Senator: God Will Not Save Us From Climate Catastrophe

[Lakhota]

WASHINGTON -- God will not save us, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) declared in a Senate floor speech on climate change Wednesday that sounded more like a sermon than a political appeal.

Whitehouse has made it his personal mission for more than a year to highlight the catastrophic consequences of climate change every week. His zeal became downright evangelical Wednesday evening, apparently inspired by hearing a fellow senator assert that God won't let people ruin the planet.

In a powerful 17-minute speech, Whitehouse argued that such sentiments amounted to "magical thinking" and smug arrogance that do not gibe with the Bible, let alone reason.

"If we believe in an all-powerful God, then we must then believe that God gave us this earth, and we must in turn believe that God gave us its laws of gravity, of chemistry, of physics," Whitehouse said.

"We must also believe that God gave us our human powers of intellect and reason. He gives us these powers so that we his children can learn and understand earth's natural laws," Whitehouse said.

What intellect tells people is that they are polluting the planet and causing it to warm with foreseeable, catastrophic consequences, Whitehouse contended. He said it was senseless to ignore what the God of knowledge has enabled people to learn.

More: Sheldon Whitehouse: God Won't Save Us From Climate Catastrophe - By Michael McAuliff

Only humankind can save us from the climate catastrophe heading our way - if it isn't too late. More people need to wake up.

 

[Steelplate]

Unless he does. But God helps those who help themselves.... and by help themselves....I don't mean in the financial sense....I mean in the common good sense.

 

[ABikerSailor]

You're right......................mankind is supposed to take care of their Mother (known in some circles as Gaia), and we're supposed to be stewards of the Earth.

How pissed is God gonna be when He sees what we've done to His bride?

I thought the Christian conservatives would have picked up on that?

 

[Steelplate]

You're right......................mankind is supposed to take care of their Mother (known in some circles as Gaia), and we're supposed to be stewards of the Earth.

How pissed is God gonna be when He sees what we've done to His bride?

I thought the Christian conservatives would have picked up on that?

Oh....he knows...wait till the Ogallala Aquifer dries up. Experts say it's got about 25 years...Lake Mead between 10-15....at current rates of consumption.

The whole Midwest will be a freaking desert and We'll be the ones asking the world for food.

 

[HUGGY]

You're right......................mankind is supposed to take care of their Mother (known in some circles as Gaia), and we're supposed to be stewards of the Earth.

How pissed is God gonna be when He sees what we've done to His bride?

I thought the Christian conservatives would have picked up on that?

Oh....he knows...wait till the Ogallala Aquifer dries up. Experts say it's got about 25 years...Lake Mead between 10-15....at current rates of consumption.

The whole Midwest will be a freaking desert and We'll be the ones asking the world for food.

Naw... the butt hurt right wing Christian extremists will just be prompted by thier spokespersons like Limbagh to blame it on the homosexuals getting married.

 

[Steelplate]

You're right......................mankind is supposed to take care of their Mother (known in some circles as Gaia), and we're supposed to be stewards of the Earth.

How pissed is God gonna be when He sees what we've done to His bride?

I thought the Christian conservatives would have picked up on that?

Oh....he knows...wait till the Ogallala Aquifer dries up. Experts say it's got about 25 years...Lake Mead between 10-15....at current rates of consumption.

The whole Midwest will be a freaking desert and We'll be the ones asking the world for food.

Naw... the butt hurt right wing Christian extremists will just be prompted by thier spokespersons like Limbagh to blame it on the homosexuals getting married.

Yeah...no shit...that, and all the abortions by welfare queen lesbian mothers.

 

[TemplarKormac]

I love how you guys have been preaching "climate catastrophe" for the past 40 years... and nothing of the sort has happened. Nobody's dead, the world isn't irreparably changed, the human race still exists. It doesn't occur to you in the slightest that you are being had big time. I can pull up the Himalayan glaciers incident, and the Dome C and Vostok Ice Core data right now, which will blow all of this AGW crap to kingdom come.

On the other hand, maybe I should exit this Liberal clusterfuck before someone accuses me of using facts.

 

[aaronleland]

Hope it works better than Rick Perry's idea to pray wildfires away.

