Bryan Walsh at TIME magazine just does not get it

If you happened to walk into the Temple of Earth in Beijing — the nearly 500-year-old monument where Chinese emperors once prayed for good harvests — on Aug. 28, you would have noticed a steady drip. The environmental group Greenpeace placed ice sculptures of 100 children — made of the glacial meltwater that feeds China's great rivers — inside the temple to symbolize the risk that climate change and disappearing ice poses to the 1 billion–plus people in Asia who are threatened by water shortages.

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But there was another side to that symbolism. Friday marked 100 days before the beginning of this year's U.N. climate-change summit, to be held in Copenhagen, which is emerging as the world's last good chance to craft a new global-warming deal. With time running out, global negotiators still seem far apart, and there's a growing fear that the world could fumble the opportunity. "Negotiations are moving much more slowly than they need to be," says Alden Meyer, director of strategy and policy at the Union of Concerned Scientists and a veteran of past climate talks. "If we're going to get a climate deal by Copenhagen, we're going to need political will injected into the process — not just rhetoric."
(Read "Can Steven Chu Win the Fight Over Global Warming?")

Rhetoric is one thing that the stop-and-start global diplomacy over climate change has never lacked. It's the strength of political principle that has been the truly threatened resource. For eight years, that was largely the fault of the U.S. Under former President George W. Bush, U.S. diplomats played an obstructionist role in climate-change talks, and even before Bush's arrival, the country failed to ratify the Kyoto Protocol — the international treaty intended to curb global warming. The U.S. Senate rejected the pact by a cool 95-0, and Bush later pulled it off the table for future consideration.

But with the election of President Barack Obama, who has made climate change one of his priorities, there was hope that the path could be cleared to a more equitable and effective global-warming deal. The timing is right — Kyoto expires in 2012, which means that a replacement treaty needs to be in place soon.
(Read a Q&A with Yvo de Boer, the "Flying Dutchman" of climate change.)

With little more than three months till the U.N. summit, however, things are in doubt. To be sure, the Obama Administration is pushing for a global-warming deal, and a cap-and-trade bill that was passed by the House and is now up for debate in the Senate would finally commit the U.S. to real carbon reductions. But under the new law — if it passes — U.S. emissions would fall only 13% from 1990 levels by 2020. The European Union, meanwhile, has pledged to make cuts of 20% from 1990 levels by 2020, meaning there is still considerable daylight between what seems politically feasible in the U.S. and E.U. And while governments at last month's G-8 meeting pledged to keep the global-temperature increase from climate change to 3.6°F (2°C) or less, that would require emissions cuts from developed nations of as much as 40% by 2020. No leader in the world seems willing to go that far. "There's no doubt we can and should be doing more," says Meyer.

Deeper divisions exist between the developed and developing world. Under the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) — the highly acronymized organization that oversees climate diplomacy — rich and poor nations have what is called "common but differentiated responsibilities" on cutting carbon. Decoded, that means rich nations have to take the lead on reducing emissions — as seems fair, since most of the carbon in the atmosphere has been put there over the past 200 years by the developed world — but poor nations need to take some action as well. Fine, but the emergence of China, already the world's biggest carbon emitter, and to a lesser extent India, has complicated that equation. If China doesn't constrain its emissions, there's no hope of controlling global warming. Yet while China is getting richer all the time, it's still a developing country. Both China and India are likely to resist calls to make any sharp reductions to their emissions anytime soon, even as they — and other developing nations — ask for billions in assistance from rich nations to deal with the climate change they're helping to drive. That's a formula for deadlock — which is exactly how the most recent round of negotiations ended, at a meeting in Bonn in mid-August, with a 200-page document that included more than 2,000 points of disagreement. "We are nowhere near any kind of agreement for climate change," says Janos Pasztor, director of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's climate-change support team. "Time is not on our side."
(Read "Viewpoint: Why China Could Turn Green.")

That means environmentalists will need to make the most of what time does remain. U.N. chief Ban is leading the way, organizing a one-day summit for world leaders on climate change during the General Assembly meeting in late September. "We want them to talk with each other, interact with each other," says Pasztor. That's key; climate-change policy has become far too important to be left up to the environment and energy ministers of the world, whose influence tends to be limited.

