Global Warning - we have 98 months

On the other hand some think we have had it already.

So is it time to have our final fling lasting some twenty years before chaos reigns!

Copied from the Westmorland Gazette Forum

"Problems occur when people use broad generalisations.

Environmental campaigner and Doom don't sit well with me.

As a Chemical Engineer who was employed to do research for Shell Oil in California and Glaxo in Ulverston I see myself in a wide range of ways. Reasonably knowledgable in some.

What I attempt to do is question:

Why do people want to trust other scientists rather than those at the Met Office who tell us that if no more carbon dioxide was added to the earth's atmosphere the temperature would steadily rise in the future?

They believe that whatever happens (except - see later)the average temperature in the future will rise and keep rising. - I keep reading the statement "most scientists agree with the above".

If we do nothing to restrict carbon emissions then the temperature will rise very quickly at an accelerating rate in the future.

Whatever scenario we envisage - the temperature will rise. All that is questioned is how fast it will rise.

When the temperature rises enough we as humans cease to be able to live here!

I don't see this as Doom but fact. I can live cheerfully with this thought! I shall just enjoy the time that is left!

The only way that the temperature rise can be halted is if we (scientists/engineers) can actually remove carbon dioxide faster than it is being emitted.

To do this we have to remove in the range of 350ppm or 0.03 % from the earth's atmosphere. Though this is possible in theory, the problem is that we have to do this without using carbon fuels to provide the massive amount of energy required. This will be an exceedingly difficult feat to pull off requiring much of the worlds resources to achieve. More importantly we need to provide very large funding from world government funding to do this.

With the system that we have of free enterprise, a democratic system that allows the masses to take decisions I see no hope of achieving a consensus to concentrate on this issue.

Removal of carbon dioxide at the source of the emissions is already being done by a very few power plants - in Germany - I believe.

This is a far easier task as the carbon dioxide can be present as high as 20% in the exhaust gases once the water is removed.

To use this approach carbon fuels would only be burnt in specially designed power stations that generated, say , electricity.

Everything else would be driven by electricity. A complete change in technology.

Accept it - realistically - it's not going to happen.

What we can do as adjust to the thought that we face a future where there will be mass panic as the reality of what is happening dawns on the masses. This will be a hard time but one I'm looking forward to dealing with.

One way is to build some very strong and loyal relationships with people who will work together and cope.

Can we adapt quick enough?"