The Edge of the Cliff

Dave Iverson gives Us quotations from Gideon Rachman, who brings up the issue that Climate Change will produce Winners and Losers. Rachman basically worries about the impact on Agriculture and Population distribution, Iverson questions the impact upon animal species. There is no doubt there will be Climate Change, but assumption of the worst Scenarios may be equally bad.

Rachman mentioned Agriculture with improve over northern Europe, and mineral deposits will be easier to access in the North; he fails in analysis of the impact of extension of Wind patterns from the Atlantic across Europe, which will swing across the Mediterranean Sea picking up water to deposit over the North African continent. A warmer Europe may reintroduce an agrarian economy into the Sahara extending down to the tip of Africa. Wind and Current patterns presently exhibited suggest an Ice sheet travel West from northern Europe, and East from Russia. The warming of the Antarctic will not only increase Fish populations in the South, but improve the ability of the Fishing fleets of the World to draw from those fish populations. The Southwest United States and Mexico can be expected to double their Rainfall much faster than the Midwest United States can be expected to either ‘Dry-Out’ or ‘Flood’; in any case, it will be a Boon to Agriculture in the West.

China has a problem with Fresh Water, as does the western United States, simply because of Population concentration. This Hazard cannot really be blamed upon Climate Change. More effective Water policy in the regions involved is the only recourse, whether Rainfall increases or decreases. A Ice Sheet shift, rather than a overall Ice Sheet reduction, seems likely to produce more arable land rather than less, with Chinese agriculture extending away from the River systems, the American Southwest and Mexico more heavily cultivable, and the sub-Sahara actually expanding northward. Population shifts have been with Us since the dawn of Mankind, and most often followed the pursuit of Resources. It will undoubtedly continue.

This is not a creed advocating continuance of adverse environmental practices. Carbon emissions should be radically reduced, and Resource salvage need be vastly expanded. Reforestation efforts in the entire World are minuscule in comparison to the actual need for Forest growth. Population growth is the root of all Our environmental problems, and no Country as yet has a sound policy for Family Planning or Education. We are like Californian Housing, always building on the edge of a cliff, then wondering when We are going to slide off into the ocean. lgl