But civil society has a role to play as well, by mobilizing the public to push politicians ahead. The Climate Group — a global nonprofit — is sponsoring events in the U.S. and China in the lead-up to Copenhagen, trying to build a wave of public support for more-ambitious carbon cuts. "This is the moment," says Steve Howard, the Climate Group's CEO. "If we lose this chance, we may not get it back." That dripping sound could be our last opportunity to fix the climate.

The Gathering Storm: Climate Chaos in Distant Future

We need to prepare for the gathering storm today. Time is running out. After Copenhagen, what?

With Copenhagen meetings starting in less then 100 days, some climate activists are now planning a dramatic self-immolation protest in front of the UN

NOTE: with Copenhagen meetings starting in less then 100 days, some climate activists are now planning a dramatic self-immolation protest in front of the UN bulding in NYC before the summit opens, with 5 people appearing to set themselves on fire to protest the world's inaction on all this. However, they will be using Hollywood stuntmen suits to protect them from the flames and no one, repeat, no one, will get hurt or die. It's all part of a concerted PR effort to get the world to wake up and pay attention. If anyone wants details and rehearsed photos of the event, email me at bikolang AT gmail dot COM

"The Wild East" an online magazine.

"The Wild East" is a great online magazine. Here's the URL: http://www.thewildeast.net/news

Go Trista!

The greatest novel ever written about climate chaos and global warming ever: FINITUDE by Hamish MacDonald

The book begins like this, with a first chapter that sets the scene for the rest of the 288 pages. I have this book. I believe this book is about the future. Hamish MacDonald, the author, is a Canadian writer who lives in Scotland. More than any other recent book, with the exception of Cormac McCarthy's "THE ROAD,", this picaresque novel about the distant future in an un-named country suffering the impacts of climate chaos and mass migrations northward is a wake-up call that should make us all pause consider what actions we need to take in our lives NOW to try to stop the locomotive of global warming BEFORE it is too late.

Literature, and art, sometimes has the power to do this.

The book is for sale in a printed edition on Mr MacDonald's wesbite. I am also willing to send a free PDF of the entire novel by email to anyone who wishes to read it and report back to me on how you liked it, yes or no. Pro or con. I feel that Hamish MacDonald is the new Douglas Adams of the UK, and while this book is not a comic Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, it is a powerful and equally well-written and well--plotted novel that calls out for an audience. A big audience.

Sadly, the big commercial publishers won't touch this book. It is once again a failure of courage on their part. In fact, this book WOULD sell, and WILL sell, once it is properly published and distributed through the normal marketing channels. This book is not only a good read, a great read, it is an important read; and it will make you think about climate change and global warming like no other book before this one.

Below is the beginning of the very first chapter, the very first pages of the book. If, when you finish reading this, you want to read the entire book, free of charge, email me at bikolang@gmail.com [I am not Mr MacDonald's agent, I am his friend. I believe this book is vital reading for the 21st century.]

CHAPTER ONE

VC
Day [VC here means Victory over Climate Day in an Un-named Country. Although of course it does seem alot like Britain.]

The world was supposed to come to an end, but it didn't.

Jeremy Chutter looked up at the banners stretching over the main street that read

"VC Day." The new Prime Minister had declared victory over the climate.

So, after thirty years, The Effort was over, a success. The
world
was
saved.

Jeremy was disappointed.

He wandered through the crowd, bumped this way and that by the cheering,

hugging,
and
kissing
parade­goers.
He 
swept
the
ticker­tapes 
from
his 
shoulders 
and
they

fell
to
the 
ground,
biodegrading
instantly
in
the 
rainwater.
A
drunk
woman toppled
into

him,
 looked
him
 square 
in
 the 
face,
 and
gave
him
 a
 slippery
 kiss 
with
 her
large,
 red­
painted
lips.
Startled
and
offended,
he
shoved
her
back
into
the
throng.
She 
wailed
to
a

large
man
in
her
group
of
friends,
but
Jeremy
slipped
away
unseen.

This
would
be
a
great
day
for
pick­pocketing,
he 
thought.
Not
that
he’d 
ever
tried
it,

or
needed
the 
money.
He 
had
more
than
enough
money.
Cash
wasn’t
very
useful,
anyway.

Without
the
carbon
credits
to
go
with
it,
money
couldn’t
get
you
much
anymore.

Jeremy
 followed
the 
flow
 of
 the
crowd
toward
the
harbour,
 thinking
of
 salmon.

