Time to Tell the Truth About Global Warming

FourScore

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Wed Nov-07-07 10:27 AM
Original message

Time to Tell the Truth About Global Warming

Time to Tell the Truth About Global Warming
by TocqueDeville
Tue Nov 06, 2007 at 11:31:51 PM PST

I have a confession to make. I've been lying about global warming for years. You see, I have known for over a decade that we were long past the "tipping point" for preventing catastrophic climate change. But I also believed, and still do, that it is a moral imperative to act as though we have a chance, just in case the data is wrong. And so when people asked if there was anything we could do to prevent global warming, I would lie.

Because of my involvement with certain environmental organizations, I was exposed to the science of climate change pretty early. We didn't call it global warming back then. We called it the greenhouse effect. But the truth is, all the way back in the late 70s and early 80s, the facts about global warming were very well established (a very important point I'll get to in my next diary). And way back then, scientists, like modern day prophets, were already predicting what we're witnessing right now - extreme weather events, melting at the poles, droughts, fires and floods. It's almost spooky now, to remember back when these predictions were only abstract notions of a seemingly uncertain future. But facts they were then, just as they are now.

There is one fact that I've never written about or even discussed with close friends until recently. It's the kind of fact that makes people want to give up (We can never give up). But I now believe that circumstances require us to confront the truth of our situation, no matter how painful or scary it may be.

Residence Time

Let me tell you a secret. Or at least it might as well be a secret because hardly anyone talks about it. It's called residence time. This is the measure of how long a gas stays in the atmosphere before being reabsorbed. And the residence time for CO2 has grave consequences for our planet and our future - which is why I suspect no one wants to talk about it. It wasn't in Al Gore's movie. But if you're one of the overwhelming majority of people who has never even heard of this term, let that be an indication of just how far we are from having even a remotely serious discussion about global warming...

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/11/7/23151/1859

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IndyOp

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Wed Nov-07-07 11:02 AM
Response to Original message

1. I think we have to stop talking about sequestration in terms of being useful

for "clean coal" power plants and start talking about how we suck the CO2 and methane out of the atmosphere and sequester what we've already put up there.

We need a miracle -- technological innovation and a core change in consciousness and morality.

Al Gore has been quoting Einstein lately -- We cannot solve a problem with the same consciousness that created that problem.

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crispini

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Wed Nov-07-07 11:05 AM
Response to Original message

2. My God, I'm depressed

Where are our leaders who understand this and are willing to speak the truth?

Indeed, it's time to start planning for TEOTWAWKI. :(

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tom_paine

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Wed Nov-07-07 11:48 AM
Response to Reply #2

3. What does TEOTWAWAKI mean?

I postulate "The End Of Things...something something"?

How are my powers of prognostication?

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crispini

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Wed Nov-07-07 12:26 PM
Response to Reply #3

4. heh, I guess I messed that up a bit

Was going for The End Of The World As We Know It. :)

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FourScore

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Wed Nov-07-07 04:14 PM
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5. kick

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