News > Politics > The Biggest Failure of All

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TUESDAY JULY 28 2009 6:00 AM

Years from now, as we look back in time, one glaring stance of the Bush administration will stand tall over the others. Bush's assault on the environment will forever be the worst that was done by his White House. As someone who went to college to study the earth and learn about its complexities, I believe the majority of men will not live through this century. The impact of global warming obviously goes far beyond shit just heatin up. We're already seeing very dangerous symptoms.

Global warming will hamper plants and animals ability to fight off infection and disease. Early warning signs are coming in the form of a massive bee die off, a massive bat die off, and an impending wheat fungus that is poised to sweep across the planet, possibly killing 80% of wheat crops.

Crop scientists fear the Ug99 fungus could wipe out more than 80% of worldwide wheat crops as it spreads from eastern Africa. It has already jumped the Red Sea and traveled as far as Iran. Experts say it is poised to enter the breadbasket of northern India and Pakistan, and the wind will inevitably carry it to Russia, China and even North America -- if it doesn't hitch a ride with people first.

"It's a time bomb," said Jim Peterson, a professor of wheat breeding and genetics at Oregon State University in Corvallis. "It moves in the air, it can move in clothing on an airplane. We know it's going to be here. It's a matter of how long it's going to take."

Bats, bees and plants are fragile, much more so than man. The threat of global warming does not come from man getting a little hotter; it comes from a breakdown in the food supply, floods, a lack of water and dying crops. All of those things are already happening. We are already dying, just very slowly.

The few global warming deniers are wrong and shockingly stupid. Even if they were right, their argument is to keep polluting, which makes them serious idiots. My father is one of them. He sends me email after email from his right wing leaders, who simply cherry pick data and pass it off as proof that global warming is not occurring. They believe carbon dioxide levels have been rising for the past ten years and temperatures have gone down. Whatever argument they can make, consistency be damned. As I said, they are idiots and they are wrong.

Seven of the eight warmest years on record have occurred since 2001 and the 10 warmest years have all occurred since 1995.

The scary thing is that scientists are discovering their models are not at all what they predicted -- because as time passes, the results are turning out to be far worse.

The research, conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and published this month in Journal of Climate, predicts a 90 percent probability that worldwide surface temperatures will rise more than 9 degrees (F) by 2100, compared to a previous 2003 MIT study that forecast a rise of just more than 4 degrees.

Scientists are alarmed.

The climate is heating up far faster than scientists had predicted, spurred by sharp increases in greenhouse gas emissions from developing countries like China and India, a top climate scientist said on Saturday.

"The consequence of that is we are basically looking now at a future climate that is beyond anything that we've considered seriously," Chris Field, a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, told the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Chicago.

Field said "the actual trajectory of climate change is more serious" than any of the climate predictions in the IPCC's fourth assessment report called "Climate Change 2007."

And the fear is now that a quick change will occur.

The worst-case scenarios on climate change envisaged by the UN two years ago are already being realized, say scientists at an international meeting.

In a statement in Copenhagen on their six key messages to political leaders, they say there is an increasing risk of abrupt or irreversible climate shifts.

This is, quite simply, far worse than the worst-case scenario. All the doom and gloom predictions were actually rosy predictions. The suffering humans will endure this century is unimaginable.

This week, the Obama administration released satellite photos that detail what we are dealing with. These photos were classified by the Bush administration. They are photos of disappearing ice. The only reason to classify them is because they are damaging evidence against global warming deniers. Enjoy the horror.

The Bush administration released the photos to scientists, but would not allow them to be released for public use. Maybe they thought terrorists would get a hold of the photos of less sea ice and make non-sea iceboats to attack Alaska. Or, maybe they just wanted to keep the lie of no global warming alive because they only served big business, not the people. Either way, this is very, very bad. Overall, 1,000 photos were released by Obama, who seems to actually believe in science.

The results of human created gases will be extreme. Our forests will die. The ice caps will melt, causing massive flooding. Larger storms will kill more people. Islands will disappear. Diseases will spread. Crops will fail. Large animals will die off. Allergies will worsen exponentially. Tropical insects will die off, while temperate insects will flourish. Water wars will be common. They've already begun.

And there is no stopping it. That time has passed.

Climate change is "largely irreversible" for the next 1,000 years even if carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions could be abruptly halted, according to a new study led by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The study's authors said there was "no going back" after the report showed that changes in surface temperature, rainfall and sea level are "largely irreversible for more than 1,000 years after CO2 emissions are completely stopped."

Besides the war and destroying the world economy, George Bush will be known as the man who did nothing while the dam was breaking. Its his legacy. Its also the legacy of idiots who deny global warming, who cherry pick evidence to prove their lies while mankind slowly drives off a cliff.

Is there hope? I seriously doubt it. The only remote hope we have is that the the sun is cooling. So, you can hang your hat on that. But, I think were toast. We are parasites and we are being removed through the old classic: A fever. You are about to live through the most horrifying century man has ever known.

FearTheReaper is a writer, actor and stand up comedian. More from FearTheReaper can be found HERE. You may also enjoy his blog, Stop All Monsters.

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Comments

Lufy

Ithaca, NY

May 2004

JUL 28, 2009 06:14 AM

Well that settles it - Zagnuts and Tastykakes for breakfast.

I actually worked with a chemist who would teach his students that global warming was a myth, instead of teaching them....you know....chemistry.

My only comforting thought is that when there are no more polar bears or elephants or coastal cities anymore - these deniers will be the first ones up against the wall.

Weatherpunk

Japan

June 2008

JUL 28, 2009 06:19 AM

This is why I'm getting into ecological landscaping & urban hydroponics. The massive agribusiness farms will begin to draw more & more water, which will up the prices of produce as well as the price of raw materials to grow crops with.

Meanwhile, a city boy will be producing enough fresh fruit & veg to feed his immediate neighbors for a modest price. My biggest overhead will be electricity to run the sunlamps, if I can't get a house with land to build a greenhouse.

I'm already learning to live with less & conserve my energy/water because I believe we're headed for hard times!

'punk

Azadeth

Fairport, NY

August 2006

JUL 28, 2009 06:23 AM

You know what, that's fine. It's high time we got killed off. I always expected that we'd go out via a massive worldwide nuclear war - and that's still possible and would be faster - but we've made our beds and we should sleep in them in any case.

spinhouse247

Punta Gorda, FL

December 2003

JUL 28, 2009 07:27 AM

Damn those profiling, racist, white cops! Its all their fault!

proximityeffect

USA

December 2008

JUL 28, 2009 07:39 AM

I'm going to party like it's 1999.

skydrol

Saint-eustache, QC

February 2005

JUL 28, 2009 07:55 AM

So we are screwed....I'ts time I start building that bunker, with lots and lots of greenhouses.

1sailor

Olympia, WA

July 2009

JUL 28, 2009 08:11 AM

I hope that you are wrong...but whatever happens, we are all in it together.