Global Warming, Is it the end of the world?

With Honey Beas mysteriously disappearing, I’d say this issue is heating up, wouldn’t you?
JC

I'm embarrased a bit about my ignorance regarding these issues..
and apologize to this group. That said...
I'd like to think of myself as "well informed" however it would seem that
the "truths" or "facts" are distorted as I see it...intentionally? possibly
but on which side? I would hate to think that Big Oil would distort the facts about
irreversable global damage just to continue profit or blanket huge scale liability litigation. Where would the sense in this be if this environment is destroyed by their
forcing the blind eye? Gentlemen I'm not a democrat however If the plan or deception, if you will, on the part of Al Gore's campaign is to produce a result that
forces environmental focus and a much closer look and possibly the beginning
of global corrections to our abuse of our environment, then I'm on board with this.
Thank you Antwn and Emmet for sharing your thoughts and research on this..
I do not read much but this kept me interested and curious.

Oil companies are multinational mega-billion dollar behemoths. If global warming threatened their existence in any way, I doubt seriously if they'd risk their future by investing a few six figure payouts to a handful of scientists to discredit it. That effort is puny when compared to the resources they have to apply to such a problem.

Big oil will respond to global warming the same way it responds to everything else, make money off of it. For example, who has the refineries already in place which could produce ethanol in quantities that would be meaningful? Who has the distribution network already in place to thousands of service stations throughout N.America to sell it retail?

Some power companies are building new plants with natural gas instead of coal. Gas occurs most often in conjunction with petroleum. Who pulls natural gas out of the off shore wells in the Gulf and refines it?

Big oil will profit no matter which way the wind blows on this issue, and if they're fined or financially punished, they'll pass on those added costs to us. So will power companies. By jumping on the global warming bandwagon they'll look like good guys, make a profit, and by creating an image as good team players, they'll likely avoid potential litigation.

Oil companies are multinational mega-billion dollar behemoths. If global warming threatened their existence in any way, I doubt seriously if they'd risk their future by investing a few six figure payouts to a handful of scientists to discredit it. That effort is puny when compared to the resources they have to apply to such a problem.

Big oil will respond to global warming the same way it responds to everything else, make money off of it. For example, who has the refineries already in place which could produce ethanol in quantities that would be meaningful? Who has the distribution network already in place to thousands of service stations throughout N.America to sell it retail?

Some power companies are building new plants with natural gas instead of coal. Gas occurs most often in conjunction with petroleum. Who pulls natural gas out of the off shore wells in the Gulf and refines it?

Big oil will profit no matter which way the wind blows on this issue, and if they're fined or financially punished, they'll pass on those added costs to us. So will power companies. By jumping on the global warming bandwagon they'll look like good guys, make a profit, and by creating an image as good team players, they'll likely avoid potential litigation.

Good stuff Antwn,
Didn’t the Baseball team owners, do that back in the day, and wasn’t called: price fixing?

You know I’ve been around for some 62 plus years now, and I can’t say that I can remember a spring, when the trees came to full leaf, in such a short period of time. Do you, or does anyone else feel the same way?

I wonder,
JC

Ah, no, JC, that's just too sad to bear. I'll be your honeybee, if it's the last thing I do. (buzzzzzz . . . gasp. . . . )

Just kidding -- this with the bees is very serious. I don't think they know quite what is causing it, or if it's a direct or indirect result of warming. But it's going to change a great deal about the way the populatin gets fed, if it doesn't turn around.

I guess it depends on where you are -- I grew up outside of Providence, and winters were harsher and spring more gradual there in my childhood (the fifties). New York where I am now for 20 years is a little further south. But even here, it seems spring and fall are short, and both of them tend toward a longer summer, than when I first came here.

Hi stoirmil,
I’ve got the answer to the bee problem in two words, “Caned Goods”, lots of caned goods.
Sorry, it’s the best I could do on such short notices. You know I’ve never been stung by a bee, and now I guess I probably never will. What a said state of affairs.
JC

Being stung by a bee is kind of exciting the first time or two, but it's overrated.


As to the prospect of foraging to survive on canned goods when nothing (NOTHING) will grow any more -- I strongly recommend Cormack McCarthy's newest book, "The Road." I sat up til four in the morning with it and literally could not put it down -- with the haunting feeling that if I closed the book they would die. Never read anything like it.

Hi Stoirmeil, nice to see you back!! I hadn't heard about the honey bee disappearances until JC posted it. From what I read theories center around GM foods and cellular tower emissions and mites. No one mentioned a global warming correlation in the sites I Googled. These are commercial bees, so beekeepers are devastated. I don't how much info they have on wild bee disappearances.

One interesting theory centers around GM foods, which have been modified to kill insect pests, having the same effect on bees. Problem is, in many cases no one can find the bees' bodies. They just disappeared, whole hives left empty, or in some cases the entire hive abandons the queen. Sometimes bees will leave the nest if they're diseased. Where's Columbo when you need him? Seriously though, I hope we don't get too distracted to deal with this. While we're all arguing about global warming, nothing gets pollinated anymore.

Watch this video (76minutes) from Britain.

video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2332531355859226455

Firts bees disappearing and now strange stuf in the sky. Nothing new about that except it is staying there every night

http://www.spiritdaily.com/skyobjectfolo1.htm

Opinions? Is it Venus or not. I'm planning on going up on a local blff tonight to see if I can check it out tonight.

NO

Can't open the link, so I can't tell what that was referring to. But Venus has been "evening star" for several weeks now, setting after the sun and looking quite glorious over the Hudson, large and rock-steady with nary a twinkle. Most folks do take it for an airplane or UFO. I doubt that it's doing anything to the terrestrial climate, though.

Union of Concerned Scientists: ExxonMobil Spent Nearly $16 Million to Fund Global Warming Skeptic Groups

Smoke, Mirrors, and Hot Air: How ExxonMobil uses Big Tobacco’s Tactics to Manufacture Uncertainty on Climate Science

Royal Society tells Exxon: stop funding climate change denial

Royal Society’s Letter to Exxon

"for what its worth"here is an intresting article Dr Reid Bryson the man that started it all Almost 40 years ago, Bryson stood before the American Association for the Advancement of Science and presented a paper saying human activity could alter climate.

http://www.wecnmagazine.com/2007issues/may/may07.html

read what he has to say.

I think this link didn't work last time I posted it, let me try again. Fascinating film.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3...earch&plindex=7