From Yahoo News Feed
Earth Day: We are now told that obesity causes global warming. Maybe that’s why belief in human-caused climate change is at an all-time low. That and the fact that Antarctic ice is growing, not melting.
Over the past decade, as the earth cooled, the sun grew quiet and snow fell in Malibu, the disconnect between the computer models of Al Gore and the warm-mongers grew more apparent than ever. So much so that they started talking about “climate change” instead of “global warming.”
That way, everything from drought to floods was covered, even record cold winters and snowfalls.
Even that’s not working on an ever more skeptical public, according to a recent Rasmussen Reports national survey showing that just one of three voters — a new low — now believe that global warming is caused by human activity.
Nearly half (48%) believe the cause is naturally occurring planetary trends. Just a year ago, only 34% said warming was a natural phenomenon, while 47% said human activity was placing the planet at risk of disastrous climate change. That’s a huge shift.
Excerpts:
Interestingly, a growing number of Americans (58%) say we need to build more nuclear power plants, with 63% saying that finding additional sources of energy is more important than reducing the amount of energy Americans currently consume. They recognize that a growing economy requires more energy, not less, and that nukes are a pollution-free way of getting it.
…
Overweight people eat more steaks and burgers, we are told, and that means more cows and more barnyard emissions. They walk less and drive more, usually to fast-food emporiums, where every additional condiment brings us closer to planetary doom. The answer presumably would be fewer people, or at least more vegetarians.
…
Australian Antarctic Division glaciology program head Ian Allison says sea ice losses in West Antarctica over the past 30 years have been more than offset by increases in the Ross Sea region, just one sector of East Antarctica. “Sea ice conditions have remained stable in Antarctica generally,” Allison says.
…
So enjoy your burger and fries, and chill out. It’s the warm-mongers who are endangering us with their whoppers. And Happy Earth Day.
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When I saw the Campbell’s Soup can for E.D., I thought a special soup was in order. The Caitlin crew may need some of this for fortification.
http://i39.tinypic.com/wklr28.jpg
Prochlorococcus marinus,
It lives in the oceans between us,
It’s the greatest in mass,
And yet it’s so crass,
It doesn’t even care if it’s seen us.
Dennis (08:51:43) :
Slightly OT but the whole obesity/health/cost-to-society drive is falling apart. The excellent Junk Food Science blog recently had this essay concerning obesity vs. health problems: http://junkfoodscience.blogspot.com/2009/04/does-it-really-matter-how-your-numbers.html (Hmmm. don’t know how to make that “click and go”).
Gradually the environmentalists are being proved wrong about everything (have they ever been right?) and shown to be simply another group of leftists power-grabbers.
Dennis – I think that you may find the following article by Greenpeace founder Patrick Moore interesting to read.
REF: http://www.greenspirit.com/key_issues.cfm?msid=34
David S (10:01:43) :
And now for something completely different!
From WorldNetDaily:
California EPA to rule against ethanol.
Regulators conclude biofuel can’t help state reduce ‘global warming’
Source:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=95745
Once Reason has been abandoned, then the ability to propose any actual solution that will work will be impossible.
janama (14:02:09) :
I have one question for those advocating we all turn vegetarian and eat fresh organically grown fruit and vegetables.
Where are you going to get the manure to grow the veges if we stop farming animals?
Hey you .. Pssssst we have this special seed.. that takes our special fertilizer…and we can put whatever drug you need into it. …..brought to you by your local GM seed dealer. /sarc off
Mike Bryant (11:13:30) :
“David S (10:09:48) :
BTW What about all those pudgy polar bears? They’re two or three times the size of most chubby humans. Will the warmers have them moved to re-education camps where they will be taught to give up meat eating and learn to dine on the vegetation native to the region?”
Here’s a polar bear having a salad!
http://www.pbase.com/mortenmojo/image/75705904
Certainly looks like one fed-up, sad, disgusted Bear. Do I see a wistfull look in those big brown eyes, or a gleam of a dream for a lovely, fat, juicy Seal carcass.
pkatt (17:45:54) :
janama (14:02:09) :
I have one question for those advocating we all turn vegetarian and eat fresh organically grown fruit and vegetables.
