An Inconvenient Truth

[00Maddog]

I just watched this, wow makes you think. anyone else get to see it yet? it's about global warming narrated by al gore...

if you've seen it how'd you react? call b.s. or turn the thermostat down??

great documentary, everyone should see it.



the greenland ice melting is incredible...50 cubic miles in one year...!!!


jerry

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[prometheum]

link?

[AKLGT]

haven't watched it. not a huge al gore fan so not really interested personally. however, i'm sure there is a lot of interesting info.

[EvolvedAK]

it's only narrated by him according to Jerry. So don't get to politically hung up Hope

[00Maddog]

http://av.rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0Je5Xe...atecrisis.net/

[MikeyMike]

I'll check it out.

[Wes_FSTGDB]

Al Gore actually has a decent voice and I think it's perfect for the movie. After all, he's really the one that started the whole Global Warming campaign. Really interesting, not sure if I'd buy it, but I'd rent it. If it's not available for rent, then I'd probably buy it.

It's obvious that our world is changing. And a lot of the arctic is beginning to melt. Jerry pointed out some numbers about Greenland, but there's some scarier numbers about the Alaskan and Canadan Arctic.

Last year there were hardly any Hurricanes thanks to El nino. El nina will return next year and with the temperatures that we're seeing on the East Coast now with no snow, it will more than likely be a record breaking summer again. New York and Washington DC are seeing 66 and 70 degrees in January? Normally they would see at least a decent foot of snow by now.

-Wes

[cooparu]

I saw it at Beartooth a while back. I thought it was good. Basically, it's bringing important info to the masses in movie form.

I thought the movie could have used more facts and less Al Gore background/drama. But still interesting nonetheless.

[Mavrik]

Yeah... looking at all the snow outside sure makes me think of global warming... lol

[cooparu]

Originally Posted by Mavrik

Yeah... looking at all the snow outside sure makes me think of global warming... lol

While I'm sure you're joking, remember that the lower 48 is having a really warm winter.

(Better them than us)

[MeLLoWd_WRX]

I thought that it was very informative. Rented it about a month ago. I stayed up and watched it 'til about midnight(up at 4am) just because I was interested. But who knows.....could be BS. I think that every american should watch it. Gets you thinking.

[Nix_Evo]

so... who's up for surfing in greenland june of 2013? ill be 30!

[WRXAK]

NOt a big fan of al gore's, but I loved the film. My wife and I did actually lower the thermostat a bit, and we are going to get rid of the truck this summer for a Honda fit. MPG FTW

Of course the subie still has no cats.

JP

[GrinderAK]

AM a big fan of al gores, but ironically i still havent seen it. i should probably trade in my car for a diesel golf tdi or something, but id really rather slit my wrists instead. ahh choices

[The Iglooman]

So has anyone heard of Carbon Sequestration? It is a method by which CO2 is essentially re-injected into the ground. I am looking into topics relating to sequestration for a possible masters thesis.

I also assert that combustible reactions (oil, natural gas, coal, ect.) will be the primary basis of energy for many hundreds of years (unless we develop our nuclear industry further, which environmentalists have traditionally been quick to demonise). Sequestration of CO2 would provide a reasonable and fundamentally feasible method of mitigating more CO2 dispersion into the atmosphere and perhaps even the removal of it. Additionally, CO2 could be used to obtain even more amounts of natural gas from hydrates (again related to my maters thesis).

First though, I believe we as a country should become energy sufficient within 50 years for our own economic and foreign policy sake. With less money being tied up in foreign affairs which are no longer of huge importance, money could be diverted towards domestic concerns.

There is still the issue of places like China, with little or no environmental restraints. I think we will find it difficult to mandate change in developing countries where environmental constraints are highly detrimental to economic development. Therefore, I do not believe Americans thirst for oil is the cause of all of global warming, as some politicians would have us believe, but rather all countries, some of whom are not exactly fond of many environmental policies.

[chowder31]

Sequestration is extremely expensive and the biggest part is convincing oil companies to do so, as they hold the gateways to abandoned oil wells and the equipment to do it.

Combustible reactions will not be the primary basis of energy for many hundreds of years, it's the least efficient form of power we have. Internal Combustion engines are at best, 25% efficient, 36% in highly built race engines like some of us might have . Chemical reactions using fossil fuels is another story. Not to mention there will not be oil in hundreds of years. The sources will be so drained that it won't be profitable anymore to explore,drill, and pump it.

Americans create more gas than any other country in the world. We have 5% of the population, but yet we use 25% of the worlds energy. But you are right, china and India are rapidly catching up. It will get to the point where the air will be unbreathable, is some cities it already is, and the people will revolt and force change like we did here.

[steverx05]

Originally Posted by AKOBS

While I'm sure you're joking, remember that the lower 48 is having a really warm winter.

I'm sure Denver will agree with that. On the other hand...here in Maryland we keep seeing 60-70 degree days which is quite a bit above the average. I think people blow the whole global warming thing way out of proportion though, the weather just goes through natural cycles, and we happen to be warmer right now. Settle down everyone.

[cooparu]

Originally Posted by steverx05

I'm sure Denver will agree with that. On the other hand...here in Maryland we keep seeing 60-70 degree days which is quite a bit above the average. I think people blow the whole global warming thing way out of proportion though, the weather just goes through natural cycles, and we happen to be warmer right now. Settle down everyone.

