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The Forum > Article Comments > Climate of hunger > Comments

Climate of hunger : Comments

By Julian Cribb, published 27/11/2012

We are now looking down the barrel at climate-induced economic shocks that will make the GFC look like a hiccup.

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For once somebody is talking about how near we are to tipping points. This is not something to put off until some politically convenient time.

We are dangerously close to the point where plants breathe in oxygen and emit carbon. Will food be edible in that form? Should we destroy all our crops because they compete with us for air?

In the last few years, food prices on certain items have rocketed. Partly because we like to eat unseasonal food from other regions, adding to transport costs and therefore carbon emissions.

Another reason is that the duopoly has taken advantage of the odd cyclone to inflate all food costs from every region.

The main reason however, is because unseasonal cool weather has slowed growth, droughts have caused crop failures and flooding has washed away whole areas of food production.

Nobody wants to say it but peak oil happened some time back and that is why we have such a surge in oil prices. To admit that would create mass panic. What that means to the average person is a lack of everything we take for granted including food.

Self-sufficiency may not be the answer either, because if the weather does not allow food to grow we will still fall short.

We need to get serious about the issue of food security in Australia, instead of arguing about whether climate change is happening and is anthropogenic. Less than 2% of the Earth’s water is potable and much of that is polluted. We have toxic plantation trees in our water catchments, chemical sprays in water tables and CSG, which is rapidly poising what little water we have left. When the water runs out, you have only days to live. As water is essential for food production, even if you have some water in the tank, the food will run out and you have weeks.

Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) is another warning sign. Bees are responsible for two-thirds of what you eat. They are dying en-masse globally. To quote Einstein “When the bees die man has 4-years to live” Mathematics again… funny that.
Posted by David Leigh, Tuesday, 27 November 2012 6:18:44 PM
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David Leigh says:

"We are dangerously close to the point where plants breathe in oxygen and emit carbon. Will food be edible in that form? Should we destroy all our crops because they compete with us for air?"

That would only be fair; I've seen plenty of humans, especially pro-AGW advocates, impersonating vegetables.
Posted by cohenite, Tuesday, 27 November 2012 7:12:08 PM
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cohenite et al,

http://theconversation.edu.au/straw-man-science-keeping-climate-simple-10782

"Straw man climate science is like real climate science, but without all the annoying science."
Posted by Poirot, Tuesday, 27 November 2012 11:36:37 PM
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>>We are dangerously close to the point where plants breathe in oxygen and emit carbon.<<

No we're not: plants have been aerobically respiring since before we climbed down from the trees - let alone started releasing lots of CO2. Although technically they don't really breathe unless they're Triffids.

Looks like it's not just the deniers who aren't all that fussed with all that annoying science.

Cheers,

Tony
Posted by Tony Lavis, Wednesday, 28 November 2012 3:10:07 AM
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There is some argument about sea level rise at the Port Arthur tide mark.
Since 1888 according to one measurement by Commander J Short RN;
He found the mark to be 34cm above sea level - only 2½ cm different to its current position.;

The sea has risen 0.3 mm per year since 1888.

For what it is worth;

http://www.john-daly.com/deadisle/index.htm
Posted by Bazz, Wednesday, 28 November 2012 7:35:07 AM
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Julian is right.,
The latest research shows that Global warming is vicious circle producing a catastrophic thawing of the artic permafrost and Methane emissions.
Human-induced emissions now appear to have warmed the Arctic enough to unlock this vast carbon bank, with stark implications for international efforts to hold global warming to a safe level. Ancient forests locked under ice tens of thousands of years ago are beginning to melt and rot, releasing vast amounts of greenhouse gases into the air.
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The report estimates the greenhouse gases leaking from the thawing Arctic will eventually add more to emissions than last year's combined carbon output of the US and Europe – a statistic which means present global plans to hold climate change to an average 2degree temperature rise this century are now likely to be much more difficult.
Until very recently permafrost was thought to have been melting too slowly to make a meaningful difference to temperatures this century, so it was left out of the Kyoto Protocol, and ignored by many climate change models.
"Permafrost emissions could ultimately account for up to 39 per cent of total emissions," said the report's lead author, Kevin Schaefer, of the University of Colorado, who presented it at climate negotiations in Doha, Qatar. "This must be factored in to treaty negotiations expected to replace the Kyoto Protocol."
What isn't known is the precise rate and scale of the melt, and that is being tackled in a remarkable NASA experiment that hardly anyone has heard of, but which could prove to be one of the most crucial pieces of scientific field work undertaken this century.
Posted by PEST, Wednesday, 28 November 2012 9:33:37 AM
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