It increases the effect of greenhouse gasses on the earth’s surface temperature.

Less snowpack = greater amounts of fresh water near the northern terminus of the Atlantic Conveyor = reduced salinity in the warmer water being pushed northward.

The balance between warm water with a high salt content and cold water with a lower salt content is what keeps the current flowing. Disrupt the balance and you shut the current down.

That means the East Coast of the United States will be under water, and everything north of Paris in Europe will be under a mile of ice for a century or two.

Sarcasm, bruce. Though I doubt your last statement. If such a study exits, it would be very interesting to learn the methodology.

Actually I remember a study done (I think it was from Vietnam) that showed that people become atheists in foxholes. Seems the whole “Damnit, if there was a god I wouldn’t be in this mess” instinct is stronger then the “God help me” instinct.

“Link?”
Comment by Zooey — May 28, 2007 @ 10:16 am

LOL Good one Zoo.

Link?

I was wondering the same thing about the land of fruits and nuts. Mixed blessings. ;)

Those parents who thanked you for teaching their kids don’t want their kids to go to hell. ;)

“Solar energy, wind energy, hydro-electric energy, kinetic energy from ocean waves… I challanged my students to come up with ways to provide alternative energy to their buildings they designed, and I was amazed to find out that combinations of these sources are actually viable alternatives.”
Comment by unbelievable — May 26, 2007 @ 2:42 pm

Well why didn’t anyone ever think of that before? And we’ve been worried all this time. Problem solved! ;)

“If man-unkind upsets the balance too much, events will occur that will reduce or eliminate the population of man-unkind.”
Comment by Briseadh na Faire — May 26, 2007 @ 2:43 pm

So now it’s not just the U.S. that’s scum, it’s the whole race? Keep on in this direction and you are going to have to go to Mars because nobody here is deserving of your company.

“Where did you get the 30% statistic? That is really frightening if it is true. I think the silent majority believes in evolution, hopefully. If there are that many naysayers we are screwed.”
Comment by shane — May 26, 2007 @ 2:51 pm

There are no atheists in foxholes and darn few on death beds.

Comment by Annie Kate — May 27, 2007 @ 5:01 am

Ann,
They want to impose a global carbon tax. This “tax” would need to be collected and administered by a global government. Who, what, where and when would all this tax collection be going on? With all of the corruption odds are that this “tax” would simply never get to its goal.

The goal would be to plant trees, and create something coined as “demand destruction”. Demand destruction is reducing the amount of fuel being burned by raising the price. Naturally, the next step is rationing so high prices reduce consumption as an alternative to rationing.

Demand destruction is hard on the poor and middle class since we have all of the cheap houses and hand me down cars that we keep going. Wealthy people see demand destruction as a minor inconvenience since it inflates their costs by only a few thousand dollars a year. Scale this against a receptionist earning $13.00 per hour and demand destruction could force her out of work?

A carbon tax would be charged over and above all others and this money will not be spent on rail or effective mass transit. It’s only real purpose is to create a new layer of government and a new income stream for the ruling class to tap while getting all of the middle class and poor off the roads.

The idea would be to save the world and plant lots of trees but in the USA planting something requires LAND. Once a tree is planted it becomes the possession of the land owner. Pretend that I own 10,000 acres of pine land and at the start the land is cleared. I pay my share of carbon tax and people living in apartments and condos do the same. The government plants the land and it becomes a managed forest. Years later I “thin” the forest and sell off the pine and make millions. The apartment dwellers and condo owners simply keep on paying.

There are so many opportunities in this idea wide open for abuse, misuse and crime that it boggles the mind. If you can think of just one scam that you could do there are many more that you didn’t think of. The driving factor in this is FEAR and GUILT. Keep in mind that none of us has any personal responsibility relating to global warming or weather change.

You and I were born in a world that has already gone down the path of industrialization. I may want to live an old school life but frankly I don’t have the needed land (10 acres for a family of 4) and since we are forced to pay property and income taxes then by law we are required to play the rotten game. When you went to the used car lot did they offer the one horsepower buggy and one bag of feed?

The government has been killing off all of the wild horses for years since people could ride them and destroy the system. Horses happen to eat quite a bit and need plenty of water so they are in direct competition with humans so they make glue out of them!

You and I (assuming you middle class or poor) can watch wealthy people drive SUVs while we ride our foot cars. The wealthy will say that they are paying a high tax so they can afford to party like it is 1999. Wealthy folks like 4-5K sq. ft. homes in the USA. Two adults, two children and one nanny swimming in 10 bedrooms while the middle class and poor must double and triple up.

This all comes to a crashing halt when riots and race wars erupt. The wealthy pay protection to a well armed police department and don’t like terrorists like you spoiling their views so they round you up and put you in camps. I would imagine that part of the carbon tax will go to paying for all of those camps.

By the way the exact same thing happened in the USA several times already. The Native Americans were kicked off their land and put into camps. Africans were brought to be used as slaves and lived in slave camps on plantations. Many living in the “Dust Bowl” were forced into camps along with the unemployed masses resulting from the Great Depression.

Congress has spent over $600 BILLION that we now OWE on a war that will never end and now there is talk of a carbon tax to add insult to injury… LOL How can you bomb a city but not create emissions when doing it and at the same time reduce pollution? The USA will collapse as a result of depleted resources. How will the tax work then?

Billy Joel said it best when he said, “We didn’t start the fire, it was always burning, since the world’s been turning!” The oil that many believe created the carbon imbalance is now in global decline. Since burning the oil created the problem when it runs out the problem will solve itself! Our conundrum (if global weather change is the result of humans) is that if we burn the oil we will die and if we don’t burn the oil we will die. Death by pollution vs. Death by starvation.

And by the way, the changes the IPCC made in their papers this year were done as a compromise with the politicians so they could get the paper out the door. The scientists were all in agreement with the “alarmist” (I believe that was the word used in previous posts) predictions of the amount of sea level elevation, etc.

Comment by WaltTheMan — May 26, 2007 @ 9:15 pm

Since it is impossible to avoid toxins then it is impossible to change our fate relating to global weather patterns or global warming. I’m not ignoring anything yet minimizing dietary exposure to various chemicals starts with you Walt. You say, “While death is an unfortunate experience…” that all depends. If I were an undertaker your death would be my good fortune. Death is inevitable but playing in traffic can get you to the end of the road faster. Ah, enjoy those piss-clams and beer.

Oh dear, you do inflate things in your imaginary world, don’t you? Our misunderstanding was months ago! Nothing to hang onto in your pitiful little world? I’m sorry you’re feeling left out, but no one likes to play with whiny girls. Too sad….

Rosie-esque? You’re watching too much television, hun.

Oh! Before I forget, UKBristolDave sends his regards! Heh.

–
They “don’t take into account the gorillas _ Greenland and Antarctica,” said Ohio State University earth sciences professor Lonnie Thompson, a polar ice specialist. “I think there are unpleasant surprises as we move into the 21st century.”
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/28/AR2007012800478_pf.html