tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8861605.post6369125061351763479..comments2024-03-24T11:01:27.668-04:00Comments on Resource Insights: Can humans really adapt to climate change?Kurt Cobbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05330759091950742285noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8861605.post-32934667505020431542011-06-14T22:21:11.178-04:002011-06-14T22:21:11.178-04:00It is manifestly clear from long-term paleoclimate...It is manifestly clear from long-term paleoclimate proxies that climate change is governed by "tipping points" whereby large discontinuities occur in response to arbitrarily small forcings. Our problem is that we don't know where these tipping points lie, in which parameters, nor do we know which adjustments we are making to climate.<br /><br />e.g.<br />http://worldcomplex.blogspot.com/2011/02/contrasts-in-dynamics-of-climate.html<br /><br />http://worldcomplex.blogspot.com/2011/04/framework-for-applying-computation.html<br /><br />For instance, even though it is commonly argued that water vapour is more important than CO2 as a vector for climate change, humans are altering the hydrologic cycle on a gigantic scale: cutting down forests here; draining swamps there; creating enormous man-made lakes; draining fossil aquifers. Unfortunately we are ignorant of the scale and the direction of possible climate changes as a result of our actions.mickeymanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05294892836443576042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8861605.post-46556452343835804402011-06-13T21:46:19.818-04:002011-06-13T21:46:19.818-04:00The population bottlenecks are probably caused by ...The population bottlenecks are probably caused by one group of humans developing a selective advantage that allowed a small subspecies to spread out and replace all the other humans on the world like Neanderthals not by being nearly wiped out by external factors. Stone age Homo Sapiens thrived in all of Earths climate zones from the Arctic to the Kalahari desert. Civilization may fall, but I have no doubt that humans of some form or other will survive whatever the climate has to throw at them from a new Cretaceous period to a new Ice Age.Stephenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02291622298961270279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8861605.post-29998881227469164802011-06-12T12:21:58.403-04:002011-06-12T12:21:58.403-04:00I really dislike this notion of placing adaptation...I really dislike this notion of placing adaptation and mitigation on opposite sides of the fence; remediation, even maximal remediation will not stop Climate Change, so we need both, and both in a hurry.<br /><br />Adaptation can not be an excuse to avoid reducing emissions.<br /><br />Remediation can not be an excuse to avoid creation of adaptive strategies.R Walkernoreply@blogger.com