Look, we are either going to fry or not. This Global Warming thing is just not going away. I don’t know all the science behind it. I get it that there is some controversy. Some saying that it will heat up and others saying either it won’t or nothing we can do about it or hey, wouldn’t it be nice if we all lived in Florida?
I am a social scientist. We don’t believe in strict rules. We like the scientist bit, but know that when we throw the social bit in then it kinda stuff up the science claims. Us social scientists like to think we do real research. But we know we really don’t. But we have opinions. And you’ve come to the right place if you want one… Why is this relevant? Not much – just that I am so not going to try and prove Global Warming. Just not part of my science - sorry. But as a social scientist I did learn that I should take whatever Bush says and go with the other side. He thinks Global Warming is just summer coming early? Cool – I’ll go with the bigger group saying we’re gonna fry.
My biggest reason for going with the guys getting hot about it getting hot? I am just going to play it safe with this one. I don’t want to be Condi Rice who saw the memo but decided that there wasn’t really a threat. No thank you. See where that got us? I am going to play it safe and go with the people who are freaky enough to try and stop Global Warming. So what if it doesn’t really exist – saving the planet from something that won’t happen isn’t that bad. Better than going to war for something that wasn’t there either hey? Consequences a bit better with this one I think.
This feels a bit like the engine light is going wild trying to tell me that I should check out the oil and water. You know you can still drive a little bit further. But at some stage you are going to do permanent damage to that engine. You can ignore it. But at some stage this baby is gonna blow. I don’t like cars that much, but can always buy another one if I really have to. But that’s the bloody problem with this earth of ours. We only have one. I am not brave enough to play chicken with this little sphere of ours. Sorry. Those guys with the big SUV’s have bigger balls than me. They play chicken with trains - I don’t. I know what happens when I hit that train. I lose. I also don’t eat food past the expiry date.
Some guys are working on a few solutions though. The “what if” scenario. One that caught my attention is the polar cities one by Danny Bloom. His solution is that we should build a few cities around the shores of the new ice-free Arctic Ocean. Oh, he hopes we don’t have to - that we might somehow stop this train from hitting our car. We better get off the track then I guess. Danny (some relation to Danny, Champion of the World?) doesn’t claim to be much of a science expert either. Hey, he is a journalist and we know how they spin stories… But he has been using his gift of words and friendship with an artists to create a really good visual of what the cities might look like. It’s his contribution to get the world thinking about tomorrow. He’s not saying it would work. But he is saying that we should start thinking about the consequences. The consequences goes beyond Denver having beachfront properties…
I have my doubts whether these cities would work. It’s a fine idea. It has some really good build-in benefits. For one, you won’t need the air-conditioner for the first few years. The ice might be gone, but it will still be pretty cold up there. But people don’t want to leave their countries of birth. And who owns the Arctic in any case? Canada is already playing chicken with the Russians. And sorry, I just can’t see the Canadians winning - not even in an ice-free ice hockey game. I mean really, the French and English standing together for a minute? Not gonna happen in my lifetime.
I have another problem as well. You can’t let the dog out at all. Not with those polar bears waiting to be fed. And little Fifi is just the kind of pre-meal snack they need to fill the gap. And how am I going to live in a city where the Jones’s have the same cubicle as me? Just can’t do it. And where do I park my Hummer? Do you get good reception there? Sorry Danny, it’s the little things that counts. I want cable, dishwasher and a mall. Gotta get it sorted.
But Danny… Count me in. I’ll join you. I guess I can live without cable if it means surviving for another few years and giving the kids a safer place to live in. And, in any case, I see the walls of your design is made of glass - see through. Cool. Who needs cable when I have a reality show right on the big screen of my wall. And no, I am not talking about the neighbors (TMI)… I can see the sun boiling water outside… Time for a cuppa tea I guess…
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11 responses so far ↓
kelli // April 9, 2008 at 5:30 pm
Loving your words
Danny Bloom // April 9, 2008 at 7:31 pm
Great post, reading you loud and clear. This was one of the best “polar city” send-ups ever written, with wit and insight, and I loved it. Thanks, Angry African for a very good rant on the polar city theme. Humor helps us get through these things, these difficult times, and while it’s most highly likely probably certain that humankind (and human mean!) will never need these God-forsaken polar cities in the year 2500 or so, it’s a good mental exercise to just think about them, see what they might look like visually, and these are not the only blueprints, other designers are working on newer designs as well, some underground, some above ground, some floating on water anchored to stilts that move up and down with the tides, and whatever the future will be, it might be a good idea to “be prepared” for whatever comes down the highway, whether it be Mad Max or Cormac McCarthy’s new novel “The Road”.
