On Dec 16, 4:53 pm, "paulus" wrote:
"Will Hand" wrote in message

...

Nobody likes to be told what to do - full stop, which is why CO2 emissions
will
continue to rise unless and until something mega catastrophic is on the
immediate horizon. That's just the way it is :-(

Yes the sooner a few Cat 5 hurricanes annihilate all the expensive
coastal real estate on the Gulf coast and Florida the better for the
ROW. It is going to take either that or a collapse of US agriculture
to get their attention. The current US adminstration will still be
denying AGW even when the sea is lapping at the White House steps.

Modern man has never experienced a catastrophe of global proportions. One
will come along soon enough and it won't be anything to do with the level of
CO2 in the atmosphere.

There have been regional volcanic ones with pretty devastating
consequences. For instance Laki 1783-5, Tamborra 1816 and more
recently Krakatoa 1884 and a really big one in AD536
http://volcano.und.edu/vwdocs/Gases/laki.html
http://volcano.und.edu/vwdocs/Gases/eruptions.html
The AD 536 event is not especially well understood and could have been
either volcanic or a cometary impact. What is clear it that it
affected global weather for a few years afterwards.
http://www.science-frontiers.com/sf096/sf096g12.htm

Besides if CO2 was so toxic we'd do something about the destruction of the
rain forests. I wonder what proportion of the increase in atmospheric CO2 in
the last 100 years can be attributed to deforestation activity??

CO2 isn't particularly toxic. It is part of every plant and animals
metabolism. The problem is that being a triatomic molecule it is
really good at absorbing infrared radiation and making the planet
warmer. Methane, CH4 is even better at it but is rapidly oxidised in
the Earths atmosphere to CO2.

It is so very easy to get carried away with our cosey cosseted lifestyle, we
are completely isolated from the reality of our irrelevance in the grand
scheme of things.

Doubtless the Earth will adjust to our adding ever more CO2 by warming
and sea levels will rise. That much is now inevitable, but we can
still buy some time by improving energy efficiency. Present efforts in
the West are far inferior to what was done during the 1970's OPEC
induced oil crisis.

I'm sure I said this before and I'm sure it is very unpalatable to most
people, but, whether it is self inflicted or apparently undeserved, it will
take a catastrophe to rid the world of this human infestation.

Even a global catastrophe will probably not entirely wipe us out
entirely (with the possible exclusion of total thermonuclear war). In
the latter case it will be insecta's turn to evolve and populate the
planet. Their copper based blood chemistry is much more radiation
tolerant than mammals and birds.

Go outside on a clear dark night. Look up at the stars and ask your self
"will we really be missed?"

No one has noticed us yet. We still have yet to last for as long as
the dinosaurs.

Regards,
Martin Brown