how soon can we realistically switch from uber-polluting fossil fuels to zero-emissions hydrogen powerplants? polar caps are melting, sea levels rising, tuvalu slowly disappearing into the pacific, dolphins and whales stranded in beaches, polar bears losing habitat, worldwide droughts, europe experiencing heat waves galore, lobsters slowly moving further north, etc.....is it fair to developing countries as well as heavily industrialized nations to lose economic ground by switching to more expensive-but-cleaner forms of power right away? is it fair for us to live comfortably now and leave the burden of an ecological disaster to our children? discuss........

i personally keep teh earth clean, it aint uranus h:

 

if we don'd do it, the earth will do it for us, trust me.


but yes, we need to cut back on polluting.

 

Global warming, polar ice cap melting :rofl:

 

Most issues with sea levels rising is due to thermal expansion of water, not melting of the polar ice caps. Predictions are that temperatures will rise several degrees over this the next few decades.

Anyways, as far as alternative sources of power go, there are none currently ready for production and that can provide the same sort of energy to weight density as fossil fuels.

 

Don't worry about Mother Earth, she's been here way before humans, and she'll be here way after she gets rid of us.

 

:werd:

I took a solar energy class last year as a professional elective, and my professor showed us that global warming/melting ice caps is a load of crap.

 

personally I don't give a crap.

I'll be long dead before any of that shit happens. I'm going to enjoy what I can while I can h:

 

Also as far as alternative energies are concerned, the real reason we care about switching is that oil reserves are going to be dry in 50-100 years. That's all of the oil we currently know about, as in no more gasoline for us. The difficulty is that all our alternative sources (hydrogen, fuel cells) require more energy to preprocess into a usable form than just straight burning the oil.

 

well what happens when the polar ice caps start melting as a result of higher temperatures (occurs naturally), it changes the currents in the oceans, then the polar ice caps stop melting and grow bigger and bigger and bigger.

its funny b/c when people think of global warming, they thing the earth is going to flood or dry out or get really really hot, when in reality its going to get really cold and another ice age will come.

 

Not only do the temperature increases occur naturally and not because of pollution, they are normal shifts in temperature. We looked at average ocean temperatures and the fluctuation is small, and has been higher than it is now.