The planet's future: Climate change 'will cause civilisation to collapse'

[D-Mack]

The planet's future: Climate change 'will cause civilisation to collapse'


Authoritative new study sets out a grim vision of shortages and violence – but amid all the gloom, there is some hope too

By Jonathan Owen


An effort on the scale of the Apollo mission that sent men to the Moon is needed if humanity is to have a fighting chance of surviving the ravages of climate change. The stakes are high, as, without sustainable growth, "billions of people will be condemned to poverty and much of civilisation will collapse".


This is the stark warning from the biggest single report to look at the future of the planet – obtained by The Independent on Sunday ahead of its official publication next month. Backed by a diverse range of leading organisations such as Unesco, the World Bank, the US army and the Rockefeller Foundation, the 2009 State of the Future report runs to 6,700 pages and draws on contributions from 2,700 experts around the globe. Its findings are described by Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the UN, as providing "invaluable insights into the future for the United Nations, its member states, and civil society".

The impact of the global recession is a key theme, with researchers warning that global clean energy, food availability, poverty and the growth of democracy around the world are at "risk of getting worse due to the recession". The report adds: "Too many greedy and deceitful decisions led to a world recession and demonstrated the international interdependence of economics and ethics.

...

http://www.independent.co.uk/environ...e-1742759.html

Prince Charles 'calculation': Just 96 months to save planet
9 Jul 2009, 1918 hrs IST, PTI


LONDON: Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne, has "calculated" that humans have just 96 months left to save the planet.

Prince of Wales, in a searing indictment on capitalist society, told top industrialists and environmentalists that capitalism and consumerism have brought the world to the brink of economic and environmental collapse.

"If we don't face up to this, then Nature, the biggest bank of all, could go bust. And no amount of quantitative easing will revive it," he said while delivering the Richard Dimbleby Lecture at St James's Palace last night.

Expressing concerns for the future of the planet, Charles said he had calculated that we have just 96 months left to save the world. He warned that the failure to act would lead to the "nightmare that for so many of us now looms on the horizon".

"We face the dual challenges of a world view and an economic system that seem to have enormous shortcomings, together with an environmental crisis - including that of climate change - which threatens to engulf us all," he was quoted as saying by The Independent newspaper today.

..

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...ow/4759168.cms

Lots of gloom & doom from Rockefeller, Prince Charles & Co.

[Master Shake]

Re: The planet's future: Climate change 'will cause civilisation to collapse'

The planet's future: Climate change 'will cause civilisation to collapse'


Authoritative new study sets out a grim vision of shortages and violence – but amid all the gloom, there is some hope too

By Jonathan Owen


An effort on the scale of the Apollo mission that sent men to the Moon is needed if humanity is to have a fighting chance of surviving the ravages of climate change. The stakes are high, as, without sustainable growth, "billions of people will be condemned to poverty and much of civilisation will collapse".


This is the stark warning from the biggest single report to look at the future of the planet – obtained by The Independent on Sunday ahead of its official publication next month. Backed by a diverse range of leading organisations such as Unesco, the World Bank, the US army and the Rockefeller Foundation, the 2009 State of the Future report runs to 6,700 pages and draws on contributions from 2,700 experts around the globe. Its findings are described by Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the UN, as providing "invaluable insights into the future for the United Nations, its member states, and civil society".

The impact of the global recession is a key theme, with researchers warning that global clean energy, food availability, poverty and the growth of democracy around the world are at "risk of getting worse due to the recession". The report adds: "Too many greedy and deceitful decisions led to a world recession and demonstrated the international interdependence of economics and ethics.

...

http://www.independent.co.uk/environ...e-1742759.html

Prince Charles 'calculation': Just 96 months to save planet
9 Jul 2009, 1918 hrs IST, PTI


LONDON: Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne, has "calculated" that humans have just 96 months left to save the planet.

