Are you optimistic about our chances to mitigate and adapt to global climate change?

Question

Skeptics are welcome to answer (no ranks, please?!), but this question is really aimed at those who accept the theory as valid and believe we are already feeling the impacts throughout the world.

Your thoughts?

Answer 1

Mitigate:  Not a chance.  

Adapt (as a species):  No problem.  We "adapted" just fine to the whole one degree change over the last 150 years.

I love the use of words like "believe" and "feel" by proponents.  It's so quantitative and scientific-like.

Answer 2

Yes, a bit too slow for my liking.

Answer 3

We know that all dominant species on this planet have come and gone, often due to environmental change.  Even in the brief tiem humans ahve developed on this planet, many great human civilizations have risen, but all have eventually fallen: Babylonian, Minoan, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Mayan, Aztec, etc.  The falls involve famine, plague, wars, and population decline.

We seem to have a tendency to overpopulate beyond the capacity of our local resources to sustain us. This time science and technology have enabled us to grow to an unprecedented 6.6 billion.  We've seen the peak oil issue for 30+ years and we've failed to address it. About 12% of the human population is malnourished today, at the peak of our technological development and survival success, yet world poulation has grown 10% since 2008.  We don't even discuss the population growth issue in any meaningful way.

The first early indicators of climate change are hitting us just as we're starting to see the first market indications of peak oil.  The climate change we've already comitted to for the coming decades due to past and current greenhouse gas releases will get much worse, while we have shown a willingness to sink over 50% of our potential survival resources into fighting over dwindling oil supplies (such as with the war in Iraq).  

Mitigating climate change will require addressing our population growth, black soot emission and greenhouse gas emission (fossil fuel burning) habits.  We show no willingness to attack any of these effectively on a global level, so the fight over oil, and over food and water as our productivity declines, will accomplish the job for us.

I don't see any signs that we'll choose to mitigate climate change globally or that our fragile economies will be able to adapt, but there will be pockets of humanity that will be less affected by the fall of modern civilization, so we'll have some chance at survival as a species.

Answer 4

Humans have been adapting to climate change for thousands of years, from the end of the ice age to the glaciation of greenland only a few hundred years ago.

Answer 5

At this point I'm cautiously optimistic because the US is the biggest source of the problem, and we're finally starting to wake up and do something about it.  The Republicans' blocking of Lieberman-Warner derailed my optimism a little bit, but I'm hopeful that the Democrats will gain a larger congressional majority as well as the presidency in November, which would allow us to take serious action in addressing global warming.

Developing countries are still a concern, especially China and India.  I think we're definitely going to have to aid them in shifting away from fossil fuels more quickly than we did.  I think it's feasible, but I also think we need to take quick action, because China isn't going to reduce their emissions until we reduce ours.  Using China as an excuse is counter-productive.  From about 1980-2000 China had even more environmentally friendly policies than California, and I suspect they will return to that type of mindset if we stop setting such a poor example.  China is competetive, and if they see the US going green, I believe they'll follow suit.

The general consensus is that we've still got time to make the necessary emissions reductions.  It will be very difficult, but I'm still cautiously optimistic that when the chips are down, we'll be able to make the necessary changes.  But we can't keep putting it off.

Answer 6

Man has survived/adapted many times to our planets naturally occurring cooling and warming cycles.

Answer 7

man was created to adapt to any changes in his/her personal life and in his/her habitat:: planet.

Answer 8

yes I am very optimistic that we will adapt to another way of life, since our system is not perfect I  hope that something better will develop out of this crisis.

Answer 9

I am 77 and the weather is as stable as I have ever  Sean. What is your trouble!!!

Answer 10

I remember reading articles back in the 1960's that showed how man would have to adapt to the pollution that he was causing.  Back then there were real pollution issues, not just a panic about what we exhale.

Of course none of the predictions came true, they were not even close.

And there is no difference about the panic we see today than the panic that people experienced back then.  People are naturally inclined to believe in things that scare them.  This is why they are easily exploited.

Answer 11

As far as I know, there's no definite answer yet on where the "tipping point" is, so we could already be past it.  Even if we aren't, it really doesn't seem as though enough is being done to significantly reduce CO2 emissions to mitigate the climate change.

I have no doubt humanity will survive the climate change.  But there's a potential for many many lives to be lost.

Answer 12

I am

Answer 13

CO2 is not a problem! Al Gore is !

http://www.k**i.com/weather/colemanscorn...

Answer 14

If it were indeed necessary to adapt to climate change, I believe mankind would make the change.  We're capable of doing a lot that we don't give ourselves credit for.  Changes in business and our personal lives...while not easy  to make...would be necessary and I'm positive we could do it.

I sincerely doubt that we will be required to adapt to change due to climate, because the evidence of impending change is weak.