Quote:
Originally Posted by redpoint5
I sometimes wonder what Saudi Arabia is going to do when oil riches dry up. It seems they are only allies because their economic interests force them to mostly (9-11 aside) play nice with the rest of the world.
When humanity develops cheap and plentiful non-fossil fueled energy, they will be in a world of hurt.
With regards to the warming, I would expect water to cycle more, meaning more total global rain. I would also expect this to have a net greening effect, though it seems climate research is myopically focused on the locations where deserts will expand. I'm confused as to how we should worry about a drying planet when it's going to cycle 7% more fresh water.
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Quite the contrary.
And it's extremely complex.
1) Rain is a disaster for snow. It's part of the Albedo-flip feared by scientists.
2) Clouds both cool and heat. And they mainly heat.
3) If you need rain, and have moisture, and cloud condensation nuclei, there's no rain if temps are so great as to be above dew-point.
4) Rain is a disaster for ice, for the same reasons as for snow.
5) Mountain snow doesn't do you any good if it all melts prematurely.
6) Freshwater upsets the thermohaline cycle in the oceans, and can even shut it down.
7) Loss of continental glaciers cause tectonic isostatic rebound, triggering earthquakes and volcanic eruptions ( Iceland , Antarctica ), sea level rise.
8) Polar vortex instability means Jet Stream instability, with unpredictable moisture distribution.
9) Melting sea-ice = collapse of the entire marine food chain.Late freeze and early melt = 3-months of extra solar energy pouring into both poles.
10) Dry regions may become drier.
11) Wet regions may become wetter.
12) Invasive species of all kinds are moving pole-wards.
13) Atmospheric rivers and extreme rain events are on the rise.
14) Crop failures, rain, flood, hail................2019: Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas.
15) Warming oceans lose ability to capture carbon.
16) Warming oceans dump methane clathrates.
17) Landslides.
18) Mudslides.
19) Dam failures
20) Road washouts
21) Bridge washouts
22) Rapid-intensification of storms
23) Blizzards
24) Carbon-Dioxide alters water transport within the plant:
- depleting protein
- depleting iron
-depleting zinc
Rice and Wheat becomes associated with malnutrition, anemia, and disease.
25) At 104-F, photosynthesis ceases., stomata close off, evapotranspiration stops, crops can gain another 10-F.
26) Arctic rain means lichen locked below ice, reindeer starve by tens of thousands, Nenets' only source of food, Yamal Peninsula, Siberia, 2017.
27) While carbon-dioxide is a 'fertilizer' for plant growth, heat is not.
on and on and on.........................