[Dialogue] JAMES HANSEN'S PREDICTION

[opossum2 at att.net]

David and Lyn.

I'm not personally acquainted with James Hansen, but I do know his work and his publications.  Also, speaking as a scientist, and, more to the point a "geoscientist" (translated as: "one of those people who explore for and help exploit oil and other mineral resources) my response is:

I don't see him as a fraud, charlatan, con artist, etc.  He is ringing an alarm bell wilthout doing a "Chicken Little" sky-is-falling, oh my God, we're all going to die tomorrow-type routine.  We all know the obvious things we can do in the short term:

1.  Find a way to use fewer petroleum products:  more fuel-efficient vehicles, take your own bag to the grocery store and don't use the plastic carrier bags, turn your thermostat up in the summer and down in the winter (or off in the winter if you live below latitude 30 degrees), like us Houstonians.

2.  Do whatever you can to support alternative energy programs (wind, hydro, tidal, thermal, maybe even nuclear, although I still cringe at that).  Forget about ethanol.  If we haven't realized that it's not energy efficient and is helping to starve a good part of the developing world, figure it out!

3.  I don't need to talk to this community about activism.  Talk to people.  Help them to get with the program.  Please do everything you can to get the Bushite/Neo-con/Dominionists out of power forever!

Regards,

Steve Rhea
Houston, Tx.

Actively part of this community from 1967-1977.  Practicing geoscientist on several continents during my carreer and fond friend of Mother Earth.
-------------- Original message from David & Lin Zahrt <chbnb at netins.net>: -------------- 


RE: Rob's submission citing James Hansen.
1. James Hansen is a scientist. Is he a prophet or a false prophet? The aftermath of 911 has provided us with the opportunity to  witness how it is possible to have a life--even a society-- driven by fear. Could Hansen's prediction easily be one more occasion to let life be driven by fear?
2. Hansen is a scientist. I suppose that means he can timeline and itemize his prediction so that all can observe, judge, weigh up, and decide whether or not and how to respond to the prediction. Can he and will he do so? That would give us concrete data upon which to base our course of action.
3. If 2 years is the basis for experiencing "catastrophic consequences" we could hope that there is something--anything else in addition to Wisdom University in 2009--that might provide an opportunity to begin NOW!
James Hansen, Chief Scientist for NASA, has just stated in an article submitted to Science magazine that because of the six major tipping points of irreversible climate change (including the melting of the Arctic ice, the massive sea level rises, the increase in CO2 levels, the dramatic changing in rainfall patterns), we are in for catastrophic change and have only 48 months to take decisive action or we will enter a catastrophic zone that could be more gruesomely awful than anything we can currently imagine. Scientists the world over agree as, for example, Indian scientist Rajendra Pachauri, who accepted the Nobel Prize on behalf of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: 'If there's no action before 2012, that's too late. What we do in the next two to three years will determine our future. This is the defining moment.'

What can, must each of us do in this critical 'defining moment?' Whatever else our lives are focused on, taking decisive action over the next 48 months to avert (or prepare for) the catastrophic consequences of global climate change is a must. For example, Wisdom University is holding a global conference in November 2009 in Washington D.C. to mobilize 'cultural creatives' to bring about a powerful response to this and has asked me to help design and prepare for that event.

Rob  


David & Lin Zahrt
Country Homestead B&B
22133 Larpenteur Rd.
Turin, IA 51040
-- Doorway to the Loess Hills -
<http://country-homestead.com>
Where a change of pace is as good as a vacation, and a sense of place is soothing to the soul.
<chbnb at netins.net>
Skype <loesshills>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://wedgeblade.net/pipermail/dialogue_wedgeblade.net/attachments/20080621/c703e9f8/attachment-0001.html