He’d 
seen
pictures
of
 salmon
in
one 
of
 his 
father’s 
books.
They
must
have
 been
beautiful,

he 
imagined.
But
being
one,
 judging
from
his 
current
situation,
couldn’t
have
been
much

fun.


The 
storefront
 displays
 and
 billboards 
were 
decked
 out
 for
 VC
 Day
 sales,
 but

Jeremy
 couldn’t
see
them.
 He
adjusted
 the 
small
pin
on
his
lapel.
 It
 looked
 like 
a
key

from
an
old
typewriter
with
a
small
silver
logo
on
it.
His
subscription
to
Tinfoil
Hat
was

precious
to
him,
worth
all
it
cost:
it
exempted
him
from
all
targeted
messaging.
His 
world

was 
a
happy
 blank,
 his
thoughts
his 
own,
 a
protected
habitat.
 In
exchange,
 some
of
 his

subscription
fee
went
to
the
advertisers,
but
he
didn’t
care
about
that.

He
didn’t
care
about
much,
really.

An
enormous 
throng
amassed
at
the
waterfront.
Jeremy
figured
it
must
be
half
the

city
or
more.
After
all
they’d
been
through,
the
hardships 
of
 rationing,
the 
perpetual
rain,

the
violent
storms 
and
disruptive 
floods,
 he 
supposed
they
had
a
right
to
celebrate.
 No

one 
knew
what
the 
hell
the 
planet
was 
up
to,
but
most
of
the
human
beings
on
it
were 
a

lot
better
off
than
they
were
before
modern
life
became
so
damned
efficient.

By
 luck,
 he
found
himself
 jostled
into
a
spot
with
 the
best
view
 of
 the 
platform

erected
 for
 the
 occasion.
 A
 band
 played,
 and
 each
 musician
 used
 their
 breaks 
to
 tip

rainwater
out
of
 his 
or
her
instrument.
Amid
a
procession
of
 umbrella­carrying
lackeys,

Prime 
Minister
Hardwick
himself
 stepped
into
view.
 He 
raised
his
hands 
and
the 
crowd

cheered
madly.

Jeremy
 couldn’t
 see
 the
 Prime 
Minister’s 
close­up
 displayed
 on
 the 
two
 screens 

flanking
the 
platform,
nor
could
he 
hear
his
amplified
voice.
The 
odd
word
echoed
out,

since 
Hardwick
 was 
once 
an
 actor
 and
could
 still
 project
his 
voice
powerfully.
 Jeremy

figured
 he
already
 knew
 the 
gist
 of
 the 
message.
 He 
didn’t
 mind
 the
 Prime 
Minister’s

theatrics:
If
politics
was
a
show,
he
figured,
it
might
as
well
be
a
good
one.

Hardwick
 was 
 the
 man
 who
 promised
 to
 deliver
 the
 people 
from
 decades 
 of

struggle,
 lack,
 and
 worry.
 Where
 his 
 predecessor,
 Redpoll,
 had
 continued
 with
 the

tradition
of
 emergency
measures,
 caution,
 and
consultation,
Hardwick
offered
a
welcome

release
with
his 
message 
of
manifest
destiny.
People 
had
the 
right
to
live 
well,
he
said.
The

time
for
timorous 
hiding
in
storm
shelters 
was 
over.
A
new
 age
of
prosperity
had
arrived;

it
was 
time
to
throw
off
 the
hair
shirt,
 embrace 
the
new
day,
and
party.
When
he
spoke

these 
actual
words 
on
the 
night
of
his 
electoral
triumph
shaking
his
middle­aged
hips 
as

he 
did
it,
 the 
nation
cringed,
 but
he’d 
captured
 the
prevailing
 mood,
 and
his 
popularity

continued
to
soar.

Drawing
his 
speech
to
a
close,
the
Prime 
Minister
turned
and
gestured
at
the
vast

ship
pulling
up
to
a
stop
in
the 
harbour
behind
him.
 The 
cruise
liner’s 
hull
glistened,
 an

effect
 of
 the
 slippery
 polymers
that
reduced
 its
drag
 in
 the
water.
 This,
 along
 with
 a

1
revolutionary
engine
that
scrubbed
its 
exhaust
clean
with
sea­water,
made
the 
Carpathia
Diem
the
first
 luxury
 ship
 to
 pass 
the 
International
 Coalition
 Government’s 
rigourous

Efficiency
and
Impact
tests.
Today’s 
arrival,
 at
the
end
of
 the 
ship’s 
maiden
voyage 
across

the
new
polar
ocean,
was
to
be
the
proof
of
Hardwick’s
Bold
New
Day
campaign.

