[Arragonis]

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

Sandy was a wake up call. Insurance companies and people in Norfolk VA, the Solomon Islands, the Maldives, Bangladesh, Thailand, Pakistan, Venice, Holland, the US military, East Africa, Texas and the Midwest, Eskimos, etc. - already knew that climate change is a big problem.

Sandy was not unusual, it coincided with something else with made it worse. It also became political which might have been part of the problem.

Roger Pielke, Professor of Environmental Studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder and author of ‘The Honest Broker’—a key text about science and politics—kicked things off with a story of how Hurricane Sandy’s meteorological classification became a political issue. On its approach to the US east coast, the storm was initially called a ‘post-tropical cyclone of hurricane strength’ rather than a hurricane, putting the liability for ensuing damage onto insurance companies. In the aftermath—when the final classification of the storm is made—government officials put pressure on meteorologists to uphold this classification for its political (and financial) implications. Pielke’s tale illustrated from the off that for evidence in policy, the goals of governments on one side and scientists on the other can be very different.

As an event it wasn't that unusual in history, ok in televised history it is but not otherwise. It did happen a few times in the 19th century, and Battery Park is sinking with the rest of the Island.

The Maldives have just agreed to build a new CO2 emitting airport apparently.

Venice is sinking, this was news in 1978. There is a worldwide fund for works to stop this, I have donated.

Bangladesh and Pakistan flood often. There is some evidence of increased flooding and a lot of that might be due to deforestation - I think this is a major problem which is (in part) caused by poor people intruding into wildlife areas and because of corrupt governments. Lets sort those maybe, no more trips to Ikea for a start

No idea about the others - what about them ?

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

But now, people in New York and New Jersey know. And people in Boston know that they only missed a major disaster by about 5 hours - if it had coincided with high tide, Boston would have been a multi-billion dollar event. So, they are now starting the hard work of deciding how to prepare for more sea level rise - do we abandon certain areas? Do we build barriers? Do we supplement and enhance existing natural barriers? Do we have a government-back insurance plan? Do we pay people for lost property value? Do we spend a fraction of what we will pay for damage in the future, on mitigating carbon output now?

This is a common problem, the UK floods are caused by building on flood plains - how do you insure them ? uk.gov is failing on this.

As for mitigating CO2 now how much will that cost. The uk CCA will cost about £60tn. What would a US one cost ? And even if what you say is true how much would flood defence cost compared to this ? Maybe $30-40bn ?

And seeing as those predictions are reducing do we need to ?

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

The massive drought in the breadbasket of the US (and the world?) is continuing. The Ogallala aquifer is dropping at an alarming rate, and so is Lake Meade and the Great Lakes. How many more rivers will run dry? Will shipping on the Mississippi come to a halt? What happens when we produce less grain and soybeans than we consume? Do we continue to have factory farms for cows, pigs and chickens? Fracking operations have been halted in several areas already - due to a lack of water.

Can you link these from CO2 to CO2 driven climate to direct effects ?

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

Will the number of billion dollar plus events continue to increase? Will the Arctic ice be gone in August/September of 2016? 2018? 2020?

Well they haven't really.You might want to spend some time with this scientist (also linked above) with a blog as he studies this kind of thing for a living (well part of a living) and he says no. And he agrees AGW is happening and also in mitigation.

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

Will Greenland's ice pack melt faster and faster? Will we get 2 more feet of sea level rise in this century? We have "only" had about 8" rise so far in the last 100 years? Or will we get 4 feet, or even 6 feet? Will rainfall rates top 6 inches in an hour, or 8 inches in an hour? Will a storm drop more that 30" in three days, like what happened in Pakistan? Vermont and the Connecticut River valley almost got washed away by 7" of rain in about 10-12 hours.

Are these unusual though ? Please go through the historical records and find no previous instances of this happening. India (and Pakistan / Bangladesh) have an annual monsoon - have you been there when it happens ? Its more water falling from the sky than you or I will ever see. I plan to go there sometime soon hopefully, I want to go there then too.

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

When will we all realize that we are all in this together?

Yes we are - which means we all have to pay for it, and we all have to deal with the consequences and we all have to deal with the "what ifs" including the "what if this is wrong" and we restrict how the poor world can develop. If I was convinced I would hold the other end of your banner and be at the head of the march shouting the loudest.

Eyes in the headlights question - would you make your kids live like the 3rd world ?