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gen·o·cide
ˈjenəˌsīd
noun
the deliberate killing of a large group of people

Stumbling Into The Next Genocide

If someone tells you that climate change isn’t the #1 thing that humanity needs to worry about right now, you might wish to consider it attempted genocide. I know that sounds a bit bombastic, but if you keep the events in a place called Darfur in mind, you’ll see where I’m going.

Firstly, lets talk about what we trust and know. According to the National Geographic Society, as of 2007 we know:

Is It Happening?

Yes. Earth is already showing many signs of worldwide climate change.

• Average temperatures have climbed 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit (0.8 degree Celsius) around the world since 1880, much of this in recent decades, according to NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

• The rate of warming is increasing. The 20th century’s last two decades were the hottest in 400 years and possibly the warmest for several millennia, according to a number of climate studies. And the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports that 11 of the past 12 years are among the dozen warmest since 1850.

Are Humans Causing It?

If we aren’t the root cause, we are a major contributor in the acceleration.

• Industrialization, deforestation, and pollution have greatly increased atmospheric concentrations of water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, all greenhouse gases that help trap heat near Earth’s surface. (See an interactive feature on how global warming works.)

• Humans are pouring carbon dioxide into the atmosphere much faster than plants and oceans can absorb it.

• These gases persist in the atmosphere for years, meaning that even if such emissions were eliminated today, it would not immediately stop global warming.

What’s Going to Happen?

• Some hundred million people live within 3 feet (1 meter) of mean sea level, and much of the world’s population is concentrated in vulnerable coastal cities. In the U.S., Louisiana and Florida are especially at risk.

• Strong hurricanes, droughts, heat waves, wildfires, and other natural disasters may become commonplace in many parts of the world. The growth of deserts may also cause food shortages in many places.

• More than a million species face extinction from disappearing habitat, changing ecosystems, and acidifying oceans.

… taken from National Geographic Society Website (link included at end of this article).

NatGeo is hardly “junk science”. This is a US-born organization that has had a foot in conservationism and thinking about the natural world around us, starting with the USA, since 1888.

The US Government pretty much says the same thing at the EPA page on climate change effects (link included at end of this article). However, there is one piece that the USA needs to be aware of:

How can a change of one or two degrees in global average temperatures have an impact on our lives?

For about every 2°F of warming, we can expect to see
5—15% reductions in the yields of crops as currently grown
3—10% increases in the amount of rain falling during the heaviest precipitation events, which can increase flooding risks
5—10% decreases in stream flow in some river basins, including the Arkansas and the Rio Grande
200%—400% increases in the area burned by wildfire in parts of the western United States

These days, most “Green” advocacy groups are complaining that the EPA is compromised in it’s agenda, reduced to being little more than a lip-servant to Big Oil. Ok, well if that’s the case … think about what that means from the EPA website.

So here is the rub … we’re not looking at just 2°F increase. We’re probably going to hit 6°F unless we do somethng now.

What does that mean for North America? Lets take a look at a place called Darfur.

In short, Darfur was dependant on a seasonal rain-flood-sun-dry cycle that revitalized farm lands. Over the past 30 years, the rains have steadily decreased until there were simply more people than there was areable land to feed them. Crop yeilds dropped a devastating 70%. Then, the genocide started based on a “them / us” pretence.

This is the reality folks. The climate changed, the crops failed, and somewhere around 320,000 people have died and 2,800,000 people have been driven out of their homes to live in refugee camps. Tens of thousands of those fatalities were from starvation.

This is the scenario coming to North America.

6°F means 30% of crops grown will fail. Flooding from rain storms and snow melts will increase 20%. Water available to actually drink for city watersheds will drop 20%. The areas scorched bare by wildfires and forest fires every year will increase nine times in size. Getting hit by “Super Storms” like Sandy every year will become “normal” at $70,000,000,000 damage a hit ( link included at end of this article ).

Now, let’s be honest here. We live in a world where people die over rushes for toys on Black Friday. What do you think will happen when 30% of the shelves in your grocery market are always bare, and water rationing is put into effect permanently?

Don’t believe it will fall out that way? The US Military does. They’re planning for it already:

“… Even stable governments, like the United States’ and those of nations in Europe, could be pressured to take in large numbers of immigrants and refugees as drought increases and food production dwindles in Latin America and Africa …”

“… four-star Navy Admiral Samuel J. Locklear II, head of U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM), … identified climate change as the biggest security threat facing the region, with the capacity to even “threaten the loss of entire nations.” …”

“… Thomas Fingar, who served as chairman of President Bush’s National Intelligence Council, warned climate change “will have wide-ranging implications for US national security interests over the next 20 years.” …”

I’m going to point out that one of those articles is TEN years old.

The worst part is that we can fix the problem. Really, we can; we have the technology right now to globally zero our emmissions. The “catch” is that we have to start right now.

If you’ve got a minute, watch this video: http://youtu.be/7udNMqRmqV8 … and this one http://youtu.be/A7ktYbVwr90

So, every year we wait, we add $500,000,000,000 to the cost of fixing the problem.

And if we don’t, a very likely outcome is that North America will see what Darfur has experienced first hand.

So, if someone tells you that climate change isn’t the #1 thing that humanity needs to worry about right now, you might wish to consider it attempted genocide. If 30% of the food is gone … even if nothing else happens, 30% of the people are going to die; say nothing of the cost of 720,000 acres of damage from wild fires in California alone every year or getting hit by a “Sandy” or “Katrina” every year.

There is no “debate” about this. These are facts. We know what is going to happen; sure enough that the US Military is making plans around those scenarios. One US General described terrorism as a “non-squiter” by 2050, with climate change being the biggest threat to the safety of US citizens at home and abroad.

If someone is telling you that’s not the case, then they are actively setting the stage for a quarter million to a half million dead, based on the Darfur experience. That’s genocide.

That’s the reality we’re facing. Canada isn’t exempt, by the way. We’ll see the same problems coming to roost here, plus added extras like “Tornado Alley” extending well into Canada, as well as more diseases we aren’t used to, complete collapse of our boreal forests, fishing, hunting and farming environments. Natural Resources Canada alone has a whole section on their website about it, from their “Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Division” (link included at end of this article).

Again, this is a government organization that is publishing this stuff. It’s not some quack “eco-terrorist” site or something you can hand-wave away.

The Globe and Mail has an excellent article about what’s likely in the pipe for us … and they’re a business-person’s paper, not an environmentalists preaching platform (link included at end of this article).

If you aren’t actively part of the solution, then you are at least passively part of the problem.

If you want to know how badly that can go … read up on “The Munich Agreement”: (link included at end of this article)

The “Blitz” of our generation is coming. Call your politician; get yourself educated; act now.

Split Horizons

Notes on the life of a Geek, Entrepreneur, Author, and Mad Thinker

Stumbling Into The Next Genocide

Stumbling Into The Next Genocide

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