Jeremy
 had
a
personal
 stake 
in
the 
voyage,
 since 
he’d 
sold
 insurance
to
several
 of

the
travellers.
The
large 
global
firm
that
provided
all
his
policies
had
also
insured
the
ship

against
Acts
of
 God
 and
 “Acts
of
 Man”—
 a
 new
 distinction
 developed
 since
 “natural”

disasters 
started
overstepping
the
known
bounds
of
nature 
on
a
regular
basis 
thanks 
to
the

side­effects
of
humanity’s
progress.

After
 a
 prolonged
 pause 
 during
 which
 the
 gangplank
 remained
 closed,
 naval

officials 
huddled
around
a
console 
on
the 
wharf.
The
Prime
Minister
smiled
at
the
crowd,

then
gestured
for
the 
waterlogged
band
to
play
something.
The 
gangplank
finally
lowered

to
the 
dock
like 
a
sleeper’s 
arm.
Navy
men
and
a
broadcast
crew
scaled
the 
long
ramp
to

find
out
what
the
delay
was,
and
why
the
ship
was
running
on
automatic
systems.

Gasps 
and
 shouts
broke
out
 around
 Jeremy.
 Terraists?,
 he
wondered.
 There 
had

been
 talk
 about
a
possible 
attack
 on
 the 
gathering.


"What? What?" he asked a woman beside him. She pointed at one of the large screens.
 He removed the pin from his lapel and
saw what she saw:
the
passengers and crew
of
the
ship, all slumped over as if they'd all fallen asleep in an instant, all dead.

....

WITH A BEGINNING LIKE THAT, DON'T YOU WANT TO READ THE ENTIRE BOOK NOW? I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN THREE MONTHS AGO WHEN I FIRST DIPPED MY MIND INTO HAMISH MACDONALD'S "FINITUDE".

Vertical Farm Designs by Chris M. Jacobs working with Dr Dickson Despommier at Columbia University - They Might Serve Polar Cities Well, Too.

Welcome to Chris M. Jacobs Vertical Farms image above. He will be updating this post with more images, links, posts, and essays on this topic. You can find more information about Dr. Dickson Despommier’s Vertical Farm website also. You can also find an article written for New York Magazine online and also two pieces in the New York Times, one an oped by Dr Despommier in August 2009.

Chris Jacobs has been working with Dr. Despommier for almost5 years now and created the first widely published design for the Vertical Farm. These designs have helped to elevate the concept to amazing heights, no pun intended. Well, yes, maybe pun intended. Puns are fun.

Vertical Farms Might Serve Polar Cities Well, Too. See:
http://pcillu101.blogspot.com

Andrew Enstice, Janeen Webb, Domna Pastourmatzi, Russell Blackford (Bill Clinton?), Jenny Blackford, in Thessaloniki, Greece

PHOTO CAPTION: from right to left: Andrew Enstice, Janeen Webb, Domna Pastourmatzi, Russell Blackford, Jenny Blackford, in Thessaloniki, Greece, October 2001

BUT HEY, doesn't that man sitting next to Jenny Blackford look like the spitting image of Bill Clinton? Look again. Look closely. It's uncanny!

Note: Russell Blackford is an Australian writer, philosopher, and literary critic, based in Melbourne, Victoria. And he recently appeared as a guest on Seth Shostek's SETI radio program. LINK.

http://radio.seti.org/episodes/Earth_A_Century_Hence

Humans have not gone unnoticed on this planet. We’ve left our mark with technology, agriculture, architecture, and a growing carbon footprint. But where is this trajectory headed?

In the first of a two-part series: what will be lost and what will still be around 100 years from now? James Lovelock says a hotter planet will prompt mass migrations. And Cary Fowler urges us to save our seeds – the health of future farms may depend on it.

Plus, from antibiotics to sewage systems: why human ingenuity ultimately saves the day.

And, sure, humans will be around in a century, but – with bionic limbs and silicon neurons – would we recognize them?

Guests:
James Lovelock – Independent scientist and author of The Vanishing Face of Gaia
Cary Fowler – Executive Director of the Global Crop Diversity Trust
Russell Blackford – Philosopher, writer, and editor-in-chief of the “Journal of Evolution and Technology.”

