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The graphic here puts things in perspective. The last time climate change as rapid as this occurred was, well, never, as far as we know. Isn’t it too fast? Can we and the rest of life adapt to such rapid change? I can’t see this ending well for most of us - whether it be for individual humans or individual species. Oh, I mean, in a 100,000 or a million years things might pick up again. Or not. But something will surely survive. The question is, Will we be among the survivors?
I think, within a couple of hundred years, unless something drastically changes that we cannot envision, that the human herd will be significantly culled, but we will survive.
I think, within a couple of hundred years, unless something drastically changes that we cannot envision, that the human herd will be significantly culled, but we will survive.
Oh, we’ll be OK. I think that Tasmania, down in the roaring forties, will stay cool enough for human life for a couple of decades yet. I won’t be here after that. But the kids of all the breeders here will be. Guess that’s for all the ancestors to worry about. Tra la la la la… At 43 degrees south it’s so cool… cabbages and goat’s milk and three fluffy alpacas all in a row. Tra la la la la…
So the hotter it gets, the less violent we become. That makes sense, who wants to fight when their only motivational drive is to lie panting in the shade to seek a reprieve from the sweltering heat. Maybe we’ll end up nocturnal for a spell before the final down-and-out count.
Only in some places. In others there’ll be more rain, and of such intensity, they won’t know what to do with all. And of course there’ll be commercial opportunities for the entreprenurial. For example, as the sea rises surfing on Wall Street should be great money spinner for surf board makers.
And let’s not forget the opportunities for drug companies. As malaria, denghi fever and other tropical diseases spread north and south of the tropics into formerly temperate regions new oportunities will open up for such companies. They’ll take on more workers and all the remaining farmers will be forced to buy the drugs they make. I’d be buying into pharmacutical companies now if you want to be ahead of the game. I can see endless profit making opportunities opening up for corporations in the wake of climate change. Can’t argue with profits, hey?
Die fröhliche Wissenschaft (Rob) - 30 January 2012 11:29 AM
And let’s not forget the opportunities for drug companies. As malaria, denghi fever and other tropical diseases spread north and south of the tropics into formerly temperate regions new oportunities will open up for such companies. They’ll take on more workers and all the remaining farmers will be forced to buy the drugs they make. I’d be buying into pharmacutical companies now if you want to be ahead of the game. I can see endless profit making opportunities opening up for corporations in the wake of climate change. Can’t argue with profits, hey?
Nothing like unrestrained free market capitalism to bring happiness to all.
If it gets that bad, I think we’re looking at a Soylent Green scenario. Fewer and fewer people will be able to pay for anything, commodities will get scarcer and more expensive with fewer rich people who are able to buy them and have access. After the lesson of 2008, we should have gotten a wake-up call just how fragile and globally dependent economies are. I don’t think the abyss is that deep over the cliff.
The Ice Age will cool things off. First more heat means more evaporation meaning more snowfall at high latitudes and eventually so much will fall that it doesn’t all melt over the short summers so there will be yearly accumulations of several feet of ice (compacted snow). Once it gets started, the ice will reflect much more sunlight back into space and more ice will accumulate. Glaciers will advance and grind civilization to dust. Be the first to buy the portable flame throwers I’m selling, hold back the ice!
Yes, can’t be too careful these days.
