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Remember when "republicans" used to worry how the national debt would affect their children and grandchildren?


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Last month, deep in a 500-page environmental impact statement, the Trump administration made a startling assumption: On its current course, the planet will warm a disastrous seven degrees by the end of this century.

A rise of seven degrees Fahrenheit, or about four degrees Celsius, compared with preindustrial levels would be catastrophic, according to scientists. Many coral reefs would dissolve in increasingly acidic oceans. Parts of Manhattan and Miami would be underwater without costly coastal defenses. Extreme heat waves would routinely smother large parts of the globe.

But the administration did not offer this dire forecast, premised on the idea that the world will fail to cut its greenhouse gas emissions, as part of an argument to combat climate change. Just the opposite: The analysis assumes the planet’s fate is already sealed.

The draft statement, issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), was written to justify President Trump’s decision to freeze federal fuel-efficiency standards for cars and light trucks built after 2020. While the proposal would increase greenhouse gas emissions, the impact statement says, that policy would add just a very small drop to a very big, hot bucket.

“The amazing thing they’re saying is human activities are going to lead to this rise of carbon dioxide that is disastrous for the environment and society. And then they’re saying they’re not going to do anything about it,” said Michael MacCracken, who served as a senior scientist at the U.S. Global Change Research Program from 1993 to 2002.

The document projects that global temperature will rise by nearly 3.5 degrees Celsius above the average temperature between 1986 and 2005 regardless of whether Obama-era tailpipe standards take effect or are frozen for six years, as the Trump administration has proposed. The global average temperature rose more than 0.5 degrees Celsius between 1880, the start of industrialization, and 1986, so the analysis assumes a roughly four degree Celsius or seven degree Fahrenheit increase from preindustrial levels.

The world would have to make deep cuts in carbon emissions to avoid this drastic warming, the analysis states. And that “would require substantial increases in technology innovation and adoption compared to today’s levels and would require the economy and the vehicle fleet to move away from the use of fossil fuels, which is not currently technologically feasible or economically feasible.”

The White House did not respond to requests for comment.

World leaders have pledged to keep the world from warming more than two degrees Celsius compared with preindustrial levels, and agreed to try to keep the temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. But the current greenhouse gas cuts pledged under the 2015 Paris climate agreement are not steep enough to meet either goal. Scientists predict a four degree Celsius rise by the century’s end if countries take no meaningful actions to curb their carbon output.

Trump has vowed to exit the Paris accord and called climate change a hoax. In the past two months, the White House has pushed to dismantle nearly half a dozen major rules aimed at reducing greenhouse gases, deregulatory moves intended to save companies hundreds of millions of dollars.


...me neither.

*For Entertainment Purposes Only* (mainly mine...)

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Top 10 Biggest Polluters in The World

No matter how green an individual is, if we don’t act together, as a community, as a state, as a nation and even as human beings, we have no chance to save the world. Don’t get us wrong – every single environment friendly act is important, every single recycling bin is crucial and every single reused product is a cornerstone of making the world a better, cleaner and greener place, but if there are no legislation on state level, there won’t be any real progress.

This being said we must admit that in our economic system restraining factories and facilities form producing at full capacity is a death sentence to any country’s economy. We say this to show, that the solution of the problem is not that easy and especially for countries with high share of manufacture in their GDP. That of course doesn’t mean that this countries should have a free pass to destroy the environment. This being said here are the top 10 polluters in 2017.

  1. Canada

Canada usually is not considered as one of the most polluted countries, but in fact they emits 557 million metric tons of CO2 per year. They have polluted air, water and soil, which is of great concern to the local people, since it poses a serious risk for them. During the past past 25 years levels of pollution has drastically decreased, but still Canada is one of the most polluted countries in the world.

  1. South Korea

Though not very large as a landmass, South Korea is one of the biggest economies on Earth. This imminently causes enormous pollution problems and it comes as no surprise, that this small East Asian country is in the top ten polluters of the world. Annually it emits about 592 million metric tons per year. Until not so long ago the government in South Korea was declaring that Korea’s high air pollution levels are due to the close proximity of China. Researches found though, that the problem lies at home and not in China. In the country there are 53 coal-powered plants and 20 more are planned to be build in the next few years. Now Seoul is the third most polluted city in the world right after Beijing and Delhi.

  1. Saudi Arabia

The desert covered Kingdom is the largest oil exporter in OPEC, which immensely impacts the environment. The Urbanization in the country causes much higher levels of air pollution and combined with the oil production waste it makes the country the 8th most polluted country in the world.The country emits around 601 million metric tons per year.

  1. Iran

Iran’s pollution problem is very similar to the one in Saudi Arabia, only greater. Dust storms, dry weather and urban pollution is combined with refinery operation and industrial effluents. This makes Iran the 7th most polluted country in the world which emits 648 million metric tons every year. The problem in the urban areas is so big, that the Iranian government closed schools several times a year due to the air pollution.