Scott Adams of Dilbert fame wonders what sort of greeting should replace the handshake in this day and age of swine flu: welcome to the SHOULDER-TOUCH

Scott Adams the cartoonist and all-around funny guys allows that one of his corporate spies recently informed him that several firms in the USA are already telling their employees to avoid shaking hands as a way to lower the risks of swine flu. Scott wonders: "I can see this sort of policy catching on. My informant wonders what sort of greeting should replace the handshake."

There are few times in history when you have a chance to create a new and lasting custom. I say we put our collective minds together and come up with a business greeting that involves no skin-to-skin contact and no exchange of bodily fluids.


Note to Scott: I nominate the shoulder-touch as seen on this blog (below earlier post). Google it. Hat tip to Professor Solomon in Maryland who first broached this subject with his book about UFOs, in which he described a similar human to alien shoulder touch greeting. I thought to myself: THIS MIGHT BE AN IMPORTANT WAY FOR HUMANS TO GREET EACH OTHER IN THIS AGE OF PANDEMIC SWINE FLU OUTBREAKS!

From Professor Solomon's book: "Can I Smoke Aboard a Flying Saucer?" (pdf)

"He raised his right arm and I thought he was going to shake hands. But he laid his open palm down on my left shoulder, which was evidently their form of greeting or salutation."

This, Scott, is exactly what we need now: the shoulder-touch! Try it out. It works and it satisfies your criteria above.

http://www.dilbert.com/blog/entry/swine_flu_greeting/

The Shoulder-Touch, to replace the handshake in these days of swine flu.... (example)

Two boys in Taiwan, brothers Tom and Steven, 16 and 12, do the shouldertouch to demonstrate how this might be used as swine flu N1H1 makes its way around the world, perhaps killing thousands worldwide...

Photo: Courtesy of "Teacher Birdd", father of the two boys

MORE PHOTOS:
http://northwardho.blogspot.com/2009/08/as-swine-flu-spreads-globally.html

OBAMA PANEL WARNS: SWINE FLU MAY KILL 90,000...

OBAMA PANEL WARNS: SWINE FLU MAY KILL 90,000...

Virus poses 'serious threat to nation'... to world!

Speed up drugs; Needed in weeks...

'Doctors' offices and hospitals may get filled to capacity'...

Therefore: will the SHOULDER-SHAKE come in "handy" as a way to prevent touching in
social and business and entertainment situations, family situations too?

http://northwardho.blogspot.com/2009/08/as-swine-flu-spreads-globally.html

The Shoulder-touch, to replace the handshake in these days of swine flu.... (example)

The Shoulder-touch, to replace the handshake in these days of swine flu.... (example)




Two boys in Taiwan, brothers Tom and Steven, 16 and 12, do the shouldertouch to demonstrate how this might be used as swine flu N1H1 makes its way around the world, perhaps killing thousands worldwide...

Photo: Courtesy of "Teacher Birdd", father of the two boys

MORE PHOTOS:
http://northwardho.blogspot.com/2009/08/as-swine-flu-spreads-globally.html

Male bulimia: America's dark hidden secret. A wife explains:

A woman in America stands poised to release a very dark secret about American life, and she wants to save lives, she wants to speak up. But at the moment she must keep her identity anonymous as she has an 8 year old son she needs to protect from all this. Maybe later, when he is older, he can understand. For now, this story is for you, adult Americans, and it's about

MALE BULIMIA

We often think that only women suffer from that eating disorder known as bulimia. But this woman, let's call her Mrs. X for now, she has lived through male bulimia and she watched her husband die from it. Let's listen to her voice here:

"You see, my husband died of bulimia 8 years ago this summer. Our son was 7 months old and will never know the man whose genes so astonishingly shape his body and personality. Oh, the autopsy and his friends say he died of a heart attack -- but I know that his heart gave in to the distorted and disrupted electrolytes and dehydration of male bulimia. This is a hidden secret in America. We must bring it out into the open and try to heal lives."

Mrs X adds: "Just after our son was born, my husband's friends petitioned me to set up an intervention. He was drinking again and it went from a glass to a bottle within a month. With infant in hand, I scoured the internet for recovery centers. There was NOT ONE that would take a male with dual addictions of alcohol and bulimia. One would take women with alcoholism and bulimia, another men with bulimia but not alcohol and countless would take male alcoholics but not those with dual addiction."