"Settle down everyone" -

Sure natural cycles happen, but the rate of change is the issue presently.

Alaska is cold, Denver gets snow. 2 examples that don't show a change in weather. The rest of the country having warmer temperatures for most of the winter (and summer) is more of an indicator than 2 cold places still getting snow. With global temperature still rising, it's best not to focus on one or 2 known weather patterns, you won't see the big picture.

Doomsday isn't upon us, but you can't bury your head in the sand forever. Changes can be made to reduce human affects on the climate, but people resist change.

The movie probably made more people think about the situation, which was it's purpose.

[Firestrike]

Originally Posted by AKOBS;16596100Doomsday isn't upon us, but you can't bury your head in the sand forever. Changes can be made to reduce human affects on the climate, [I

but people resist change[/i].

Old people especially. If we ever want to see new frontiers, we have to get the money hungry seniors out of office.

[SQUAD_907]

watch the penn & teller bs on "global warming" that's worth watching!

[Haakon]

I'm not a fan of Al Gore at all. Sure, some points are valid, yet others are not. Here are some points to consider

• The temperatures have been warming in the last 200 years. That's before the age of industrialization.

• Volcanoes, in one explosion, put forth more pollutants than the US does in one year. How many volcanoes explode annually?

• We know that CO2 traps heat energy, but what should we worry about:
  • Our CO2 output or the deforestation of the Amazon, the "lungs" of the Earth?
  • Oceanic pollution that kills plant life there which would otherwise help clean CO2?
  • And this point, which is just nifty info, there are rocks exposed by the Earth that reacts to CO2 chemically and removes it from the atmosphere.

Frankly, I would be more concerned about Nature's CO2 cleansing techniques being removed than the actual production of CO2. Sadly, world leaders seem to turn a blind eye to that oh-so-important fact. They would rather point fingers about the biggest target in the world: The US. They forget about China's mass pollution and their lack of curbing it. Ask the Russians about that... How about India? Back to South America again, look at all those nations that are developing, but not doing anything about pollutants? What exempts them? I am sure I don't have to remind any car owners about how much the US has come in making air cleaner and reducing pollutants. Every 2 years in AK we are reminded of that fact.

I would agree that nuclear technology would help a lot, and the Scandinavians have come with very clever ways to contain the waste for thousands of years.

Yes, some parts of the lower 48 have been warmer than usual. Yet, the midwest has been rocked with several blizzards this winter.

Here is another tidbit of information: The last ice age was only ~10,000 years ago. Well, major ice age, that is. In or around 1402 we had a "Little Ice Age" that began and Greenland ceased having trees on the coast. We know that ice ages are cyclic at approximately once every 40K years or so. Could it be we are simply still coming out of the ice age? I don't really adhere to that mentality, but I do prefer to see all sides of the topic.

The bottom line, it would seem, is that scientists know what can cause global warming, but they have no direct, concrete proof to offer that it is humankind causing the problem or simply a cycle of weather/nature. The Kyoto measure is mostly a knee-jerk reaction to a perceived cause given evidence which supports the possibility of a concept of global warming. Once again, this measure, IMHO, is focusing on the wrong thing.

Also, relatively speaking, we've been enjoying a nice level platform of temperatures for this period of geology. If you were to see what the cycles of weather were for the Earth in the last million years, you would be surprised to see just how dramatic and quickly the temperatures changed.

Heh, on a parting note, an "older" coworker reminded me that in the 70's it was thought that "Global Cooling" was happening.

[Wes_FSTGDB]

I think Nuclear power plants would be the answer for the future. There's quite a few around the world and even in our own country. They supply 20% of our own electricity and 16% of the worlds electricity. I wish they'd build more, as far as I know of it's the most efficent form of power. Right now our average load factor stands at 90% vs 60% back in 1990.

39% of the worlds energy comes from coal. They're building more and more coal fired plants each year. I guess there is a new technology though called "Clean Coal." They say with current consumption rates coal could power the US for the next 250 years and still meet enviromental protection goals.

So wether you like it or not I think we'll see Coal as our choice of energy for a long time....

-Wes

P.S. That's crazy, I never knew that we used 20 million barrels of oil today. It says that we release 2 billion pounds of carbon into the atmosphere each day.

[Alaskan_awd]

I havn't seen this yet, but another one I heard was good is "Who Killed the Electric Car?"

[Firestrike]

Home air conditioners make the inside of the house cool/cold. It exhausts hot air from the motor. Cold air inside, hot air outside.

I don't know my point, but I am sure one of you could make one.

[cooparu]

Haakon - growing up in Buffalo, most "blizzards" happened in the warmer winters that the lake (Lake Erie) didn't freeze. The cold air going over that warm water makes for a lot of snow. I don't remember the last year the lake actually froze (then again, I haven't lived there in a while).

I've always thought that Anchorage is a prime candidate for tidal power. Here we have strong consistent flows of water in and out of Turnagain arm, and it goes to waste, in a manner of speaking. I know tidal plants exist elsewhere, and I'm guessing people have looked into it for Anchorage. I just never have heard anything. Sure, initial construction costs would be huge, but the water comes in and out daily, free of charge. Uncle Ted?