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Monday, December 6, 2010

Cancun: "More Than Previously Thought"

I read and hear the phrase everywhere all the time.

It has now been applied to a vast area of the U.S.A., the interior of Alaska, which is about the size of the central plains of the lower 48 states - a huge area.

The phrase I am talking about is "more than previously thought".

The phrase must echo off the walls down in Cancun, Mexico, where national environmentalists are getting together again to try to agree not to destroy civilization.

Cancun is near the area where, about 65 million years ago, an asteroid impact destroyed 90% of land animals, created a 120 mi. wide crater, and spread the K-T extinction layer materials all around the globe.

"The phrase" has now applied to Alaska again, a phrase that is heard more and more in this epoch of criminal insanity, and heard probably more that any other phrase in climate science:
Climate change is causing wildfires to burn more fiercely, pumping more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than previously thought, according to a new study to be published in Nature Geoscience this week.

This is the first study to reveal that fires in the Alaskan interior -- an area spanning 18.5 million hectares -- have become more severe in the past 10 years, and have released much more carbon into the atmosphere than was stored by the region's forests over the same period.

...

"These findings are worrisome because about half the world's soil carbon is locked in northern permafrost and peatland soils. This is carbon that has accumulated in ecosystems a little bit at a time for thousands of years, but is being released very rapidly through increased burning."
(Science Daily). It is like the old war spending propaganda, or the Bush II pharmaceutical law calculations, in that "it will cost this much" sooner than later becomes "it will cost more than previously thought".

After hearing or reading it about a thousand times one comes to the conclusion that scientists are trying to understate the case of global warming & global climate change, so the herd does not stampede.

One of the reasons is that the national lizard brain gets all mavericky and rogue when reality implicates and stimulates the reptilian fear of death mechanism:
Put simply, people's beliefs about reality provide a buffer against the anxiety that results from living in a largely uncontrollable, perilous universe, where the only certainty is death.

...

A recent paper by the biologist Janis L Dickinson, published in the journal Ecology and Society, proposes that constant news and discussion about global warming makes it difficult for people to repress thoughts of death, and that they might respond to the terrifying prospect of climate breakdown in ways that strengthen their character armour but diminish our chances of survival. There is already experimental evidence suggesting that some people respond to reminders of death by increasing consumption. Dickinson proposes that growing evidence of climate change might boost this tendency, as well as raising antagonism towards scientists and environmentalists. Our message, after all, presents a lethal threat to the central immortality project of Western society: perpetual economic growth, supported by an ideology of entitlement and exceptionalism.
(Convergence - Fear of Death Syndrome, emphasis added). Publishers are very aware of the lizard brain mechanisms which trigger mobs with pitch forks and other ugly behavior.

That is probably why the article about fires in the interior of Alaska ends with a comment from the editor:
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of Science Daily or its staff.
(ibid). The chicken little club of the world has subconsciously formed the united states of fear, fed voraciously by the fear mongers in the united states of war, who have a stronger lizard brain mechanism than the fear of death: denial.

6 comments:

  1. The tax cut debate has already shifted to extending unemployment benefits, so it's safe to say the dems were owned yet once again. They will almost certainly be extended beyond 2012, so it's also safe to say that the Repube/Tea Bag president that takes office then will make them permanent. On the plus side, maybe they'll even raise taxes for the little people so that we can feel like we're doing our part to help the rich.

    Ahh, climate change. What can you say? We're even further away from a solution now than we were in 2000, when the issue was at least honestly on the table. Thanks to good Rebube Senators like Tom Coburn and Jim Inhofe - both not surprisingly from that fine bastion of mid-american values, Oklahoma - we can count on being even further away from a solution this time in 2020.

    Unfortunately, you can't legislate against stupidity and bull-headedness, although both traits usually make it into legislation themselves. What are you gonna do?

    Here's a thought, maybe Obama will trade Social Security and Unemployment benefits for just 1 Repube admitting that climate change just might have some basis in fact, provided we study it for another 50 years first. That sounds like a deal he might make, although I'm sure the Repubes would demand something more in return, maybe tax rates to zero for all income of those making more than $250K.

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  2. The ascent of the lizard brain slithers on.

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  3. Speaking of "more than previously thought", some of the WiggyLeaks indicate that diplomats of the U.S.A. tried to sabotage, in any way, the climate talks which were the predecessors to Cancun.

    So, we can surmise that even as we speak the U.S.A. is trying to sabotage Cancun while paying lip service to trying to avoid the destruction of civilization.

    WiggyLeaks

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  4. Better watch out Dredd, before all of this is over even mentioning the word WikiLeaks will get you arrested and housed at Gitmo.

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  5. I want a cell with a nice view of the Caribbean, with good neighbors in the cells next door, plus a 'puter to blog wid ...

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  6. Four Scenarios for the End of the American Century by 2025

    By Alfred W. McCoy

    Ever the optimist, I'm still sticking with 2020 though. We can do it if we just keep focused! Go team!

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