Prince of Wales, in a searing indictment on capitalist society, told top industrialists and environmentalists that capitalism and consumerism have brought the world to the brink of economic and environmental collapse.

"If we don't face up to this, then Nature, the biggest bank of all, could go bust. And no amount of quantitative easing will revive it," he said while delivering the Richard Dimbleby Lecture at St James's Palace last night.

Expressing concerns for the future of the planet, Charles said he had calculated that we have just 96 months left to save the world. He warned that the failure to act would lead to the "nightmare that for so many of us now looms on the horizon".

"We face the dual challenges of a world view and an economic system that seem to have enormous shortcomings, together with an environmental crisis - including that of climate change - which threatens to engulf us all," he was quoted as saying by The Independent newspaper today.

..

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...ow/4759168.cms

Lots of gloom & doom from Rockefeller, Prince Charles & Co.

I feel much better knowing that Prince Charles is on the case.

The Climate Change Cult seems to keep ratcheting up the hysteria, the more people keep ignoring them. I sure laws will be passed soon, certainly in the UK, equating skepticism about Climate Change with "Hate Speech."

[RebbePete]

Re: The planet's future: Climate change 'will cause civilisation to collapse'

Prince of Wales, in a searing indictment on capitalist society, told top industrialists and environmentalists that capitalism and consumerism have brought the world to the brink of economic and environmental collapse.

I'm so glad that we can look to China and the republics in the former Soviet Union to see the fine job that Communism has done in preserving the environment.

- Pete

[BK]

Re: The planet's future: Climate change 'will cause civilisation to collapse'

The clean up the environment efforts here in the USA have were a fantastic boost to China Manufacturing environment.
During the Housing Booms Americans did everything possible to drive Manufacturing Companies out of their Communities. Every city and Town sought to convert former manufacturing facilities to Mixed Retail/Luxury housing.

Meanwhile, China was happy to manufacturer what ever the World wants and doesn't appeat to worry about the environmental impact. Good friends of my family visited China and were shocked by the stuff the spews from Manufacturing plants where they were touring.

The Collective Wisdom of the USA - forces Commercial Manufacturing facilities out of their towns when Commercial property general results in higher Property taxes than Residential.

Never- never trust the crowd....

[Raz]

Re: The planet's future: Climate change 'will cause civilisation to collapse'

I'm so glad that we can look to China and the republics in the former Soviet Union to see the fine job that Communism has done in preserving the environment.

- Pete

Ooooh, Pete. We have the same sense of humor!

Charles Windsor is a New-Age idiot.
These people are blind beyond belief.

[blazespinnaker]

Re: The planet's future: Climate change 'will cause civilisation to collapse'

Yeah, what a moron. Doesn't he realize we can pump endless amounts of industrial biproducts into our atmosphere with impunity!??

[Chris Coles]

Re: The planet's future: Climate change 'will cause civilisation to collapse'

The signal that will really set the alarm bells ringing will be a sudden collapse, (over a period of about three months), of a significant area of the Greenland Ice Sheet. We might even get that this year.

The top surface will go blue, with large blue liquid water lakes on the surface over large areas, as it has several times recently; except that this time it will cause the up to 10,000 feet thick layer underneath it to also collapse.

And, no, I am not kidding.

Think for a moment about how fast all that ice and snow from a long winter can suddenly dissappear......

[Raz]

Re: The planet's future: Climate change 'will cause civilisation to collapse'

Yeah, what a moron. Doesn't he realize we can pump endless amounts of industrial biproducts into our atmosphere with impunity!??

Yes, anyone who believes that we can poison the earth with impunity is a moron.

But by the very same token, anyone who believes capitalism is the problem is a blind fool.

[Roughneck]

Re: The planet's future: Climate change 'will cause civilisation to collapse'

Charles said he had calculated that we have just 96 months left to save the world.

WTF does he know? He's a scientist now?

[Chris Coles]

Re: The planet's future: Climate change 'will cause civilisation to collapse'

Yes, anyone who believes that we can poison the earth with impunity is a moron.

