Global warming /second flood ?

[blues90]

I am not religous , however if there was the first flood with Noah and that did not work out quite so well , then perhaps if g-d has not given up on man then a second one is in order, since after all man has not learned a damn thing in thousands of years .

Somehow I get the feeling since man is so hell bent on continued wars and oil IS the big seller , people just love their cars and assorted products . I just don't feel man will act collectively and fast enough to hault their use of carbon based fuels and due to greed and ignorence man will continue on his old path well past until it's too damn late .

So with that it may be man after all who creates the second flood without any help at all from the guy in the sky .

[frogcycle]

1. well, my take on it is similar

but perhaps less tongue-in-cheek


the earth will survive.

since life arose on the planet it has gone through many mass extinctions from various causes. When plant or animal populations get out of control, nature has a way of putting things back in balance.

The naysayers are right about one thing - the earth HAS gone through radical climate change before. Out tenure here is minuscule as compared to geological time. The climate catastrophe may be a big deal to us - may pretty much wipe us out, but good old Ma Earth will recover. Once she snuffs us for having gone apeshit and screwed up her balance, the Earth will once again be a beautiful place.

What some people don't comprehend is the enormity of the changes. There can be enough disruption of commerce, of energy production, of agriculture, to pretty much destroy civilization. Your worst 1950's future catastrophe science fiction book come true. Technology is just great - until you can't get fuel. As coastal refineries shut down from flooding, oceanic drilling rigs fail due to rising sea levels, climate changes cause worse storms and, ironically, more severe winters - yes, we could have a worldwide breakdown of civilization. People would revert to being hunter-gatherers, only there are too damned many of us for the planet to sustain in that mode. So there will be massive dieoffs - oh, and epidemics, what with no functional sewage treatment.

It will be really ugly for a long time. Eventually the 6 billion will be reduced to a sustainable number. They may manage to preserve some technology, and resurrect "civilization." But it will be centuries before they are again capable of screwing with the planet on the scale we are. And if they do, she'll get 'em again.

In your time - Bob Seeger

[will_in_chicago]

2. Damage to the economy is real

Well, a prominent British economist has stated that we could see economic disruptions comparable to the Great Depression. However, I think that we have time to prevent the worst case scenarios.

Hi, blues90!

[frogcycle]

3. we have time

but do we have the will?

I doubt it.

And if we continue to dither while things continue to accelerate, it will be too late



http://www.comcast.net/news/index.jsp?cat=GENERAL&fn=/2007/04/07/630625.html&cvqh=itn_warming

Mountain Climbers Witness Global Warming
By JOHN HEILPRIN, Associated Press Writer

Sat Apr 7, 3:36 PM

BEND, Ore. - Mountaineers are bringing back firsthand accounts of vanishing glaciers, melting ice routes, crumbling rock formations and flood-prone lakes where glaciers once rose.

[blues90]

7. Hi Will

[AlGore-08.com]

4. Just F.Y.I. you shouldn't use this argument with a Fundamentalist

Because in Genesis 9:12-17 God promises not to destroy the world by flood again. From the King James version:

12And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:

13I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.

14And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:

15And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.

16And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.

17And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.

I've had a small number of fundamentalists tell me that Global Warming cannot be real, because of this passage.

[will_in_chicago]

5. Well, technically

Technically, I don't think that there is enough water and ice on the planet to cover all the mountains to a depth of several cubits.

While I am a man of faith (I am Jewish), I have always found the approach of fundamentalism to be quite limiting. If Jonathan Swift could write Gulliver's Travels on several different levels of meaning, from adventure novel to political satire, why would not the Eternal be capable of doing so. (Plus there is a tradition of multiple interpretations in my faith.)

I would counter the fundamentalists with facts, and point out that there are verse prohibiting despoiling trees during a time of war. You might find a few resources to use in countering them at places like the Interfaith Alliance.

[htuttle]

6. No, there isn't enough water

After 'Waterworld' came out, I checked it out, and there's nowhere close to enough water on Earth to cover all the land at one time.

I could probably dig up a link if anyone cares enough about it to want one.

[blues90]

8. Al Gore brought up an interesting point during his before congress speech

He brought up the world is shaking , earth quakes now at 34 per year at 4.5 to 5.2 , not exact but close enough , so if this is the case then it is possible there very well be enough water to cover the land if the high points collapse .

[SpiralHawk]

9. The fire this time...

Odyssey of the 8th Fire - from the Algonquin traditions of North America.

Odyssey of the 8th Fire is the true tale
of an epic pilgrimage for the Earth
across North America
by people of all colors and faiths.

A creative non-fiction book in online evolution

http://www.8thfire.net/