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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: combjelly who wrote (778794)	4/6/2014 10:04:35 PM
From: bentway	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1574001

Satellite eye on Earth: July 2012 - in pictures Wildfires, cyclones and dust storms were among the images captured by European Space Agency and Nasa satellites last month ( I'd say it's pretty clear that our being here affects the Earth! ) http://www.theguardian.com/environment/gallery/2012/aug/07/satellite-eye-in-pictures#/?picture=394237890&index=0

To: combjelly who wrote (778794)	4/7/2014 2:30:47 AM
From: Bilow	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1574001

Hi combjelly; Re: "Clathrates were probably destabilized also. After all, it has happened before..."; The claim is that methane hydrates stopped the snowball earth around 650 million years ago. But there are some inconvenient facts about this for you: (1) Ending snowball earth caused the planet to become much more amenable to life. The release of the greenhouse gasses created a planet where life bloomed. (2) During snowball earth, essentially the whole planet was covered with glaciers (at times) and the oceans were much colder. So the amount of methane hydrates available to release was far greater than at present. For example, see this nice powerpoint, particularly slide #26: Methane Hydrate Hypothesis (Kennedy et al 2001) Methane hydrates may have been more abundant during the Proterozoic ice ages than any other time in Earth history -- Coldest intervals in Earth history -- Abundant area available for permafrost development -- Rapid flooding of continental basins and shelves edgcm.columbia.edu (3) The result of the huge pulse of greenhouse gasses did not, in fact, destroy all life on earth. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So let's review, shall we? Y'all claimed that there could be a mass extinction that would be caused by the release of methane hydrates due to man's release of small amounts of greenhouse gasses. You claimed this was the cause of the Permian extinction but that theory fell through and got replaced by bacteria. Then you looked up the real article and found that the release of methane hydrates has been suggested as the cause for the end of snowball earth. But this was not related to any mass extinctions. Instead, the warming up of the planet was necessary for the later explosion of life. -- Carl Regarding the subject of just how high CO2 can get before the Earth has all life destroyed, we're current at around 400 ppb. What do you suppose the CO2 levels were during "snowball earth"? Did you bother to read the articles? Here, I'll save you the trouble: Although increasing levels of greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere these days are seen as a harbinger of doom, millions of years ago they may have rescued the planet from a deep freeze. Some researchers believe that at points in our planet's history — at least two, possibly three times — ice blanketed its surface, down to the equator and across the oceans, forming a "Snowball Earth." But new research raises questions about whether a surge in carbon dioxide — one of the greenhouse gases responsible for modern, human-caused global warming — could have been responsible for the big thaw that followed the most recent Snowball Earth, about 635 million years ago. And if there wasn't a greenhouse effect big enough to melt the thick veil of ice, perhaps, the researchers suggest, Earth may not have been a big, icy snowball at the time. ... To find out how much carbon dioxide was around at the time, researchers analyzed the chemical composition of rocks taken from one of these deposits in Brazil, and the organic matter fossilized within them. The researchers also looked at data from samples from elsewhere in the world. They looked at ratios of carbon isotopes, molecules of carbon that have different atomic weights, in both the rocks and the organic matter fossilized within them. [ Big Freeze: Earth Could Plunge into Sudden Ice Age] ... They found it was much lower than expected. While previous estimates had put the carbon dioxide concentration at as much as 90,000 parts per million, this new analysis put it lower than 3,200 ppm, possibly as low as it is today, about 400 ppm. ... livescience.com In short, the science is still really iffy at best. But are we going to get to the 90,000 ppm, about 200x larger than it is now? Modern civilization has raised the CO2 level by something around 1.5x from the pre industrial level. How likely are we to get to 200x? That would be zero. This is how unlikely the crap that you use to scare yourself is. It's not about being realistic. The fact is that lefties hate science, hate technology, and want to destroy modern civilization. You live on emotions and do not understand numbers.

To: combjelly who wrote (778794)	4/7/2014 11:59:19 AM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1574001

