How many billions will die in the next 100 years from global warming.

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Eeezee

Diamond Member
Jul 23, 2005
9,922
0
0
Originally posted by: XMan
Originally posted by: Jeff7
Originally posted by: XMan
It's rather presumptuous to think that the world, which has gone through untold numbers of climate changes in the past millenia, is only now warming up because of mankind. One volcanic eruption puts more pollution in the air than a hundred years of automobiles.

Nature is anything but static.
Sure, the world has been around. And yes, it goes through major climate swings.
We tend to like a pretty narrow range of conditions though.
Look at what the Universe offers: From nearly 0K to millions of degrees Kelvin. We like a very very tiny range of that.
Even Earth has a wide range of suitable climates.
We like a fairly narrow range.

That's the concern about global warming - not that it's going to initiate some huge change that's going to render the planet unsuitable for all life, but that the slight variation in temperatures might nudge us out of our "comfort zone." In the grand scheme of things, it's merely an inconvenient truth, not a disastrous one.


My take on it is that we should focus on reducing pollution, and reducing dependency on fossil fuels. They are finite in quantity, and in some cases, the deposits are located in regions of the world where there is excessive political instability.
We can look to nuclear power (fission for now, fusion for the future), and wind/solar instead. Solar and fusion power in the next few decades should be able to provide for a lot of our energy needs, with minimal environmental impact. Wind farms do absorb energy from natural winds, and this can have some small effect on the local ecosystem and weather patterns. Just how small this effect is would require study for each unique location. And fusion would use deuterium from the oceans, or possibly helium-3 harvested from the Moon, with the production of only low-level, short-lived radioactive waste, if any.

The side effect of this would be a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.
Everyone's happy.



In other news, yes, ICRS is a troll.

Well, until we find out a means of regulating the solar output of the sun, we will either adapt, or die, to a continuously changing climate. My money's on adapt.

Adaptation by burning fewer fossil fuels? ;)

Perhaps our effect is negligible, but perhaps it's not. I don't know, and neither does anyone else. I don't give a shit about being green. I turn off my lights to save money, not to save the Earth :p
 

manowar821

Diamond Member
Mar 1, 2007
6,063
0
0
We will not cause ourselves to become extinct, there will always be habitable zones, and we're also quite good at adapting to less than habitable places, as well. I said 500mil-1bil, because I have no idea.
 

Glitchny

Diamond Member
Sep 4, 2002
5,679
1
0
your poll fails by not having an option for anything under 50Million, more specifically 0
 

nick1985

Lifer
Dec 29, 2002
27,153
6
81
Originally posted by: manowar821
We will not cause ourselves to become extinct, there will always be habitable zones, and we're also quite good at adapting to less than habitable places, as well. I said 500mil-1bil, because I have no idea.

Wait, you took a troll thread seriously? :confused:
 

Triumph

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
15,031
14
81
A monumental tragedy looms for all of us who are alive today. We are being stalked by a ruthless killer, one that will not kill hundreds, or thousands, tens of thousands, or even millions, within the next 100 years. No, those numbers pale in comparison to the number of people living today who will almost assuredly die within the next 100 years. Most recent estimates point to casualties on a scale heretofore unseen, that almost 6 billion people will die within the century. Never before in human history have this many people died in any single 100 year period. And what is our government doing about it??!?!
 

ICRS

Banned
Apr 20, 2008
1,328
0
0
This isn't some troll thread. Global warming is expected to be the greatest killer in our life time. Already we are seeing mass extinction like never before. Many expert believe the mass extinction from global warming will we as bad as the Permian one.
 

manowar821

Diamond Member
Mar 1, 2007
6,063
0
0
Originally posted by: nick1985
Originally posted by: manowar821
We will not cause ourselves to become extinct, there will always be habitable zones, and we're also quite good at adapting to less than habitable places, as well. I said 500mil-1bil, because I have no idea.

