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The most important question to me is this: what can we realistically do about it? Specifically, will major efforts on the part of the "first world" make a diffe

The most important question to me is this: what can we realistically do about it? Specifically, will major efforts on the part of the "first world" make a difference when we consider say China, which is rapidly ramping up to modern consumption levels without the commensurate environmental controls?

ajross 18y ago
We can reduce consumption where we can, and pressure our governments to adopt appropriate policies. I'm less pessimistic than you are about China's ability to regulate itself, but even if you accept that China (or whoever) is going to continue burning coal as if there were no tomorrow, that's not an excuse for making things worse. And in the worst case where we simply can't stop burning, there are at least ideas out there about how to reduce atmospheric CO2 directly. Planting trees in the tropics is one, burying biomass is another. There are even some borderline-scary notions about seeding blooms in the ocean with iron. But it all starts with a recognition that action is required. Get off your butts, basically.
- Prrometheus 18y ago
  >and pressure our governments to adopt appropriate policies What if the policies on the table are feel-good policies meant to show that they are "doing something", but the costs of those policies are higher than any likely benefit? That is a good description of what I feel about the current state of Global Warming "solutions".
wallflower 18y ago
China is well on their way to becoming an American-like consumer and polluter. I'm not sure what we can realistically do about it since modern lifestyle is correlated with energy use (e.g. climate-controller rooms a.k.a. AC) "The best way to understand Beijing's size is to visualize what Manhattan might be like without the Hudson and East Rivers. Beijing just keeps going. Manhattan is almost 23 square miles. Beijing is more than 150!... Given the size, you can probably imagine the traffic. It's like Los Angeles without interstates, at rush hour, in the rain. It's impossible to get anywhere quickly. I was warned before my trip that traffic would be worse than anything I'd ever seen, and it was. One evening, it took our crew nearly two hours to go about eight miles... Had the Olympics been held last August, the air quality in Beijing would have been in violation of the World Health Organization standard every single day..." http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/news/story?id=3453777 http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/news/story?id=3453777
ericb 18y ago
At this point, we most likely need a technological solution. Global warming solutions have a huge "tragedy of the commons" issue to contend with. The problem with technological solutions is that there have been unintended consequences whenever we have tried to meddle in the environment, so it will have to be done very carefully.

ajross 18y ago

We can reduce consumption where we can, and pressure our governments to adopt appropriate policies. I'm less pessimistic than you are about China's ability to regulate itself, but even if you accept that China (or whoever) is going to continue burning coal as if there were no tomorrow, that's not an excuse for making things worse. And in the worst case where we simply can't stop burning, there are at least ideas out there about how to reduce atmospheric CO2 directly. Planting trees in the tropics is one, burying biomass is another. There are even some borderline-scary notions about seeding blooms in the ocean with iron. But it all starts with a recognition that action is required. Get off your butts, basically.

Prrometheus 18y ago
>and pressure our governments to adopt appropriate policies What if the policies on the table are feel-good policies meant to show that they are "doing something", but the costs of those policies are higher than any likely benefit? That is a good description of what I feel about the current state of Global Warming "solutions".

wallflower 18y ago

China is well on their way to becoming an American-like consumer and polluter. I'm not sure what we can realistically do about it since modern lifestyle is correlated with energy use (e.g. climate-controller rooms a.k.a. AC) "The best way to understand Beijing's size is to visualize what Manhattan might be like without the Hudson and East Rivers. Beijing just keeps going. Manhattan is almost 23 square miles. Beijing is more than 150!... Given the size, you can probably imagine the traffic. It's like Los Angeles without interstates, at rush hour, in the rain. It's impossible to get anywhere quickly. I was warned before my trip that traffic would be worse than anything I'd ever seen, and it was. One evening, it took our crew nearly two hours to go about eight miles... Had the Olympics been held last August, the air quality in Beijing would have been in violation of the World Health Organization standard every single day..." http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/news/story?id=3453777 http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/news/story?id=3453777

ericb 18y ago

At this point, we most likely need a technological solution. Global warming solutions have a huge "tragedy of the commons" issue to contend with. The problem with technological solutions is that there have been unintended consequences whenever we have tried to meddle in the environment, so it will have to be done very carefully.