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Environment & Energy

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stuntcat

(12,022 posts)
Fri Feb 21, 2014, 10:00 AM Feb 2014

Assume the worst when it comes to climate change and population [View all]

http://churchandstate.org.uk/2014/02/assume-the-worst-when-it-comes-to-climate-change-and-population/

There is no historical precedence for what the USA and the world face in the future from the combined forces of climate change, overpopulation and resource depletion.
.....
Space is already at a premium, he said, and many parts of the world have already reached or exceeded their carrying capacity. “Where do you put all those people?” King asked. “All the good spots are already taken.”

Much the world’s population lives along coastlines and many others live by necessity on marginal lands susceptible to flooding or weather extremes.

With sea levels rising, the Alaskan town of Newtok is predicted to be underwater by 2017, earning residents the unfortunate status as the first climate refugees in America; the loss of living space and freshwater salination hold potential catastrophic outcomes, as would the collapse of estuarine fisheries. The loss of ice and snow in the arctic poses additional security problems of an open, unregulated and unguarded northern border. Rising temperatures will trigger fluctuations in extreme weather by increasing intensity and frequency as well as expanding areas at risk. Precipitation patterns will also change, impacting water, sanitation and food sources.
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