The "Mega-Drought Future," Disappearance of Coral Reefs and Our Unwillingness to Listen

[marmar]

The "Mega-Drought Future," Disappearance of Coral Reefs and Our Unwillingness to Listen

Monday, 02 March 2015 00:00
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | Report

Scientists are now mapping a world that is changing rapidly in often terrifying ways. Climate disruption and world leaders' unwillingness to act have put us at risk of experiencing mega-droughts, the disappearance of coral reefs and other ecological impacts of an anthropogenically warming planet.

The UN World Meteorological Organization recently announced that 14 of the 15 hottest years ever recorded have occurred since 2000. Ponder that for a moment before reading further.

In what is perhaps eerily prophetic timing, this February marked the 50th anniversary of US President Lyndon B. Johnson's warning about carbon dioxide. In a 1965 special message to Congress, he warned about the buildup of carbon dioxide and said, in what would become the harbinger warning of anthropogenic climate disruption (ACD):

Air pollution is no longer confined to isolated places. This generation has altered the composition of the atmosphere on a global scale through radioactive materials and a steady increase in carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels.

The potential consequences of this warming are also multiplying, as witnessed by a recent NASA study that shows that the United States is "at risk of (a) mega-drought future." The research shows that the Southwest and Central Plains are both on course for super-droughts, which have not been witnessed in over 1,000 years.

In this month's climate dispatch, we document a wide range of research along similar lines: Scientists are now mapping a world that is changing rapidly in often terrifying ways. ......................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://truth-out.org/news/item/29317-the-mega-drought-future-disappearance-of-coral-reefs-and-our-unwillingness-to-listen

[cyberswede]

1. Watch it die

I was born on planet earth
the rotating ball where man comes first
it's been around for a long, long time
but now it's time to watch it die

I saw a man on my big blue screen
he ruled the world economy
he said the rich would never concede
but some day soon he'll be put to sleep

I've seen the life of the forest green
and adaptations of the deep blue seas
and who knows who is the fittest
they will all soon be put to rest

On a plunging flight
and we're sitting in the pilot's seat
in the midst of life
people on a dark horizon
praying somebody will save their lives

I was born on planet earth
at a drastic time full of plastic mirth
and everyday I've seen increasing signs
and you would too if you'd opened your eyes
you had a chance you did not try
so now it's time to watch it die

[2naSalit]

2. Dahr Jamail is one of the most

truthful and credible journalists to come around in a long while. I first heard him on a local radio station in 2004 - I lived in a more progressive location for a short spell back then - he was the only person I heard talking about the WMDs used in Mosul during the big battle then. He described how human cadavers were lying out in the streets for weeks and the stray dogs wouldn't go near them nor were they decaying normally because of the chemicals we used there... among other details of the aftermath of the first Mosul event.

Thanks for posting!!