What would count as climate change catastrophe?
By John Welford
@indexer (4852)
Leicester, England
October 3, 2015 9:21am CST
The climate change deniers seem constantly to complain that climate science is always warning about impending catastrophe, but it never arrives! This strikes me as a strange argument in itself - a bit like a teacher warning a pupil that he will fail his exam he doesn't work harder, but he refuses to believe this because he has not yet taken the exam and might just pass anyway!
I am intrigued as to what the deniers would regard as signs of catastrophe. How far do world sea levels have to rise before they are catastrophic - would the loss of a few Pacific island nations be OK, but the flooding of Florida and New York not be? Is the current level of wildfire occurrence in California and Australia acceptable, but if it doubled it would be too much?
Presumably these people know what a catastrophe looks like - or do they?
6 people like this
5 responses
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
3 Oct 15
There are far too many examples of the degradation of our planet to be ignored so easily. Climatic conditions has changed drastically over recent years and with polar ice caps melting at an increasingly alarming rate we are already experiencing a major catastrophe.
I suupose that many will still refuse to believe even when the Earth becomes quite barren and clain that it is a natural cycle of events.
1 person likes this
@garymarsh6 (23405)
• United Kingdom
3 Oct 15
Some people do rather tend to adopt an ostrich stance!
1 person likes this
@TiarasOceanView (70022)
• United States
3 Oct 15
Yes things get ignored by the majority John.
Really you are so right a great question. How much more will have to happen before people will acknowledge that these things are happening?
And of course nature can act upon mankind at any given moment with great force.
1 person likes this
@cmoneyspinner (9219)
• Austin, Texas
7 Oct 15
If you believe the Bible story of Noah, the earth has already survived one climate change catastrophe. Noah tried to warn everybody. But the people ignored him too! 
@TGRWorzel (47)
• United Kingdom
3 Oct 15
The catastrophe occurs when the mechanisms that keep our planet at a fairly stable temperature stop working and the temperature spirals rapidly upwards, meaning that life as we know it can no longer survive....
But with all that water around which will evaporate in higher temperatures, causing greater cloud cover which will reflect the suns energy and help to maintain a stable temperature, I can't see us ever reaching that catastrophic situation.
@indexer (4852)
• Leicester, England
3 Oct 15
In the meantime, the polar caps will have melted and raised sea levels sufficiently to flood most of the world's major cities! The problem is that the heat already trapped beneath the clouds will have nowhere to escape to, so the notion that everything will turn out all right in the end seems more than little far-fetched!
