[extropy-chat] global warming, with ice

[spike]

> bounces at lists.extropy.org] On Behalf Of Damien Broderick
...
> 
> > >Perhaps the hothouse skeptics will have a view on this report?
> >
...
> it's anthropogenic is another matter. Spike's recent posts suggested
> that at least some such claims of warming are probably bogus...

Ja, and I do wish to make it clear that I am convinced that the planet's
average temperature is climbing, and that human activity might well be a
part of the cause.  The main point of my earlier posts are that the sea
level hasn't yet changed much as a result.  The sinking islands were a
result of plate tectonics.  Blaming that on global warming does a lot of
damage to the Kyoto treaty crowd.

I can easily imagine the scenario where the arctic polar ice disappears
completely in the summer, which of course is bad news indeed for polar
bears.  We could move a few of them to Antarctica, but of course this would
be bad news for the penguins.  If you haven't seen the 2005 film March of
the Penguins, that is a good one.  Hollywood should be doing more of this
sort of thing.

...
> 
> Robert's response was (by contrast, I think) that yeah, it's
> happening, and woo hoo! Profits to be made from it!

Seems to me it should be possible to warm the poles while simultaneously
cool the equator if we get smart about it.  We should be able to dampen the
deserts and dry the tropics a bit, make it all more comfortable for humans.


> My pal Gregory
> Benford, meanwhile, is desperately looking for technological (rather
> than moralizing and finger-pointing luddite) methods to mitigate the
> damage. Damien Broderick


Damien, it would be interesting to talk to Benford and see what is his
vision of the future of the planet.  My own vision has the planet being
inhabited by humans everywhere, far more densely than it is now.  Large
carnivores are toast in the long run.  In that view, there is no real point
is going to extraordinary lengths to save polar bears, for they pose a
danger to humans, who will eventually inhabit the northern extremes of North
America and Siberia.  I can see those regions being very important for human
habitation in a warming planet.

spike