We’ve Created A Civilization Hell Bent On Destroying Itself From Hotcoldwetdry Or Something

Remember the day when fringe doomsday nutjobs were pretty much ignored, rather than held up as paragons of virtue?

Climate change: ‘We’ve created a civilisation hell bent on destroying itself – I’m terrified’, writes Earth scientist

The coffee tasted bad. Acrid and with a sweet, sickly smell. The sort of coffee that results from overfilling the filter machine and then leaving the brew to stew on the hot plate for several hours. The sort of coffee I would drink continually during the day to keep whatever gears left in my head turning.

Odours are powerfully connected to memories. And so it’s the smell of that bad coffee which has become entwined with the memory of my sudden realisation that we are facing utter ruin.

It was the spring of 2011, and I had managed to corner a very senior member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) during a coffee break at a workshop. The IPCC was established in 1988 as a response to increasing concern that the observed changes in the Earth’s climate are being largely caused by humans.

So, a story of Doom associated with bad coffee because some people don’t know how to make coffee?

“But what about the many millions of people directly threatened,” I went on. “Those living in low-lying nations, the farmers affected by abrupt changes in weather, kids exposed to new diseases?”

He gave a sigh, paused for a few seconds, and a sad, resigned smile crept over his face. He then simply said: “They will die.”

Computer models are scary!

It seems sensible to assume that the reason products and services are made is so that they can be bought and sold and so the makers can turn a profit. So the drive for innovation – for faster, smaller phones, for example – is driven by being able to make more money by selling more phones. In line with this, the environmental writer George Monbiot argued that the root cause of climate change and other environmental calamities is capitalism and consequently any attempt to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will ultimately fail if we allow capitalism to continue.

And an anti-capitalism screed, which is followed by an anti-people screed. Which is followed by all sorts of whining, ending with

To understand you are in a prison, you must first be able to see the bars. That this prison was created by humans over many generations doesn’t change the conclusion that we are currently tightly bound up within a system that could, if we do not act, lead to the impoverishment, and even death of billions of people.

Eight years ago, I woke up to the real possibility that humanity is facing disaster. I can still smell that bad coffee, I can still recall the memory of scrabbling to make sense of the words I was hearing. Embracing the reality of the technosphere doesn’t mean giving up, of meekly returning to our cells. It means grabbing a vital new piece of the map and planning our escape.

Save $10 on purchases of $49.99 & up on our Fruit Bouquets at 1800flowers.com. Promo Code: FRUIT49
If you liked my post, feel free to subscribe to my rss feeds.

Both comments and trackbacks are currently closed

23 Responses to “We’ve Created A Civilization Hell Bent On Destroying Itself From Hotcoldwetdry Or Something”

  1. Elwood P. Dowd says:

    The Earth will survive, 100% for certain.

    Humanity better “fasten your seatbelts, it’s gonna be a bumpy night”.

    The Cult of Denial is shrinking, but still effective because they control the US government. For now.

    • formwiz says:

      Funny how The Cult of Denial grew by leaps and bounds when our First Gay President was. well…, doing somerthing.

  2. Liljeffyatemypuppy says:

    Oh, how profound… https://www.thepiratescove.us/wp-content/plugins/wp-monalisa/icons/wpml_cool.gif

  3. Kye says:

    I figure the real cult of denial are people who refuse to see anything but their MMGW narrative or consider, just consider they may be wrong. Especially after six decades of TOTALLY INCORRECT PREDICTIONS.

    I also figure if the climate nuts are so scientific how then do they believe killing a baby with it’s own DNA and heartbeat is “a woman’s right to choose”, how they believe a male can magically become a female as though it is some sort of biological alchemy? They are the ones denying science and as usual trying to project their failures of logic on everyone else.

    If they believe all this climate shit why don’t they practice it in their own lives?

    • Elwood P. Dowd says:

      Kye,

      Two points:

      1) The science of global warming is unrelated to your religious beliefs regarding gender and abortion.

      2) TOTALLY INCORRECT PREDICTIONS?? The Earth is warming rapidly from our burning of fossil fuels which is increasing atmospheric CO2. Cooling stratosphere. Decreased ocean pH, sea level rise, Arctic ice, Greenland ice sheet, parts of Antarctic ice sheet, all retreating. All as predicted.

      • Liljeffyatemypuppy says:

        Gobbledygook… as usual. https://www.thepiratescove.us/wp-content/plugins/wp-monalisa/icons/wpml_cool.gif

      • Kye says:

        You are claiming that a persons sex and DNA and life are religious beliefs? Funny, for all of human history they have been science. But you know best cause you know everything!

