How do we survive tomorrow?

Here's what the EPA has to say about methane: Methane (CH4) is a greenhouse gas that remains in the atmosphere for approximately 9-15 years. Methane is over 20 times more effective in trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide (CO2) over a 100-year period.
So it would appear as if we're gonna have a big problem facing us in the very near future. I've not put much thought into this really. There's only one solution I see at first glance that will allow us to come out of this in somewhat ok situation. We will have to compensate for all of the extra greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere. We will have to seriously cut back on industrial emissions, vehicular emissions, and every other kind of greenhouse emissions that we can think of.

We will have to undertake a massive initiative to reduce almost all greenhouse emissions. To combat the levels of methane that will build up there will have to be a massive planting of trees to try and use as much CO2 and replace it with massive amounts of oxygen.

Could this be a blessing in disguise?
Could this be the precipice at which point the human race changes?
The point where we suck it up as a collective species and make the change that's being staring us in the face for the last 50 years?
Do we finally quit using fossil fuels and non renewable energy sources?
Is this the final impetus, the final kick in the @$$ to get us over the hump and into living harmoniously with our planet?

True there may be many more disastrous days in the not too distant future, talk of tsunamis in the gulf of mexico, hurricane season is upon us, fears for the food supply, fear of deadly chemicals being released into the marine food chain, chemicals finding their way into the water supply. We can either focus on the gloom and doom; live out what could be our final years in the ever tightening grip of fear.

The time to choose is now. The time to act is now. While BP and the others are finding ways to stop the leaking of this well, we need to focus our energies on finding the solutions we will need to survive tomorrow. The solutions that will allow the human race to continue to exist for the future. We can take this disaster and turn it around. We can take the steps that ensure our children and our children's children can and will grow up on a planet that has not become desolate of life...

These people ( TPTB) are smart, they wanted global warming, it looks like this could help achive the desired effects.
I think humans in general are to dumb to change till their all dead.


[edit on 23-6-2010 by googolplex]

I guess on the same basis, we could flare or burn methane. The only by products from its combustion are carbon dioxide and water. Surely this would be the lesser of the two evils (Methane and Carbon Dioxide) plus we could get energy from it as well.

www.naturalgas.org...

reply to post by azrael36


Wonderful post Azrael36! You've hit the nail on the head. It's SOOO easy to feel negative in light of all this terrible news but I'm with you - Moot to wag fingers and focus on the blame game. Let's embrace this as a time to rethink how we do things and thus make positive changes. Don't yet know how to star as am new to the sight but I give you one!

this isn't about money or power anymore.
this is like, the beginning of the end. for most of the life on the planet, anyway.
when was the last major extinction event? well, we are about to experience another one. though the degree to which one experiences may be very much based on what one chooses to believe or remember before that fateful day.
its been a fun ride though.
earth needs time to recuperate...what an amazing planet.

reply to post by azrael36


That is not the real problem. In order for this to happen the Deepwater Horizon event would have to become 1,000,000 times worse than it is, and still it won't cause a global catastrophe, but it would cause a regional disaster.

Right now this leak could become a local disaster, concerning methane H2S and other VOCs that could affect millions, and that seems the way that it could go.

The only thing that will affect not only regionally but worldwide could be the oil, and the dispersants that these aholes have been using to hide the true extent of this disaster.

[edit on 23-6-2010 by ElectricUniverse]

Always gloom and doom don’t you folks realize what will become of global warming?
It will destroy the machine, we will be able to find Atlantis at the arctic Tropic circle, we will be able to plant hemp up there too, so we can umm make ropes yeah, ok so some penguins are gonna have to die but hey that’s Darwinism!
Grab yer swim trunks and let’s get going already.

This goes way beyond a regional disaster. I think with the amount of oil being leaked along with the various other chemicals being released this will affect the entire world. The oil is already moving into the Atlantic ocean. But the point of this thread is not to focus on the doom/gloom side of the issue. There are literally hundreds of other threads all expounding that. This thread is to focus on what WE can do to try and ensure that there will be a tomorrow.

I think the poster who stated that we could plant hemp in the arctic/new tropic circle is not so far fetched in some aspects. The facts show that an acre of hemp consumes 10 times more CO2 than an acre of trees does. It also produces 10 times more oxygen. This may be a way to increase oxygen levels substantially. There would be other benefits as well, and NO I'm not talking about that! Although between you and me legalization would be fantastic! The hemp plant can also be used to produce nearly everything that are oil based plastics,synthetics, and fuel. There could also be economic benefits, imagine the workforce needed for the retooling of industry to obtain and use the hemp oil. Any other thoughts on how we will be able to cope and adapt to survive tomorrow?