# When will Climate Change become dire? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 21, 2019, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-climate-change-become-dire/843739 "2019-11-21T00:10:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-climate-change-become-dire/843739/41 "2019-11-23T07:31:23Z")
Plenty dire right here in the US of A, especially if you are a farmer. From [here](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/21/climate/farms-climate-change-crops.html)/ > [@](#): > > It was the wettest year on record for the lower 48 states, with the kind of extreme rainfall events that are increasingly associated with climate change. And then fall came in with unseasonably heavy rains and snow. That was the case for Aaron Heley Lehman, a farmer in central Iowa and president of the Iowa Farmers Union. “This has definitely been a bad year for almost all farmers in Iowa, even if you weren’t on river bottom ground and having your grain bins explode and your land underwater for weeks and weeks at a time,” he said. “It was still a very rough year.” > [@](#): > > According to the American Farm Bureau Federation, farm subsidies from sources like trade assistance, disaster assistance and federally subsidized crop insurance made up 40 percent of farm income in 2019, $33 billion out of an expected $88 billion total. Some of that is from the trade war, I believe. But … > [@](#): > > That’s 13 percent of the total corn acreage in the United States that went unplanted, and nearly 6 percent of total soy acreage. By comparison, 2013 was another wet year but had just 3.9 percent and 2.3 percent unplanted acres. Things are so wet that farmers can’t get their equipment into the fields to plant. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-climate-change-become-dire/843739/42 "2019-11-23T11:22:07Z")
Or rather, so wet they can get their equipment _in_, and in sunk in up to the axles, but then they can’t get it _out_… ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-climate-change-become-dire/843739/43 "2019-11-23T19:36:42Z")
I’ve read (sorry, no cite) that Suharto’s 1998 overthrow was the first modern regime change triggered by global warming. The post-2004 Syrian civil war also resulted from climatic crop failures. The Pentagon is preparing for massive inroads by climate refugees. But it’s only TV news, not _DIRE_, until it affects you personally. Sweat. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2019, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-climate-change-become-dire/843739/44 "2019-11-24T16:53:09Z")
> [@BeepKillBeep](#): > > Gleick, P. H. (2014). Water, drought, climate change, and conflict in Syria. Weather, Climate, and Society, 6(3), 331-340. > > De Châtel, F. (2014). The role of drought and climate change in the Syrian uprising: Untangling the triggers of the revolution. Middle Eastern Studies, 50(4), 521-535. Right, the problem in Syria and the Mid East is due to drought. Somehow oil rich countries next to the ocean can’t figure out how desalination plants work or plant rice made to grow in saltwater. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2019, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-climate-change-become-dire/843739/45 "2019-11-24T17:58:15Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > As noted, what dire consists of is an opinion. Mine is that we’re nowhere close to dire. In my opinion dire is when major coastal cities which are above current sea level (Venice and New Orleans need not apply) start sinking underwater. When New York, London, Shanghai, Mumbai, Rio, Sydney, and Tokyo are underwater due to the icecaps in Greenland and Antarctica fully melting, that will be dire. People living in that time period will look at 2019 like a walk in the park. As far as when that will happen, my guess is that at our current rate we’re looking at something like 50 to 100 years. The oceans are only predicted to rise about a meter over the next century, or something. There just isn’t that much water on the planet, even if you melt all the ice. And that’s pretty basic math, so I doubt that that’s a thing that anyone didn’t already know 50 years ago. You might want to review where you’re getting your science news from, if you were thinking that anyone was ever predicting something like that. Most likely you were being lied to by your news sources. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2019, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-climate-change-become-dire/843739/46 "2019-11-24T19:16:23Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > The oceans are only predicted to rise about a meter over the next century, or something. There just isn’t that much water on the planet, even if you melt all the ice. And that’s pretty basic math, so I doubt that that’s a thing that anyone didn’t already know 50 years ago. You might want to review where you’re getting your science news from, if you were thinking that anyone was ever predicting something like that. Most likely you were being lied to by your news sources. Well, yes he is wrong, [but only as matter of timing.](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/seas-will-rise-for-300-years/) Still, telling oneself that a meter of an increase is something that we should not worry about is reckless too. BTW the acceleration of the melting of cap ice tells many researchers that the ocean rise is likely to be an underestimation, and that the higher numbers that are in the range of possibilities are more likely. As researchers I read pointed, the usual numbers are between .8 to 2 meters of an increase by the end of the century, meaning that well before that we can be encountering this: > **[Student Video: NASA's Earth Minute: Sea Level Rise | NASA/JPL Edu](https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/learn/video/nasas-earth-minute-sea-level-rise/)** > > What is sea level rise and what does it mean for our planet? > [@](#): > > A