Warming nears point of no return, scientists say ( .. and then We'RE REallY ReallY DooMeD!!)

SFGate.com ^ | 6/7/12 | David Perlman

[NormsRevenge]

The Earth is reaching a "tipping point" in climate change that will lead to increasingly rapid and irreversible destruction of the global environment unless its forces are controlled by concerted international action, an international group of scientists warns.

Unchecked population growth, the disappearance of critical plant and animal species, the over-exploitation of energy resources, and the rapidly warming climate are all combining to bring mounting pressure on the Earth's environmental health, they say.

Scientists from five nations, led by UC Berkeley biologist Anthony Barnosky, report their analysis Thursday in the journal Nature.

They likened the potential impact of the forces to previous major changes - both gradual and abrupt - in the planet's history that triggered mass extinctions and expansions, and produced completely new worldwide environments.

The most recent of those was the sporadic end of the last ice age that began 14,000 years ago and shifted rapidly from warm to cold and then back to warm again over a few thousand years. That period saw the extinction of half the world's large animal life, and then the spread of an expanding human population to every continent on the planet.

Difficult to reverse

A similar "critical transition" is occurring now, Barnosky's scientists maintain, and they warn that once it starts, it will be "extremely difficult or even impossible for the system to return to its previous state."

[NormsRevenge]

I hear ya.. You post how you feeeel. My life has been into darker matter stuff lately sooo.. There is no shortage of Doom and Catastrophy these days.

I post a lot of this claptrap media hogwash from time to time and plenty gets posted as is here. If nothing else it reaffirms that their are forces that are plain evil, could care less about science or the children. It’s all about control thru and and all means available. I think we called certain folks like that Nazis not so long ago.

Trust me ..IT’s not done to stir up FReepers as a sudden gust is enough to do that for some..;-) but as you mention , it is something that makes ya grit yur teeth to the Nth degree..

[matchgirl]

Now, that’s funny!!!!!