 

[Wyatt earp]

WASHINGTON -- God will not save us, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) declared in a Senate floor speech on climate change Wednesday that sounded more like a sermon than a political appeal.

Whitehouse has made it his personal mission for more than a year to highlight the catastrophic consequences of climate change every week. His zeal became downright evangelical Wednesday evening, apparently inspired by hearing a fellow senator assert that God won't let people ruin the planet.

In a powerful 17-minute speech, Whitehouse argued that such sentiments amounted to "magical thinking" and smug arrogance that do not gibe with the Bible, let alone reason.

"If we believe in an all-powerful God, then we must then believe that God gave us this earth, and we must in turn believe that God gave us its laws of gravity, of chemistry, of physics," Whitehouse said.

"We must also believe that God gave us our human powers of intellect and reason. He gives us these powers so that we his children can learn and understand earth's natural laws," Whitehouse said.

What intellect tells people is that they are polluting the planet and causing it to warm with foreseeable, catastrophic consequences, Whitehouse contended. He said it was senseless to ignore what the God of knowledge has enabled people to learn.

More: Sheldon Whitehouse: God Won't Save Us From Climate Catastrophe - By Michael McAuliff

Only humankind can save us from the climate catastrophe heading our way - if it isn't too late. More people need to wake up.

Lmao..... thanks for the mourning joke.

 

[FJO]

If Senator Shithouse is worried about spoiling the air with CO2 he should set a good example and stop breathing.

 

[Old Rocks]

AGU Position Statement: Human Impacts on Climate

Human Impacts on Climate

Adopted by Council December 2003
Revised and Reaffirmed December 2007

The Earth's climate is now clearly out of balance and is warming. Many components of the climate system—including the temperatures of the atmosphere, land and ocean, the extent of sea ice and mountain glaciers, the sea level, the distribution of precipitation, and the length of seasons—are now changing at rates and in patterns that are not natural and are best explained by the increased atmospheric abundances of greenhouse gases and aerosols generated by human activity during the 20th century. Global average surface temperatures increased on average by about 0.6°C over the period 1956–2006. As of 2006, eleven of the previous twelve years were warmer than any others since 1850. The observed rapid retreat of Arctic sea ice is expected to continue and lead to the disappearance of summertime ice within this century. Evidence from most oceans and all continents except Antarctica shows warming attributable to human activities. Recent changes in many physical and biological systems are linked with this regional climate change. A sustained research effort, involving many AGU members and summarized in the 2007 assessments of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, continues to improve our scientific understanding of the climate.

During recent millennia of relatively stable climate, civilization became established and populations have grown rapidly. In the next 50 years, even the lower limit of impending climate change—an additional global mean warming of 1°C above the last decade—is far beyond the range of climate variability experienced during the past thousand years and poses global problems in planning for and adapting to it. Warming greater than 2°C above 19th century levels is projected to be disruptive, reducing global agricultural productivity, causing widespread loss of biodiversity, and—if sustained over centuries—melting much of the Greenland ice sheet with ensuing rise in sea level of several meters. If this 2°C warming is to be avoided, then our net annual emissions of CO2 must be reduced by more than 50 percent within this century. With such projections, there are many sources of scientific uncertainty, but none are known that could make the impact of climate change inconsequential. Given the uncertainty in climate projections, there can be surprises that may cause more dramatic disruptions than anticipated from the most probable model projections.

With climate change, as with ozone depletion, the human footprint on Earth is apparent. The cause of disruptive climate change, unlike ozone depletion, is tied to energy use and runs through modern society. Solutions will necessarily involve all aspects of society. Mitigation strategies and adaptation responses will call for collaborations across science, technology, industry, and government. Members of the AGU, as part of the scientific community, collectively have special responsibilities: to pursue research needed to understand it; to educate the public on the causes, risks, and hazards; and to communicate clearly and objectively with those who can implement policies to shape future climate.

 

[Old Rocks]

The Geological Society of America - Position Statement on Climate Change

Climate Change

Adopted in October 2006; revised April 2010; March 2013


Position Statement
Decades of scientific research have shown that climate can change from both natural and anthropogenic causes. The Geological Society of America (GSA) concurs with assessments by the National Academies of Science (2005), the National Research Council (2011), and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2007) that global climate has warmed and that human activities (mainly greenhouse-gas emissions) account for most of the warming since the middle 1900s. If current trends continue, the projected increase in global temperature by the end of the twenty-first century will result in significant impacts on humans and other species. Addressing the challenges posed by climate change will require a combination of adaptation to the changes that are likely to occur and global reductions of CO2 emissions from anthropogenic sources.

