triumphing over politics, belief, faith, religion or denial.Here is that reality:
Climate change is the gunshot wound to the livable biosphere. The gun has gone off, the bullet has struck, the life blood of the planet is running out. You are a witness to all of this. Your home is dying now, faster and faster every day. There is very little that you can do about any of this except get yourselves ready for the following – temperature and weather extremes, local and regional disasters, higher and higher prices (on everything), food shortages and non-availability, water shortages (or none at all in some areas), riots and disruptions, increasing crimes and violence, war and global conflicts, increasing surveillance and police state tactics, and mega-disasters affecting entire regions and countries.
I harp on the theme, are you prepared or not, because this is the reality everyone needs to face. Many, many bloggers and websites focus on asinine connedspiracies and ridiculous stories and assumptions that have nothing to do with anybody, but not this blog. Reality rules here. Having both feet planted firmly in reality and knowing what is happening to the world happens to us all. Denying this reality means disaster.
Die-off will not be a theoretical term or concept anymore. It will be real.
Local Lies at 11.
[ no penalty for premature withdrawal ]
(the only one that could actually ‘work’)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/max-tegmark/climate-change-for-the-im_b_9865898.html
yeah, I’ve been saying for two decades or more, that the ‘solution’ to the human induced predicament is global thermonuclear war (GTNW). With the manufacturer (by media) of The Donald, we’re far more likely than not to fkn get it. As if it isn’t inevitable in the first instance. Weapons are not intended to not be used. Could be that GTNW is the only thing that could potentially delay human extinction significantly.
IOW, GTNW solves AGE* (anthropogenic global extinction) –
*note registered trademark claimed – as I should have done with ‘hopium’, Peak Is, et al., but I digress.
Best thing possible for the Earth is for Homo moronicus rex to commit mass suicide ASAP
It’s the smart thing to do, so if GTNW does occur it’ll be an ‘accident’ (on purpose)
==============
This has been a test of the Planetary Emergency Broadcast System.
If this had been an actual Planetary Emergency you would not be told.
Therefore, you were not. Nothing you do not know will ever harm you.
Consult your Facebook often to maintain the illusion of having an actual life.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled re-programing.
Yep. The planned economic decline hasn’t worked as hoped, so they (Hillary or Donald) may be ‘enticed’ (ordered) to engage in yet another foolish human endeavor of stupendous proportions, a.k.a. GTNW.
Since population levels are NEVER on the table for family discussion, might they make the family planning choice for us? Maybe so… I sure as hell hope not, but with these two circus clowns and their henchmen, I don’t trust them one bit.
More likely then not however, is GTNW would continue the current trajectory towards human extinction… as the other ‘nuclear’ scattered all over the world goes up in smoke, unattended and neglected, irradiating the rest of the biosphere with radioactive clouds.
IOW – we be fucked, through and through and there simply isn’t any escaping the Apocalypse we have wrought upon ourselves.
NOT anywhere close to worst case. MY ‘worst case’ (or best case depending on perspective) is no humans by 2030, no terrestrial eukaryotes by 2050. bye but bipeds.
No, the video is not anywhere near worst case scenario, not with what we know today (and even what we knew in 2008). That sort of video has never been produced as far as I know.
There were some interesting points however in the video above, such as how abrupt changes global can take place (less then 10 years), how easily it would be for all the ice to melt (Arctic, Antarctic, Greenland) and how incredibly high the sea level would get, and how the models used back then failed on many critical points to even include.
This is why I said you need to be at least 300 feet above sea level years ago. Even the models today are failing to consider abrupt sea level rise and only project rising waters under 70 feet or so (and nobody seems to think that this will ever happen). But the historical record is just the opposite, with sea level rise happening quite quickly and several hundred feet.
My trip up the coast showed signs everywhere, “Tsunami danger zone” on the highway and in many towns. These places were located within a dozen feet or so of the ocean level. Tsunami evacuation signs were also posted on high ground – but a lot of these areas were not nearly high enough.
What happens when sea level rises more then 50 feet? Or 100? Or 300? Certainly possible and abrupt changes are in the historical record of the Earth.