child born today can expect the ocean to rise between 1 and 4 feet in their lifetime. > In the United States alone, nearly 5 million people live within 4 feet of the local high tide level. > That could mean increased flooding from storm surges. And as the ocean rises, its salt water can mix with our rivers and ground water… > > Which is where many people get fresh water for drinking and farming. > > So there’s no question that sea level is rising. NASA can measure it from space. [https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/01/greeland-ice-melting-four-times-faster-than-thought-raising-sea-level/](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/01/greeland-ice-melting-four-times-faster-than-thought-raising-sea-level/) ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2019, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-climate-change-become-dire/843739/47 "2019-11-24T22:08:20Z")
As may have been mentioned, sea-level rise isn’t constant globally. Some coasts will see greater impact than others. And storm surges can drive slightly higher waters to dangerous depths. Won’t take much to flood NYC’s or SF-bay’s subways, the California, Bengali, and Mississippi-Louisiana deltas. How long can y’all tread water? ---
**Author:** ![Spherical\_Bus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b19c9b/32.png) [@Spherical\_Bus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spherical_Bus)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2019, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-climate-change-become-dire/843739/48 "2019-11-24T22:13:50Z")
Honestly, it already is. There’s only one escape now: manual carbon removal. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2019, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-climate-change-become-dire/843739/49 "2019-11-24T23:16:44Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Well, yes he is wrong, [but only as matter of timing.](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/seas-will-rise-for-300-years/) Still, telling oneself that a meter of an increase is something that we should not worry about is reckless too. Given that nearly all man-made structures are more than a meter above sea level, at peak tide, I’d say that it’s not Godzilla-bad. Venice has been dealing with water damage for a few centuries now and, while it’s a PITA, they seem to be avoiding mass death and injury. Now, if you live in Holland, the story is different. But I did say “nearly all” not “all”. It will be _costly_ to deal with. But I would generally take “dire” to mean something a bit more spectacular than an issue that can be solved with a giant pump. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2019, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-climate-change-become-dire/843739/50 "2019-11-24T23:20:16Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Given that nearly all man-made structures are more than a meter above sea level, at peak tide, I’d say that it’s not Godzilla-bad. Venice has been dealing with water damage for a few centuries now and, while it’s a PITA, they seem to be avoiding mass death and injury. > > Now, if you live in Holland, the story is different. But I did say “nearly all” not “all”. I think you did not check the links, loss of potable water (and the loss of cropland in particular) and an increase with the damages from hurricanes are things that trying to minimize and hand wave away is a reckless thing to do. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2019, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-climate-change-become-dire/843739/51 "2019-11-25T00:14:21Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > I think you did not check the links, loss of potable water (and the loss of cropland in particular) and an increase with the damages from hurricanes are things that trying to minimize and hand wave away is a reckless thing to do. I am relatively skeptical that rising seawater is going to affect the majority of farming or general water usage in Nebraska, Iowa, or Saskatchewan. I would be surprised if it even affected the San Juan valley, or really very much at all given that nearly all of mankind lives more than 1 mile away from the ocean and dirt is pretty effective at filtration. But if that is projected to project far deeper into the inland than I was expecting to be the case, I’ll certainly read a link about it. Can you do better than a one-sentence statement by NASA that reads as a statement for school kids? I’m not saying that you’re wrong, just that I’d want to see something better. (I can’t access the NatGeo link.) ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2019, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-climate-change-become-dire/843739/52 "2019-11-25T01:57:05Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > I am relatively skeptical that rising seawater is going to affect the majority of farming or general water usage in Nebraska, Iowa, or Saskatchewan. I would be surprised if it even affected the San Juan valley, or really very much at all given that nearly all of mankind lives more than 1 mile away from the ocean and dirt is pretty effective at filtration. But if that is projected to project far deeper into the inland than I was expecting to be the case, I’ll certainly read a link about it. If you had looked at past postings, ignoring the rest of the world (or Florida and many places in the American east for that matter) is reckless too as it will affect the USA too, as the link about refugees showed already. You are also there ignoring the loss of water as glaciers are retreating in the places that should not worry about ocean rise, but need to worry about other effects of treating the atmosphere like a sewer. > [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Can you do better than a one-sentence statement by NASA that reads as a statement for school kids? I’m not saying that you’re wrong, just that I’d want to see something better. (I can’t access the NatGeo link.) That narrator for the short animation that was linked was Richard Alley, American geologist and a Professor of Geosciences at Pennsylvania State University. (And still a Republican, nobody is perfect 🙂 ) And BTW, that Animation and text comes from NASA. