Food for thought

[djkimmel]

Arctic Sea Ice Decline Greatest, Longest In 1,450 Years: Study

Research published in a top scientific journal says Arctic sea ice has declined more in the last half-century than it has any time over the last 1,450 years.

Click the title to read the rest of the article.


Making the World a Better Place... One Polar Bear at a Time

The ominous research is everywhere: the decline in Arctic Sea ice is happening faster than predicted; it may be too late to halt the effects of global warming; industry and communities based in the Arctic are in danger of collapse; polar bears are doomed.

It's a heck of a lot of gloom. And it's easy to see why so many people eschew action (which involves digging even deeper into depressing statistics) in favour of ignoring the real -- and very terrifying -- threat that exists to our north. I should know: until a few weeks ago, I was one of those "hiding-my-head-like-an-ostrich" types. (It's an ironic omission, given Thomas Homer Dixon -- one of Canada's preeminent environmentalists -- was the architect of the program I studied at the University of Toronto.)

But then I was invited on a press trip to Churchill, Manitoba to see and experience the problems that are facing Canada's colder-than-cold countryside first-hand.

Click the title link to read the rest of the article.

[Bender]

From an article that I recently read:
"According to a recent survey, 97% of top climate scientists (those who have published 20 peer-reviewed papers or more) agree that our climate is changing due to human activities. Moreover, the study found that the few dissenters had substantially less experience than those who were convinced."
I'm pretty convinced that it is happening, even though I wasn't a couple years ago. I'm not very convinced that we can fix it though.

[djkimmel]

It's starting to look like many scientists feel the same way, but we can try to do what we can. Head in the sand is guaranteed not to fix anything. If I see anything helpful, I'll post it. I'm definitely concerned about recent trends of apparent efforts to attack the various environmental acts and agencies.

[djkimmel]

I do not condone having these types of conversations myself at family gatherings but I found this article interesting anyway:

How to discuss climate change with your uncle during the holidays

Plus they use the term 'holiday fracas' which I've seen a few over the years. I know there are topics I sometimes post on this website that cause mixed reviews but some topics are important enough to risk it.

[bigjc]

How is it a political thing, to expect scientists to use "scientific principles?"

[motocross269]

How is it a political thing, to expect scientists to use "scientific principles?"

"Scientific principles"...........That is a tough one to define...I will throw this at you..and this is why it gets political....

Who is using "Scientific principles".....?  The Darwinists or the Creationist? .......
You are probably going to buy into the group of scientists that match up with your ideals or agenda..Not necessarily what is right and wrong or who is using the most "proveable" scientific data.....The politicians and their followers do the same thing.....

I buy into Creationism because that more closely falls in line with my ideals.....but does one group use more sound scientific theories to come up with their hypothesis....I am not so sure.....

[djkimmel]

Climate Change Must Be Addressed Now

Ted Kaufman
Fmr. U.S. Senator from Delaware

We are beginning a new year, and the silence in Congress is still deafening. Will there ever be a debate about what should be done to deal with climate change?

Oh, you don't "believe" in it? If you do not, please, suspend that belief system for just a few minutes and take a look at what the major scientific organizations in this country say. Go to their webpages. Examine the mountain of evidence that has convinced 97 to 98 percent of climate researchers that climate change is a stark reality, and that human behavior has been a contributing factor to it.

His post continues with a list of know, major organizations stating that global warming is happening and that man is at least partly at fault including NASA and many others - read it here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sen-ted-kaufman/climate-change-must-be-ad_b_1179804.html

[djkimmel]

I have never felt that things can't be partly or mostly fixed as long as we recognize the cause(s) and decide to do something about it.