Movies, Hurricanes and Global Warming

People will debate 'global warming' until hell freezes (or roasts) over. I think that these extreme weather occurances are made all the more devastating by people's poor choices in places to live. Beach front property is all the rage, but when these homes are destroyed by wind and waves, we are expected to pity these ignorant people and pay, through government-funded low interest loans and/or grants, for them to rebuild in the SAME locations!

Droughts have always occured in the West, but they make big headlines now because they endanger the water supplies of the millions of people that live there, even though the land was not meant to sustainably support so many people. There was good reason why this country was originally settled in New England and the Great Lakes area. There is abundant water and a temperate climate. Although we have dealt with some big snowstorms over the years, outside of a few rickety barns collapsing under the weight of snow loads, our homes are still standing and our land still productive.

As the debate on man's influence on the weather rages on, we need to address areas that better help us deal with whatever comes along. Improved building codes and zoning laws can help control losses. Water conservation measures in drought-prone areas should be mandatory. We really need to get back in touch with the land we live on, understand what it is capable of supporting and plan communities accordingly.

 

Fearless prediction: debate about global warming will end within a decade or so, because it will become painfully obvious that global warming is occuring and that it is driven largely by human CO2 emissions. (Of course there will always be a few global warming deniers, just as there will always be flat-Earthers and creationists.)

 

Actually there is pretty much overwhelming agreement that mankind is causing global warming.

And by overwhelming I'm including all the people on this planet that read. I'm not just including Americans.

It is not hard to understand why the acceptance of this fact and it's causes are not overwhelmingly accepted in the USA like they are in the rest of the world. Our media is owned by corporations and although some reporters might actually be "progressive", the editors and owners clearly are not. The overseas media is not as totally corporate as it is here. So overseas people get there news a bit more "agenda free". Not so true in the good ol USA.

Plus, the USA has had a bit of an "anti-intellectualism" period going on for the last 20 years or so.



And to those who say that the "debate will continue" I would say that it is only a debate when neither of the debaters has an agenda. Thus, whenever I see a so-called debate on this subject I look to see the credentials of those debating. Only when neither of the debaters are from the oil industry or from this administration nor from Universities that get funding from places like the Heritage foundation, do I conclude that what is happening is a debate. Otherwise what I see happening is someone trying to debate arguing with someone trying to "propagandize". So I would be careful what I called a "debate" in the first place.

Are there any scientists left, who are not beholding to this administration or some other group with an agenda, that still doubts global warming and mankinds hand in it exists?

 

I do believe that global warming is occuring.
Hence, I drive a Prius to cut CO2 and other emissions. We recycle everything we can-plastics, metal, newspaper, compost kitchen waste,etc. I Strongly encourage my grown children to so the same, and thankfully, all 3 have a strong conservation ethic.

The debate WILL continue simply because the US has no cohesive energy and environmental conservation policy due to the intense lobbying of corporations serving to further their own agendas. A government 'of the people' we are NOT.

The best personal philosophy, IMHO, is that of the Green Party - "Think Globally, Act Locally". It's really the only thing you can do and be assured of success. Enough people with the same outlook will make a difference.'

 

I am interested in how many refer "mankind" as the cause of global warming. When scientifically analyzing the reasons as to why our atmosphere's average temperatures are rising, there are simply too many variables. The reasons as to why our atmosphere is heating up can correlate reasons as seemingly random as sunspots and solar flares... However, I find truth in the principle of Occam's razor; the simplest explination is most likely the cause. Enormous CO2 emissions contributing to global warming makes a lot of sense, hence my personal belief: the industrialization of mankind has caused a global warming trend. This is many one of the reasons I chose Prius over something like a Passat.

Jerry P, be careful; criticizing "ignorant" people for living in places that are more prone to destruction from mother nature that way isn't called for. Maybe you haven't heard: coastal Florida residents are paying unprecedented and astronomical insurance premiums for their houses. These premiums are so high in fact, many are forced to leave their homes of many years for financial reasons. I live in Daytona Beach: having the Atlantic ocean at your door is incredible. Watching the sunrise on the beach is incredible. Do we pay the price? Yes! Right now, I am sitting here in Houston, Texas- one of the dirtiest and most polluted cities in America at my father's house as I wonder whether or not my college dorm in Daytona will be there when I get back. Most people want to live in places other than Topeka or Erie. Most Floridians understand the price of living on the beach, and when their beloved homes they live in are razed by 140 mph winds, giving them government assistance is appropriate.