Wait, you took a troll thread seriously? :confused:

It didn't sound so much like a troll thread as others, so I decided to answer in the case that it wasn't. Didn't take too much of my time. :p
 

TehMac

Diamond Member
Aug 18, 2006
9,976
3
71
I think millions and millions of people will die when the earth rebels against humanity and casts us all in a pit in the Ocean where we all smoke blunts and die in misery from chemical inbalance and mental overdose.
 

foghorn67

Lifer
Jan 3, 2006
11,883
63
91
Originally posted by: ICRS
This isn't some troll thread. Global warming is expected to be the greatest killer in our life time. Already we are seeing mass extinction like never before. Many expert believe the mass extinction from global warming will we as bad as the Permian one.

I don't think you read many responses. It will claim 0. zip. zero. zilch. nada.
You referenced the Al Gore film. This automatically takes any credibility away.
It's like walking into a room and saying, "Hi, I'm a moron."
 

DrPizza

Administrator Elite Member Goat Whisperer
Mar 5, 2001
49,601
166
111
www.slatebrookfarm.com
Wow, I'm actually surprised at these results. I thought ATOT was smarter than that.

If Michio Kaku says there's global warming, who am I to not believe him. Also those who are sighting solar variations & warming trends on other planets. I hate to burst your bubble, but while you're correct that the other planets have warmed slightly (Pluto's warming is most likely directly attributable to its seasons), you're pretty naive to believe that climatologists have ignored this. In fact, in one of the original papers outlining this (maybe THE original), the Washington times cherry picked specific quotes to make it appear that there was no global warming. They were called out on it by some truth in journalism thingy or another (I forget the name), but many others have since repeated the story in the Washington times. For what it's worth, that original paper even stated that the solar output was not enough to cause all of the global warming we are currently experiencing, and that in fact, a portion of it was attributable to human causes.

Simple logic:
Is Carbon dioxide a greenhouse gas (yes/no?)
Is there more of it as a result of human activity? (yes/no?)
1 + 1 = 2. How much of an overall effect this is remains uncertain. 1%? 5%? 50%?
 

TehMac

Diamond Member
Aug 18, 2006
9,976
3
71
Originally posted by: foghorn67
I don't think you read many responses. It will claim 0. zip. zero. zilch. nada.
You referenced the Al Gore film. This automatically takes any credibility away.
It's like walking into a room and saying, "Hi, I'm a moron."

Without Al Gore, you would not be here to tell me this.
 

herm0016

Diamond Member
Feb 26, 2005
8,447
1,070
126
Originally posted by: Triumph
A monumental tragedy looms for all of us who are alive today. We are being stalked by a ruthless killer, one that will not kill hundreds, or thousands, tens of thousands, or even millions, within the next 100 years. No, those numbers pale in comparison to the number of people living today who will almost assuredly die within the next 100 years. Most recent estimates point to casualties on a scale heretofore unseen, that almost 6 billion people will die within the century. Never before in human history have this many people died in any single 100 year period. And what is our government doing about it??!?!

I loled
 

sao123

Lifer
May 27, 2002
12,650
203
106
who ever invented the term global warming is a moron.

its not global warming... its global climate shift... YES shift.

The hot areas move, the cold areas move, but the overall mean thermal energy stored within the ecosphere is unchanged within a normal +- fluxuation.

The earth is not going to end up like venus, nor will it end up like pluto.

The only idiots who die are the morons who refuse to leave their houses when a hurricane comes.


 

0roo0roo

No Lifer
Sep 21, 2002
64,795
84
91
not that many,stuff happens slow. unless a plague hits of course. i guess all those do gooders saving lives in the 3rd world and helping population explosions continue did nothing good in the long term.
 

Throckmorton

Lifer
Aug 23, 2007
16,829
3
0
Originally posted by: sao123
who ever invented the term global warming is a moron.

its not global warming... its global climate shift... YES shift.

The hot areas move, the cold areas move, but the overall mean thermal energy stored within the ecosphere is unchanged within a normal +- fluxuation.

The earth is not going to end up like venus, nor will it end up like pluto.

The only idiots who die are the morons who refuse to leave their houses when a hurricane comes.

How the hell is not leaving your house for a hurricane anything like dying of starvation because of food shortages?
 

