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I think it could be argued that some global warming could be a net benefit for Canada. As long as it stays below the level that would cause global catastrophe.
by eloff 11y ago
I think it could be argued that some global warming could be a net benefit for Canada. As long as it stays below the level that would cause global catastrophe. Sea level rise will cause some issues, but Canada really has very few large cities on the coast and there are (expensive) ways of dealing with that, just like all other coastal cities will need to do in the coming century. But on the other side of the equation it would extend growing seasons and increase the amount of arable and forested land in the vast interior of the country. Changes in rainfall will be a mixed bag, bringing adjustment, but likely not ruin. Maybe this is a very simplistic way of looking at it, but as a Canadian I've always selfishly looked at global warming and said "bring it on". Of course global warming could reach a point where it causes serious catastrophe on a global scale, e.g. releasing methane deposits on the sea floor and going into a feedback loop. That's a losing scenario for the entire planet, and there's no guarantees yet that we will avoid that fate.
- devdas 11y agoGlobal warming just means there's more energy in the atmosphere. Hotter summers, colder winters, more powerful storms, ...
- eloff 11y agoWhere do you get colder winters from? I don't see that as a likely outcome. Yeah the Earth's climate is a complex system, and global warming produces complex and sometimes unexpected effects. But you can't say colder winters just "because complexity". The likely effect, unsurprisingly, is warmer, shorter winters.
- mjevans 11y agoI am not educated in this field, but anecdotally, I believe it comes from the more energetic movement of the atmosphere drawing coldfronts down from the polar regions more frequently. I also prefer to use the phrase 'Global Weather Chaos' rather than 'Global Warming'. Much like I also prefer the term 'Waste Reducing Reactor' to 'Breeder'.
- eloff 11y agoI don't think weather chaos is that bad. Us humans are adverse to change, but that change will be both good and bad. Between that and the sea level rising it will cause a lot of resettlement and moving around, but hardly the end of the world in itself.