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I had an interesting 'conversation' with someone passionately, violent opposed to industrialization today. They wanted humanity to 'go back to nature' and get rid of all the machines, since machines were causing global warming. They made my head hurt.
Commenting just about the climate-change part, I did agree that industry & humanity has absolutely affected the Earth's climate & help cause some of the overall warming, but not as much as vulcanism.
But ... it was hard to get across the idea that 'warming', in general, is not a completely bad thing. Back in the 1970's - when I was studying geology in college - my teacher's HUGE worry was that the earth is WAY overdue for another period of glaciation. Interstadial periods - the time spent between Ice Ages - have averaged between 10,000 and 40,000 years long. The current interstadial period that we are now in is the longest one on record.
So we are overdue for an Ice Age. Currently, estimates are that the Earth can support up to 12 billion people - as long as we can keep producing food at our current rate. BUT - if there is a glaciation, then the MAXIMUM number of human beings that can live on Earth is maybe one billion - and those only at equatorial regions.
Humanity can survive global warming, albeit with quality of life degradation for some of us. Personally, I HATE hot weather. There will be more disease. Melting glaciers will cause sea levels to rise - which will cause huge problems in low-lying coastal regions.
There is the speculation that melting glaciers will make the ocean less saline - and cause ocean currents to move & change. If the Gulf Stream shifts too far then it is likely that the British Isles will get MUCH colder: like Iceland cold. Plus more brackish water means that there is less fresh water. And I've read that the worst case scenario could be a sea level rise of more than =*100 feet*= in some areas! At THAT rate - as examples - much of Florida & Louisiana would be underwater ALL the time. The Central Valley of California floods & can't be used for agriculture. That's pretty bad for the U.S., but there are Pacific Ocean island nations that may cease to exist.
That could be bad, but if there is an Ice Age most of us will die. Since I don't live in an equatorial region - and neither did the person I pointed this out to - that would include us. They didn't want to admit this, so that led to a huge argument about people dying off from starvation & disease, if 'industry' was prevented from using machines, since those self-same machines are how food & medicine are now produced.
I don't think I really got my points across well and just feel frustrated that there are people who think 'X' can be fixed by stopping other people from 'doing a thing', without thinking about the consequences.
Commenting just about the climate-change part, I did agree that industry & humanity has absolutely affected the Earth's climate & help cause some of the overall warming, but not as much as vulcanism.
But ... it was hard to get across the idea that 'warming', in general, is not a completely bad thing. Back in the 1970's - when I was studying geology in college - my teacher's HUGE worry was that the earth is WAY overdue for another period of glaciation. Interstadial periods - the time spent between Ice Ages - have averaged between 10,000 and 40,000 years long. The current interstadial period that we are now in is the longest one on record.
So we are overdue for an Ice Age. Currently, estimates are that the Earth can support up to 12 billion people - as long as we can keep producing food at our current rate. BUT - if there is a glaciation, then the MAXIMUM number of human beings that can live on Earth is maybe one billion - and those only at equatorial regions.
Humanity can survive global warming, albeit with quality of life degradation for some of us. Personally, I HATE hot weather. There will be more disease. Melting glaciers will cause sea levels to rise - which will cause huge problems in low-lying coastal regions.
There is the speculation that melting glaciers will make the ocean less saline - and cause ocean currents to move & change. If the Gulf Stream shifts too far then it is likely that the British Isles will get MUCH colder: like Iceland cold. Plus more brackish water means that there is less fresh water. And I've read that the worst case scenario could be a sea level rise of more than =*100 feet*= in some areas! At THAT rate - as examples - much of Florida & Louisiana would be underwater ALL the time. The Central Valley of California floods & can't be used for agriculture. That's pretty bad for the U.S., but there are Pacific Ocean island nations that may cease to exist.
That could be bad, but if there is an Ice Age most of us will die. Since I don't live in an equatorial region - and neither did the person I pointed this out to - that would include us. They didn't want to admit this, so that led to a huge argument about people dying off from starvation & disease, if 'industry' was prevented from using machines, since those self-same machines are how food & medicine are now produced.
I don't think I really got my points across well and just feel frustrated that there are people who think 'X' can be fixed by stopping other people from 'doing a thing', without thinking about the consequences.