But by the very same token, anyone who believes capitalism is the problem is a blind fool.

Well said Raz

[Mn_Mark]

Re: The planet's future: Climate change 'will cause civilisation to collapse'

Yeah, what a moron. Doesn't he realize we can pump endless amounts of industrial biproducts into our atmosphere with impunity!??

I believe the global warming alarmists are primarily concerned about carbon dioxide. It's a little sensationalistic to call that an "industrial biproduct" [sic]. Everyone agrees that we can't pump unlimited amounts of industrial byproducts into the air and consquently those are already controlled under the various Clean Air Acts. Not everyone agrees that human-generated carbon dioxide is warming, er, changing the climate.

[Chris Coles]

Re: The planet's future: Climate change 'will cause civilisation to collapse'

WTF does he know? He's a scientist now?

He is our future King, with all that that implies and as such he has a very respectable team surrounding him who I am sure, do all the hard work to ensure what he says is credible. Say what you like about our Establishment, but they do not go off half ****.

[Chris Coles]

Re: The planet's future: Climate change 'will cause civilisation to collapse'

It would appear that the itulip system does not understand the full range of meaning for some English words. If you pull back the hammer on the firing mechanism of a gun to a point described as half ****, there is always the possibility that it might discharge the gun unexpectedly. Thus well known as half ****. But there you go... who am I to teach an American the English language.

[metalman]

Re: The planet's future: Climate change 'will cause civilisation to collapse'

I'm so glad that we can look to China and the republics in the former Soviet Union to see the fine job that Communism has done in preserving the environment.

- Pete

Troubled Lands: The Legacy of Soviet Environmental Destruction.~(book reviews)

The city of Norilsk puts out about half the volume of air pollution of Mexico City, with only one percent of the population. The Aral Sea is shrinking. The Black Sea is dying. And the Baltic Sea is said to be the most polluted water body in the world.

The basic message of D.J. Peterson's book about environmental degradation in the former Soviet Union can be summed up in one short sentence: "It's bad, and it's going to get worse." What was once a mighty superpower and an empire of captive nations is today a giant disaster zone.

Having said that, however, let's clear the path for some of the good news gleaned from this densely packed, though well-written compilation of horror stories, statistics and...

China environment policy must change

China's leadership in creating a measure of national wealth that takes account of environmental costs is being held back by the National Bureau of Statistics, say Jianguo Liu and Jared Diamond in this Science article.

In 2004 China unveiled a 'Green GDP' in place of the conventional computation of gross domestic product, which does not subtract the costs of environmental damage. However, the bureau has refused to publish the second Green GDP report, citing methodological failings. Jianguo and Diamond point to a widespread belief that some government officials' concern over the high economic costs of environmental destruction was a major factor. They hope domestic political pressure will lead to publication.

"The forces of environmental destruction have overwhelmed protection efforts," they say: environmental regulations are often ignored by local officials and China's State Environmental Protection Administration has just one-eighth the staff of its US equivalent.

Jianguo and Diamond advocate a strong national body to coordinate all government departments concerned with economic development and environmental protection.

The "pollute first, control later" path followed by industrialised countries will not work in China for a variety of reasons, they argue, not least because natural resources are more limited than in the past.

[metalman]

Re: The planet's future: Climate change 'will cause civilisation to collapse'

It would appear that the itulip system does not understand the full range of meaning for some English words. If you pull back the hammer on the firing mechanism of a gun to a point described as half ****, there is always the possibility that it might discharge the gun unexpectedly. Thus well known as half ****. But there you go... who am I to teach an American the English language.

metalman's version...

It would appear that the itulip system does not understand the full range of meaning for some English words. If you pull back the hammer on the firing mechanism of a gun to a point described as half there is always the possibility that it might discharge the gun unexpectedly. Thus well known as half But there you go... who am I to teach an American the English language.

not to be confused with a rooster or...