The benefits of global warming?

[Meldread]

I am looking into the future, perhaps 30 to 50 years. Maybe within our life times, or near the end of our lives. Scientists are now speculating that Global Warming is beyond the point of no return. There is no stopping it, no going back, that it is inevitable.

I think in the short term Global Warming will be one of the worst disasters to ever befall Humanity at any point in history. Millions will die, most likely due to starvation, the inevitable natural disasters, and lack of fresh drinkable water. Entire ecosystems will be wiped out.

All those things are bad, but I don't think it will spell the end of Humanity. You can't kill life off that easily, the planet would have to become utterly inhabitable - completely. Either turn into a giant ice ball like Mars or a burning furnace like Venus to get rid of us. So what are the long range implications of Global Warming?

In the long run I think Humanity as a whole will benefit. I believe it will open up an era, a new era for Humanity. It will be a dawn of a New Age. It will force humility upon Humanity. We will have to submit to the fact that our planet is a powerful thing and that we are tied to it, that we are apart of it, and that will humble us in ways that we perhaps cannot yet imagine. Yet humility is a good thing.

It is in our DNA to survive. We will want to survive. We will do what is necessary to survive. Global Warming will open up a cross roads for Humanity, two very different roads, one road leading to our destruction through arrogance and war and another leading to unparalleled peace and prosperity. I believe that we will ultimately choose the former.

In order to survive we will be forced to work together with other nations as we never have before. As Europe becomes colder, dryer and more windy it will strengthen the European Union. Russia may join them. Across the Atlantic North America will begin to experience a similar situation. Canada and the United States and maybe Mexico will form our own version of the European Union. Japan may eventually either join the North American Union or the European Union, and then finally the EU and NAU may join together with Australia in the mix.

The allied nations, under some sort of One World Government could herald in a New Age of Prosperity. War III might break out between China and Russia as the Chinese starve with a United North and South Korea joining China, but ultimately I believe they too will submit to the World Union. Science will prosper like we never before imagined. It will lead to break thorough that will revolutionize how we think about the world, and will ultimately lead to controlling the weather here on Earth. We already have primitive forms of weather control technology.

If such a union - a true union of all the worlds nations - were to come about... there would be no more threat of Nuclear Wars. We would no longer have to worry about war in general. I see that the world is ripe for such a change. Already with the things we have, the internet, airplanes, telephones, world-wide media... our world is a smaller place. The thought of Nations may eventually dissolve into how most Americans perceive ourselves as being apart of the United States while recognizing ourselves as being in different states. (More a geographical location than anything else.)

I believe that the long term implications of Global Warming will bring about good changes. We either are going to survive or we are going to die, and the only option for survival is the picture I just painted. What do you guys think?

[fudge stripe cookays]

1. We may WANT to survive...

but when all the methane starts being released from the chunk of permafrost that's melting in Siberia right now, nothing will be able to grown on earth, and that's a bad thing.

It's not IF, it's WHEN.

FSC

[Meldread]

2. ...but...

Methane is a greenhouse gas. If methane is released into the atmosphere that will only speed up global warming, which will ultimately lead to the inevitable cooling period. The release of Methane will only make the polar icecaps melt faster making the period of cooling come about more quickly. (Which would, in turn, stop Siberia from completely melting, and turn most of Northern and Middle Europe into something more like Siberia.)

[LiberalEsto]

3. It's not much of a benefit...

My home near Rockville, MD, could end up as beachfront property if sea levels rise high enough, according to some map projection i saw recently. But the ocean would probably be toxic and there would be a huge risk of catastrophic hurricanes.

[Meldread]

4. Short-Term things will be awful.

You'll probably lose your home along with millions of other people. If it doesn't sink into the ocean it'll likely get ripped apart by a hurricane. I would highly suggest saving up money now to prepare to move.

Global Warming is inevitable now. It's going to become a fact of life, and you (as well as everyone else) should prepare for that. It's to late to stop it or reverse it or slow it. We've hit the point of no return.

[pitohui]

5. i think it's silly

when two dogs see the last scrap of meat, they don't bond together & share

they kill & eat ea. other

if we are truly at a point of no return, enjoy life now, it doesn't get any better than this from here

yr scenario might have worked for a species w.out testosterone, but that species is not our species & never will be

how far north do you live that you suspect global warming is a good thing, i have friends in chicago & buffalo who are all for it, who cares if millions die, i got mine, it's human nature

[Meldread]

6. I disagree.

Human's aren't dogs, despite the fact that they act like dogs sometimes. I think China and a United North and South Korea will be the only major threats we will face during Global Warming. However, I don't think it'll end in Nuclear War as that would be pointless. The point of the war would be to control resources, and Nuclear War would ensure that those resources couldn't be used for a good while. (Not to mention the fact that they'd just be Nuked back.)

Millions of people will die. It's going to be awful in the short term. However, I think ultimately the Human Race will bring something good out of the tragedy.

I'm not saying "Rah! Rah! Go global warming!" I am simply looking at it from another angle, and looking for silver linings and possible benefits that could come from it.

We (this generation) will likely bare the brunt of Global Warming, but it will be the next generation and the subsequent generations that could benefit. It'll suck for us but could ultimately be good for them.

[mainegreen]

7. The effects will be interesting.

I think Europe, in the long haul will get off light. Sure the gulf stream will shut down, cooling Europe, but as temperatures rise, they'll end up close to where they were before temperature-wise. Their rainfall will decrease, however. Mexico and the souther US are so screwed its beyond comprehension. Scenario: A hurricane builds up enough energy to cross mexico, hitting an eastern pacific now warm enough to power up an existing hurricane (instead of starting one from scratch). Imagine the power that thing would have! And as the warm water bands would be bigger, these storms would get HUGE! We're talking hitting a major city and stripping it down to bedrock huge!
Monsoons will falter in some areas, and start in others. And the wind, folks, the wind! Imagine the winds in the future. I think wind power will actually benefit from this as temperature differentials get more extreme.
All in all, I'm glad I'm in Maine. The rest of you are all screwed.

[Terran]

8. Awfully optimistic.

I'm optimistic too, by nature, but I think it's more realistic to assume that the initial struggle by nations to survive the coming chaos is going to sink any vestige of global civilization. It can and will continue, but at a level reminiscent of the 18th century, at least for most people (there will always be pockets where governments have created their high-tech hidey-holes for the chosen few).

Unfortunately, I think the world of today is due to be swept away, along with all its history and accomplishment. What you envision may arise centuries from now, but in the meantime what will have been lost is irreplaceable.

When this subject comes up, I can't help but think of Yeats' poem "The Second Coming." The first stanza has always struck me as exactly what is happening, and what will happen.

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all convictions, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

"...and everywhere the ceremony of innocence is drowned..." That's our world, our pretense of civility, our affinity for things "innocent"--going, going...