        Yes, TOTALLY INCORRECT PREDICTIONS. Do you want me to list them because I have a partial list of about fifty fraudulent predictions beginning in the sixties. Start with these Oh ignorant one, behold the coming apocalypse as predicted on and around Earth Day, 1970:

        “Civilization will end within 15 or 30 years unless immediate action is taken against problems facing mankind.” — Harvard biologist George Wald

        “We are in an environmental crisis which threatens the survival of this nation, and of the world as a suitable place of human habitation.” — Washington University biologist Barry Commoner

        “Man must stop pollution and conserve his resources, not merely to enhance existence but to save the race from intolerable deterioration and possible extinction.” — New York Times editorial

        “Population will inevitably and completely outstrip whatever small increases in food supplies we make. The death rate will increase until at least 100-200 million people per year will be starving to death during the next ten years.” — Stanford University biologist Paul Ehrlich

        “Most of the people who are going to die in the greatest cataclysm in the history of man have already been born… [By 1975] some experts feel that food shortages will have escalated the present level of world hunger and starvation into famines of unbelievable proportions. Other experts, more optimistic, think the ultimate food-population collision will not occur until the decade of the 1980s.” — Paul Ehrlich

        “It is already too late to avoid mass starvation,” — Denis Hayes, Chief organizer for Earth Day

        “Demographers agree almost unanimously on the following grim timetable: by 1975 widespread famines will begin in India; these will spread by 1990 to include all of India, Pakistan, China and the Near East, Africa.

        By the year 2000, or conceivably sooner, South and Central America will exist under famine conditions….

        By the year 2000, thirty years from now, the entire world, with the exception of Western Europe, North America, and Australia, will be in famine.” — North Texas State University professor Peter Gunter

        “In a decade, urban dwellers will have to wear gas masks to survive air pollution… by 1985 air pollution will have reduced the amount of sunlight reaching earth by one half.” — Life magazine

        “At the present rate of nitrogen buildup, it’s only a matter of time before light will be filtered out of the atmosphere and none of our land will be usable.” — Ecologist Kenneth Watt

        “Air pollution…is certainly going to take hundreds of thousands of lives in the next few years alone.” — Paul Ehrlich

        “By the year 2000, if present trends continue, we will be using up crude oil at such a rate… that there won’t be any more crude oil. You’ll drive up to the pump and say, ‘Fill ‘er up, buddy,’ and he’ll say, ‘I am very sorry, there isn’t any.'” — Ecologist Kenneth Watt

        “[One] theory assumes that the earth’s cloud cover will continue to thicken as more dust, fumes, and water vapor are belched into the atmosphere by industrial smokestacks and jet planes. Screened from the sun’s heat, the planet will cool, the water vapor will fall and freeze, and a new Ice Age will be born.” — Newsweek magazine

        “The world has been chilling sharply for about twenty years. If present trends continue, the world will be about four degrees colder for the global mean temperature in 1990, but eleven degrees colder in the year 2000. This is about twice what it would take to put us into an ice age.” — Kenneth Watt

        • Elwood P. Dowd says:

          Few of your predictions involve global warming. Why is that?

          The Earth is warming from the CO2 we have put in the atmosphere.

          • Kye says:

            Once again, Elwood you accuse me of something I didn’t say. They are not “MY PREDICTIONS”
            they are the predictions of climate scientists. You know, members of that fake 97% consensus you guys are always lying about. Now I see then you are sticking to ‘Global Warming”, eh? No more referring to Man Made Climate Change. You guys are nothin’ if you ain’t flexible with your terminology to fit your argument du jour.

            “The Earth is warming from the CO2 we have put in the atmosphere.”
            Nonsense. If the earth is warming it is from multiple reasons and sources not just man. If you believe man alone is responsible for changes in the earths climate then how did climate change before man?

          • Elwood P. Dowd says:

            I usually call the current warming, “global warming”.

            Significant warming and cooling of the Earth is caused by physical phenomena, not magic. The current significant warming is being caused by the accumulation of greenhouse gases. Previous significant warming was caused by other phenomena, e.g., the emergence from the glacial periods is thought to be caused by cyclic changes in the angle and orbit of Earth in relation to the Sun. Other physical reasons the Earth can warm or cool are changes in the Sun’s output, changes in greenhouse gases, changes in albedo (reflectivity), changes in ocean currents, changes in aerosols (volcanoes cause cooling), tectonic movements, asteroid strikes…

          • formwiz says:

            Because global hoohah is a crock?

            And the sky is also falling.

          • Elwood P. Dowd says:

            Kye typed: “They are not “MY PREDICTIONS”
            they are the predictions of climate scientists.”

            My mistake. I thought YOU had posted that comment. I didn’t know you let climate scientists comment under your name.

            Anyone, none of the “predictions” were made by climate scientists.

            What was predicted was that CO2 in the atmosphere would cause the Earth to warm.

      • Kye says:

        You forgot dogs and cats sleeping together. Just blame everything on MMGW and be done with it.

