31–40 of 105 posts
No scholars predicted the global warming hiatus was coming: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming_hiatus Is there reason to believe that rainfall predictions will be more accurate?
Optimizing crop outputs for higher-than-average temperatures and minimal rain is very important. Agricultural innovation over the next 10-20 years is going to be fast-paced; it'll have to be, to keep up with local climate changes. I work in weather prediction and hope to improve weather forecasts for agribusiness. But what if our forecast ends up just being "Hot; no rain.". What will happen, where will the water come…
Optimizing crop outputs for higher-than-average temperatures and minimal rain is very important. Agricultural innovation over the next 10-20 years is going to be fast-paced; it'll have to be, to keep up with local climate changes. I work in weather prediction and hope to improve weather forecasts for agribusiness. But what if our forecast ends up just being "Hot; no rain.". What will happen, where will the water come…
I still like Gregory Benford's space umbrella. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_sunshade The guy is not a dilettante, he's professor of Physics and Astronomy at UC Irvine. It would give us basically unlimited control over solar input (depending on how big you make it). It would be a massive project that would require global cooperation, which is again good - especially in the current geo-political... um... "climate…
Optimizing crop outputs for higher-than-average temperatures and minimal rain is very important. Agricultural innovation over the next 10-20 years is going to be fast-paced; it'll have to be, to keep up with local climate changes. I work in weather prediction and hope to improve weather forecasts for agribusiness. But what if our forecast ends up just being "Hot; no rain.". What will happen, where will the water come…
My naive brain can't compute how drought and global warming go together. If we assume that water is trapped within the atmosphere and can't drift off into space, then won't global warming just heat up the oceans, causing more precipitation? It seems like global warming is the cure for drought not the cause? It's like a giant desalination system for free.
No scholars predicted the global warming hiatus was coming: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming_hiatus Is there reason to believe that rainfall predictions will be more accurate?
> "Globally averaged surface temperature has slowed down. I wouldn’t say it's paused. It depends on the datasets you look at. If you look at datasets that include the Arctic, it is clear that global temperatures are still increasing," said Tim Palmer, a co-author of the report and a professor at University of Oxford.
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Earlier quoted context omitted.
Over a 50-100 year timeline, I envision us using cheap renewable energy to replenish massive aquifers. While it seems far fetched, the US has the strategic oil reserve for times of need. Why would we ever consider water less strategic than fuel?
The US and Canada share the largest bodies of fresh water in the world (the Great Lakes). That's a pretty strategic reserve.
I hope it doesn't particularly need to happen, but it will be interesting to see the water rights for the Great Lakes play out over time. Current law is pretty solid about not removing water from the watershed:
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Over a 50-100 year timeline, I envision us using cheap renewable energy to replenish massive aquifers. While it seems far fetched, the US has the strategic oil reserve for times of need. Why would we ever consider water less strategic than fuel?
The US and Canada share the largest bodies of fresh water in the world (the Great Lakes). That's a pretty strategic reserve.
The downside is that it cannot be used to transport goods using container ships.
But it is being depleted more than six times as fast as it is being recharged. If anything qualifies as a strategic water reserve, that's it right there. What else would you call a gigantic underground lake underlying a huge number of farms that can all tap into it directly?