  1. Germany

The biggest economy in EU is naturally one of the biggest polluters in the world. The German economy emits around 798 million metric tons per year. The industry though is only one of the factors of this pollution. Germany is one of the most mobilized countries in the world with it’s vast network of highways. Frankfurt on the other hand is one of the biggest airports in the world, thus vehicles and airplanes contribute to the pollution a lot more than in other countries.

  1. Japan

Japan is a very highly dense populated countries which contributes to the pollution. Though the country strives to become a clean energy haven, it still is one of the biggest polluters in the world. Japan’s air pollution is not the biggest problem of this island country. Waste management, global warming and  electronic waste in Japan. The country is one of the leaders in electronics development and this kind of waste is enormous. The country emits around 1,237 million metric tons per year.

  1. Russia

Russia is the biggest country in the world with an enormous production and low population density. The high levels deforestation and logging, as well as  the large and heavy industry in the country creates a big problem for this vast country. Air Pollution in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Volgograd and other highly populated industrial cities is causing a lot of health problems for the population. Nearly 17% of diseases in children and 10% of adults is attributed to air pollution. The biggest problem is that the country strives to be the biggest economy in the world and is highly unlikely to prioritize clean energy rather than big production. Annually Russia emits 1,617 million metric tons.

  1. India

India is the country with the second largest population on earth and one of the most fast growing economies on the planet. This immediately causes a very serious pollution problem. The country emits about 2,274 million metric tons per year and the air pollution is rivaling China’s as the world’s deadliest. 1.1 million people die each year prematurely as a result of air pollution. New Delhi is now one of the most polluted cities in the world, second only to Beijing. The worst part is that there will be no solution to this problem in the near future, since the country is trying to rival Chinese and Japanese economies and the government is trying to industrialize the every part of the subcontinent.

  1. USA

The biggest economy in the world so far with high production, oil reserves and giant metropolitan. The U.S. citizens are one of the most mobilized and the traffic on the streets and in the skies is so high, that air pollution is becoming a more and more pressing problem. The whole infrastructure of American cities forces people to travel by cars which combined with the industry emits 5,414 million metric tons of CO2 every years. The air pollution in the USA is a great concern of many people and is causing thousands of people to seek medical attention every year.

  1. China

China is the largest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world. The country emits more than 10,375 million metric tons per year, which causes serious health problems for the population, especially in the big industrial cities. Beijing is the most polluted city in the world where there are literally weeks when locals don’t see the sun because of the smog. Many citizens wear protective masks when they go outside and the local authorities have installed giant screens, which show sunrises and sunsets, to prevent depression. Nevertheless air pollution in China causes millions of deaths every year and although the country has a thriving economy, it is also the biggest polluter in the world.

Global Climate change is a fact and always will be.  For long before the industrialized World existed, before China became so industrialized and long before America was a Nation the world's climate changed from century to century and so it will do so in the future.  I do not believe that man can do near the damage to the world's climate as foretold by folks like Al Gore.  All you have to do is look at the damage that one large volcano eruption does and yet the world seems to recover from it in time.  The world's climate seems to self-heal itself even from such a massive event which far exceeds what mankind can do to the world's climate.

I fully believe in Global climate change as a fact but I'm not so convinced in "man-made" climate change and I'm also not so convinced in the article cited either.  First of all, I'm very suspicious about anything that comes from the Jeff Bezos owned Washington Post when it has to do with Donald Trump as there is such an anti-Trump bias that, pretty much, the Washington Post and New York Times can be discounted almost 99% of the time.  "Assumption" is another word that caught my eye.  One only has to realize that much of the warnings, and assumptions, about "man-made" Climate Change, comes from computer models and not from historical and raw data.  When it comes to actual data compared to the models there is little to no correlation or verification of the computer models.  About the only thing that is consistent is that the computer models have been grossly in error or proven manipulated by bad data input into them, sometimes, by questionable people with a political agenda.  

At least it's made Al Gore, and a few others, much richer than they ever could have achieved without all the fearmongering and made Al Gore relevant again, something he couldn't achieve in politics.   Could I be wrong?  Of Course but until there is much better indications than wild assumptions I'm not going to start worrying.  Additionally, until you gain the cooperation and see real change in nations like China, India and a few others it's all for naught anyway and regardless of what the United States does the course will be set and there is nothing we would be able to do about it anyway.  It's also interesting to see the actions of folks like Al Gore and others like him who live a "do as I say" type life and "not as I do".  You hear them talk and lecture everyone else about it but when you look closely at their lives and how they live they do everything but what they try and force upon everyone else.  

Kraven posted:

Some people are too stupid to have this explained--

Where's the forum meteorologist, he isn't worth his Old Salt if he
doesn't libsplain the forecast---  

 

And some birds are too stupid to be able to explain or understand it.

But anyway, I'll give it a try - which forecast does ScareCrow need explaining?

 

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