mega-environmentalism

posts about #megaenvironmentalism more →
The Splendor of Greenland's Ice Sheet Crumbling Away
The Future of Vancouver Takes Shape
10 Ways To Rescue The Climate, According To Science Fiction
Let's Start the Offshore Logging Lobby with Robots
Massive Flood of Toxic Ash Swallows Tennessee Area, Heads to Mississippi River
Photon Farming in the Vast Solar Fields of Northern China
Get Those Electrons Into A Seminar, Stat!
A Fleet of 1500 Cloud-Seeding Ships Could Stop Global Warming, Say Scientists
Scifi's Greatest Space Builders — And How We'll Copy Them
Earth Systems Science Agency — To the Rescue!

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Cash907Censored
11/13/09

In reply to The Splendor of Greenland's Ice Sheet Crumbling Away
You do know how "Greenland" got it's name, right?
Yeah.
The whole 'covered in ice' deal, relatively speaking, is pretty recent. I know you won't be around to say "oh... huh" in the thousands of years it takes for climate patterns to shift and the ice to reform again, but don't fret... it'll be back whether we are here to enjoy it or not.

As for rising sea levels, I couldn't be more excited, as this would A) turn my suburban home into beach-front property, and B) get rid of my A-hole neighbor who lives below me. It's a two-fer, courtesy of good ol' mother Earth. :-)
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Edited by Cash907Censored at 11/13/09 12:08 PM Cash907Censored was starred Cash907Censored was unstarred

gorehound
11/13/09

@Cash907Censored: awesome...drown that fucker neighbor. #greenland
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zark169
11/13/09

@Cash907Censored: Um, NO. Not at all. It was called Greenland so people would be more easily convinced to move there. Then most of them died from the massive cold.
Unless by 'pretty recent' you're referring to geological time in which case that might be true. #greenland
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Cash907Censored
11/13/09

@zark169:
Seeing how human history makes up less then .00001 percent of Earth's history, yeah, I was referring to geological time. #greenland
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evildead1971
11/13/09

In reply to The Splendor of Greenland's Ice Sheet Crumbling Away
damn crab people! #greenland
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burlybax
11/13/09

In reply to The Splendor of Greenland's Ice Sheet Crumbling Away
Isn't there some clever Sci-Fi/Disaster movie way that the flooding of cities can be avoided? Sea walls? Sea trenches? I don't know.. surely someone can think of something to combat a 20 foot rise in sea level.. I realize some cities would be a lost cause but its hard to believe we could just sit around for 150 years waiting for the sea level to slowly submerge an entire city.. #greenland
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crashedpc - Haifisch
11/13/09

@burlybax: Buckets and gumption. #greenland
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TheLostVikings R.O.A.C.H.
11/13/09

@burlybax: Have you ever been to the beach and seen some kids desperately try to keep their precious sandcastle from being eaten by the tide coming in?

...yeah, it's like that, only on a much bigger scale. #greenland
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burlybax
11/13/09

@TheLostVikings R.O.A.C.H.: Yeah but over 150 years.. Its not like a tsunami where its going to happen at once. Surely something can be done #greenland
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ParryLost
11/13/09

@burlybax: The Texas Dome, obviously. #greenland
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Klebert L. Hall
11/13/09

@TheLostVikings R.O.A.C.H.:

Yeah, it's true. Just look at the way those silly Dutch all drowned after their filed attempt to hold back the implacable will of Mother Nature... Oh, wait.
-Kle. #greenland
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ProgHead777
11/13/09

@Klebert L. Hall: Exactly! All we have to do is repeat one of the biggest civil engineering projects in human history, truly one of the seven wonders of the modern world, on a global scale. Piece of cake. And you know, it's not as if anything can go wrong. Just ask all those people in New Orleans... oh, wait. #greenland
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Klebert L. Hall
11/14/09

@ProgHead777:
Not a global scale, just in a few point locations. Most cities aren't going to be worth building sea defences for.

Besides, it's an easier engineering challenge, since they aren't submerged, yet.
-Kle. #greenland
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Annalee Newitz
11/13/09

In reply to The Splendor of Greenland's Ice Sheet Crumbling Away
All I can say is that somebody should film "At the Mountains of Madness" right where that first picture is before all the ice is gone. #greenland
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crashedpc - Haifisch
11/13/09

@Annalee Newitz: I don't know why hasn't that been done yet... that short story seems just ripe for livening... #greenland
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crashedpc - Haifisch
11/13/09

In reply to The Splendor of Greenland's Ice Sheet Crumbling Away
Someone needs to call Slartibartfast for a repair job. #greenland
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RandomFrequentFlierDent
11/13/09

@crashedpc - Haifisch: He'll be so excited, he does love doing coastlines.

(I'm sure he can't wait for when the fjords in Norway need a touch-up).
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Edited by RandomFrequentFlierDent at 11/13/09 8:35 AM

crashedpc - Haifisch
11/13/09

@RandomFrequentFlierDent: So very apropos when Dent himself comments on ol' Slarty's accomplishments. #greenland
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RandomFrequentFlierDent
11/13/09

@crashedpc - Haifisch: Herself. Random Frequent Flier Dent is a girl's name after all. #greenland
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crashedpc - Haifisch
11/13/09

@RandomFrequentFlierDent: Ah. I totally missed that one. #greenland
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RandomFrequentFlierDent
11/13/09

@crashedpc - Haifisch: That's ok. Offense would have been taken only if the mistake occured after meeting in non-internet life. #greenland
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Roklimber
11/13/09

In reply to The Splendor of Greenland's Ice Sheet Crumbling Away
Those are photos, static by nature.

