Is Global Warming another Millenium Bug?

[jtaylor]

Millenium Bug - There's a big problem around the corner, we need to spend loads of money, put lots of effort in, replace lots of old kit, otherwise the world will end on 1st Jan 2000. We put the effort in, spent the money, did everything we could, and there wasn't a problem. Some say this was due to all the effort which was put in, and thus was self-fulfilling, others say there wasn't really a big problem in the first place and all the money/time/effort/panic was wasted.

Global Warming - There's a big problem around the corner, we need to spend loads of money, put lots of effort in, replace lots of old kit, otherwise the world will be "dangerously hot".

Personally I err on the side of caution, and we should do the simple things which don't cost us too much.
Someone finally said yesterday that "family planning" would make the biggest difference to long-term climate change - something I've been saying for years. The world just can't sustain this many humans - we're out of balance with nature.
We kill that which kills us, thus controlling the things that NATURE is trying to use to control us, and then wonder why the world is trying to find another way to get rid of us.....

I'd love to see a study on where the critical tipping point is for population, where we're too close together on the earth and disease becomes uncontrollable...

Just a thought or two for a Friday morning....!

J

[CHAZ]

The Chinese of course have had imposed family planning now for many years and most families are single child. But in talking with my customers recently on this subject, it seems that you can have more children if you pay! Not sure where the money ends up and probably in some officials back pocket but it is sad that "life" is reduced to a finanical ticket and that "love" has been put on back burner....

[Mid A 15]

Yes on balance.

There is Climate Change which is a NATURAL phenomenon and there is a growing school of thought that the problem from this climate change may in fact be global cooling rather than warming due to sun the effects of the sun.

However MAN MADE global warming is another millenium bug and is all about social control and oppression of the masses in reality. "Save the Planet" is a nice fluffy way of dressing it up and selling it to people. Thankfully, with the exposure of "climategate" they just might have been rumbled.

EDIT: Just stumbled across this- http://www.ihatethemedia.com/earth-day- ... ns-of-2009

[jhopgood]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/sci ... 386319.stm

Interesting.

[LongGone]

Much of the problem in understanding complex situations is that the Press feel obligated to give both sides equal time, regardless of the merits. This leads to an erroneous appearance of confusion and disagreement among the scientific community. In fact there is almost unanimous agreement on the basics of global warming and individual cold snaps should not be considered as significant counterarguments.

See http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg2 ... ather.html

[loringa]

Much of the problem in understanding complex situations is that the Press feel obligated to give both sides equal time, regardless of the merits. This leads to an erroneous appearance of confusion and disagreement among the scientific community. In fact there is almost unanimous agreement on the basics of global warming and individual cold snaps should not be considered as significant counterarguments.

It would be, I suppose, very comforting to believe that global warming is just scare mongering but as LongGone points out the scientific community is pretty much united in their views on this issue. I am happy to keep an open mind but I have very little doubt that most global warming is man made and we disregard it at our collective peril. In a similar vein, the Doctor who raised concerns about a supposed link between the MMR vaccine and autism has recently been censured but I don't know what punishment he got. Little consolation for those who believed him and whose children suffered as a consequence. A bit of scepticism is healthy but not everything we hear is wrong.

[sejintenej]

Millenium Bug - There's a big problem around the corner, we need to spend loads of money, put lots of effort in, replace lots of old kit, otherwise the world will end on 1st Jan 2000. We put the effort in, spent the money, did everything we could, and there wasn't a problem. Some say this was due to all the effort which was put in, and thus was self-fulfilling, others say there wasn't really a big problem in the first place and all the money/time/effort/panic was wasted.

Sorry, but I have to disagree with you on that. Given that prior to that time computer memory was so expensive software was written to reduce use of memory as much as possible. Thus for any 19** year the 19 was omitted leaving just the last two digits. The change from 99 to 00 (as in 1999 to 2000) would have caused all sorts of weird effects so we had to ensure that the 19 and 20 parts of the dates existed in all computer programs prior to midnight Dec 31, 1999. A few companies didn't, some ATMs failed but in general there was a smooth transition. (That was detailed for non-technical and younger readers)

Global Warming - There's a big problem around the corner, we need to spend loads of money, put lots of effort in, replace lots of old kit, otherwise the world will be "dangerously hot".
J

If the Mayans are right then after about 20th December 2012 we won't have to worry

[jhopgood]

[quote="sejintenej]"If the Mayans are right then after about 20th December 2012 we won't have to worry [/quote]
I always thiught that they had got it wrong by 3 days, which would make it my 65th birthday, and I knew someone would try and screw me out of my pension.
Having lived in Guatemala, I became fascinated with the Mayas, but believe that they are talking about the end of an era, which could well be true.