Where are you going to get the manure to grow the veges if we stop farming animals?
Hey you .. Pssssst we have this special seed.. that takes our special fertilizer…and we can put whatever drug you need into it. …..brought to you by your local GM seed dealer. /sarc off
Agropathy?
Graeme Rodaughan (17:48:12) :
Mike Bryant (11:13:30) :
“David S (10:09:48) :
BTW What about all those pudgy polar bears? They’re two or three times the size of most chubby humans. Will the warmers have them moved to re-education camps where they will be taught to give up meat eating and learn to dine on the vegetation native to the region?”
Here’s a polar bear having a salad!
http://www.pbase.com/mortenmojo/image/75705904
Certainly looks like one fed-up, sad, disgusted Bear. Do I see a wistfull look in those big brown eyes, or a gleam of a dream for a lovely, fat, juicy Seal carcass.
Hey… look at that photo again!! Could that be the shredded rags of the Catlin Group?!?!?!
Mike Bryant (17:24:57) :
Prochlorococcus marinus,
It lives in the oceans between us,
It’s the greatest in mass,
And yet it’s so crass,
It doesn’t even care if it’s seen us.
Hahaha… Excellent rhyme!
http://www.pbase.com/mortenmojo/image/75705904
Hey… look at that photo again!! Could that be the shredded rags of the Catlin Group?!?!?!
No wonder that poor bear is so forlorn, he ran out of food!!!
Thanks, Nasif
Nasif… now you can do one in Spanish…
Ed Zuiderwijk (13:29:38) :
Erich and others:
We could of course propose a feasability study for moving the ozone hole to the Artic in order to refreeze it (something with giant windmills hanging on stratospheric balloons, powered somehow by heatpumps working on the ocean’s temperature gradient).
I bet some burocrat somewhere will find money for it since it a) will save the Polar Bears, b) will return the Arctic and Antartic to their “normal” state (for the time being) and 3) will reduce the skinburn of those Aussies (No, not transfered to us Northeners, we are not all hedonists, mind you!). I’m sure we can find a source of dosh with a proposal having enough of the right words and phrazes, and what penpusher wouldn’t love the opportunity to save mankind?
Let’s try the EU or the White House. Anyone want to join me?
Looking for dosh to fund such schemes – just print it – works for Zimbabwe.
REF: http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article7578.html
REF: http://www.dailyreckoning.com.au/us-government-spending-13-trillion-to-fix-problems/2009/04/22/
REF: http://jdereport.com.au/?p=456
hotrod (14:27:43) :
John Wright (12:25:28) :
Nuclear?! Has nobody ever heard of the problems of dealing with nuclear waste? Has nobody here heard of Chernobyl? Not quite the same thing as alarmism, I think. Agree that Nuclear power plants produce no CO2, but we all agree here that CO2’s no problem – or do we?
There is no problem with storage of nuclear waste other than the green folks will not let a reasonable storage system be set up while they look for some pie in the sky perfect solution. High level waste could be used as a source of heat and energy production to make use of its dissipated energy of decay if folks would let us, right now we burn fuel to generate energy to cool the storage pools, when Sterling cycle engines could be generating energy from the warm water pools if we would just let them.
Chernobyl is an example of what happens when you go out of your way to do everything wrong, the same sort of things happen with conventional technology — ever hear of Bhopal India, Texas City Texas, Cleveland East Ohio Gas Explosion ?
They designed a reactor with no effective containment vessel, that had an unstable design that was prone to runaway at low power levels due to a positive void coefficient and the effects of xenon posioning of the reaction compounded by the slow activation of the control rods during an emergency scram. Then in violation of good practice, they shut off safety features to run a test that never should have been run, with improper staffing and ignored warnings that they were treading on dangerous ground. Then they did not evacuate the affected region or warn neighboring areas until it was independently detected by outsiders and almost 36 hours had passed since the fatally flawed test began.
It is not an indictment of Nuclear power it is an indictment of large organizations doing things to satisfy dead lines rather than listening to the engineers who know what should be done, and disregarding standard safety measures with out regard (or understanding) of the risks involved.
Larry
Now I understand the meaning of “Hot Rod”“. – Thanks.
