Letters to the Editor
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Boo Scary China
China doesn't care because China knows no one will ever press them to do anything. Hell most of the greens in the west already excuse them and prefer instead to blame the US for everything. So I say let it burn, let it melt and everyone go along with their heads up their asses. I live a hundred miles inland. Let the coast drown. We stand with the workers of the oppressed third world in China against the capitalist lackeys of the west.
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melt rate
Sounds like a whole lot of ice melting. Just out of curiosity, what percentage of the entire amount of ice in greenland (you know, that if all melted would cause the seas to rise by 6m) actually melted? Its one thing to think about it in terms of being the size of the alps, but just how much of Greenland's total ice is that?
Also curious about where China is getting all that coal -- does this mean that our coal prices are likely to jump, and following on, energy prices getting pushed up in the West? I'd guess that it would, but don't really know.
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Rowyna...
Both the US and China (and probably many other places) have huge coal reserves. This is one reason the peak-oil theories are stupid. But, as we know, coal is dirty. And, as I understand it, its still much cheaper to extract oil for transportation fuel than it is to convert coal into a liquid or gas form.
I actually heard sometime a year ago (and I don't know where I read it) that China over-produces electricity. There are many inefficient illigal coal power plants in China The problem is that their electricity generation is inefficient and the transmission system is really bad.
Another issue here... all of North China (ie. China North of the Yangzi river) is heated with coal.
The funny thing is, there are really easy ways to start addressing the issue in China. For example, retrofit buildings with more insulation can have a huge impact on China's fuel usage paterns.
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As I sit here in my suburban heated home...
It's kinda hard to point fingers at the Chinese.
Thou shalt not do what we've already done.
We already have an enormous fossil-fuel-burning first world infrastructure, but you're not allowed to have yours because we got ours first.
Sorry, but that argument doesn't hold a whole lot of water, especially if one is speaking from the Chinese point of view.
The only thing that might cause any willingness on China's part to change their ways is if WE had wholesale willingness to change. If masses of Americans, all across the continent, started planting begonias in their cars, turning them into park benches, play structures, etc. What if we instituted electricity rationing... gasoline rationing, or JUST ONCE for one year spent more on bike lanes and public transit than we did on highways? What if? Then maybe, just maybe, we'd have a shred of an argument to tell the Chinese what not to do with their power plants.
Harumph.
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CO2 is CO2.
It makes no difference where it originates. China, the US, India, wherever. Do you think the upper atmosphere cares?
The bottom line, as things currently stand is this: If you live near a coast, consider a move inland. If you live on an island, be sure you have a boat in good order.
I wonder if there really is any hope, given the looming near-50% world population increase. Even dramatic per capita cuts in CO2 output will have little effect if population growth means we still increase our output in absolute terms.
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Let's be fair
The situation on the ground is indeed frustrating, however finger-pointing will attribute nothing to solving the problem. While taking China to task, we shall bear in mind the following fact: Assorted commodities exported to rich western countries account for much of China's incremental energy consumption, why should China take all the blame for a meagre profit while the western countries enjoy the benefits with moral impunity?
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Four fingers pointing back at US
During WWII we had critical needs for what sugar and flour we could produce, so we gave people limited quotas. No matter how rich you were, you could only buy a limited amount of sugar. Now, we have a critical need to reduce CO2 production. Our survival depends on it! Why are we not willing to apply a quota to how much CO2 each person can generate? When one considers the inefficiency of China’s production and the travel, this would not only reduce the CO2 generated from the two largest polluters on the planet, but would help re-establish American industry.
Much of China’s CO2 production would disappear without the support of the American consumer. Although I doubt if the current crop of my fellow citizens has the strength or intelligence to stop purchasing goods from China, I still choose to maintain hope. We need to look beyond the price in dollars and get serious about our impending extinction.
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More on the subject of finger pointing...
... We want you Chinese to make all our cheap stuff and ship it to us, but we want you to live in mud huts, pump your water with a hand pump, and power your factories by exercise bicycle while you make our stuff.
Thanks. Can I have another happy meal toy and an electric toothbrush please?
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China powers up while Greenland melts
Greenland was settled and farmed during the Middle Ages, so warmer temperatures than now are not new. The Real Climate website has been created by some modelers and green activists - hardly authoritative unless you don't like thinking. I urge everybody to do their own research rather than just swallow media reports and rubbish like Real Climate. For example, look around the internet to find out what the actual link between CO2 and warming is rather than is said to be by people with a vested interest.