I’m with you: let’s hope we never need polar cities. And yes, time for a cuppa tea, I think you are right.
Bottoms up! Oh, wait a minute, that’s not tea is it? A good cold beer!
Kampai!
http://northwardho.blogspot.com
Danny Bloom // April 9, 2008 at 8:51 pm
Angry African, on a more seriousnote: An expert in climate change communication issues, told me in a private email:
[”RE: your polar cities idea as a PR tool and a prod, as depicted in the Angry African blog, I feel that people need to be more than scared to take action. Dark visions, or even - for techno-geeks - intriguing visions of a very different future I don’t think are enough. People need to be convinced
- WHY they should engage on this and do something
- HOW action is going to make a difference
- WHAT precisely they personally can do, and that this action - collectively with others doing the same or additional things - will change the trajectory
and then they need lots of hope, encouragement and reinforcement with abiding motivations (deeply held values) to get them and keep them going.
It’s a tough assignment - your polar city ideas will reach and engage some, and those will be important to bring along. No silver bullet here. We all tick slightly differently.”]
tommoriarty // April 9, 2008 at 11:50 pm
Dear Angry African,
As a scientist with a dozen years or experience working on solar energy, I am one or those guys who “are working on a few solutions.” Likewise, as a scientist I am very wary of the the hysteria surrounding global warming.
On a somewhat boring scientific note you can see here that arctic was very likely warmer in the early or mid-holocene than it is now. (The Holocene is the twelve thousand year old geologic epoch in which we live.)
st Regards,
ClimateSanity
tommoriarty // April 9, 2008 at 11:52 pm
Dear Angry African,
I am repeating my last comment because I forgot link….
As a scientist with a dozen years or experience working on solar energy, I am one or those guys who “are working on a few solutions.” Likewise, as a scientist I am very wary of the the hysteria surrounding global warming.
On a somewhat boring scientific note you can see that href=”http://climatesanity.wordpress.com/2008/01/02/gores-assertion-that-polar-bears-will-become-extinct-due-to-global-warming-is-an-alarmist-exaggeration/”>the arctic was very likely warmer in the early or mid-holocene than it is now. (The Holocene is the twelve thousand year old geologic epoch in which we live.)
st Regards,
ClimateSanity
danny bloom // April 10, 2008 at 7:32 am
Dear AA,
Tom Moriaty, above, has a good point and it’s important that he is working on a fix. I agree with him. Here’s a news item that might tickle your funny bones again, too:
Polar City site to list 6.6 billion Earthlings in global roll call
Virtual ‘global warming’ museum to list names of all 6.6 billion current
inhabitants of Earth, country by country, as commorative time capsule
Names will be printed on website of ‘polar city’ images created by
Taiwanese artist Deng Cheng-hong, according to site curator
NEW YORK / TAIPEI — When Taiwanese artist Deng Cheng-hong came up with a
series of computer-generated “blueprints” for what a future polar city
might look like for survivors of global warming in the year 2500 or
so, he had no idea that his images would find a home on the James E.
Lovelock Virtual Museum of Polar City Images, curated by American
climate blogger Danny Bloom. Although the online virtual museum has no
official connection with Dr James Lovelock on Britain, it was named in
honor of the British scientist because of his important work on
climate change and global warming, according to the museum. And Dr
Lovelock has seen the images that Deng created and said in an email to
the musem: “Thank you for showing me these images. It may very well
happen and soon.”
