respectfully
BJ

“BJ, when you talk about nuclear winter, have you integrated the fact that we simply don’t have the mass of thermonuclear weapons we had in the Good Old Days?”

Major reductions, yes. Still a mass. these guys seem to have done their homework on wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:US_and_USSR_nuclear_stockpiles.svg
 
probably around 30,000 warheads averaging at 0.5 Mt each. Thats down from 60-70,000 in the 80’s, but half an apocalypse is still an apocalypse.

As one scenario is descibed, another one paints a different picture. I guess it depends how fearful one is about change.

Me I love it. Exposes our civilisation to much need structural changes and to a more sustainable future. As I have said before 3/4 of the world is uninhabited and underutilised.

Wheat fields have turned to dust in Australia without undue effect to the world wheat market it would seem. Pity the farmers though.

If I recall the American mid west turned ito a dust bowl sometime around the 1920’s. Did it recover?

We can all fight change but at some point one has to roll with the punches and make decisions on “this is what I have got, now let me explore the possibilites open to us all”.

Such as making fresh water using nothing but the sun, a black plastic sheet, and condensation formed under the black plastic. I only have to leave my clear plastic sails laying on the grass for a few minutes under the sun for fresh water moisture to form under the sail. You cant destroy water. It is everywhere for free.

If we have fog we can harvest the water in it by erecting mesh screens to trap the water and funnel it down to a reservoir. Seen this done in the Andes where there was daily sea fog but never any rain. Enough water was collected on the screens to fulfill the needs of a town of 10,000. Including crop irregation. Screens looked pretty long and big but from a visual point of view where no worse then wind power generators and most of the day they were shrouded in fog anyway.

God, I’m exited by the future.

respectfully
BJ

http://www.opinionjournal.com/diary/?id=110009804

contains the following quote

“Even James Hansen, a scientist who began issuing warning cries about global warming in the 1980s and is a top adviser to Mr. Gore, concedes that his work may hold “imperfections” and “technical flaws.” Other flaws are more serious, such as Mr. Gore’s depiction of sea level rises of up to 20 feet, which would cause Florida and New York City to sink below the surface.

Sober scientists privately say such claims are exaggerated. They point to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a United Nations body that released its fourth report on global warming last month. While it found humans were the main cause of recent global warming, the report also indicated it was a very slow-moving process. On sea levels, the U.N. panel reported its s best high-end estimate of the rise in sea levels by 2100 was three feet. The new high-end best estimate is less than half the previous prediction, which was still far below Mr. Gore’s 20 feet. Similarly, the new report shows that the panel’s 2001 report overestimated the human influence on climate change since the Industrial Revolution by at least one-third.”

Could somebody, anybody at all make a definitive statement on how high the sea levels will rise and over what period? There is a huge difference between 3ft (1 metre) and 6 metres.

Answer, No not really.

Question, Should I be worried, Maybe not.

“Western” civilisation will break down into tribal structures before re-population of the world will start again.

Now which was that Maori tribe that my Viking ancestors visited sooo long ago.

Both Russia and the US have greatly reduced their arsenals. Most of the fissile material has been burned in reactors.

Seriously, are you aware of any recent work on the effects of full scale nuclear war? The old stuff is no longer applicable.

You might meet some cousins there, among the Inuit. Apparently they finished off the struggling surviving Vikings, and it would be surprising if they didn’t spare a few of the women…

Survival of the fittest, that’s the brave new world awaiting us.

I worked in Aberdeen for almost a year but lived in Forfar, yes I know thats not quite the far north but lets face it as far as the English are concerned the far north starts at the Watford gap!

Ye canne beat a bra bridie or a smokey fae Arbroath.