Hopefully, Gas will continue to wipe out Coal. A small comfort.
Given the way things are working out, the Republicans will probably push hard for nuclear power (which as mentioned above, isnât all that bad) but then build reactors in the middle of Oklahoma, where theyâre having all the quakes related to fracking, thereby ensuring horrible industrial accidents.
I mean, in the end we were pretty much screwed anyway. Climate change wouldâve proceeded apace regardless of party.
Save us Elon Musk
Heâs gonna be busy flying to Mars and building a Hyperloop there (imagine how fast itâll go on Mars!!).
I guess this is good but Iâm skeptical it will go anywhere.
Itâs obviously a bad situation no matter what, but I donât think one should discount the colossal difference in policy between âwants to enforce the Paris agreement and pursue next stepsâ and âthinks climate change is a Chinese hoax, may appoint climate denier to head EPA.â
Tangentially, the Mars stuff is pretty funny to me. Long term, like in 1000 years or whatever, who knows, maybe we could have a bitchinâ terraformed Mars colony. Iâm all for that and all for manned space exploration because if itâs technically possible to unhitch ourselves from a single planet (later, star), we should do that.
But in anything approaching short term, the idea of Mars as a backup planet is pretty hilarious. Imagine if we all decided to move to Antarctica, and imagine an environment far far more hostile than that⌠Anyway.
On the other hand any research into how to allow large numbers of people to survive on a hostile surface environment isnât wasted. Knowing how to live in a big sterile desert is not a bad thing to be studying now.
If you ignore the actual rocket science, a lot of space colonisation problems (how not to die from radiation, how to build sustainable ecosystems, how to live somewhere without fossil fuels, how to transform barren environments) have massive applications to living on a bust up Earth in the future.
Oh I agree, itâs absolutely of value. Itâs just that, if we actually want to preserve a habitat for 7 billion humans, a non-borked Earth is the only option in anything like the near term. Any other solution perforce involves deaths on a scale not seen since the Bubonic Plague, if ever.
China tells Trump climate change is not a Chinese hoax
Chinaâs Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin repudiated Trumpâs accusation on Wednesday, telling reporters at United Nations talks in Marrakesh, Morocco, that U.S. Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush started the global warming conversation by supporting the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change during the late 1980s, according to Bloomberg News.
Trump has not yet responded to Zhenminâs statement.
More cheery news: Sea ice melting in the long arctic night
[quote]
The latest twist in the Arctic sea ice saga began in mid-October. Temperatures stayed stuck in their September range, pausing sea ice growth. By the end of the month, the Arctic was missing a chunk of ice the size of the eastern U.S.
The oddness continued into November. A large area of the Arctic saw temperatures as much as 36°F above normal, further slowing Arctic sea ice growth and even turning it around for a few days. In other words, it was so warm in the Arctic that despite the lack of sunlight, sea ice actually disappeared.[/quote]
The House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space and Technology just tweeted a link to an article on Breitbart:
We are all doomed. WTF. Breitbart is going to be the Encyclopedia Britannica of this new shitty world of Trump.
Ok, so since that Brietbart article is obviously bullshit, what fragment of a slightly true fact are they wildly distorting and grasping onto in order reach the conclusion of the article?
Not sure about the wildly distorting and grasping, which, I understand, is their usual MO, but theyâre basing their article on this one by David Rose of the Daily Mail:
Some scientists, including Dr Gavin Schmidt, head of Nasaâs climate division, have claimed that the recent highs were mainly the result of long-term global warming.
Others have argued that the records were caused by El Nino, a complex natural phenomenon that takes place every few years, and has nothing to do with greenhouse gas emissions by humans.
The new fall in temperatures suggests they were right.
âŚ
David Whitehouse, a scientist who works with Lord Lawsonâs sceptic Global Warming Policy Foundation, said the massive fall in temperatures following the end of El Nino meant the warming hiatus or slowdown may be coming back.
âAccording to the satellites, the late 2016 temperatures are returning to the levels they were at after the 1998 El Nino.
The data clearly shows El Nino for what it was â a short-term weather event,â he said.
Meanwhile in Iowa I can walk outside without a coat in December and not really care that much.
You know, instead of dying of exposure in a few minutes like normal.
Nothing to see here, folks.
Why the fuck is climate change a politicized topic? I will never understand that, beyond the usual âhuman brains are brokenâ explanation.
If a fleet of Martians came to destroy earth, people would find a way to split into two camps about it.
Oil, power, and money.