Now the online museum, which currently displays a series of 10
illustrations by Deng and has been the subject of news articles at the
New York Times and the Kansas City Star, in addition to Gizmodo, is
taking another step in emphasizing the gravity of the situation
humankind finds itself in in regards to climate change and global
warming.
Bloom said that he has embarked on an ambitious and quixotic quest to
obtain and list the names of all 6.6 billion inhabitants of the Earth as
a kind of commemorative time capsule of people who are live today. He
said that by compiling the massive list of names of all Earthlings
alive today, he hopes to emphasize the seriousness of climate change
and global warming and the possible problems they might pose for
future generations of humankind if steps are not taken now to grapple
with the issues involved.
“We need to give people a positive vision of the future of polar
cities for survivors of global warming in the year 2500 or so, if
worst comes to worst, a positive vision that’s worth fighting for, ”
Bloom said in a statement released on the Internet in April. “We will
be looking at sustainable human population retreats, so-called polar
cities, where there will be a lot of social interaction, where we will
love being with each other, despite a difficult climate, despite a
difficult world in the far distant future. I think that is a really
important thing.”
By compiling the list of all 6.6 billion inhabitants of Earth, Bloom
said he hopes “to highlight the fact that the issues of global warming
do not involve rich nations competing against poor nations, or
rightwing pundits against environmental activists, but rather the fact
that we are all involved in the future we are creating together, in
this day and age.”
To send in your own invidual name or a longer list of family members
and friends to the online virtual museum for inclusion in what Bloom
is calling a “global roll call”, Internet users are invited to send an
email to reporter.bloom@gmail.com
Bloom calls his effort, along with Deng’s striking illustrations of
what a polar city might look like in the future, a wake-up call for
those who are still sleepwalking toward the future. He has no
particular agenda, he says, other than to help sound the climate
change alarm in a provocative yet positive way, and says his campaign
is just one among many around the world where local citizens are using
the Internet to raise awareness about the issues of global warming
that confront humanity today.
–
POLAR CITIES BLUEPRINTS:
http://pcillu101.blogspot.com
green4u // April 10, 2008 at 8:19 am
This is a great post, as always!!! I agree this issue is not going to go away nor do I think summer is just coming early lately. Even if we are all wrong there is still no downside in taking care of our planet a little better. I will join you an Danny in one of the pods if I have to but hopefully people will make the right choices now!
Keep up the good posts!
http://green4u.wordpress.com
EnergyEngineer // April 10, 2008 at 5:44 pm
I laughed so hard. We are all going to fry! Cause W said the opposite. Ok you play it safe, I am all for that. Just don’t take my money via the Government to fix the “problem ” , Obama. I addressing it to him because I think he is the next president.
mrpinkeyes // April 12, 2008 at 6:23 am
I’m with Energy Engineer on this one. I don’t have a problem with taking care of the environment. I just don’t want the government taking my money to solve a problem that they haven’t proven exists. There is nothing wrong with being cautious, but when the government decides to fix something, they ususally break it.
Jen // April 12, 2008 at 5:39 pm
That government is bad is so 1980s. They did a pretty good job with the interstate, they did a pretty good job with the jury system, they did a pretty good job with labor laws, safety laws…there are things that must be lead for the good of the people by the people. The problems with government is when the people who don’t believe in the government are the one’s leading it. Do you trust corporations to do the right thing? What state do you live in ? Mexicali? There needs to be rule makers, so lets have rule makers who have the common good and not the bottom line in mind when they rule.
Danny Bloom // April 13, 2008 at 7:06 pm
Angry African,
Saw your comment at the New York Times “Dot Earth” blog. Glad to see you over there, too. Your voice will be very welcome, and Mr Revkin’s daily posts are always insightful and illuminating, pro or con climate change.
re: what it will take? I read a comment by a bloke in the UK who said this:
“When America decided to go the moonwe witnessed a nation divert huge resources into achieving that seemingly impossible goal, and they succeeded.
The world is faced with climate disaster in the not so distant future, so why are not proportionately huge resources being diverted into developing solutions? Are we incapable of acting pro-actively and collectively?”
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