Climate change may cause some economic damage, and some coastal cities will have to invest in new infrastructure (dams, levies, pumps, etc.), but human species won't be going extinct because of 5-10 degree temperature rise, that's just silly. Even if all of the ice melts everywhere, the total habitable global land area will probably stay roughly the same, since right now we have a huge chunk of our surface either completely too cold for human habitation or locked in ice. Nowadays the global average temperature is around 58F, which is entirely too cold regardless, causing most of the humans to live in a narrow habitable band between ~55 degree north and ~55 degree south latitudes.
How about those pesky darn emerging tropical diseases which come with a warmer, wetter climate?
Vaccines.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mhays
Of course no human extinction. Just famines, mass migration on a level we've never seen before, resulting wars and instability...
Most countries aren't the US where we have a variety of climates to choose from and can probably grow enough food for ourselves regardless.
It's weird that this is a debate. In much of the world people are fighting this and starting to get ready for the effects. Here, the industry stooges are keeping us arguing about whether a threat exists.
United States, even under Trump, is reducing our CO2 emissions at a faster rate than any other country in the world outside of Europe. Canadians are actually polluting more than us now on a per capita basis. Japanese are pretty much doing nothing. And I am not even talking about the biggest polluters like India and China. We are at the point where we are not even the main contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions anymore. Even if magically the whole United States were to produce 0 greenhouse gas emissions tomorrow, that would only cause a reduction of around 15% from the global levels.
Oh, damn. I'm out of a job then. Well, it's been a good 21-year run for me studying tropical medicine and environmental health.
Actually, no. You're fucking wrong.
The reason why some tropical diseases do not get figured out is because there is no money in it. If any diseases start affecting first world countries in any big numbers, they will get figured out.
According to Rau (2007), the death peaks in the winter are linked to three main causes of death which are cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and respiratory diseases. The latter group has the strongest seasonal pattern among all major groups of causes of death (Rau 2007). Cold temperatures have a physiological impact on the human body, and cold temperatures combined with low relative humidity rates are ideal for influenza virus transmission (Lowen et al. 2007). Furthermore, winter brings about behavioural changes that exacerbate respiratory ailments. People are more likely to congregate in heated houses, which increases the risk of droplet transmission of infectious agents (Evans 1991; Glezen and Couch 1997).
Its the combined global average temperature. The average temperature you would experience if you were to randomly get teleported to any point on our planet. All the hot desert, moderate climate, and cold tundra areas average out to around 58F degrees.
Its the combined global average temperature. The average temperature you would experience if you were to randomly get teleported to any point on our planet. All the hot desert, moderate climate, and cold tundra areas average out to around 58F degrees.
Yeah, and that does not correlate with what most humans feel comfortable living in, within the certain latitudes you suggest. It's not like "oohh, it's a little chilly for me. We need to get that global average temp up to at least 65".
Yeah, and that does not correlate with what most humans feel comfortable living in, within the certain latitudes you suggest. It's not like "oohh, it's a little chilly for me. We need to get that global average temp up to at least 65".
That's not how it works.
Just look where the most humans live. The majority of humans live within the band I mentioned. What is even more interesting is that half of all human population actually lives in a narrow band 24 degrees from the Equator.
As the global temperature rises, much more areas will be opened up for *comfortable* human habitation.
Just look where the most humans live. The majority of humans live within the band I mentioned. What is even more interesting is that half of all human population actually lives in a narrow band 24 degrees from the Equator.
As the global temperature rises, much more areas will be opened up for *comfortable* human habitation.
You do realize that 30 degrees from the equator encompasses half of the solid angle of a sphere?
__________________
And here the air that I breathe isn't dead.
You do realize that 30 degrees from the equator encompasses half of the solid angle of a sphere?
Again, my claim is that there is huge amount of surface area that is too cold for human habitation. I realize it is not the majority of the surface, but it is enough to offset the area lost due to rising sea levels elsewhere.
Just look where the most humans live. The majority of humans live within the band I mentioned. What is even more interesting is that half of all human population actually lives in a narrow band 24 degrees from the Equator.
As the global temperature rises, much more areas will be opened up for *comfortable* human habitation.
We don't know if that's how it would work with an overall warming planet. Based on what's already occurring, it's not proportional increase across the globe. It's more likely significant increases at the poles and equator.
Hybrid Mode