Here you can see time-lapse videos and real-time videos of Alaska, Iceland, and Greenland's ice sheets as they break off, melt, and recede.

[www.ted.com] #greenland
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tetracycloide
11/13/09

@Roklimber: same questions as below, more or less:

how old is the ice sheet?
how much time do these time lapse videos actually show in total? #greenland
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Roklimber
11/13/09

@tetracycloide: Watch the video and find out by yourself. :)

I watched this several weeks ago and I don't remember, sorry. #greenland
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tetracycloide
11/13/09

@Roklimber: they're rehtorical questions. #greenland
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Roklimber
11/13/09

@tetracycloide: Even so, they're legitimate questions for anyone to ask. I just don't remember their answers, nor whether the talk addresses them. I have a vague recollection that it does. #greenland
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Dexomega
11/13/09

In reply to The Splendor of Greenland's Ice Sheet Crumbling Away
Well that's depressing, especially on Friday the 13th. #greenland
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burlybax
11/13/09

In reply to The Splendor of Greenland's Ice Sheet Crumbling Away
As it breaks off, a new sport emerges.. #greenland
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RandomFrequentFlierDent
11/13/09

@burlybax: I'm getting hypothermia just watching this. #greenland
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RaniaEriphyle
11/13/09

In reply to The Splendor of Greenland's Ice Sheet Crumbling Away
How long will it take for the entire sheet to melt? 100 years? 1000 years?
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Annalee Newitz
11/13/09

@RaniaEriphyle: Some projections I've read say that cities like Vienna could be flooded within the next 150 years. #greenland
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Klebert L. Hall
11/13/09

@Annalee Newitz:

I'm afraid those would be the false projections.

Venice, sure. Vienna? No.
-Kle. #greenland
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tetracycloide
11/13/09

In reply to The Splendor of Greenland's Ice Sheet Crumbling Away
two questions:
how old is the ice sheet?
how many years have we been taking on-the-ground and satellite observations of the sheet? #greenland
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RandomFrequentFlierDent
11/13/09

@tetracycloide: Third question:
When will this 20 foot rise in sea levels occur so I can plan to GTFO of my coastal city. Saskatchewan here I come! #greenland
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LittleDragon
11/13/09

@tetracycloide: Fourth question: How soon with the prehistoric monster thaw out and spread destruction across the globe? I do hope we get either a giant gorilla or a dragon. I like their destruction more then dino-destruction. #greenland
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AmishJohn
11/13/09

@LittleDragon: Yay Reptilicus! #greenland
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icelight
11/13/09

@LittleDragon: "... more than dino-destruction."

Clearly it is a grammarsaur, and it is already loose!.

Is is a swift, vicious Comma-Raptor? Or the dreaded, but poetic, Terrordactyl?

Yes, I probably deserve to be shot just for that last one.

NB: Let's just assume I made at least one grammatical error up there, just to get that out of the way. #greenland
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crashedpc - Haifisch
11/13/09

@icelight: #greenland
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Roklimber
11/13/09

@LittleDragon: Always thinking like a MS/EG... now I see why the Academy selected you for CiC of its task force. #greenland
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Klebert L. Hall
11/12/09

In reply to The Future of Vancouver Takes Shape
"and drink reclaimed rainwater."

Everyone in the world already drinks reclaimed rainwater. Also, reclaimed seawater, sewage, etc. It's a closed system, after all.
-Kle. #olympicvillage
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MISS MERCY STREET
11/11/09

In reply to The Future of Vancouver Takes Shape
How is Vancouver going to deal with it's homelessness/drug addiction/prostitution problem when all of the tourists arrive? It's the worst skid row in North America. #olympicvillage
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Jarerex
11/11/09

@MISS MERCY STREET: They are planning to arrest the vast majority of them and either hold them in prison cells or shove them into a hastily-renovated Riverview insane asylum in coquitlam (abandoned for 40 years now).

The province is passing some legislation that will allow officers to arrest "Anyone deemed at risk by the weather" and "escort them to shelter". it won't survive a court challenge, but it will take till after the olympics are gone for it to be seen in court on a charter basis.

Between this and the police spying on protesters and anyone related to them, among a myriad of other social issues, BC really is becoming the worst place to live in Canada. #olympicvillage
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Barnabus
11/11/09

In reply to The Future of Vancouver Takes Shape
What, no mention of whether the Vancouver of the future will finally include some goddamn left turn lanes? #olympicvillage
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Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
11/11/09

@Barnabus: That would be practical, so this bunch aren't interested.

Also, word. I've only been there once, but I recall yelling, "Have you people never HEARD of left turn lanes and arrows?! They manage it in many other cities, give them a try!" #olympicvillage
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Barnabus
11/11/09

@Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.: The morning commute along Granville also reduced me to screaming "Why? WHY? It doesn't have to be this way!!" It's like a big city was designed by someone who'd lived their whole life in a small, sleepy town. #olympicvillage
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Klebert L. Hall
11/12/09

@Barnabus:
Cars are evil, and so is pandering to them - didn't you know?
-Kle. #olympicvillage
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Bartosz Bos
11/11/09

In reply to The Future of Vancouver Takes Shape
We prefer the term, Cylon Occupied Vancouver #olympicvillage
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jasminembla001
11/11/09

In reply to The Future of Vancouver Takes Shape
I don't know every detail of this whole Olympic village thing in Vancouver but from what I hear there is a whole lot more dystopia going on than utopic vision. Lots of people are furious at the greed and corporate/municipal disrespect surrounding preparation for the Van Olympics. First Nations, environmentalists, even those who have no other interest than realizing they have to pay for the 'oops, we ran out of money' burden of finishing the job.
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