This today concerning the health impacts of wind farms in the Province of Ontario. Note the health impact deniers:
http://news.sympatico.msn.ctv.ca/abc/home/contentposting.aspx?isfa=1&feedname=CTV-TOPSTORIES_V3&showbyline=True&date=true&newsitemid=CTVNews%2f20090422%2fwind_farms_090422
Happy earth day.
WakeupMaggie,
I once calculated that 90 billion people could comforably tread water together in Lake Surperior. I also calculated (but have forgottent the figure) how long they would take to heat the Lake up 1degree C at 100kjoules/hr. I got this figure from an article that estimated 300kjoules/hr generated by a pig (for use in agricultural engineering purposes). Incidentally, don’ the quadrillions of creatures on earth and in the sea generate heat….hmmm. Lets assume equal masses generate about the same amount of heat energy as say a pig….
John in L du B (19:05:53) :
This today concerning the health impacts of wind farms in the Province of Ontario. Note the health impact deniers:
http://news.sympatico.msn.ctv.ca/abc/home/contentposting.aspx?isfa=1&feedname=CTV-TOPSTORIES_V3&showbyline=True&date=true&newsitemid=CTVNews%2f20090422%2fwind_farms_090422
From the article:
Ashbee says she has no problem with the concept of wind farms, but she says they simply shouldn’t be built near residences.
And the wildlife? heh!
I read somewhere that all humanity could fit comfortably on an island off England’s southern coast. It got me thinking . . .
If we took as whole the population of Earth
And according to girth and their height
We measured the lot
And assigned them a slot
They would just fill the Isle of Wight
🙂
John in L du B (19:05:53) :Those health problems reveal to what extremes it reaches the stupidity when stupids have power/money.
Excess democracy happens where the unfitted are allowed to take decisions which can affect sane and better fitted people. All candidates for public service should be checked for psychological disorders.
As a graduate of Lake Superior State I enjoyed your “people in Lake Superior” note. Funny stuff. Had a good chuckle.
We never go in until the 4th of July to give enough time for warm up. Even then we don’t go far out. The warm up in Superior is shallow.
Regarding obesity causing global warming. I think of fat people as just walking carbon sequestration devices. It’s those who eat and then exercise a lot who put more CO2 into the atmosphere. Given appropriate development of cemeteries, we could develop methane recapture as an alternative to coal, and with appropriate organic technologies, harvest the rest of the cadavers for new calcium and protein sources. Call it Soylent Green, that has an environmentally friendly sound.
“darwin (11:09:55) :
Regarding obesity causing global warming. I think of fat people as just walking carbon sequestration devices.”
Perhaps we should think of fat people as the old growth forests of humanity… They should be protected because they are so valuable to the rest of us. We definitely shouldn’t be cutting them down.
Mike
Eat more, burn your gym membership card, become a fat person, save the planet…
“”” hotrod (14:27:43) :
John Wright (12:25:28) :
Nuclear?! Has nobody ever heard of the problems of dealing with nuclear waste? Has nobody here heard of Chernobyl? Not quite the same thing as alarmism, I think. Agree that Nuclear power plants produce no CO2, but we all agree here that CO2’s no problem – or do we?
There is no problem with storage of nuclear waste other than the green folks will not let a reasonable storage system be set up while they look for some pie in the sky perfect solution. High level waste could be used as a source of heat and energy production to make use of its dissipated energy of decay if folks would let us, right now we burn fuel to generate energy to cool the storage pools, when Sterling cycle engines could be generating energy from the warm water pools if we would just let them.
Chernobyl is an example of what happens when you go out of your way to do everything wrong, the same sort of things happen with conventional technology — ever hear of Bhopal India, Texas City Texas, Cleveland East Ohio Gas Explosion ? “””
Hey Hotrod, I know about that Texas City shindig, since I once worked for Monsanto Chemical Central Research Labs in St Louis MO. The safety chief loved to tell the story about that ammonimum Nitrate fire and explosion ; they had while shipping that stuff.
And let’s not forget the Halifax explosion of an ammo ship in 1912 or was it 1918. Reputed to be the biggest non nuclear blast ever, that nearly levelled the city, as a result of two ships colliding in the harbor, around 8 AM in the morning.
And no I wasn’t there for that one.
George