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2019, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-climate-change-become-dire/843739/53 "2019-11-25T03:19:54Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > If you had looked at past postings, ignoring the rest of the world (or Florida and many places in the American east for that matter) is reckless too as it will affect the USA too, as the link about refugees showed already. You are also there ignoring the loss of water as glaciers are retreating in the places that should not worry about ocean rise, but need to worry about other effects of treating the atmosphere like a sewer. I’m ignoring the threat that I cited and discussed in my own post, which is to say, changing climate and how that relates to plant growth and the effects of climate change on hurricane strength? Well, maybe. But, my counter-hypothesis would be that those two topics are ones that I am onboard with, as reasonable to call “dire”, while the topic of the sea level rising - while, yes, related through the fact that this is all climate change - was clearly intended to ignore those other aspects of climate change and genuinely talk about nothing more than the physical level of the sea. Which, while costly to a very specific set of mankind, is probably not ever going to be dire if, again, we extract out _the other impacts of climate change_. Salt would be massively harmful to farming (unless we start eating a lot more seaweed on our diets). If salt can penetrate to the major areas of farming, I would agree that that’s a dire concern. But if we’re talking about Syria drying out then, clearly, I am treating that as a separate discussion from the physical height of the ocean. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2019, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-climate-change-become-dire/843739/54 "2019-11-25T04:38:48Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > I’m ignoring the threat that I cited and discussed in my own post, which is to say, changing climate and how that relates to plant growth and the effects of climate change on hurricane strength? > > Well, maybe. But, my counter-hypothesis would be that those two topics are ones that I am onboard with, as reasonable to call “dire”, while the topic of the sea level rising - while, yes, related through the fact that this is all climate change - was clearly intended to ignore those other aspects of climate change and genuinely talk about nothing more than the physical level of the sea. Which, while costly to a very specific set of mankind, is probably not ever going to be dire if, again, we extract out _the other impacts of climate change_. The problem here is to try to separate the effects like if one could pick and choose, the results do not care about an arbitrary separation of the effects, still, the point stands, regions of the USA like Florida will not have an easy time. > **[Surging Seas: Risk Zone Map](https://ss2.climatecentral.org/#8/25.745/-80.211?show=satellite&projections=0-K14_RCP85-SLR&level=7&unit=feet&pois=hide)** > > Explore your local sea level rise risk. That is Miami under just about 2 meters of ocean rise (close to 7 feet, and BTW, ocean rise does not magically stop by the end of the century, it will become worse in less than a generation then). > [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Salt would be massively harmful to farming (unless we start eating a lot more seaweed on our diets). If salt can penetrate to the major areas of farming, I would agree that that’s a dire concern. But if we’re talking about Syria drying out then, clearly, I am treating that as a separate discussion from the physical height of the ocean. Again, you like that, but unfortunately it does not make much sense, unless one is following the strange points from lukewarmers out there. In a case like nations like Syria, a factor that increases emigration and unrest already (with increased warming and drought) will have more people emigrating elsewhere added to the mix thanks to ocean rise. As for the salt being an issue and the loss of land due to ocean rise: > **[Climate change is making soils saltier, forcing many farmers to find new...](http://theconversation.com/climate-change-is-making-soils-saltier-forcing-many-farmers-to-find-new-livelihoods-106048)** > > Rising seas and groundwater depletion, both driven by climate change, are making soils saltier in many parts of the world. Farmers will need help adapting, especially in developing countries. > [@](#): > > Farming has always been a challenging industry with razor-thin profit margins, even for large-scale farmers. Salt contamination, which leads to stunted and uneven plant growth, is already estimated to affect 20 percent of cultivated land worldwide. > > Climate change drives soil salinization in several ways. First, ocean temperatures are rising, and warmer water takes up more space. Ice sheets and glaciers are melting and flowing into the oceans. Scientists currently project that global mean sea levels will rise by at least one-quarter to one-half meter by 2100, even with deep reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. This process pushes salty water onshore along coastlines, from Bangladesh to the Mississippi Delta. > > Climate change also causes heat stress, which will deplete groundwater resources and increase saline contamination of soils inland. This process is already affecting parts of Australia, sub-Saharan Africa and California. > > Globally, soil salinization will translate into higher food prices and more food shortages. Locally, many farmers are seeing lower yields, which means less income. > > Depending on the season and the degree of saline contamination, rice farmers in India can expect to lose anywhere from 7 to 89 percent of their crop. In coastal Bangladesh, we found that households facing moderate saline contamination earn roughly 20 percent less in crop revenue each year than those facing only mild soil salinity. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2019, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-climate-change-become-dire/843739/55 "2019-11-25T06:00:20Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > For the USA, it will become dire only after it affects McDonald’s . … or Mar-a-Lago. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2019, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-climate-change-become-dire/843739/56 "2019-11-25T09:36:23Z")