[sejintenej]

If the Mayans are right then after about 20th December 2012 we won't have to worry

I always thiught that they had got it wrong by 3 days, which would make it my 65th birthday, and I knew someone would try and screw me out of my pension.
Having lived in Guatemala, I became fascinated with the Mayas, but believe that they are talking about the end of an era, which could well be true.

With my memory and not having looked at that for five years you could well be right; I simply remember that I won't get any Christmas presents.

"End of an Era"; yes you are 100% right but just think about the previous "eras". AFAIR this is the third or fourth.

One has to respect those people for their incredible maths and astronomical skills - even better than the Arabs of 1000 - 1600 AD. I wonder if there is not something in the talk of extraterrestrials
I just don't know how they did it; the Egyptians of the Pharoahic eras calculated the diameter of the earth considerably more accurately that the French of the 1800's when they were defining the metre standard of length.

[NEILL THE NOTORIOUS]

I am now looking forward, with increased relish to 2012 --- I shall only be 84, and if that is the Apocalypse --- am I immortal ?

BTW since I worked for many years for the Atomic Energy Authority --- it has tickled me pink to see the way that all the "Greens" are now jumping on the Band-wagon about "Clean Energy "!

[gma]

Highly entertaining to see the Sunday Times today where IPCC have admitted that they are taking as gospel, and trumpeting worldwide, pretty much any reports that are climatically doom laden without any resort to checking or even the vaguest scientific support. Added to which, the Chairman of IPCC has declined use of an electric car on the grounds of it's inconvenience.

Ya couldn't make it up, people!!

[sejintenej]

Highly entertaining to see the Sunday Times today where IPCC have admitted that they are taking as gospel, and trumpeting worldwide, pretty much any reports that are climatically doom laden without any resort to checking or even the vaguest scientific support. Added to which, the Chairman of IPCC has declined use of an electric car on the grounds of it's inconvenience.

Ya couldn't make it up, people!!

Yes, they got that particular example more than a bit wrong.
My first job (1961) included the requirement to make a detailed map of Sulitjelmasisen and Blaamanmsisen in northern Norway - no map had been made since before 1910. In that 50+ years the entire Sulitjelmasisen ice cap had disappeared save a bit smaller than a cricket square! One of the glaciers off Blaamannsisen was moving at far more than ten feet per day but the end in the meltwater lake was not moving!! Obviouysly the thickness was decreasing very very fast. The icecap was a fraction of the size we expected though I have to mention that the old map missed out an entire mountain range!

That place, one afternoon, was the hottest I've felt in my life - 124ºF and 98% humidity in our met station one afternoon (but 20ºF, driving snow and a gale 4 hours later and we were camping!). The Amazon (Manaus) was cool by comparison.

[LongGone]

Much of the problem in understanding complex situations is that the Press feel obligated to give both sides equal time, regardless of the merits. This leads to an erroneous appearance of confusion and disagreement among the scientific community. In fact there is almost unanimous agreement on the basics of global warming and individual cold snaps should not be considered as significant counterarguments.

It would be, I suppose, very comforting to believe that global warming is just scare mongering but as LongGone points out the scientific community is pretty much united in their views on this issue. I am happy to keep an open mind but I have very little doubt that most global warming is man made and we disregard it at our collective peril. In a similar vein, the Doctor who raised concerns about a supposed link between the MMR vaccine and autism has recently been censured but I don't know what punishment he got. Little consolation for those who believed him and whose children suffered as a consequence. A bit of scepticism is healthy but not everything we hear is wrong.

As a follow-up to the MMR debacle, Lancet has now labeled the original work as phony: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8493753.stm

[LongGone]

Well, this is good news anyway:
http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/envi ... 002022433/

What about Triffids?

[sejintenej]

Well, this is good news anyway:
http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/envi ... 002022433/

What about Triffids?

Yes, a major problem for lineace, Man i toba and Canada. So long as it stays that side of the pond ....................