Could global warming trigger a sudden catastrophe?

Answer 1

Scientists love terrifying the public and the powers-that-be so they can get more money for research. Don't believe everything they tell you.

Answer 2

Who knows?

There’s about as much certainty about this as there is about other catastrophe ideas; will we get hit by a huge meteorite? Will some deadly disease kill millions? Will another earthquake cause devastation somewhere? Nobody knows.

The same is true of possible catastrophes as a result of global warming. There are lots of possible scenarios, but there is no evidence whatsoever to suggest that they are actually likely to happen.

‘brianinchina2003’, above, gives some lovely examples of these; melting ice will stop the North Atlantic Drift plunging the UK and northern Europe into an ice age, melting polar ice will cause earthquakes and “unprecedented volcanic activity” around the globe (this is a new one on me!) and a warming in Siberia will stop the whole monsoon system.

Scary stuff, huh? But it’s pure alarmists scare-mongering. There is no evidence to suggest any of these things will happen. It certainly didn’t happen during the medieval warm period when it was much warmer than it is today.

‘Brian V’, above, suggests crop failures, but more CO2 will be good for crops (it’s plant food) and warmer climate will mean longer growing season, so in fact, global warming will mean *more* food, not less.

And ‘Daddyspanksalot’ (Good name, BTW. LOL), above, quotes the tired old global warming alarmists nonsense about New Orleans and Katrina. Here’s what you need to know on that subject…

Global Warming Alarmists version.

Hurricane Katrina was a massive storm, caused by global warming, the like of which has never been seen before. Just look at the damage and flooding it caused in New Orleans. No hurricane has ever caused that much damage and flooding before. Therefore hurricane Katrina *must* have been the worst storm ever. Therefore global warming is going to be a catastrophe.

The truth.

Parts of New Orleans are 6m below sea level and below the water level of both Lake Pontchatrain to the north and the nearby Mississippi river. To protect the city from flooding, levees were built to keep the water out.

Hurricanes are measured on a scale from 1 to 5. A Category 1 storm is small and a Category 5 storm is huge.

Despite the hype from the Global Warming Alarmists, hurricane Katrina was, in fact, a Category 5 hurricane; big, to be sure, but within the normal range for hurricane activity. It was not the “biggest storm ever”, it was not even the biggest storm of 2005 (it was the third biggest.)

Furthermore, as Katrina approached New Orleans, it weakened and was re-categorised as a Category 4 hurricane. So, whilst still big, it was *not* a huge storm when it passed New Orleans. After landfall, it was re-categorised again to a Category 3.

So, if Katrina was not that big a storm, why was there so much flooding? Because the levees protecting New Orleans were only ever designed to protect the city from a Category *3* hurricane.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that, when you set a Category 4 hurricane loose on defences designed to withstand only a Category 3 hurricane, the defences are going to fail.

The disaster in New Orleans could have happened the week after the defences were completed. It didn’t. It happened on 29th August 2005. It was not caused by global warming, it was simply bad planning and bad luck.

It is probably also worth mentioning that New Orleans was devastated by hurricanes 3 times in the 1700s, long before global warming started.

As always with global warming…

Don’t believe the hype.

Answer 3

Yes, in several ways we can predict and who knows how many more that we can't?

For example, melting ice from Greenland and the Arctic Ocean, by floating on top of the heavier sea water in the North Atlantic, could reach the critical point where the Gulf Stream Drift was cut off suddenly and permanently, making Europe 20C colder in winter and destroying its agriculture. The knock-on effect of this would be global financial meltdown.

As the polar ice gets less, its weight is redistributed around the oceans, causing the poles to "spring back up". This may lead to a huge rise in earthquakes around the world as the earth changes shape, and to hitherto unprecedented volcanic activity.

The whole monsoon system which brings rain and fertility to the most productive and populated lands in the world, in Asia, is driven by Siberia warming up quickly in spring and summer and sucking warm, moist air in from the Pacific and Indian Oceans to replace the cold air which has heated up and risen. If it's not so cold in Siberia in winter, this process will be affected and may stop altogether.

These are just three things environmentalists know about, but there may be others which are unpredictable. Not to mention loss of species and the knock-on effects of this and the spread of new diseases.

Answer 4

I dont think it could be very sudden, but we will have to adapt our lifestyles to a world influenced by human induced climate change.

This doesnt mean though giving up on environmental schemes such as carbon emission reduction and recycling - These are things we should be doing anyway, without the drive of the climate change threat.

Answer 5

* there is not any "scientific consensus" on international warming * climate is often changing – with or without guy * The Medieval heat era replaced into severely warmer than temperatures today – and replaced right into a golden age for agriculture, innovation, and lifespan * maximum of Antarctica is unquestionably getting less warm * Hurricanes at the instant are not getting worse – our tendency to construct properties of their direction is getting greater advantageous * many huge agencies foyer for international warming rules that will improve their earnings – and our expenses * The media purely presently deserted the "international cooling" scare * the real schedule at the back of the "international warming" scare? a large expansion of government administration over the financial device and our lives

Answer 6

Sudden catastrophe? like what? Hurricans stronger than we have ever seen and more than has ever hit before ? Na just ask the people of New Orleans about it. They will tell you it cannot happen.

Answer 7

there is no such thing as Global Warming, its all about money and politics. So do not worry ok

Answer 8

,I see the biggest problem not from rising sea levels but from the weather if that changes dramatically, we could have global crop failures, and then we really are in the s--t.

Answer 9

It already did.....it gave Blair another lease of life.

Answer 10

Nope...