Feeling a bit cold, do you?

[luzribeiro.livejournal.com]

Thermodynamics at play. If you increase energy in a relatively stable system, it destabilizes, at least until another equilibrium state is reached. And the Earth climate system has been shown to be very sensitive to changes, so we are likely in for a wild ride:

Atlantic Ocean circulation could collapse with climate change influence, study says

"Current models assume Atlantic Ocean in stable condition, but new study suggests this might not be so".

This has been falling on deaf ears for years, and with Trump in office soon, it's even less likely that it'd be heeded.

But not to worry! I'm sure in about 250,000 years all will be back to normal. Then we can get on with that beautiful wall.

Someone please tell me how exactly are Republinuts working for the well-being of their own grandchildren, and how would anyone really convince them that the "rewards" their corporate donors give them are not as important as the mid- to long-term economic (and thus, social and political) implications of their inaction? Oh sorry, that was a rhetorical question.

Comments

[johnny9fingers.livejournal.com]

Obviously the Republican anthropomorphic climate change deniers are Darwinist enough not to worry about their grandchildren. If the grandchildren aren't strong enough to survive and prosper in the new environment, then they deserve to die. Or something.

Or maybe they are hoping the wealth which they will have accumulated from all of these corporate donors will keep their grandchildren alive and well at the expense of poorer grandchildren from less well-heeled grandparents.

Either case seems pretty damn short-sighted. But it isn't as if our elected officials are as clever or educated as the average civil servant: if they were, they couldn't appeal to the voters.

I mean it sometimes seems that almost everyone regards more intelligence, learning, or education than they have as being pretentious, elitist, and not to be trusted. And many are prepared to disparage what they don't understand, or deliberately misinterpret arguments and data to suit their own purposes or re-inforce their own self-esteem.

And experts, intellectuals, and the educated are definitely not to be trusted. From Mao-Zedong and Pol Pot, right through to Michael Gove and the Donald, populists have derided learning and expertise. But should he ever get a brain tumour, I bet Gove plumps for an expert to deal with it, even if he has been decrying the expertise of doctors in diagnosing the problems with the NHS.

(BTW this isn't limited to Anglo-Saxon cultures. We see it in miniature even in cultures that are significantly more intellectual, like France. Hence Le Pen.)

[oportet.livejournal.com]

Climate change is too slow of a process - it's unlikely a politician will ever be around long enough to benefit or suffer from their views and voting record on it. An eighty-something year old, nine-or-so term Senator from a state with a coastline might eventually lose some beachfront votes - but aside from that - there just aren't any consequences.

Same goes for entire political parties - they change just enough over time that they'll always be in the clear.

Blaming a Republican in the year 2150 for the negative effects of climate change would be like blaming a Democrat today for starting the Klan.

[luzribeiro.livejournal.com]

If there are people around by 2150.

[mikeyxw.livejournal.com]

Good point, we're likely to build the robots that will build the robots that will wipe us out long before global warming ever becomes a major threat to humans.

[johnny9fingers.livejournal.com]

I like this reply.

History means no generation ever has to say sorry, as they can't when they're dead.

[(Anonymous)]

"Blaming a Republican in the year 2150 for the negative effects of climate change would be like blaming a Democrat today for starting the Klan."

I know too many conservatives who still think that that is a valid anti-Democratic talking-point.

[dexeron.livejournal.com]

"Blaming a Republican in the year 2150 for the negative effects of climate change would be like blaming a Democrat today for starting the Klan."

I know too many conservatives who still think that that is a valid anti-Democratic talking-point.