tagged w/ feedback loops
-
I am courious. It would be interesting to find out how any "real" christians feel about the conservative movment in general and if they have tarnished the image or made a mockery out of what "Being Christian" is supposed to be?
What I am talking about is these politicians who wave the banner of christian virtues, family values, and public concern over things like pornography, birth controll, morality, ect. Then are literaly caught with their pants down.
We constantly hear in the media about this Republican Senator paying hush money because he was boinking the mans wife. Or good old Newt who is still waving the banner that marrage is sacred, he should know he is on his third marrage. The list is endless. from hiring prostitutes, to putting BUFF pictures of themselves on dating services to being caught in hotel rooms with transexuals.
What do real christians think?
As a non believer myself I see the hypocracy and can only laugh. The old slogan of "Do as I Say, Not As I Do" rings louder than ever. To me it only proves that nature allways wins out. Also my persional opinion of thoes who cannot practice what they preach is very low.
So, how do you feel when you see your elected officials who "pretend" to carry the mantle of 'Virtue', 'Righteousness', and 'Morality', Only to be caught up in salacious scandel.
How do you feel?I am courious. It would be interesting to find out how any "real" christians... more
-
-
With a month of freezing left, the Arctic seems to be trending toward yet another record.
After the third-straight year with record or near-record melting of Arctic sea ice, perhaps it's not a surprise that the annual re-freezing of the Arctic is continuing the consistently alarming trend.
December 2009 and January 2010 saw unusually warm conditions across the Arctic (even as North America got blasted with particularly cold air). The result? Arctic sea ice extent is now lower than it was at this point during the record-breaking 2006-2007 cycle that resulted in the record-lowest sea ice extent ever recorded in the summer of 2007. While both the summers of both 2008 and 2009 saw extreme melting far in excess of average, neither quite reached the extent of 2007.
The stage is being set for another significant melt in 2010, though there is still about a month of freezing to go. Arctic sea ice typically reaches its maximum extent for the year sometime around the end of February and the beginning of March.
Satellite records date to 1979, but ice cores and other data indicate that the rate of melting is unprecedented and can only be explained by the heat-trapping accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. As ice melts, the darker water that is revealed absorbs more heat than the reflective ice, reinforcing the melting trend.
Greenpeace has predicted that most summer ice could be gone in five years, and the summer could be completely ice-free by 2050. While that may be an extreme view, the trend is heading in that direction eventually, and the extent of melting in the past three years was to an extent not expected for decades, under mainstream scientific predictions of just a few years ago.
As the ice melts, polar bear, Pacific walrus, ribbon seals and other species struggle for survival, and the potential for human use grows -- for oil and gas drilling, and for shipping through once ice-locked channels. More concerning for humans is this: As it becomes clear that the worst-case melting scenarios are taking place, does that mean that the worst-case predictions for other aspects of global warming are inevitable? Wildfires, droughts, crop failure, sea-level rise, massive rates of species extinctions ... each could appear more quickly, and have more severe impacts than the public expects.
Read more: http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/arctic-sea-ice-47012703#ixzz0dq4fkk8VWith a month of freezing left, the Arctic seems to be trending toward yet another... more
-
-
Remember, it is the rapidity of the melting that indicates other forcings besides just natural processes. Forcings those responsible for want you to discount so they can keep their profits. And while they divert you with emails, distractionary "debates," and fake You Tube "lawsuits," glacier melt continues to threaten over 2 billion people globally. Now what do you really think is more important?Remember, it is the rapidity of the melting that indicates other forcings besides just... more
-
-
Hundreds of images derived from classified data that could be used to better understand rapid loss and transformation of Arctic sea ice should be immediately released and disseminated to the scientific research community, says a new report from the National Research Council. The committee that wrote the report emphasized that these Arctic images show detailed melting and freezing processes and also provide information at scales, locations, and time periods that are important for studying effects of climate change on sea ice and habitat -- data that are not available elsewhere.
"To prepare for a possibly ice-free Arctic and its subsequent effects on the environment, economy, and national security, it is critical to have accurate projections of changes over the next several decades," said committee chair Stephanie Pfirman, professor and chair of the department of environmental science at Barnard College, New York City. "Forecasts of regional sea-ice conditions can help officials plan for and adapt to the impact of climate change and minimize environmental risks."
Projections of future Arctic ice cover are hampered by poor understanding of sea-ice physical processes because few observations exist at appropriate times and scales. Readily available satellite images are too coarse to capture the details, the report says. In addition, collecting ground-based data by maintaining manned-drifting stations is challenging due to rapidly changing environmental conditions and the weak platform of ice, and collecting data from observational aircraft flights is difficult and expensive.
"At a time when there is concern that Earth observation systems are decreasing and aging, releasing these images would be a step toward continuing the flow of critical information to the scientific community," said Ralph J. Cicerone, president of the National Academy of Sciences. "We hope that these images are the first of many that could help scientists learn how the changing climate could impact the environment and our society."Hundreds of images derived from classified data that could be used to better... more
-
-
A short animated film about the feedback loops likely to lead to catastrophic climate change, by Leo Murray.
The script, with extensive peer-reviewed references and additional information and links, is available at http://www.wakeupfreakout.org/A short animated film about the feedback loops likely to lead to catastrophic climate... more
-