Has anyone noticed that California and Australia are kind of “on fire”? Like, they always had wildfires, but these have gotten so much worse, and are killing and displacing more people that in the past, and all estimation is that things are going to get worse. Hurricanes are getting stronger. Cities around the world are seeing hundred-year-floods every few years. On a more personal level, I spent an entire week this summer at home due to severe heatstroke from spending a bit too long outside during the kind of summer heat wave that central europe can expect far more of in the near future, and which we are _not well-prepared for_. [Hundreds of people died](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_2019_European_heat_wave). Japan had hundreds hospitalized and 11 dead. And things are similarly dire in India, apparently, [with heat waves leading to hundreds dead and water shortages, causing further unrest](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_heat_wave_in_India_and_Pakistan). Anyone trying to tell you that things are not already dire is doing you no favors. We are already seeing, on a yearly basis, the effects of a warming climate, and it only gets worse from here. We can only limit the damage by acting soon and decisively. ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2019, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-climate-change-become-dire/843739/57 "2019-11-25T13:34:05Z")
I appreciate all of the replies talking about the seriousness and immediacy of the emergency. I hate the fact that climate change is being characterized as “belief in climate change” or “does not believe”. This isn’t about belief. Climate change and the immediate and dire nature of the crisis is a fact. It isn’t being caused by the sun. It isn’t be caused by the Earth’s natural cycle. It is primarily being caused by human activity. Our addiction to cheap energy. And yes, this is going to mean economic changes. Migrating to a different way of doing things over a long period of time would mitigate the economic impact. The longer we wait, the more severe the necessary actions are going to be. It won’t impact most on the people on this board who are probably in their 30-50s. We’ll be nice and dead in the next 30 years or so. But if the world continues to do nothing, the impact on children being born today is going to be extreme. I find it amusing that it is often the right-wing that are saying “Debt will require our children and grandchildren to pay for it!” but so conveniently ignore that this is true for climate change. We are making things definitively awful for anybody under 25 today. Somebody 25 today, if going to be 55ish (i.e. at the end of their career when they have limited career flexibility) to undergo massive economic change. And honestly, to some degree, I fear that this is why nothing serious will ever be done. There will always be a group of people sufficiently hurt by taking action, that no action will be taken. See Sam Stone’s reply earlier. We cannot do anything serious right now because of economics. Maybe later. Ridiculous. The time to act is right now. Actually, sorry the time to act was 10-20 years ago. I do agree with Sam Stone’s point on nuclear power though. We need to be building nuclear power plants starting immediately. And it bugs me endlessly that the people most in favor of taking action on climate change have a high tendency of being opposed to nuclear power. It is enough to make one scream in frustration. Which I think I will do right now. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2019, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-climate-change-become-dire/843739/58 "2019-11-25T16:23:14Z")
\*\*Fresh \*\*water is doing the damage now. This is one of many, many articles. It’s dated June 9. [‘The Fields Are Washing Away:’ Midwest Flooding Is Wreaking Havoc on Farmers](https://psmag.com/environment/the-fields-are-washing-away-midwest-flooding-is-wreaking-havoc-on-farmers) > [@](#): > > Kate Glastetter has worked on her family farm all her life. Alongside her father, the 25-year-old farmer grows row crops—wheat, bean, and corn—and runs a cow and calf operation in Scott County, Missouri. Normally, at this time in the season, farmers would be starting to plant soybeans, and corn should already be in the ground. Instead, Glastetter says, their fields are covered in water. “It’s like lakefront property,” she says. “The fields are washing away.” > > It’s a common story across the Midwest and Great Plains, where the Missouri and Mississippi River basins are still recovering from a catastrophic deluge: Since March, record flooding in the central United States has caused historic crop delays. The Mississippi River received levels of rain and snow at 200 percent above normal this spring, causing corn and some soybean farmers to wait longer to plant their crops than ever recorded in Department of Agriculture data. And as bad as this year is, climate change projections show U.S. farmers will need to adjust to similarly brutal weather events in the future. > > … > > The threat will only grow worse and