Purpose
This position statement (1) summarizes the strengthened basis for the conclusion that humans are a major factor responsible for recent global warming; (2) describes the significant effects on humans and ecosystems as greenhouse-gas concentrations and global climate reach projected levels; and (3) provides information for policy decisions guiding mitigation and adaptation strategies designed to address the future impacts of anthropogenic warming.

 

[Old Rocks]

Global Climate Change Position Statement

Careful and comprehensive scientific assessments have clearly demonstrated that the Earth’s climate system is changing in response to growing atmospheric burdens of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and absorbing aerosol particles.” (IPCC, 2007) “Climate change is occurring, is caused largely by human activities, and poses significant risks for—and in many cases is already affecting—a broad range of human and natural systems.” (NRC, 2010a) “The potential threats are serious and actions are required to mitigate climate change risks and to adapt to deleterious climate change impacts that probably cannot be avoided.” (NRC, 2010b, c)

This statement reviews key probable climate change impacts and recommends actions required to mitigate or adapt to current and anticipated consequences.

 

[Old Rocks]

2012 AMS Information Statement on Climate Change

The following is an AMS Information Statement intended to provide a trustworthy, objective, and scientifically up-to-date explanation of scientific issues of concern to the public at large.

Background

This statement provides a brief overview of how and why global climate has changed over the past century and will continue to change in the future. It is based on the peer-reviewed scientific literature and is consistent with the vast weight of current scientific understanding as expressed in assessments and reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and the U.S. Global Change Research Program. Although the statement has been drafted in the context of concerns in the United States, the underlying issues are inherently global in nature.


How is climate changing?

Warming of the climate system now is unequivocal, according to many different kinds of evidence. Observations show increases in globally averaged air and ocean temperatures, as well as widespread melting of snow and ice and rising globally averaged sea level. Surface temperature data for Earth as a whole, including readings over both land and ocean, show an increase of about 0.8°C (1.4°F) over the period 1901─2010 and about 0.5°C (0.9°F) over the period 1979–2010 (the era for which satellite-based temperature data are routinely available). Due to natural variability, not every year is warmer than the preceding year globally. Nevertheless, all of the 10 warmest years in the global temperature records up to 2011 have occurred since 1997, with 2005 and 2010 being the warmest two years in more than a century of global records. The warming trend is greatest in northern high latitudes and over land. In the U.S., most of the observed warming has occurred in the West and in Alaska; for the nation as a whole, there have been twice as many record daily high temperatures as record daily low temperatures in the first decade of the 21st century.

The effects of this warming are especially evident in the planet’s polar regions. Arctic sea ice extent and volume have been decreasing for the past several decades. Both the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have lost significant amounts of ice. Most of the world’s glaciers are in retreat.

Other changes, globally and in the U.S., are also occurring at the same time. The amount of rain falling in very heavy precipitation events (the heaviest 1% of all precipitation events) has increased over the last 50 years throughout the U.S. Freezing levels are rising in elevation, with rain occurring more frequently instead of snow at mid-elevations of western mountains. Spring maximum snowpack is decreasing, snowmelt occurs earlier, and the spring runoff that supplies over two-thirds of western U.S. streamflow is reduced. Evidence for warming is also observed in seasonal changes across many areas, including earlier springs, longer frost-free periods, longer growing seasons, and shifts in natural habitats and in migratory patterns of birds and insects.

 

[TakeAStepBack]

Climate scientists struggle to explain warming slowdown | Reuters

Often focused on century-long trends, most climate models failed to predict that the temperature rise would slow, starting around 2000. Scientists are now intent on figuring out the causes and determining whether the respite will be brief or a more lasting phenomenon.

Getting this right is essential for the short and long-term planning of governments and businesses ranging from energy to construction, from agriculture to insurance. Many scientists say they expect a revival of warming in coming years.