"His bulimia was a secret and few if any of his friends knew. It was never discussed. Our attempts to intervene were all for naught and his untimely death would be the ultimate end to that devastating disease."

"Bulimia is shaming and shame-driven. Even more so for men than women. In the 12 years since I stepped into the world of male bulimia, the book "Born Round" by New York Times food critic and restaurant reviewer is the first public mention of the hidden disease. He apparently suffered from it, too."

Here is a man serving as a soldier with the US forces in the Middle East, Iraq in fact. He says:

"To anyone listening, I am currently deployed in Iraq with the army and I have an eating disorder. Bulimia to be exact. I have suffered for more years than I can count and I need help. Unfortunately, I can not tell anyone in the army because I would be discharged for having mental problems. I came into the army because I thought I could get away from the addiction of bulimia but to my dismay it has followed me here also. I have been researching self-help books, online chat groups, and so forth but unfortunately I have been restricted access to online chat groups for security reasons. And until now have not been able to contact anyone. If there is anyone in your organization that would be willing to help me just by contacting me and giving me direction considering my situation I would appreciate it. Anything would be helpful. Thank you."

Mrs X says: "We need to make it known to men suffering from bulimia and anorexia that they are not alone -- that there is a way out. We need to change the way the medical community addresses this disease."

If anyone out there is listening, in the vast vast blogosphere, do leave a comment and a contact address below.

Apply Now for the First Model Polar City Residency, Summer of 2012

We are now seeking crew members for the first Model Polar City in 2012 modelled somewhat on what the Mars Society does. Our tests are set to run from November 14, 2009 and April 18, 2012. Come and join one of the world's most important climate change adaptation projects!

Interested parties should send a resume to us here, and then fill out the optional online application (which will help speed the review process) before the September 15, 2011 deadline.

Applications should include your full name, contact information, three references from a work or school environment, resume, projects for your rotation, and should list all crew rotations that you would be available to participate in, plus the crew position (engineer, biologist, geologist, journalist, etc) that you are seeking. To enhance your chance of finding a crew rotation it is very important that you list ALL slots that you could participate in.

Mission to Mars Summer Test by Mars Society Paves Way for First Model Polar City in 2012

We might not get to Mars, because climate change and global warming are poised to do a double-whammy on the Earth before we get a chance to blast off for parts unknown far far away .....but the current summertime Mars Society residencies -- at a cost of around US$5,000 -- are paving the way for the first Model Polar City residency in the summer of 2012, perhaps on Devon Island as well. Look at the photos. This could be the place where the first Model Polar City experiment goes up.

It might be called Branson-Gates Model Polar City Research Station, Svaalbord, Norway (or Longmont, Colorado -- or Juneau, Alaska) and it might be funded with US$100,000 in seed money from Sir Richard Branson and soon-to-be Sir Bill Gates, with input from Sir James Lovelock in the UK, and with Joey Stanford the chief engineer of the 2012 residency. The scenes might look similar, but instead of mock spacesuits, we will be wearing normal Arctic summer clothing.

The public will be able to follow the mission of the first Model Polar City in the summer of 2012 on a dedicated website as well as through social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Regular updates from the field, including nightly reports, pictures and videos will allow others around the world to participate in the polar city mission as events unfold at the remote outpost in the north.

"I am excited by the work before us,” says Danny Bloom, co-founder of the Polar City Research Institute along with Joey Stanford. “Expeditions like this will allow us to appreciate the challenges that await the first residents of future polar cities scattered all across the northern regions in the year 2500, while at the same fueling our passion for life and engaging the human spirit as we face the problems that catastrophic climate change and global warming are going to pitch at us.”

More information about the 2009 FMARS expedition is available at www.fmars.org



http://pcillu101.blogspot.com

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09224/990117-115.stm

http://www.tampabay.com/features/humaninterest/article1029721.ece?comments=legacy#comments

http://www.floridaspacegrant.org/fsgc_latest_news_details.php?ID=31

Is the CIA looking into the idea of climate refuges for climate refugees in the distant future when we all might be living in POLAR CITIES?

Is the CIA and the Homeland Security Dept and other security agencies around the world looking into the idea of climate refuges for climate refugees in the distant future, when it's MAD MAX meets THE ROAD? Inquiring minds want to know.

My sources in the ''polar cities project '' community worldwide tell me:

1) Sure, the CIA is looking at mass migration scenarios and their potential to
destabilize various countries. In fact, though we haven't read it (and it's
probably classified so we can't), we're willing to bet that their latest
estimate, which prompted the NY Times article in August [and the blog post on Andrew Revkin's very good DOT EARTH blog there] deals with that subject among others.