Its a Crimea redo. Ukraine crisis: Protesters declare Donetsk 'republic' Footage shows an unnamed delegate addressing the Donetsk Region People's Council, to declare it a "people's republic" Pro-Russian protesters who seized the regional government building in the Ukrainian city of Donetsk are reported to have declared a "people's republic". The rebels have called for a referendum on secession from Ukraine by 11 May. Ukrainian security officials are being sent to the eastern cities of Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv after pro-Russia groups occupied government buildings. Interim President Oleksandr Turchynov called the unrest an attempt by Russia to "dismember" Ukraine. In an address on national TV, he said it was "the second wave" of a Russian operation to destabilise Ukraine, overthrow the government and disrupt planned elections. Events in Donetsk bear a striking resemblance to what happened in Crimea in February and March. The group of activists who seized the local administration building first declared independence as the "Donetsk Peoples' Republic", and then voted for a referendum to be held before 11 May on whether to join Russia. But Donetsk is not Crimea. As an autonomous republic in Ukraine, Crimea had its own parliament that voted for independence and an administration that could organise the referendum. However, the 100 or so men who voted in Donetsk had just broken into the building and have never themselves been elected to anything. Also, while Donetsk is majority Russian-speaking, opinion polls suggest many people there still believe in a united Ukraine. But that does not make the situation any less dangerous. Already the activists have said that if Kiev does not give into their demands they will ask Russia to send "peacekeepers." Russia recently annexed Ukraine's Crimean peninsula after a referendum there which Ukraine did not see as valid. As tensions mounted on Monday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsya told Russia's Ekho Moskvy news agency that Kiev would go to war with Russia if it sent troops into eastern Ukraine. Moscow has thousands of troops massed along its border with Ukraine. It says it has no intention of invading but reserves the right to protect the rights of ethnic Russians. BBC Moscow correspondent Daniel Sandford says Donetsk - an industrial city with a population of about one million - differs from Crimea in that it has many Ukrainian speakers as well as a Russian-speaking majority. Opinion polls there have shown considerable support for a united Ukraine, he adds. Footage posted online showed a Russian speaker telling the Donetsk assembly: "I proclaim the creation of the sovereign state of the People's Republic of Donetsk." Earlier on Monday, protesters seized state security buildings in Donetsk and Luhansk. Protesters broke into Donetsk's regional government building and another in Kharkiv - Ukraine's second largest city - on Sunday. Ukrainian authorities say protesters have now left the building in Kharkiv. Ukrainian news agency Unian says gunmen also tried to storm a Donetsk TV building on Monday but were deterred by police. At an emergency cabinet meeting, interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk blamed Russia for the seizures. "The plan is to destabilise the situation, the plan is for foreign troops to cross the border and seize the country's territory, which we will not allow,'' he said, adding that people engaged in the unrest have distinct Russian accents. He said Russian troops remain within 30km (19 miles) of the frontier. The city of Luhansk is just 25km from the Russian border. The activists in Donetsk called for Russia to send in "peacekeepers" to protect them from Kiev The activists occupying the Donetsk government building overwhelmingly backed the declaration Barricades are also being guarded at Donetsk's Security Service building Police have blocked roads into Luhansk and armed reinforcements are being sent to the restive cities. Officials said Ukrainian National Security Secretary Andriy Parubiy and Security Service chief Valentyn Nalyvaychenko have been sent to the city. Interior Minister Arsen Avakov has already arrived in Kharkiv and First Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Yarema is on his way to Donetsk, a spokeswoman said. She said they had "all the authority necessary to take action against separatism." President Turchynov has cancelled a visit to Lithuania to deal with the unfolding events. The crisis has heightened nervousness in many other eastern European states, with Czech President Milos Zeman saying Nato should deploy troops in Ukraine if Russia invades. "If Russia decides to extend its territorial expansion to eastern Ukraine, the fun is over," he told Czech public radio on Sunday. In another development on Monday, Nato said it was limiting Russian diplomats' access to its headquarters in Brussels. It comes days after Nato foreign ministers agreed to suspend all practical co-operation with Moscow over its annexation of Crimea. Crimea death The latest developments come as Ukraine's defence ministry said a Russian soldier had killed a Ukrainian military officer still loyal to Kiev in eastern Crimea late on Sunday. Another Ukrainian officer present is reported to have been beaten and detained by Russian troops in Sunday's incident in the small town of Novofyodorovka. The circumstances of the incident are unclear. Russian news agencies reported that prosecutors had opened a criminal investigation into the death. Also on Monday, Russia's consumer protection agency said it had suspended imports from six Ukrainian dairy producers, after finding their products violated regulations. Last week Kiev temporarily suspended seven Russian food companies from selling products in Ukraine. Ukraine is facing a tough economic situation after Russia's Gazprom almost doubled the price of gas it supplies to Ukraine. The country's foreign exchange reserves have fallen to around $15bn (£9bn) from $20.42bn on 1 January, Ukraine's central bank said on Monday. The currency, the hryvnia, has also lost about 30% of its value so far this year. Eastern Ukraine was the political heartland of Viktor Yanukovych, the pro-Russian president who fled to Russia in February after months of protests. Russia has branded the new leadership in Kiev illegitimate. bbc.com