more widespread in the coming months, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Spring Outlook report. “This is shaping up to be a potentially unprecedented flood season, with more than 200 million people at risk for flooding in their communities,” Ed Clark, director of the NOAA’s National Water Center, said last month. > > The floods have already wrecked homes, contaminated drinking water, and cost billions of dollars in damages. Now experts are warning that the damage to U.S. agriculture could last well beyond the spring. > > Research shows the increasingly difficult conditions farmers are experiencing during this and recent years are at the mercy of more than weather: Extreme events like this one are also linked to climate change, which is projected to cut crop yields in half under worst-case climate models. > > Back in 2002, researchers estimated that the damage from climate change-induced rainfall alone could total $3 billion every year—costs that would be borne by farmers, and ultimately passed along to disaster relief programs. Many have hailed these recent floods as proof; agriculture aid for this year comes at a price of $16 billion. Did conditions get better? No. From Oct. 1. [Rains worsens already slow pace of 2019 harvest](https://www.agweek.com/business/agriculture/4664791-rains-worsens-already-slow-pace-2019-harvest) > [@](#): > > The weekly crop progress report, reflecting conditions Sept. 29 and released Sept. 30 by the National Agricultural Statistics Service, or NASS, an arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, confirmed that the area harvest remains far behind schedule. In fact, some key harvest measures are even further behind than they had been, reflecting heavy, widespread rains in late September. And this week, Nov. 23. [Weather woes keep producers from fall finish](https://www.minotdailynews.com/news/local-news/2019/11/weather-woes-keep-producers-from-fall-finish/) > [@](#): > > The harvest of 2019 has been a difficult, drawn-out affair for area farmers, many of whom still have crops in the field they continue to try to bring in. > > “It’s been a nightmare of a harvest,” said Jeremy Burkhart, grain division manager at CHS SunPrairie, Minot. > > Rains that began in September, turned to snow in October and didn’t seem to want to end. It created a situation that’s been unprecedented for even those producers who have been in the business for some time. Inaccessible fields and deteriorating crops have been a challenge all season. > > “2019 will be one they will remember for many years,” said Jim Hennessy, agricultural agent with Mountrail Ag Agency. “We had good yields. We just couldn’t get it.” It’s already bad. Really bad. I’d like to say it’s going to stay bad, only because that would be better than the reality - which is that it will get worse year by year. The sky is already falling. Literally. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2019, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-climate-change-become-dire/843739/59 "2019-11-26T02:14:56Z")
We are on track to have sea levels rise by ~20" by 2100 according to the UN IPCC. The UN IPCC is the consensus of almost a hundred authors citing thousands of studies. Elimination of all air travel would reduce global temperatures by 0.03 degrees Celsius. We are looking for technological breakthrough not draconian re-engineering of society. Extinction Rebellion are a bunch of twats https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vOxgzIeSt4 ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2019, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-climate-change-become-dire/843739/60 "2019-11-26T04:41:35Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > We are on track to have sea levels rise by ~20" by 2100 according to the UN IPCC. The UN IPCC is the consensus of almost a hundred authors citing thousands of studies. Actually, if one bothers to check the science and not the misinformers the report says: [https://miamibeachtimes.com/politics/uns-ipcc-releases-gloomier-forecast-for-sea-level-rise-by-2100/](https://miamibeachtimes.com/politics/uns-ipcc-releases-gloomier-forecast-for-sea-level-rise-by-2100/) > [@](#): > > Global sea levels will most likely rise between 0.95 feet and 3.61 feet by 2100, according to a report released on Wednesday by the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). These are the most somber forecasts for sea level rise ever made by the entity. > **[Summary for Policymakers — Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a...](https://www.ipcc.ch/srocc/chapter/summary-for-policymakers/)** As mentioned before the IPCC is conservative in their reports, as others noted there is evidence for the report missing a lot of the cap ice loss acceleration; still, they do point at the high range possible to be about 1.5 meters by the end of the century and then even more after. [quote=“Damuri\_Ajashi, post:59, topic:843739”] Elimination of all air travel would reduce global temperatures by 0.03 degrees Celsius. We are looking for technological breakthrough not draconian re-engineering of society. Extinction Rebellion are a bunch of twats [/QUOTE] Of course worse than a straw man is to see misinformers like Nigel Farage taking down extremists, implying then that the extremists represent all the proponents of change, anything to ignore the science and the change that is needed. > **[Meet The Brexit Party's Climate Science Deniers](https://www.desmog.com/2019/05/01/brexit-party-climate-science-deniers/)** > > It’s just over a fortnight since Nigel Farage was back in the headlines, launching his new Brexit Party to contest the upcoming European Parliament elections, in what he describes as a “democratic revolution.” The former UKIP leader, who left... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-climate-change-become-dire/843739.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-climate-change-become-dire/843739.md?page=4)