[AGL] Humans are a force of nature

[Gerry]

Sorry, I meant Robert Reich, who was Secty. of Labor in the Clinton regime.
Frontal lobe does not function as well as it once did...I guess James would
be ill-equipped for that position...
G




----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Eisenstadt" <michaele at ando.pair.com>
To: "survivors' reminiscences about Austin Ghetto Daze in the 60s"
<austin-ghetto-list at pairlist.net>
Sent: Friday, June 23, 2006 9:21 AM
Subject: Re: [AGL] Humans are a force of nature


> James Reich, Secretary of the Treasury???????
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Gerry" <mesmo at gilanet.com>
> To: "survivors' reminiscences about Austin Ghetto Daze in the 60s"
> <austin-ghetto-list at pairlist.net>
> Sent: Friday, June 23, 2006 9:57 AM
> Subject: Re: [AGL] Humans are a force of nature
>
>
> Last night on the NBC news of all places there was a report which showed a
> graph of temperatures on Earth for the past 400 years. There were a few
> little peaks and valleys and then we get to the latter 20th century and
the
> rise goes straight up, and still rising, off the chart, incredible that it
> could move so fast in such a short time. Yep, this curve if nothing else
> shows that we should be in a state of alarm.
>
> Seismic activity beneath the crust can cause rises in temperatures.
Volcanic
> ash can lower them. On the other hand it is possible that the current rise
> may actually set off seismic activity. We may be in for some big clouds of
> ash on the order of Mt. St. Helens only much larger.
>
> As for adaptability, there are many life forms which are far more
adaptable
> than giant creatures such as ourselves with limited vision, limited
hearing,
> slow movement, vulnerability to disease, requiring large amounts of food
> daily, vulnerability to extremes of hot and cold, etc. The "toughest"
> humans, that is those who are physically fit and accustomed to exposure to
> extremes, will likely survive the longest. As for overweight denizens
> accustomed to air conditioned lifestyles and little ability to combat
> discomfort, they will be the first to go.
>
> The scariest element of global warming to me is the emergence of
> meteorological extremes such as flash floods and great winds that pop up
out
> of nowhere and obliterate an area. No defense against these and they are
not
> "predictable" with current science. I'm not referring to just hurricanes,
> check out the recent global rainfall patterns, flooding in the extreme in
> certain areas, monstrous droughts (my area is under the classification of
> "exceptional" which is beyond "extreme"), great winds and dust,
temperature
> fluctuations never witnessed before, forest and range fires out of
control,
> etc. I fully expect some western city to go up in flames before too long,
> look out Flagstaff. Sooner or later these extremes will start affecting
> infrastructure and there will be transportation emergencies and blackouts
> that we will be helpless to control...at first just local but ultimately
> national and international crisis caused by weather. Hello New Orleans.
>
> Seems to me that the answer is in smallness. Smaller grids, smaller cars,
> smaller houses. Community agriculture, community emergency teams,
> communities with survival replacing comfort as a cue for design, etc. I
> would like to see pundits such as Gore begin to advocate solutions that
> start with converting individuals and communities instead of trying to
find
> a way to preserve the monolithic creations we are dependent upon at
present.
> I guess this is difficult to imagine while living in a huge city and
driving
> everywhere and feeling omnipotent economically, etc.
>
> The value of the dollar has fallen about 30% in the past two years. James
> Reich (former Secty of the Treasury) said a couple of weeks ago that the
> recent appointment of a Wall Street exec to that post is a signal that the
> Bushies realize that further fall is inevitable and that an insider is
> needed to help manage the fall and orchestrate a soft descent instead of a
> giant crash...
>
> Up early everyday in NM to get the hard, outside work done before the heat
> builds up.
> G
>
>
>   ----- Original Message -----
>   From: Connie Clark
>   To: survivors' reminiscences about Austin Ghetto Daze in the 60s
>   Sent: Friday, June 23, 2006 7:40 AM
>   Subject: [AGL] Humans are a force of nature
>
>
>
>
>   Frances Morey <frances_morey at yahoo.com> wrote:
>     . There could possibly be reasons for the melt down other than the
human
> penchant for using up petroleum products for energy.
>
>     Frances,
>     This fact is discussed and tracked by scientists ad nauseum and
> graphically illustrated in the book and movie.  It is humans who are
> creating an exponential warming at this time and on a lively pace set to
> cause catastrophic results if we don't start curbing our fossil fuel
> consumption- the US in particular.  We can do it, just as we slowed and
> reversed the hole in the ozone layer by taking CFCs out of production.
>
>     Gore is on his tour partly at the behest, as he said, of the
frustrated
> scientists who have been telling these facts for a long time. Oil companys
> have used your argument about natural warming to convince politicians and
> public that there is a debate - there is no debate in the scientific
> community about the cause of the current global warming trend.  Gore has
> tried unsuccessfully for too long to get politicians (including Clinton
> during their administration) to act on it - now he says, he is going
> directly to the people.
>
>     The audience in the movies are quiet, and come away from it with the
> stark reality of the whole scientific story. The disaster of a 20'
increase
> in sea level will be a lot more than just relocating populations.  Climate
> change affects food source, spread of disease and pestilence.  Just
because
> you live in the hill country doesn't give you a safe haven.
>
>     Ask yourself sometime, btw, what is the agenda of the 'scientists' who
> are trying to discredit the evidence of human intervention of global
> warming.  Is it just too much trouble for us to change any of our
lifestyles
> to curb greenhouse gases?  Only if you are dependent on income from oil
> consumption.
>
>     Connie
>
>
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