Also, there is one other thing you should be careful with;

"There was good reason why this country was originally settled in New England and the Great Lakes area."

Actually, most historians believe that nomadic people crossed a land-bridge between present day Russia and Alaska over 20,000 years ago. New England was not their first destination. In fact, the droughty deserts of present day American west were earlier occupied than present day great lakes and the Northeast. Interestingly enough, these indigenous peoples of the west managed to survive for thousands of years on dust and cacti... The water and resources started running out when people from the places like the Northeast and Great Lakes moved to the west and colonized cities like Las Vegas and Phoenix wanting fabulous fountains and green lawns...

 

Sorry. 'Ignorant' was a bad choice of words. However, if you chose to live in an area that is susceptable to a particular weather problem, it is wise to build accordingly. You will not find many flat roofed houses here in the snow belt - they would collapse when the snow piles up 3 ft. in one night. There are many home construction styles - steel framing and brick for example - that can reasonably be expected to hold up to very strong winds. Mobile homes do not. As I mentioned, zoning and building codes can address a lot of the problems with new construction.

As far as where we live, Dave is right. Circumstances beyond our control put us where we are in a lot of cases. My grandparents emigrated to Canada from Poland in the early 1900's. My grandfather's brother was in Uniontown.PA and told them to come there. As curcumstances had it, they went instead to Union City,PA, had no money to go further and our family has been in this area ever since. Several of the younger generation have moved West to Ohio and Colorado and Illinios, but the bulk of us are here. I plan to die in the home we have had here for 27 years (but not soon I hope!).

 

At what point to settlers become "indigenous"?

Either that or the people who came from Europe ran into a large land mass and couldn't portage their boats to the west coast (which they didn't know existed) and they couldn't catch a train or plane.
Running boats on rivers and lakes was by far the easiest method of travel, that is why the Great lakes were among the "early" Europeans settlements.

 

National Geographic

The Sept issue of National Geographic has a cover story on Global Warming.
I read elsewhere that 10 of the worst hurricanes in the last hundred years have happened in the last 15 years. Florida is bracing for yet another category 3 -5 storm: three in less than a month. Hurricanes are caused by warm Gulf Stream air meeting colder air coming down from the north. The warmer the air( i.e. the water too), the stronger the storm. Average temps in the Atlantic have risen a few degrees, which is enough to increase the violence of the storms.
One of the engineers I work with told me after a trip to Alaska, that Bethel, on the west coast, was reporting temps in the mid 80's. Barrow is sinking because the perma frost is melting. The Inuit are going nuts because the animals are disappearing.
The point of all the debating about global warming is that human beings, by nature, do not want to admit the need to make severe changes in how they live so they will rationalize not doing anything in order to avoid the changes. According to the National Geographic, there is pretty overwhelming evidence that global warming is a fact and that we are largely responsible for it.
Driving Prii helps, but we will likely be facing more dire changes. The depressing news is that we haven't peaked yet, i.e. the changes we have introduced are lagging behind our contiuned production of greenhouse gases so that if we stopped now, we would still experience continued global warming.
100 million people live in areas that will likely be underwater in 20 years; this includes much of Holland, Bangladesh and lots of islands in the Pacific.
George Bush and Dick Cheney think conservation might be a nice civic virtue but not serious energy policy. Meanwhile they waste resources in Iraq. They have the "threat picture" backwards. Global Warming is a far greater threat than terrorism because it effects all life on the planet and may pose the greatest challenge to civilization yet.
When folks ask me about my car, I try to emphasize the emission reduction and environmental aspects of the Prius rather than focusing strictly on the gas mileage. We're also looking into converting our house to solar. If any of you are interested in our research, contact me off chatline, and I'll happily share my research into energy efficient appliances, solor panels, reverse metering, etc.
Bob

 

Bob,
I'm glad you are focusing on emission with the Prius. IMHO, the emissions rating is almost more impressive than the gas mileage. Also, I look forward to learning how your house turns out...
Now it's time to whine. My college orientation in Daytona beach started the 25th and classes started the 31st. I had to evacuate Daytona Beach on the 2nd of September. I am waiting here in Houston at my father's house... I am scheduled to go back to Daytona Beach on the 12th, but that is about when everyone will be leaving to escape Ivan. Ivan, being a catagory 5 hurricane with 160 mph sustained winds with 200mph gusts is supposed to make landfall on Florida between Monday and Tuesday, leaving me here in Houston indefintely. I am fine being in Houston; I could really care less about Florida, but what I do care about is my Prius! She is sitting in short term parking at the Orlando International Airport; she is in short term parking so I could have peace of mind with Frances. However, the tab will be around $250 when I get back ( if I actually get back on Sunday) and I didn't turn off SE/SS because I didn't think I would be gone more than five days!!! :x :guns: :x
Do you think the 12V will be dead if I am gone 14-20 days with SE/SS still on ? :? I am not thrilled about the thought of my suitemates coming home to my dead car... (all of whom are depending on a ride back to Daytona Beach) They all think it's the coolest machine on four wheels, but arriving to a dead battery after only two weeks would probably leave a lousy taste in their mouth... thoughts?