Theories for the pause include that deep oceans have taken up more heat with the result that the surface is cooler than expected, that industrial pollution in Asia or clouds are blocking the sun, or that greenhouse gases trap less heat than previously believed.

The change may be a result of an observed decline in heat-trapping water vapor in the high atmosphere, for unknown reasons. It could be a combination of factors or some as yet unknown natural variations, scientists say.

Weak economic growth and the pause in warming is undermining governments' willingness to make a rapid billion-dollar shift from fossil fuels. Almost 200 governments have agreed to work out a plan by the end of 2015 to combat global warming.

"The climate system is not quite so simple as people thought," said Bjorn Lomborg, a Danish statistician and author of "The Skeptical Environmentalist" who estimates that moderate warming will be beneficial for crop growth and human health.

 

[Old Rocks]

Now I could go on and post many, many more statements from various Scientific Societies on the effects already observed from the warming we are experiancing from increasing the GHGs in the atmosphere. Swiss Re and Munich Re, two of the largest re-insurance companies in the world state that there has been an increase in extreme weather events by a factor of two or three over the last 40 years. The Arctic Ice will almost certainly be gone for part of the summer by 2020. Ice is melting off of Greenland and Antarctica by the giga-ton annually. These are observations, not models, it is happening right now.

Yet we still have those that continue to state nothing is changing. And continue to lie about the actual observed data. Senator Inhofe is one of the worst.

Yes, the real scientists are worried. Around 2000, scientists were being called 'alarmist' for predicting that the Arctic Ice would be gone for part of the summer by 2100. And they were definately wrong. Looks like it will be gone by 2020, perhaps even sooner. Dr. James Hansen published a book called Storms of my Grandchildren. Swiss Re and Munich Re state that he was wrong, also. The storms did not wait for our grandchildren, they have already started.

We really don't know just how the changing climate is going to affect each region. We are into an unkown area, and betting the whole farm that it won't be serious.

 

[TakeAStepBack]

 

[Katzndogz]

Those who believe in climate change should be pitied. What would they have done with the midwest dust bowl days?

 

[Old Rocks]

Climate scientists struggle to explain warming slowdown | Reuters

Often focused on century-long trends, most climate models failed to predict that the temperature rise would slow, starting around 2000. Scientists are now intent on figuring out the causes and determining whether the respite will be brief or a more lasting phenomenon.

Getting this right is essential for the short and long-term planning of governments and businesses ranging from energy to construction, from agriculture to insurance. Many scientists say they expect a revival of warming in coming years.

Theories for the pause include that deep oceans have taken up more heat with the result that the surface is cooler than expected, that industrial pollution in Asia or clouds are blocking the sun, or that greenhouse gases trap less heat than previously believed.

The change may be a result of an observed decline in heat-trapping water vapor in the high atmosphere, for unknown reasons. It could be a combination of factors or some as yet unknown natural variations, scientists say.

Weak economic growth and the pause in warming is undermining governments' willingness to make a rapid billion-dollar shift from fossil fuels. Almost 200 governments have agreed to work out a plan by the end of 2015 to combat global warming.

"The climate system is not quite so simple as people thought," said Bjorn Lomborg, a Danish statistician and author of "The Skeptical Environmentalist" who estimates that moderate warming will be beneficial for crop growth and human health.

Go ahead and laugh your stupid ignorant ass off.

The scientists are not struggling to explain the why of the current pause in warming. Instead, they are at a loss to explain why it is not cooling, instead of just a pause in the warming.

India and China have been putting out major aerosols into the air, reflecting incoming sunlight. That was part of the reason for the cooling we experiance in the '70s. And when we, the US and Europe, cleaned up our act, it really warmed quickly.

We have had a series of strong La Nina's since the super El Nino of 1998. Yet we have twice matched the heat of 1998 on the back of a weak El Nino. And our strong El Nino years have been warm, not cold, as they should be.

There has been a small drop in the Total Solar Irradiance, the amount of energy we get from the sun. According to past history, this should, on it's own, resulted in colder years. It has not.

The last decade has been the hottest on record. In fact, something like 13 of the warmest years on record have been in the last fifeteen years. Yet you ignorant asses trumpet the fact that we have had on two years like 1998 in that period as if it indicated that the warming has stopped.

 

[TakeAStepBack]