      • formwiz says:

        Two points:

        1) The science of global warming is unrelated to real science. You might as well go Wicca.

        2) TOTALLY INCORRECT PREDICTIONS?? The Earth is not warming rapidly from our burning of fossil fuels which does nothing to increase atmospheric CO2. Cooling stratosphere. Decreased ocean pH, sea level rise, Arctic ice, Greenland ice sheet, parts of Antarctic ice sheet, all increasing at record rates. All as predicted just days ago, and, if it hasn’t happened, they’ll tell you it has.

        • Elwood P. Dowd says:

          Cult of Deniers stamp feet, saying, “Is not!”

          Earth is warming, seas rising, ice melting…

  4. Elwood P. Dowd says:

    We should thank TEACH for introducing us to The Conversation, a website based on reason and rigor.

    Read this piece, it’s a primer on the Earth’s carbon cycle.

    https://theconversation.com/how-humans-derailed-the-earths-climate-in-just-160-years-114021

    “The main engine of Earth’s climate is the sun. Our star delivers an average surface power of 342 W/m2 per year. Earth absorbs about 70% of this and reflects the rest. If this were the only climate mechanism, the average temperature would be -15°C (below the freezing point of water, 0°C). Life would likely be impossible. Fortunately, some of the absorbed energy is re-emitted as infrared radiation, which, unlike visible light, interacts with the greenhouse gases (GHGs) present in the atmosphere to radiate heat back toward Earth’s surface. This greenhouse effect currently maintains our average temperature around 15°C.

    The primary GHGs are water vapour and the much-debated CO2. Carbon dioxide contributes up to 30% of the total greenhouse effect, water vapour provides about 70%. CO2, though, has overall warming power that water vapour doesn’t. Water vapour in the atmosphere has a very short residence time (from hours to days) and its concentration can increase only if temperature increases. CO2 lingers in the atmosphere for 100 years and its concentration is not solely controlled by temperature. CO2 is thus able to trigger warming: if CO2 concentration increases, the average temperature, regardless of its own trend, will increase.”

    “By 1950, the addition of CO2 to the atmosphere through fossil-fuel combustion was already proven, via the carbon isotopic signature of CO2 molecules (known as the “Suess” effect). By the late 1970’s, climate scientists observed a rapid drift toward warmer overall temperatures. The IPCC, created in 1988, showed in 2012 that the average temperature had increased by 0.9°C since 1901. That change might seem modest compared to the last deglaciation, when average temperature increased by about 6°C in 7,000 years, but it’s at least 10 times faster.
    The average temperature continues to climb, and natural parameters such as solar activity or volcanism can’t explain such a fast warming. The cause is unambiguously human addition of GHGs to the atmosphere, and high-income countries emit the most CO2 per inhabitant.”

    • Liljeffyatemypuppy says:

      Soooo little missy what is totally ignored in your little citation? https://www.thepiratescove.us/wp-content/plugins/wp-monalisa/icons/wpml_cool.gif

    • Jl says:

      Wow-what a BS article. The hypothesis for CO2 warming includes positive feed-backs, most notably from water vapor, so the statement that CO2 alone can warm past as of yet an unknown amount is false. “Residence time of CO2 is 100 yrs”. There’s several papers showing a much lower residence time. “Temp increased 0.9 since 1901”. So in other words warming started long before the added CO2. “If CO2 concentration increases, temp will increase.” These clowns must have not studied past geologic history, because CO2 and temp don’t always correlate, so that statement would be false

    • Jl says:

      “If CO2 concentration increases, temp will increase”. Debunked by the IPCC itself, as they acknowledged the “pause”. J-you call that a web site based on reason and vigor”? Ok. https://realclimatescience.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Screen-Shot-2017-02-03-at-11.15.00-AM-down.gif

      • Elwood P. Dowd says:

        Cult of Deniers stamp feet, saying, “Is not!”

        Earth is warming, seas rising, ice melting…

    • formwiz says:

      This sort of nonsense is why you don’t listen to environuts.

      CO2 constitutes .04% of the atmosphere.

  5. formwiz says:

    I usually call the current warming, “global warming”.

    Significant warming and cooling of the Earth is caused by physical phenomena, not magic. The current significant warming is being caused by the accumulation of greenhouse gases. Previous significant warming was caused by other phenomena, e.g., the emergence from the glacial periods is thought to be caused by cyclic changes in the angle and orbit of Earth in relation to the Sun. Other physical reasons the Earth can warm or cool are changes in the Sun’s output, changes in greenhouse gases, changes in albedo (reflectivity), changes in ocean currents, changes in aerosols (volcanoes cause cooling), tectonic movements, asteroid strikes…

    Funny, all us civilized people call it summer.

Pirate's Cove