Major climate change has been a fact of life since the beginning of time on
earth. The difference now is the rate of change. No fossil record or core
sample we have ever found shows such a rapid change in temperatures over one
century as we have just experienced or such a huge measurable increase in
atmospheric carbon dioxide. During every major climate change, there were
major die offs of species - and many of those species had several thousand
years to adapt. It takes no special scientific ability to predict that with
more rapid climate change those die-offs will happen much faster and will
affect many more species. Can an earth which might lose 1/4th of all its
species support 6 or 7 billion humans? Not likely............In fact, it's
quite possible that we might join the ranks of the species who die-off, or
die back to small numbers. Just imagine if global warming were to assist the
spread of some sort of incurable plant disease to the grain family
(graminaceae) - how long could the human race survive in numbers without
wheat, rice, corn, oats, barley, rye, millet, or any other grain to provide
storable calories? Unfortunately, the climate change which fossil fuel
burning initiated might now be irreversible. In other words, even if we
stopped burning oil and coal tomorrow, the climate would probably continue
to warm for several centuries according to some models. I hope those models
are incorrect. Unwittingly at first, and now, with more knowledge available
to us but not acted upon, stupidly we have fouled our own nest.......
"djay" wrote in message
news:VtXDf.13690$oo1.12517@trnddc02...

"Thornhill" wrote in message
oups.com...

Persephone wrote:
...or *something*!

Global warming will actually make winters colder. Rising temperatures
will melt the ice caps, releasing fresh water into the ocean. This will
decrease the strength of the gulf stream, which is what brings warm air
from the equator up to the northern hemisphere during the winter. New
England and Europe are going to be hardest hit. In general, global
warming makes everything more extreme.

Here in Philadelphia, December was fairly cold, but this January,
temperatures have often been in the 50s, and it seems to make it to 60
once a week. My tulips and daffodils have already started coming up.


I love gardening too and have to laugh sometimes at the unscientific posts
that occur here at times. Some type of "global warming" caused the last
great ice age to recede too. How the heck did that happen? AND was it a
bad thing?