Life on a Warm Planet

[_Robert_Participant]

Watching yet another depression forming off of Florida and I really don’t need the water. I have been pondering how our lives will change..

If the science is correct (the evidence is growing)…It will not be a single story, but thousands of seemingly unconnected events..a swarm of tornadoes, a rash of deadly fires, small islands and coastal communities displaced by the sea. Weekly extinctions, a moth here a bat there. Crop failures, the spread of tropical diseases. Untold suffering, revolution, war, epidemic, mass starvations. Each year mother earth will get more and more hostile until something gives….and at that point it will be living things doing all the giving. And finally when it can’t get any worse we will stop emitting (probably not of our own accord). A very slow recovery will dawn on a very different world and the planet will begin to cool.

Oh yes, I did my part. I would hate to see a compilation of my contribution to this mess, a life of consumption…I did not have children..so well there’s that.

I am sure religion will benefit as people will look for supernatural help, and in their minds they may validate the apocalyptical claims of their books.

Or, oh well, it will all be OK. Pizza anybody? 😉

 

 

[JadeBlackOliveParticipant]

Yes, & we have just been through the worst wildfire season on record!

Any beer with that pizza?

[.Spectator]

Well said Robert. I got a degree in this topic and honestly there were moments that I wanted to quit and bury my head in the sand because it was too depressing. I have scoured the earth for the “safest” places to be as shit hits the fan (Florida is NOT one of them btw)….and it’s slim pickings. Honestly where I am at is one of them (as long as “the big one” doesn’t hit but that too – odds are NOT in our favor)….

[StregaModerator]

It all seems horribly inevitable and the state of the planet that we are leaving to future generations has never looked so shaky.  It’s hard to muster optimism at this stage.  The human habitat is endangered, although the planet itself will most likely recover after we are all gone.

[_Robert_Participant]

On the bright side, the music and art will get good again..there is nothing like suffering and strife to inspire us to greatness. Science and engineering will rise to the occasion, I am sure we will survive as a species….the religious will just impede progress as they are doing now. As Hitchens mentioned; you can feel their yearning for the end from their real practitioners. Everyone in harm’s way (Southern coast especially) should have a 10 year plan. My 3 year plan is to sell all, head north (Vermont, Maine, Penn state or New Hampshire) and buy acreage and a cabin. Maybe snowbird a few years until my Florida blood thickens.

[StregaModerator]

@robert if you elect to come to Vermont, I can help you find where you want to be 🙂

[_Robert_Participant]

Thanks, Strega ! I am about as “flatlander” as you can get. I would love to be able to ask questions about particular areas. Since I will be retiring and not require direct employment, I will be looking for someplace cheaper, isolated and beautiful. So far I am very impressed with Vermont (low crime, serious natural beauty, progressive folks, a few hours from cultural centers, etc.) Property taxes are a bit much, some homesteads are paying  $10K/year, however there is no sales tax…probably a wash.

[_Robert_Participant]

JadeBlackOlive wrote:

Yes, & we have just been through the worst wildfire season on record! Any beer with that pizza?

Glad you made it through JadeBlackOlive. You have to be ready to leave the place you love in an instant !

[StregaModerator]

@robert Property tax is around $10k for a place valued circa $375k. However, the towns in Vermont discount that based on income (not, apparently, on savings in the Bank) and if you’re retired, you’ll likely get an 80% discount – reducing it to around $2,000 annually. They expect you to pay quarterly, so it’s not as concerning as it initially sounds.

We would be delighted to show you around, find you a decent but not overwhelmingly expensive hotel to base from, and help you explore.

Vermont has four distinct seasons.  The spring one is often called mud season!  The fall here is stunning, winter snow is magnificently managed by the state; they’re used to it and have the highways and byways cleared before you can get your first coffee down you. Summer is wonderful, generally in the high 70s to mid 80s although we have had a couple of days of 90 degree sunshine this year.  Barely any humidity, so not a sweat problem.

Politically, our minority republicans fall slightly to the left of Texas democrats!

Lastly, and perhaps my favorite feature, if you google “The godless USA state” you will find us at the top of your search lists, Vermont having the lowest religiosity in the country 🙂

• This reply was modified 7 years, 7 months ago by  Strega.

[JadeBlackOliveParticipant]

_Robert_ wrote:

JadeBlackOlive wrote:

Yes, & we have just been through the worst wildfire season on record! Any beer with that pizza?

Glad you made it through JadeBlackOlive. You have to be ready to leave the place you love in an instant !

Yes, we (our whole city) were evacuated for 18 days, & even after getting home, we were told to stay packed.

[.Spectator]

@strega I SO want to move to Vermont now!!!

[StregaModerator]

@bellerose Come on up!  The place is wonderful.

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

There is a major problem that gets very little attention. It is the rates that the permafrost in Russia is melting at. There are now “huge” craters becoming visible where the permafrost has melted. Permafrost holds vast field of Methane in place which is much more damaging that CO2 even though it exists in much smaller quantities. It will feed the loop of “more methane = more warming = more melt = more methane released”. I will have a good video to post from the BBC soon about it.

[JadeBlackOliveParticipant]

We get BBC Canada here. Wonder if it will be broadcast for us?

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

It is called “Russia with Simon Reeve”. Episode One was broadcast last night (in Europe). YouTube with a brief image of the permafrost crater at 14 second but the scale of it is not appreciable.

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