 

I'm at work so I don't have my manual. It's at home where I study it every night. :lol:

I'm almost positive that I read that the car's sending out the SS/SE signal STOPS on it's own after a certain number of days after never getting a return signal. And it is for this very reason.

At that point, the only way to open your doors is to press the button on the FOB or put the small key in the door. This immediately turns the SS/SE back on so you can start the car without the FOB into the dashboard.

I'm not positive of this so tonight I'll read my manual to be sure and let you know, or you could check it out.

Sorry about your place in Florida. I've got relatives in the Ft Myers & Naples areas that got hit by Charlie but kind of missed by Frances. It looks like Ivan may go that way again.

I hope you do OK but I'm sure your Prius is OK. As for the parking fees, maybe the hurricanes can be used to get a better rate.

And seeing as how our President so desperately needs Florida in this election (He lost it last time, though not by enough that his brother couldn't fix.) it should be pretty easy to justify "disaster relief". Doing without your Prius for so long should qualify in and of itself!!!

 

When you say "it may be too late" it's important to keep in mind "too late for what".

The human race will survive, there just won't be as many of us, and we won't eat as well.

Animals and plants will survive, there just won't be as much diversity.

Even the USA will survive, but ocean front property will be back in Kentucky.

The planet earth will survive. It just won't be quite as green.

And you know what? What's left of the USA will still be selling Hummers.

 

The car will not discharge in 2 weeks. I checked the manual and it recomends that if you are going to store it for long periods you should start it about every two weeks. Thus, you've got Toyota saying that 2 weeks is OK. So if 2 weeks is just fine, 4 weeks can't be too much different. 6, 16, 26 weeks, now those idle times are different.

And as for the FOB, page 31 of the manual says the car will stop sending out a signal to the FOB if there is no response from a FOB for 2 weeks.

Then to reactivate the car sending that signal looking for a FOB all you do is press one of the black buttons on the handle, press one of the buttons on the FOB, or insert the key in the drivers door.

 

I wouldn't plan on it. The current map shows Ivan blasting Jamaica tonight and tomorrow, Cuba Sunday night into Monday and just west of Tampa at 8 AM Tuesday. Best to stay put in Houston and bring 8 D cells to tape in series and 2 wires for use in jumping the 12V if necessary. (He said in an authoritative voice but wondering if there are actually enough amps in 8 D cells to start the computer )

 

Thanks for the responses!
In my rush to leave Florida I didn't bring my manual; thanks for helping me out
I have a hard time believing that the Prius would be dead after only two weeks. I know Toyota has thought about these things when they built the car, but a little reassurance is appreciated.
I think some of the concern came from reading previous threads about people coming home to dead cars; I don't' know exactly how much charge the SE/SS system uses. I also remember Michael Moore in one of his books or movies whining about his Beetle that always died when he would come back from trips. The technicians said something about the vehicle computer needing to be used every week or the car thinks it's dying or something... I wouldn't own anything that comes out of the VW Puebla facility anyway...

Bruceha_2000, thanks for the jump-start suggestion, but homemade electronics isn't my forte... If worst comes to worst, I'll summon that guy in the white Ford Ranger with the jumper cables that lives in every airport parking garage ...

And if Ivan must come, maybe I can be a part of a real-life "Day After Tomorrow" scenario... :cussing:

I really miss my Prius, but I don't mind driving my dad's überauto for now, as long as I don't have to pay for the gas.
Thanks again for your responses

 

Regarding where people choose to live: you know there are millions of people living in FLOOD PLAINS in various parts of this country. Many are along the banks of the Mississippi River. For whatever reason, people are shocked, dismayed and even surprised when their homes, built on a FLOOD PLAIN, are flooded.

The best part is that the Federal Government heavily subsidizes flood insurance for these areas. That way, people can rebuild their homes in the FLOOD PLAINS... Hmm, I wonder why they're called FLOOD PLAINS.