The Global Warming Topic

[Angry Nidhiki]

I'm starting this topic in honor of the new ad guidelines. Hooray! Why does this make sense? Mostly because I want to be able to link to things that aren't on lego.com, and now I can.

 

Global warming. Well, first, to address an inevitable concern: Global warming/climate change is not an inherently political issue. It shouldn't be, and thanks to the "no politics" rule on these forums, it won't be. This topic is not for politically charged debate on whose partisan or faction policies are best for our energy future, or anything like that. Rather, I think we should intelligently discuss what scientific reports tell us is actually happening to our climate, and reasoned solutions. Disagreement can and should occur, but I really don't want this to degenerate into "politics" any more than the mods do.

 

Keep in mind that global warming is a basic reality of the modern world, and it is something we should discuss because it is here and fundamentally affecting the way life on Earth functions.

 

Saying this topic won't be about politics doesn't mean it won't be about solutions. It means the opposite. Politics, generally, is what keeps good solutions to climate change from being pursued, and I look forward to discussing this topic rationally and frankly. Making this topic not about politics also doesn't mean the solutions can't be dramatic or unorthodox. Global warming is an unorthodox problem that deserves unorthodox answers.

 

I personally would welcome any posts along the lines of "Here's something new about the severity of global warming that we didn't realize," or "We could take these measures to fight carbon pollution," or "look at this new solar development" etc.

 

The main rule we should follow is this: base your comments in science, not politics. This doesn't mean that every comment should be strictly about science, but it does mean we should be working off of verifiable, factual claims, not rhetorical pseudoscience, which makes up an unfortunately large portion of debate concerning climate change.

 

And please, do not debate whether climate change is real. This is not a scientific debate worth having. It is inherently political, and that's why we should avoid it. If you have any doubt, look here, and then I hope we can move forward with a healthy, apolitical discussion.

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I want to open this up and see what others have to say, so I'll just leave a few things worth sharing.1. This infographic explains a lot about what's going to happen as a result of global warming in the coming decades.

http://infobeautiful3.s3.amazonaws.com/2013/01/1276_gigatons_CO2.png

2. So does this one, from the World Bank.

http://www.worldbank.org/content/dam/Worldbank/Feature%20Story/SDN/climate-change-africa-asia-1250x7500.jpg

3. My personal opinion is that we need to curb fossil fuel burning as quickly as possible if society is going to be able to manage long-term. That means rapidly depleting investments in fossil fuels and reinvesting our research and funding into renewable energy.4. I also think we should be, as individuals, focusing on cutting ourselves off from central grids when possible; urban gardening and rooftop solar power generation are two ways to do that. In doing so we can save money and reduce carbon pollution!I look forward to other thoughts.

Edited July 26, 2013 by Angry Nidhiki

[Art Vandelay]

Yay! I like this topic. If politics could stay out of the climate change debate, perhaps something could actually be done about it.