Gothgar

Lifer
Sep 1, 2004
13,429
1
0
Originally posted by: Triumph
A monumental tragedy looms for all of us who are alive today. We are being stalked by a ruthless killer, one that will not kill hundreds, or thousands, tens of thousands, or even millions, within the next 100 years. No, those numbers pale in comparison to the number of people living today who will almost assuredly die within the next 100 years. Most recent estimates point to casualties on a scale heretofore unseen, that almost 6 billion people will die within the century. Never before in human history have this many people died in any single 100 year period. And what is our government doing about it??!?!

damn old age!!!!! /shakefistangrily
 

R Nilla

Diamond Member
Jul 26, 2006
3,835
1
0
Originally posted by: Triumph
A monumental tragedy looms for all of us who are alive today. We are being stalked by a ruthless killer, one that will not kill hundreds, or thousands, tens of thousands, or even millions, within the next 100 years. No, those numbers pale in comparison to the number of people living today who will almost assuredly die within the next 100 years. Most recent estimates point to casualties on a scale heretofore unseen, that almost 6 billion people will die within the century. Never before in human history have this many people died in any single 100 year period. And what is our government doing about it??!?!

Imminent Death Syndrome is no laughing matter.
 

destrekor

Lifer
Nov 18, 2005
28,799
359
126
Originally posted by: sao123
who ever invented the term global warming is a moron.

its not global warming... its global climate shift... YES shift.

The hot areas move, the cold areas move, but the overall mean thermal energy stored within the ecosphere is unchanged within a normal +- fluxuation.

The earth is not going to end up like venus, nor will it end up like pluto.

The only idiots who die are the morons who refuse to leave their houses when a hurricane comes.

technically, it IS possible for the Earth to become like either Venus or Mars...
Mars lost its atmosphere for some reason, and Venus has a runaway greenhouse effect due to an abundance of Carbon Dioxide in its atmosphere.
If something happened that prevented the carbon cycle from operating like normal, i.e. plants no longer taking in CO2, then we could run into a situation where carbon continues to increase without the planet absorbing enough. Greenhouse effect than runs away until the source of the carbon can be removed.

However, I'm with Dr Pizza on this. This thread has surprised me as to how many people blindly claim global climate change is some made up concept. The world's leading scientists have all basically moved past the debate as to whether its real or not, and on to the possible effects in the future and what we can do about it. That should mean the people should start accepting the fact that its real.
And, increased carbon presence, and increased presence of man on the planet and increased man-made carbon... um, seems to link up in my mind.

What's it gonna do? I don't know. Seems right now it's quite possibly leading to a rapid loss of polar ice. What will this mean? Who knows. Been FOREVER since the Earth didn't have polar ice, and when there wasn't polar ice, the planet had a vastly different look to it, and thus weather patterns were far and away very different from now.
The way weather works now... we might plunge into an ice age in the northern hemisphere, or... we might just live in a slightly warmer, slightly wetter world. Slightly wetter as in... a lot of the US wouldn't exist. Quite a bit of the plains, ie the middle of America, was under shallow seas, at the times when polar ice caps didn't exist.

Originally posted by: gorcorps
Originally posted by: Tiamat
Originally posted by: oldsmoboat
0

/thread

The fact that the OP didn't even include 0 is embarrassing. How the fuck do you even die from 'global warming'?

drown, freeze, starve, or suffer from increased severe weather in the period in-between stable climates. :p
 

sao123

Lifer
May 27, 2002
12,650
203
106
Originally posted by: destrekor
Originally posted by: sao123
who ever invented the term global warming is a moron.

its not global warming... its global climate shift... YES shift.

The hot areas move, the cold areas move, but the overall mean thermal energy stored within the ecosphere is unchanged within a normal +- fluxuation.

The earth is not going to end up like venus, nor will it end up like pluto.

