Climate scientists warn that world is heading for war of the resources

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article5870702.ece

March 9, 2009

Climate scientists warn that world is heading for war of the resources

Lewis Smith, Environment Reporter

There is a 50-50 chance of temperature rises reaching dangerous levels over the next century, climate scientists have warned.

Even with heavy cuts in greenhouse gas emissions of 3 per cent a year from 2015, the chance of preventing the temperature rise from exceeding 2C by 2050 is no more than half. And every decade's delay in reducing emissions will cause temperatures to go up by half a degree.

European leaders have made a commitment to limiting rises to 2C because anything above that is expected to damage people's lives and the environment. A 2C increase would in itself cause more heat waves and droughts, many of which could be worse than the 2003 heat wave, which killed thousands of people across Europe.

The warning by researchers at the Met Office Hadley Centre, Exeter, will be made this week at a conference in Copenhagen, which is being held in preparation for a United Nations summit in the city in December, when world leaders will try to agree how to cut gas emissions enough to control climate change.

…

[NewJeffCT]

1. the Pentagon warned of similar just about 5 years ago

said the biggest threat to US security in the future was wars over resources dwindling due to global warming.

[OKIsItJustMe]

2. Yes, and no

If I recall correctly, the Pentagon asked for an analysis. The guys that wrote the analysis said, "Here's what you may be facing…"

(As I recall, it was kind of a worst case scenario.)

Here we go: http://www.grist.org/pdf/AbruptClimateChange2003.pdf

An Abrupt Climate Change Scenario and Its Implications for United States National Security
October 2003

By Peter Schwartz and Doug Randall

Imagining the Unthinkable

The purpose of this report is to imagine the unthinkable – to push the boundaries of current research on climate change so we may better understand the potential implications on United States national security.

We have interviewed leading climate change scientists, conducted additional research, and reviewed several iterations of the scenario with these experts. The scientists support this project, but caution that the scenario depicted is extreme in two fundamental ways. First, they suggest the occurrences we outline would most likely happen in a few regions, rather than on globally. Second, they say the magnitude of the event may be considerably smaller.

We have created a climate change scenario that although not the most likely, is plausible, and would challenge United States national security in ways that should be considered immediately.

[stuntcat]

3. kinda funny how..

It's kinda weird how someone with any foresight who's paid attention the last couple decades could have predicted that the world would go down fighting over resources. But most of the humans still need scientists to point the fact out for them.

Ever since 2000 I've been scared of living to see people fighting for WATER :scared: and I have to be here 40 more years.

[OKIsItJustMe]

4. Carter warned about petro wars.

http://www.jimmycarterlibrary.org/documents/speeches/su80jec.phtml

Jimmy Carter
State of the Union Address 1980

January 23, 1980

…

This situation demands careful thought, steady nerves, and resolute action, not only for this year but for many years to come. It demands collective efforts to meet this new threat to security in the Persian Gulf and in Southwest Asia. It demands the participation of all those who rely on oil from the Middle East and who are concerned with global peace and stability. And it demands consultation and close cooperation with countries in the area which might be threatened.

Meeting this challenge will take national will, diplomatic and political wisdom, economic sacrifice, and, of course, military capability. We must call on the best that is in us to preserve the security of this crucial region.

Let our position be absolutely clear: An attempt by any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United States of America, and such an assault will be repelled by any means necessary, including military force.

…

[stuntcat]

5. He ALWAYS had it right!

He was warning everyone, telling exactly what the problems were.

Cleaning up newspapers my Grandma saved from the 70's I found AP articles warning of exactly what's happening.. short 2-paragraph pieces stuck at the bottom of a page :eyes: but at least we got the warnings, right?
Telling uber-consumers the truth never gets anywhere.. that's why I'm scared now.

[OKIsItJustMe]

6. That's why we elected Grandpa Ronnie

Grandpa Ronnie made us feel good. "Don't worry," he told us, "everything's fine!" Oh sure, people didn't really believe him, but well, there he was on the TV, reassuring us. America was the greatest country on Earth! "USA! USA! USA!"

:patriot:

[OKIsItJustMe]

7. Past and Present: 'Malaise' and the Energy Crisis

http://www.usnews.com/articles/opinion/2008/08/13/past-and-present-malaise-and-the-energy-crisis.html

Past and Present: 'Malaise' and the Energy Crisis

Jimmy Carter's speech is remembered for something he never said—we should recall what he did say

By Kevin Mattson
Posted August 13, 2008

The president of the United States was rumored to have disappeared or gone crazy. It was July 5, 1979, and Jimmy Carter had canceled a speech scheduled for national television that evening. During the day, as the press pondered his infirmity, the president was at Camp David, consulting his staff about a broad "crisis of confidence" that his young pollster, Patrick Caddell, had diagnosed.

He spent 10 more days at the Maryland mountain retreat, meeting with not only staff but also political and civic leaders from various walks of life. On July 15, 1979—a Sunday, fit for a national sermon—Carter went in front of television cameras to give the most important speech of his presidency. He spoke in dire terms of the "crisis of confidence." Since then, his words have been remembered as the "malaise" speech, a word never uttered during it but later grafted onto it by the media and Carter's political opponents, Ted Kennedy to the left and Ronald Reagan to the right. "Malaise" stuck.

As with so many other things from the Carter years, the speech has been misremembered, mocked on The Simpsons, or glossed in college textbooks. But with energy prices again reaching record highs, the speech is worth recalling today not simply for what Carter proposed but also for how he did so.

What Carter really did in the speech was profound. He warned Americans that the 1979 energy crisis—both a shortage of gas and higher prices—stemmed from the country's way of life. "Too many of us now tend to worship self-indulgence and consumption. Human identity is no longer defined by what one does but by what one owns," the president said. Consumerism provided people with false happiness, he suggested, but it also prevented Americans from re-examining their lives in order to confront the profound challenge the energy crisis elicited.

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