Doom and Gloom

Our "Off Topic" forum - have a wee blether here.
Forum rules
Please familiarise yourself with our Board Rules and Guidelines
glenshena
Mega Heid Poster
Mega Heid Poster
Posts: 1134
Joined: Sun Dec 28, 2014 9:29 pm

Doom and Gloom

Post by glenshena »

I heard last night on STV news a famous British Climatologist speaking about Climate change and the melting of the icebergs in the Arctic Circle. He says they are melting faster with every passing year, and that when they have all melted the seas and oceans will have risen by 7 metres, and that all of London could find itself submerged. Where does that leave Ardrossan, Saltcoats and Stevenston? :shock:
User avatar
John Donnelly
Mega Heid Poster
Mega Heid Poster
Posts: 2955
Joined: Mon Mar 05, 2007 7:31 pm
Location: The Netherlands

Re: Doom and Gloom

Post by John Donnelly »

Hi Glenshena,

I'm surprised that you find this new.
It means that you will have Lanark-on-Sea.
It is not unthinkable. We are heading for a crisis on the scale of the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs.
It is not something that will happen gradually, with the sea rising a few millimeters per year over several centuries.
Look at what happened to New Orleans a few years ago and what Australia is having right now.
It will happen in huge steps, in a series of immense disasters, which will wipe out thousands of people in one go.
Think also of food production. Drought will decimate it. There will be hunger on a vast scale. Think of what that will mean in terms of refugees.
There could be what is described as a tipping-point where the situation cannot be reversed. Think of the Gulf-stream changing course and what that would mean for us here in western Europe.
If you think this is the rantings of a super pessimist, think on. I am terrified for my grandchildren.
We need to waken up. Listen to Gretha Thunberg.

JD.
glenshena
Mega Heid Poster
Mega Heid Poster
Posts: 1134
Joined: Sun Dec 28, 2014 9:29 pm

Re: Doom and Gloom

Post by glenshena »

Would it be illogical to think that in the meantime all the extra water could be sent to the countries that are having droughts to help them grow vegetables and cereals?
User avatar
brian f
Mega Heid Poster
Mega Heid Poster
Posts: 3606
Joined: Sat Dec 22, 2012 8:25 pm

Re: Doom and Gloom

Post by brian f »

Consider watching this glenshena. BBC 2 Horizon.

Chris Packham 7.7 Billion People and Counting airs on Tuesday 21st January at 9pm on BBC Two, and will be available on iPlayer shortly after broadcast.

Packham investigates the impact of a growing human population on the world in light of predictions that the number of humans could reach 10 billion by the year 2050.

He considers the steps that will need to be taken for Earth’s natural resources to support so many people, visiting a city in Brazil that is on the verge of running out of water and a community school in Nigeria that may present a possible solution.

The show features contributions from leading environmental experts including David Attenborough.
User avatar
John Donnelly
Mega Heid Poster
Mega Heid Poster
Posts: 2955
Joined: Mon Mar 05, 2007 7:31 pm
Location: The Netherlands

Re: Doom and Gloom

Post by John Donnelly »

glenshena wrote: Fri Jan 24, 2020 3:10 pm Would it be illogical to think that in the meantime all the extra water could be sent to the countries that are having droughts to help them grow vegetables and cereals?
Them cereals and vegetables would be awful salty. JD
glenshena
Mega Heid Poster
Mega Heid Poster
Posts: 1134
Joined: Sun Dec 28, 2014 9:29 pm

Re: Doom and Gloom

Post by glenshena »

Them cereals and vegetables would be awful salty. JD
[/quote]



I'm presuming that the Glaciers are fresh water.
User avatar
John Donnelly
Mega Heid Poster
Mega Heid Poster
Posts: 2955
Joined: Mon Mar 05, 2007 7:31 pm
Location: The Netherlands

Re: Doom and Gloom

Post by John Donnelly »

Aye, Glenshena you're right.
But they melt into the ocean.
JD.
glenshena
Mega Heid Poster
Mega Heid Poster
Posts: 1134
Joined: Sun Dec 28, 2014 9:29 pm

Re: Doom and Gloom

Post by glenshena »

Heard that the city of Amsterdam is slowly depopulising due to rising seas. Something we may all have to think about. :(
User avatar
John Donnelly
Mega Heid Poster
Mega Heid Poster
Posts: 2955
Joined: Mon Mar 05, 2007 7:31 pm
Location: The Netherlands

Re: Doom and Gloom

Post by John Donnelly »

glenshena wrote: Sun Jan 26, 2020 8:11 am Heard that the city of Amsterdam is slowly depopulising due to rising seas. Something we may all have to think about. :(
I'm sorry to be so blunt, Glenshena, but that is absolute nonsense.
Like Glasgow and other large cities since the war, Amsterdam and others around the world, their populations are moving out to suburbs and surrounding areas simply because there is getting steadily less and less room for them in the city itself.
Amsterdam, and the whole of the Dutch coast, while being well below sea-level, will be among the safest places on earth if the expected sea-level crisis arrives. Our sea-defences are far and away, the very best in the world.
I should know. I've being paying the taxes to build and maintain them for the last 45 years.

JD.
glenshena
Mega Heid Poster
Mega Heid Poster
Posts: 1134
Joined: Sun Dec 28, 2014 9:29 pm

Re: Doom and Gloom

Post by glenshena »

Thats a relief! Think I'll move over to Amsterdam.
User avatar
John Donnelly
Mega Heid Poster
Mega Heid Poster
Posts: 2955
Joined: Mon Mar 05, 2007 7:31 pm
Location: The Netherlands

Re: Doom and Gloom

Post by John Donnelly »

Don't be so hasty, Glenshena. While, I'm sitting here on the second floor, I'm still a couple of meters below sea-level.
While, it's not something that is constantly preying on our minds, it is something that we are aware of.
In 1953, 1800 Dutch people lost their lives in the big flood after the dykes were breached by a monster storm.
That was the reason why the Dutch government decided to build the sea-defences, which have cost billions and stretch along the whole coast from Belgium in the south to Germany in the north, and were only finally completed a couple of years ago.
Check Dutch sea-defenses out on Google. It is one of the biggest engineering feats that have ever been achieved.
Just as a matter of interest, currently, we are more concerned about the water coming down the rivers Rhine and Maas from the Alps in the spring than we are about the sea.
JD.
meekan
Mega Heid Poster
Mega Heid Poster
Posts: 1965
Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2009 5:29 pm
Location: Saltcoats

Re: Doom and Gloom

Post by meekan »

Does that mean that the wee boy with his finger in the dike is redundant? :wink:
Seriously it’s no laughing matter if you and your property are at risk from flooding. Some poor souls around the world just now are finding out just how serious climate change can be. While the biggest polluters are in denial. What should be done to convince and convert them?
Post Reply