Thread: Breath Of A Nation - [CO2 Emissions, U.S.A.]

YouTube - 'Revolutionary' CO2 maps zoom in on greenhouse gas sources

Its really amazing to look at.

Scientists Unveil High-Res Map of the U.S. Carbon Footprint | Wired Science from Wired.com
The Vulcan Project | Home
Ten Takeaways from the Bali Climate Change Summit | Wired Science from Wired.com

They really are right. The world really is waiting for the new administration. If a Democrat is elected we might actually get something done as opposed to the current administration (and those seeking election who support its policy's blindly) who... well WIRED says it better...

The US, especially under the present administration, is loathe to do anything that might hurt the oil, gas, and coal industries. That means the US objects to all binding caps on greenhouse gas emissions. Their alternative argument is that reducing emissions to the level many scientists think is necessary is actually impossible, so we shouldn't really try.

I lol'd.

just curious, that carbon map of the States looks very imbalanced... why does the East Coast spew out so much more than the West Coast ?

honestly, even if we don't manage to prevent global warming, i don't get why people are arguing against saving energy and cutting down pollutants. people die from air pollution. plus it sucks living in a smog (one of the reasons i dislike visiting H.K.).

Pretty much I can sum up most of my thoughts on this in a simple video from 2.

2 Gryphon - Global Warming (Curse Heavy/Bible Throwing)

Quote for those who can't watch the video:

You don't have to believe in Global Warming. The only thing we'd be left with is cleaner air, more fuel efficient vehicles, and water that doesn't mutate your children. Is there anything wrong with that? The Earth is the only place we have to live in, and if there's even a chance it could be in danger, don't you think that something we should all be concerned about no matter what you believe?

Originally Posted by echoblaze

just curious, that carbon map of the States looks very imbalanced... why does the East Coast spew out so much more than the West Coast ?

Because the East Coast (Northeast, Southeast, and South) has roughtly 3/4 of the American population. The American West is very sparsely populated in comparison to everything east of Texas. More people in higher density = More "spew"

Originally Posted by Terasiel

Pretty much I can sum up most of my thoughts on this in a simple video from 2.

2 Gryphon - Global Warming (Curse Heavy/Bible Throwing)

Quote for those who can't watch the video:

Very, very true.

This is why, though I don't believe in Global Warming, I wholeheartedly support many of the measures proposed(with a few exceptions).

I just don't like the alarmist doomsday posturing and rhetoric that many couch these otherwise sensible beliefs in. That, and that some few of the plans are seem to have more passion than substance to them(corn ethanol for example).

Of course, I, like most here, am by no means an expert in this field.

Originally Posted by Terasiel

Pretty much I can sum up most of my thoughts on this in a simple video from 2.

2 Gryphon - Global Warming (Curse Heavy/Bible Throwing)

lol "you see that little cute bunny hopping around in your backyeard ON FIRE"

That shit was hilarious.

Originally Posted by Jakko

Very, very true.

This is why, though I don't believe in Global Warming, I wholeheartedly support many of the measures proposed(with a few exceptions).

I just don't like the alarmist doomsday posturing and rhetoric that many couch these otherwise sensible beliefs in. That, and that some few of the plans are seem to have more passion than substance to them(corn ethanol for example).

Of course, I, like most here, am by no means an expert in this field.

When I was a kid I kept hearing this statistic, that the American Midwest is the most bountiful source of food on this planet and it could only fall second to the fields of Russia. The only problem is even though we could theoretically feed 2/3 of the world with our grain we're just too fucking wasteful. So everytime I hear corn ethanol I don't balk because somewhere I know its probably possible. Imagine that. Fucking the food industry, fucking the oil industry, and the United States and Russia teaming up to ramp production up to the max and feeding the majority of the world whilst simultaneously providing renewable energy...

Steal you really should bother getting some facts at least straight.

Global warming = Crock. Bullshit. Unfounded. The earth naturally goes through hot and cold cycles, we've had evidence of global warming back before even the Industrial revolution. Eventually the world will go through a magnetic reversal as well, are you going to try to tell me that humans caused it XXX years in the future?

Corn Ethanol = Also a crock. Did you know it takes almost as much energy to produce it as you would get out of using it? The long term potential of Corn ethanol is -quite literally- nonexistent. Do you think we're using more or less power than we were 10 years ago? Its barely efficient as it is now.

Its something like 1:1.5 ratio for the amount of energy it takes to make ethanol compared to how much energy you'll get out of it - and thats before you take transport costs into account.

Whereas its like 1:8 ratio for the amount of energy it takes to make oil compared to how much energy you'll get out of it - again before you take transport costs into account

(In case your semi-literate I'll fill in the blanks for you. Oil is. Much. Much. better)

The reason we use oil, despite the shit being fucking expensive and with a relatively limited supply is because its goddamn amazingly efficient in terms of everything but exhaust gasses.

We already use about 10 percent of our corn crop to displace less than three percent of our gasoline needs.

If we used 100% of our corn crop to produce fuels it would not even account for 1/3rd our fuel usage. Not even 33%. It would account for about 29%

When I was a kid I kept hearing this statistic, that the American Midwest is the most bountiful source of food on this planet and it could only fall second to the fields of Russia.

Going to ignore the rest of your statement because your statistic is wrong. It would've fed 2/3rds of the people on the planet... more than 50 years ago. Theres a few more of us now. Your teachers are spouting what they learned in school, it was a bit different back then.

Originally Posted by martyr3810

Global warming = Crock. Bullshit. Unfounded. The earth naturally goes through hot and cold cycles, we've had evidence of global warming back before even the Industrial revolution. Eventually the world will go through a magnetic reversal as well, are you going to try to tell me that humans caused it XXX years in the future?

Corn Ethanol = Also a crock. Did you know it takes almost as much energy to produce it as you would get out of using it? The long term potential of Corn ethanol is -quite literally- nonexistent. Do you think we're using more or less power than we were 10 years ago? Its barely efficient as it is now.

Global warming is real, even if it's not presently clear exactly what it will entail.
We are still coming out off the last big ice age, but the recent changes are still too quick to account for that. Things like increased extreme weather events and melting ice shelves are far too accelerated to be natural.

I do agree about corn ethanol though, that's just a crap idea. At best, we might be able to use something like GM switchgrass. Best short term solution would be nuclear while at the same time investigating other sources of energy, but the US has battered child syndrome when it comes to nuclear so that's really looking very likely.

None of it matters without first controlling population growth though, and that doesn't seem likely to happen anytime soon. Even when people have to eat dirt like in Haiti, the population somehow still manages to grow.

Sorry, let me clarify.

Human emissions being the cause of global warming is a crock.

I'm not saying Global warming isn't real, just that its not our fault and theres not a damn thing we can do about it. The world naturally goes through heating and cooling cycles (At least we're around for the warming part not the cooling part... ice age anyone?). Thought I made that plain above but I guess not. For the same reason that eventually the Earth will have a magnetic shift in the future (far future).... and theres not a damn thing we can do about it.

None of it matters without first controlling population growth though, and that doesn't seem likely to happen anytime soon. Even when people have to eat dirt like in Haiti, the population somehow still manages to grow.

The convergent improvements in medical technology as well as lifestyle choices makes food slightly less important than it was. I imagine we've almost hit the zenith for what we can support though (unless of course technology makes significant gains).