Hansen: "We are headed toward...the near-certain destruction of modern civilization as we know it."

[wtmusic]

"Cowards in Our Democracies: Part 1

The threat of human-made climate change and the urgency of reducing fossil fuel emissions have become increasingly clear to the scientific community during the past few years. Yet, at the same time, the public seems to have become less certain about the situation. Indeed, many people have begun to wonder whether the climate threat has been concocted or exaggerated.

Public doubt about the science is not an accident. People profiting from business-as-usual fossil fuel use are waging a campaign to discredit the science. Their campaign is effective because the profiteers have learned how to manipulate democracies for their advantage.

The scientific method requires objective analysis of all data, stating evidence pro and con, before reaching conclusions. This works well, indeed is necessary, for achieving success in science. But science is now pitted in public debate against the talk-show method, which consists of selective citation of anecdotal bits that support a predetermined position."

http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/mailings/2012/20120127_CowardsPart1.pdf

[baldguy]

1. It's not really cowardace - it's greed.

[pscot]

18. Don't forget stupid

Greed, cowardice and stupidity. It's an unbeatable trifecta.

[MindMover]

23. I have been told all my life it is inflation.......lmao

[tabatha]

2. I really hope that the whole world becomes aware of this problem

and isolates the Kochroaches in the US.

What I feel most sorry for are the flora and fauna who have had no part in this disaster, and just helpless creatures dependent on nature for their survival - while we rake it over the coals.

If there were not the need to make money to survive, there would not be the goawful killing of rhino, and now elephant.

Capitalism and trade is the root of all evil. We should go back to exchanging shells for other goods, and become locally reliant - just as animals are.

[greenman3610]

3. and this thread has only 5 recs

even here.
kind of tells you why things are the way they are.

[OranicManic]

4. 10% Vs 90%

That's typical. Seems weird, but 10-15 years ago, we were more 'activistic'. I've seen this in environmental groups also, the "next generation" is strangely absent.

Scary test: How many here in this post are under 30? Not me

There was an orangatang article a while back, very few people. Actually the level of posts here are strangely subdood.

[XemaSab]

5. There are a lot of young people who are very active

[JDPriestly]

6. K&R

[guardian]

7. Hansen is a bozo doomer extraordinaire

has yet to make an accurate predication about anything. Hansen is a looney doomer with no grounding in reality. Some examples:

Hansen said the average U.S. temperature had risen from one to two degrees since 1958 and is predicted to increase an additional 3 or 4 degrees sometime between 2010 and 2020. The Press-Courier (Milwaukee) June 11 1986

“Within 15 years,” said Goddard Space Flight Honcho James Hansen, “global temperatures will rise to a level which hasn’t existed on earth for 100,000 years”. The News and Courier, June 17th 1986

“Hansen said the average U.S. temperature has risen from 1 to 2 degrees since 1958 and is predicted to increase an additional 3 or 4 degrees sometime between 2010 and 2020.” AP Overheating of Earth Poses Survival Threat, “ The Press-Courier (Milwaukee), June 11, 1986 source

"The 1 [deg]C level of warming is exceeded during the next few decades in both scenarios A and B; in scenario A that level of warming is reached in less than 20 years and in scenario B it is reached within the next 25 years." J. HANSEN, I. FUNG, A. LACIS, D. RIND, S. LEBEDEFF, R. RUEDY, AND G. RUSSELL, “Global Climate Changes as Forecast by Goddard Institute for Space Studies Three-Dimensional Model, Journal of Geophysical Research, Atmospheres, 93, NO. D8, PAGES 9341-9364, AUGUST 20, 1988, p. 9346

In a 1988 interview with author Rob Reiss, Dr. James Hansen said that in 20 years “The West Side Highway [which runs along the Hudson River] will be under water. And there will be tape across the windows across the street because of high winds. And the same birds won’t be there. The trees in the median strip will change.”

[wtmusic]

8. Did you cut and paste that from a denier website?

Links please.

[guardian]

9. Here's a link for you

&feature=related

[wtmusic]

10. The best you can do is "South Park"?

Any other cartoons you watch that support your position?

[guardian]

11. The clip

captures in 60 seconds the essence of the doomer mindset. I'm breathless in anticipation of Hansen's presentation of his unified theory on Carlos Casteneda and the Mayan calendar.

[wtmusic]

13. The South Park mindset is useless to anyone older than 15

but if that's your point of reference - rock on.

[OKIsItJustMe]

17. Well I wouldn’t go quite that far

On the other hand, looking to cartoonists to get a valid take on science may be not the best idea.

To paraphrase Hansen’s 4th paragraph:

Why is the public presented results of the scientific method and the talk-show cartoon method as if they deserved equal respect? A few decades ago that did not happen. …

[guardian]

12. You are assuming

that idiots like Hansen deserve a serious rebuttal. Cartoons ARE sufficient rebuttal for hand wringing doomers like him.

[wtmusic]

14. Where do Beavis and Butthead stand on the issue? nt

[SpoonFed]

16. seriously, you are my new DU hero. n/t

[truebrit71]

24. So, according to you, Hansen = idiot. Can you clarify for the rest of us (idiots)...

...whether you believe that the planet is getting warmer and that climate change is real...No cartoons, your own words please...

[a simple pattern]

15. Well here's a link for you

[muriel_volestrangler]

19. Within 15 years...global temps will rise to a level which hasn’t existed for 100K years - happened

Temperature reconstructions for past million years here: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/recons.html

Maximum value was 0.5625 C, 2,100 years ago; that's about 0.65 C above the minimum of the 'Little Ice Age' about 300 years ago (-0.07 C). With the 0.8 C rise in the last century, we have indeed exceeded this value.

[OKIsItJustMe]

20. But that’s no reason to panic

After all, homo sapiens have been around for about 200,000 years, so clearly we survived the last “hot spell.”

It sounds like a nice tropical vacation to me. It isn’t expected to get any warmer than that. (Right?)

[font color=Red]IRONY ALERT![/font]

[tinrobot]

21. Are you denying warming is happening...

...or simply criticizing Hansen because you don't agree it's happening as quickly as he claimed?

It doesn't matter if the house burns down in an hour or in a day. In the end, the house is still gone.

[OKIsItJustMe]

22. I believe that would be the former

See (for example):

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=115&topic_id=230291&mesg_id=230291