Flaming Mountainside

As humanity begins to suck out the [last half of the oil] in Terra's crust, and our world becomes a greenhouse due to all of the carbon dioxide added by both man and nature to our upper atmosphere in recent centuries, I'm starting to think that the climate and weather patterns of my youth will not be the same as those my children will know.

As a wanna-be spanophile, I took a special interest in a BBC News article on 13-June-2005 entitled [ Iberian misery as drought bites]. While one oughtn't try to discern a trend from any single incident, BBC News has spent several years telling us this story:

Of course I don't get all of my news and information from a single source, but I find BBC News' treatment of this subject to be coherent, well written, and on the whole, balanced. I don't agree about the Kyoto protocol -- China is no longer a developing nation, and no developed nation ought to take any expensive actions against their own carbon conversion industries until China is made to take the same actions. (I guess every room has its pink elephant.)

It is in the nature of living things to overrun their habitats unless checked, possession of a forebrain and opposable thumbs does not exempt humans from this. If anything it means that the "check" will come very late and harshly, and that our collective response will come too late when alternatives are few. I've made it my life's mission to improve human nature, but resistance has been stiff and my progress to date has been insigificant.

"World climate" is a large concept and there's no guaranty that melting an ice cap (or two) won't cause some localized effects that some locals somewhere are happy with. There are also natural, but complex, oscillations, such that global warming could quickly (as geologists measure time) bring on the next ice age. The current Iberian drought might turn out to be part of a 50,000 year cycle that wasn't previously noticed. In terms of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses, we get a lot from cars and trucks and power plants, but also from ongoing volcanic and other non-human activities.

But the world is heating up, and because of the way air and ocean currents flow, Europe is hurting first. In August 2003, [thousands of people died] in France during a Europe-wide heat wave. Also at that time, there were [ravaging forest fires] in Portugal, similar to the ones I [mentioned earlier].

And in that article we see that

Portugal has demanded six million euroes in compensation from Spain after levels of water in the Douro river fell below limits established in a bilateral agreement.

which sets an interesting monetary value on water. Will Spain find that paying these fines is the cheapest way to get the water it needs? Will Portugal be able to buy the water they need using the money from these fines? What if the water just isn't available -- will we see countries going to war over water the way they used to do over religion or oil?

Paul Vixie
La Honda

[ "worst fire season in Greece in living memory" (17-Aug-2007) ]



Climate Change Hits Iberian Peninsula 17-Aug-2007 (Fri) 16:22 UTC · permalink As humanity begins to suck out the [last half of the oil] in Terra's crust, and our world becomes a greenhouse due to all of the carbon dioxide added by both man and nature to our upper atmosphere in recent centuries, I'm starting to think that the climate and weather patterns of my youth will not be the same as those my children will know. As a wanna-be spanophile, I took a special interest in a BBC News article on 13-June-2005 entitled [ Iberian misery as drought bites]. While one oughtn't try to discern a trend from any single incident, BBC News has spent several years telling us this story: [ Global warming? (in depth) ] [ Find out why the Gulf Stream might slow ... ] [ Sea engulfing Alaskan village ] [ Southern Spain 'dust bowl' threat ] [ Maldives: Paradise soon to be lost ] [ Q&A: Climate change ] [ Climate: What science can tell us ] [ Guide to climate change ] Of course I don't get all of my news and information from a single source, but I find BBC News' treatment of this subject to be coherent, well written, and on the whole, balanced. I don't agree about the Kyoto protocol -- China is no longer a developing nation, and no developed nation ought to take any expensive actions against their own carbon conversion industries until China is made to take the same actions. (I guess every room has its pink elephant.) It is in the nature of living things to overrun their habitats unless checked, possession of a forebrain and opposable thumbs does not exempt humans from this. If anything it means that the "check" will come very late and harshly, and that our collective response will come too late when alternatives are few. I've made it my life's mission to improve human nature, but resistance has been stiff and my progress to date has been insigificant. "World climate" is a large concept and there's no guaranty that melting an ice cap (or two) won't cause some localized effects that some locals somewhere are happy with. There are also natural, but complex, oscillations, such that global warming could quickly (as geologists measure time) bring on the next ice age. The current Iberian drought might turn out to be part of a 50,000 year cycle that wasn't previously noticed. In terms of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses, we get a lot from cars and trucks and power plants, but also from ongoing volcanic and other non-human activities. But the world is heating up, and because of the way air and ocean currents flow, Europe is hurting first. In August 2003, [thousands of people died] in France during a Europe-wide heat wave. Also at that time, there were [ravaging forest fires] in Portugal, similar to the ones I [mentioned earlier]. And in that article we see that Portugal has demanded six million euroes in compensation from Spain after levels of water in the Douro river fell below limits established in a bilateral agreement. which sets an interesting monetary value on water. Will Spain find that paying these fines is the cheapest way to get the water it needs? Will Portugal be able to buy the water they need using the money from these fines? What if the water just isn't available -- will we see countries going to war over water the way they used to do over religion or oil? Paul Vixie La Honda Related articles: [ "worst fire season in Greece in living memory" (17-Aug-2007) ]		Illegitimibus non carborundum · · · Active Categories: internet (6) · governance (3) · manners (1) · security (1) · technology (1) terra (3) · climate (1) · food (1) · rights (1)