2) CIA estimates do not attempt to look more than about 20-30 years into
the future.

For two reasons:

1)
the variables are so enormous that one
can't really reliably predict events beyond 20 years or so;

and 2)
even if
you could, the policy-makers who are the "customers" for CIA estimates are
mostly elected officials who could "give a damn" (unfortunately) about
what's going to happen 20-30 years hence, because they will be long out of
office by then. And it's not just the politicians. It's the public in our
democracy. Do they REALLY care about the impact of climate change 30 years
down the road. They do not. That's why we do not think that we will react as a species until it's already upon us and it will take 1-3
centuries to reverse.

Why "Polar Cities" Might Not Ever Be Needed

Dear Mr. Bloom,

Thank you for your message regarding my letter on climate change today in the newspaper here. I am happy to answer your inquiry about polar cities, but I have a different view than you do. Please hear me out. I have done a lot of thinking about this.

Now, as to your idea on ''Polar Cities'' for which you sought my reaction.
Before answering, I looked at your blog. I note from it that the idea
of high northern latitude survival pods to benefit perhaps a few hundred or
thousand people originated some decades ago with James Lovelock. I am not a
physicist/biologist, but it strikes me as perhaps a reasonable strategy if
one believes that global climate change truly is likely otherwise to
obliterate the entire human race or make nearly the entire remaining planet
uninhabitable.

However, I doubt those two propositions, and thus I also doubt the pod concept
and, even more, the need to develop in a deliberate, organized fashion Polar
Cities to accommodate hundreds of thousands or even millions of people. I
say that for two reasons.

First, as you noted in your Blog, such a project would raise many
difficult questions (i.e. obstacles) and may be infeasible--for political
and financial, if not also for technical, reasons.

But, more fundamentally, as I noted before, I do not think mankind faces
extinction...at least not from climate change. Rather, I suspect that we
eventually will adjust to it, although at a VERY high price, perhaps
including the deaths of hundreds of millions of people. I think our
adjustment mechanisms will come in two forms:

-- First, since mankind (and political systems) have a tendency not to "wake
up" and inconvenience themselves or sacrifice until faced by clear and
immediate emergency (not the mere prospect of it down the line), I believe
that a really effective response to climate change is unlikely to emerge
among the nations until the physical and economic repercussions of it are
already upon us all in VERY serious ways. By that time, the built-in
momentum of the greenhouse gas content of the atmosphere and the changes it
is causing may take 1-3 centuries to reverse, even after a program of crash
measures is implemented. Perhaps current (and early-stage) research on
exotic high-tech methods to more quickly cool down the planet may bear
fruit, but that research is in early stages, of uncertain prospect, and
those techniques themselves could pose real peril to the planet from
unintended effects--so I have my doubts they will ever be implemented.

Thus, I think mankind is going to have a very rough ride for a century or
two and will face catastrophic consequences, affecting first and foremost
water and food supplies. Those consequences will be felt disproportionately
by the Third World, which tends already to live at the margins of safety, to
be stretching its environment due to overpopulation, and which in large
measure lies precisely in those regions of the planet most vulnerable to
climate change. I am thinking of the Sahel and near/Sahel regions of
Africa, most of the Middle East, Central Asia (including parts of China),
the Indian Subcontinent, and of course sundry low-lying islands in the
Pacific and Indian Oceans.

I foresee the potential in such regions for mass famine, chaos, and the
breakdown of political order and social support institutions in many areas,
perhaps resulting in the deaths of hundreds of millions. That, regrettably,
will be one of the "natural adjustment" mechanisms the planet has to cope
with climate change and perhaps restore some balance. It will be a
Malthusian mechanism: namely, the reduction of population will reduce the
global demand for energy and with it the emission of greenhouse gases.

The other adjustment mechanism, perhaps just as important (and far to be
preferred), will be the development eventually of new technologies to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions, and the economically difficult shift of many
national economies (sparked finally and belatedly by the dire effects of
climate change catastrophes) to less intensive energy consumption and the
adoption of modern, if expensive, technologies.

In the meantime, climate shift in fact may make the Polar regions more
habitable. If that occurs, I don't think we will need to "organize" through
pre-designed Polar cities some human and economic migration to such areas.
It will occur of its own accord, given among other things the skyrocketing
cost of food and thus the economic lure of agriculture in such heretofore
difficult regions.