Humans simply refuse to listen to science and historical facts (which is also why we still have idiotic religions around). If history proves or disproves something, we tend to ignore it in favor of our “beliefs” which are not based upon facts or evidence. This is why I said this blog deals in reality. Not trying to toot my own horn, but it is an important point.
Its clear that even the scientist are having a hard time accepting their own results. But it isn’t because they are wrong, it is because it defies “belief” and commonly held assumptions, such as humans will be here for a long time to come. But the evidence say’s otherwise, we won’t be here much longer at all. We’ve set into motion global changes that are severe, unstoppable and fatal. Each year going forward will be worse then the last until we are gone.
If you want another example of Denying Reality, then read Joe Romm’s latest fluff piece, “Almost Everything You Know About Climate Change Solutions is Outdated”.
I am SO SICK OF THIS SHIT. Despite the factual evidence that we are already at 1.4C and doing next to nothing to remove C02 from the atmosphere or oceans, or doing squat about the missing ice, Romm continues to pretend that we still stand a chance at limiting warming to 1.5C. The article even includes the latest gif image depicting temperature increases!
Romm is fucking clueless when it comes to what is really happening, what can be done, what isn’t being done and why climate collapse is actually unstoppable now. But he’s a paid pundit writing pampered articles to make people feel all warm and fuzzy.
The American media is guilty of GENOCIDE, ECOCIDE and BIOCIDE by complicity REFUSING to research and publish the truth of what is unfolding.
Found over on Wit’s End, in her “Earth Embalmed” excellent article, a slightly better, more realistic assessment of how we’re simply not going to make it with renewable energy: “Renewable Energy Demands The Undoable”
I do recommend Wit’s End – she totally gets it. We are headed fast towards human extinction and there isn’t anything we are going to be able to do about it except move the deck chairs around. Unlike Scribbler who shamefully continues to promote a false narrative, she understands the truth (quoting Ozzie Zehner, the author of “Green Illusions”):
“There is an impression that we have a choice between fossil fuels and clean energy technologies such as solar cells and wind turbines. That choice is an illusion. Alternative energy technologies rely on fossil fuels through every stage of their life. Alternative energy technologies rely on fossil fuels for mining operations, fabrication plants, installation, ongoing maintenance and decommissioning. Also, due to the irregular output of wind and solar, these technologies require fossil fuel plants to be running alongside them at all times. Most significantly, alternative energy financing relies on the kind of growth that fossil fuels drive.”
Am I right?
No, not shocked. Pissed. Liars and charlatans abound. Idiots abound. Hopium crack addicts abound. Willful delusional fantasy fools abound. It’s a target rich environment. Just waiting now for open season.
“This visually arresting documentary essay reflects on our relationship to other living creatures as humanity becomes more isolate from nature.” – and consumes the planet to it’s and our complete destruction – –
stunning photography builds to a powerful ending
personally especially disturbing to learn Angola and Namibia intend to divert to Okavango River thereby to grow massive rice thereby devastate the most awesome inland delta on the planet. About like destroying the Great Barrier Reef, only with foresight and intent.
Yep, great video. Watched it just the other day, shows just how incredibly disconnected humans are to the world that gave them life.
Reminds me of the quote I just found on Wit’s End from Thomas Hobbes in “Leviathan”:
“…in the first place, I put forth a general inclination of all mankind a perpetual and restless desire of power after power, that ceaseth only in death.” (of the entire biosphere)
Suggest folks watch Underworld, Inc. episodes on Netflix. The seam underbelly of America is worse then you might think.
More proof on Romm’s denial of reality – yet another fluff piece of complete stupidity: We Can Stop Searching For The Clean Energy Miracle. It’s Already Here
This ridiculous article seeks to imply that “clean energy” has been “found” while 100% ignoring the incredible amounts of waste, pollution, rare minerals and depletion caused by the new EV cars. Romm is an absolute idiot – a paid media whore pampering his idiotic readers.
Climate Progress is pablum pudding for pussies – people who want to feel good as they head towards disaster and destruction.