The only idiots who die are the morons who refuse to leave their houses when a hurricane comes.

technically, it IS possible for the Earth to become like either Venus or Mars...
Mars lost its atmosphere for some reason, and Venus has a runaway greenhouse effect due to an abundance of Carbon Dioxide in its atmosphere.
If something happened that prevented the carbon cycle from operating like normal, i.e. plants no longer taking in CO2, then we could run into a situation where carbon continues to increase without the planet absorbing enough. Greenhouse effect than runs away until the source of the carbon can be removed.

However, I'm with Dr Pizza on this. This thread has surprised me as to how many people blindly claim global climate change is some made up concept. The world's leading scientists have all basically moved past the debate as to whether its real or not, and on to the possible effects in the future and what we can do about it. That should mean the people should start accepting the fact that its real.
And, increased carbon presence, and increased presence of man on the planet and increased man-made carbon... um, seems to link up in my mind.

What's it gonna do? I don't know. Seems right now it's quite possibly leading to a rapid loss of polar ice. What will this mean? Who knows. Been FOREVER since the Earth didn't have polar ice, and when there wasn't polar ice, the planet had a vastly different look to it, and thus weather patterns were far and away very different from now.
The way weather works now... we might plunge into an ice age in the northern hemisphere, or... we might just live in a slightly warmer, slightly wetter world. Slightly wetter as in... a lot of the US wouldn't exist. Quite a bit of the plains, ie the middle of America, was under shallow seas, at the times when polar ice caps didn't exist.


Originally posted by: gorcorps
Originally posted by: Tiamat
Originally posted by: oldsmoboat
0

/thread

The fact that the OP didn't even include 0 is embarrassing. How the fuck do you even die from 'global warming'?

drown, freeze, starve, or suffer from increased severe weather in the period in-between stable climates. :p

I believe that the climate is changing... how much of that change is natural vs how much of it is man cause i think is the debateable subject.

It stands to reason that if it was that way a long time ago (as i bolded in your post)... then we could be returning to that point naturally. Everything is cyclical. Maybe even that is the preferred state of balance, and were just living in a temporary abnormality.

The simple fact remains that every time a super disaster happens, (volcano, meteor, whatever) After every mass exctintion event - BTW these are for more destructive than what man is doing now... the fact that the eart returns to a habital state, is evidence of the self correcting power of the earth.
 

Jeff7

Lifer
Jan 4, 2001
41,596
19
81
Originally posted by: sao123
I believe that the climate is changing... how much of that change is natural vs how much of it is man cause i think is the debateable subject.

It stands to reason that if it was that way a long time ago (as i bolded in your post)... then we could be returning to that point naturally. Everything is cyclical. Maybe even that is the preferred state of balance, and were just living in a temporary abnormality.

The simple fact remains that every time a super disaster happens, (volcano, meteor, whatever) After every mass exctintion event - BTW these are for more destructive than what man is doing now... the fact that the eart returns to a habital state, is evidence of the self correcting power of the earth.
Sure, Earth self-corrects. But how long does it take to do that? Are we willing to wait 700 generations while the planet gets itself back to our comfort zone? We could dump all of our nuclear, biological, and chemical waste into the oceans, and the planet would eventually get itself back to some semblance of stability. How long might it take though? 100,000 years for the last of the low-level radioactive stuff to decay, and for the heavy metals to sink to the depths, or be otherwise removed from the ecosystem at large?

We seem to want the planet to be comfortable and predictable for every generation now. That's where things become dicey.

It won't be a doom and gloom thing like some (the true "eco-kooks," similar to those whom IGBT obsessively squawks about) are saying. It won't render the planet uninhabitable. Only something like an impact by an object the size of Mars, or perhaps the sun suddenly exploding, would be capable of doing that.
It won't kill billions of people. Some may die because of more severe, unpredictable weather patterns, which can destroy critical crops. Therein lies the problem which I alluded to earlier, being pushed out of our comfort zone of being able to predict weather patterns. Weather that is unexpected can be labeled as "severe." What qualifies as a severe drought in one place may simply qualify as normal in another. Why? Because it's unexpected.


Yes, maybe this is a temporary abnormality. Maybe it's part of a natural swing. Whatever is happening, it may well affect local weather patterns, which affects the people living there. As such, it's in our best interests to learn as much as possible about what really is going on.