Issue #69
Last Update October 31, 2010
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International Climate Change Lost Cause by Gerry Krownstein July 31, 2010 It has become clear that nothing effective will be done to prevent climate change caused by human endeavors. No bill of substance will get through the US House and Senate any time soon, and none of the other nations that contribute significantly to global warming is prepared to act either. The international standards that have been set are too little, too late and too toothless. Even the experiences of this past year, the warmest in recorded history, with severe floods, hurricanes, droughts, glacial retreats and polar ice meltings have not been enough to convince skeptics or shake believers out of their complacency. We act as if we still have plenty of time, but time has already run out.
The important thing now is to try to predict the changes that will occur as the Earth warms. Certain areas will become drier, some will become wetter, and some will even become colder as ocean currents are affected by changes in energy distribution and sea water salinity. Most Americans do not realize that New York sits at roughly the same latitude as Madrid, and that most of Northern Europe lies across from Hudson’s Bay in Canada, saved from the sub-arctic cold only by the warm waters of the Gulf Stream. A change in sea water temperature and salinity in the Arctic will shut off that beneficent flow, plunging the British Isles, Northern France, the Low Countries, Germany and Poland into nightmare conditions.
Trying to combat or reverse global warming will not be achievable. Just as some countries will be adversely affected, others will benefit. An effort to preserve the status quo for one country will worsen conditions for others, and could lead to international conflict. Besides, we don't know enough to proceed confidently even if international agreement on such measures could be reached. Putting reflective particles into space to cut down on sunlight reaching the earth, or seeding the oceans to remove greenhouse gases are experiments that would likely have unintended adverse consequences.
That said, what should we be doing at this time? We should continue to press for development and construction of non-polluting power sources and cleaning up of polluting power sources. We should be promoting energy efficiency. We should be planting trees and preserving forests, wetlands and parks. Any progress in these areas will slow the progress of climate change and make the task of living with it easier. We should be funding, at a significant level, research into the effects of climate change so we have a better chance of planning for the situation we will face, in the regions we will face it. We should be investing in improvements in water management, flood control and water transportation. We should be planning for the mass migration of populations, figuring out how to channel these movements peacefully, and how the people will be housed and fed. We should be planning for changes in the areas where food is produced, processed and shipped.
If we do not do these things, we will have chaos, war and genocide. If we do these things, we may be able to roll with the climatic punches and survive as a civilization. With a little luck we'll then last the few thousand years remaining until the next ice age rolls in, if global warming has not eliminated ice ages.
New York Stringer is published by NYStringer.com. For all communications, contact David Katz, Editor and Publisher, at david@nystringer.com