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Well, one of the clearest consequences of global warming is that an entire continent becomes habitable as well as a large part of the northern Canada and Russia

Well, one of the clearest consequences of global warming is that an entire continent becomes habitable as well as a large part of the northern Canada and Russia. Everything I've read about global warming indicates an increase in arable land even when accounting for desertification.

cageface 9y ago
The article specifically addresses and disagrees with this claim.
- joloka 9y ago
  The article also claims that a rise in kidney disease in El Salvador is related to global warming without offering any evidence whatsoever. Correlation is not causation, right? I think that one specious claim undermines the entire article, quite frankly. El Salvador is a nation with all kinds of social problems including a population that is under-educated (to say the least) so I find it hard to believe that heat is the biggest problem there versus dirty water, ignorance of the need to stay hydrated, etc.
  - cageface 9y ago
    If you Google search on the El Salvador claim there seems to be a lot of other articles backing it up, like this one: http://www.theage.com.au/good-weekend/climate-change-and-kidney-disease-the-deadly-new-link-20170503-gvxzjz.html http://www.theage.com.au/good-weekend/climate-change-and-kid...
    - joloka 9y ago
      Nope, not a shred of evidence there, either. Just conjecture.
      - cageface 9y ago
        Extensive data with multiple very strong correlations, a very plausible biological explanation, and a perfect animal model. There is way, way more here than conjecture.
gilbetron 9y ago
From the article: "Pollyannaish plant physiologists will point out that the cereal-crop math applies only to those regions already at peak growing temperature, and they are right — theoretically, a warmer climate will make it easier to grow corn in Greenland. But as the pathbreaking work by Rosamond Naylor and David Battisti has shown, the tropics are already too hot to efficiently grow grain, and those places where grain is produced today are already at optimal growing temperature — which means even a small warming will push them down the slope of declining productivity. And you can’t easily move croplands north a few hundred miles, because yields in places like remote Canada and Russia are limited by the quality of soil there; it takes many centuries for the planet to produce optimally fertile dirt."
- thesmallestcat 9y ago
  In the very long term, how can you dispute the benefit of human expansion in Antarctica? Humans have thrived in times when there was little glaciation and suffered in times of increased glaciation. The only benefit of glaciers is that we're accustomed to the climate they promote. I have no doubt that mankind could adjust to and thrive in a world without glaciers. It's ridiculous how afraid humans are to engineer their planet compared to a century ago.
  - sgt101 9y ago
    I think Antarctica is 1/2 the size of North America. You have a house of 400m^2, I present you with a house of 100m^2 and invite you to consider the upside.
    - thesmallestcat 9y ago
      It's not a trade though, especially with most/all of Canada and Alaska becoming livable. Not to mention unrelated benefits. like year-round arctic navigation and safer navigation around Antarctica

cageface 9y ago

The article specifically addresses and disagrees with this claim.

joloka 9y ago
The article also claims that a rise in kidney disease in El Salvador is related to global warming without offering any evidence whatsoever. Correlation is not causation, right? I think that one specious claim undermines the entire article, quite frankly. El Salvador is a nation with all kinds of social problems including a population that is under-educated (to say the least) so I find it hard to believe that heat is the biggest problem there versus dirty water, ignorance of the need to stay hydrated, etc.
- cageface 9y ago
  If you Google search on the El Salvador claim there seems to be a lot of other articles backing it up, like this one: http://www.theage.com.au/good-weekend/climate-change-and-kidney-disease-the-deadly-new-link-20170503-gvxzjz.html http://www.theage.com.au/good-weekend/climate-change-and-kid...
  - joloka 9y ago
    Nope, not a shred of evidence there, either. Just conjecture.
    - cageface 9y ago
      Extensive data with multiple very strong correlations, a very plausible biological explanation, and a perfect animal model. There is way, way more here than conjecture.

gilbetron 9y ago

From the article: "Pollyannaish plant physiologists will point out that the cereal-crop math applies only to those regions already at peak growing temperature, and they are right — theoretically, a warmer climate will make it easier to grow corn in Greenland. But as the pathbreaking work by Rosamond Naylor and David Battisti has shown, the tropics are already too hot to efficiently grow grain, and those places where grain is produced today are already at optimal growing temperature — which means even a small warming will push them down the slope of declining productivity. And you can’t easily move croplands north a few hundred miles, because yields in places like remote Canada and Russia are limited by the quality of soil there; it takes many centuries for the planet to produce optimally fertile dirt."

thesmallestcat 9y ago
In the very long term, how can you dispute the benefit of human expansion in Antarctica? Humans have thrived in times when there was little glaciation and suffered in times of increased glaciation. The only benefit of glaciers is that we're accustomed to the climate they promote. I have no doubt that mankind could adjust to and thrive in a world without glaciers. It's ridiculous how afraid humans are to engineer their planet compared to a century ago.
- sgt101 9y ago
  I think Antarctica is 1/2 the size of North America. You have a house of 400m^2, I present you with a house of 100m^2 and invite you to consider the upside.
  - thesmallestcat 9y ago
    It's not a trade though, especially with most/all of Canada and Alaska becoming livable. Not to mention unrelated benefits. like year-round arctic navigation and safer navigation around Antarctica