In sum, since I don't think mankind faces extinction, I don't think Polar
Cities are necessary for now, and some of them may occur of their own accord
(not government-sponsored/designed/organized) as the far northern latitudes
become more habitable. Now, that conclusion of mine rests on the assumption
that, in the clear face of disaster, mankind will eventually find the
political will to mend our energy consumption/greenhouse emission ways over
the next century or so. If that does NOT occur and we go through another
two or three centuries of increasing greenhouse gas emissions, then at that
point--and here I emphasize I am not a climate scientist--perhaps the
climate changes those colossal emissions cause would, indeed, threaten the
planetary biosphere as a haven for mankind and make more relevant far
northern hemispheric biopods (or biopods wherever) for a small portion of
mankind to survive. But that is a decision not required for another hundred
years or more. Let's hope that, horrible though the deaths of millions or
billions may be, mankind wakes up in time to avoid even worse consequences
for our species.

My answer may not entirely satisfy you, because it is at some
cross-purposes to your current advocacy of the proposal. But it is
intellectually honest on my part, and I hope you will take it as such.

Signed

___ _________, Washington DC

As Swine Flu Spreads Globally, Handshakes Are Out and Shoulder-touches, Japanese-style greetings and namaste Take Over in Age of Global Pandemics...

As Swine Flu Spreads Globally, Handshakes Are Out and Namaste, Japanese-style greetings and Shouldershakes Take Over as Human Greetings in the Age of Pandemics!

Doctors now advise about NOT shaking hands or kissing on the lips or even cheeks as a form of greeting as the SWINE FLU PANDEMIC spreads worldwide, putting millions at risk. So as handshakes go out of fashion, upon doctors' medical advice, a new kind of human greeting is taking over, and for want of a better word, it is being called the SHOULDER TOUCH. Other alternatives include Namaste greetings, based on Indian traditions, and Japanese style bow greetings. And more: new alternative greetings will likely spring up, too. Send in your ideas and suggestions with photos to:
bikolang@gmail.com

To do a shoulder-touch, extend your right hand out straight in front of you with the palm down, place it gently on the person you are greeting's right shoulder, as he or she does the same to you. This way, your hands do not TOUCH and no germs or bacteria are exchanged, flesh to flesh.

See photos for illustrations. Will this catch on? Perhaps.

Hat tip to Professor Solomon in Maryland who first broached this subject with this blog in his book about UFOs, in which he described a similar human to alien shoulder touch greeting. I thought to myself: THIS MIGHT BE AN IMPORTANT WAY FOR HUMANS TO GREET EACH OTHER IN THIS AGE OF PANDEMIC SWINE FLU OUTBREAKS!
From Professor Solomon's book: "Can I Smoke Aboard a Flying Saucer?" (pdf)

"He raised his right arm and I thought he was going to shake hands. But he laid his open palm down on my left shoulder, which was evidently their form of greeting or salutation."

================================
MEDIA REFERENCES:

Swine flu forces border crossers to swap handshakes for elbow bumps

[Serrano calls himself a tour organiser; he hooks up American tourists with guides, and also sells bus tickets to Mexicans to cities all over the US.
Usually, he has all kinds of hand contact; now he is exceedingly careful. As we met, he instinctively reached out his arm - but then pulled back at the last minute, opting for an improvised elbow bump instead.]

Nobel laureate Dr. Peter Agre, president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, demonstrates a special handshake intended to help prevent swine flu....
[just a 27 second YouTube video clip]

Kimberly Brooks at www.kimberlybrooks.com says on May 4, 2009:
"Curb The Swine Flu: Lose The American Handshake"

[In 2005 during the Avian Flu hysteria, I wrote a column here called "Curb The Avian Flu: Lose the American Handshake". I had just come back from living in India with my family and found myself enthralled with the practice of Namaste -- pressing both palms together and making a bow to greet others in lieu of the handshake.]

UFO REFERENCE: Part Humor/Part Medical Seriousness
[Professor Solomon tells me: As for that shouldershake, it's described in a book titled "UFOs: Key to Earth's Destiny!" by Winfield Brownell. Brownell has individual chapters on various UFO contactees. One of them, Dick Miller of Michigan, claimed to have been aboard a flying saucer, where he experienced the shouldershake.]