Jump to content
adfegg

Can We Save Planet Earth?

Recommended Posts

Anyone else catch the David Attenborough programme last night? In general, it didn't tell me much I wasn't already aware of, but I was surprised at some of the details of the energy we use. After it had finished I turned my TV off, which I always do anyway, but I also unplugged the power cable from the speakers and everything else that didn't have an off switch.

While they were discussing windfarms I happened to glance out the window and noticed half a dozen or so lamp posts, and a really crazy idea occurred to me. There'd obviously be a lot of practical and safety issues, but I can't see any reason it couldn't work.

The bit about overseas shipping presents an interesting dilemna. Do we buy locally and ignore third world produce, or do we buy FairTrade at the expense of the climate?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
While they were discussing windfarms I happened to glance out the window and noticed half a dozen or so lamp posts, and a really crazy idea occurred to me. There'd obviously be a lot of practical and safety issues, but I can't see any reason it couldn't work.

Creepy, I had that exaclt same idea yesterday while driving past that big Windfarm rotatey-thing just outside London on the M4 yesterday.

I came to the conclusion that, in order to be cost effective in the slightest, they have to be massive.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
:frusty: Lets be honest here: whenever some tree-hugger starts taking about "saving the planet" I automatically tune them out. They all try to act like it's some big problem. The planet was here long before us, and it'll be here long after we're gone. We're nothing more than a surface irritant, like fleas on a dog, and when we're gone, the planet will shake us off and start over. So when you get right down to it, when you're talking about "saving the planet" you're really talking about saving our own over-consuming asses. Just call a spade a spade, would you? forget "save the planet", try "save the humans"!:oldman:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

WOW CLEVER.

When people say "save the planet" they obviously mean "save the environment so that we can continue to live in it and be healthy and not have to worry about insane natural disasters or animals dying or everything around us being super shit and polluted because that would be crap" but that doesn't have a good ring to it does it.

Okay, yes, they literally mean the planet -- the object orbiting the sun as a whole -- needs saving. :shifty::shifty::shifty:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Yeah, seriously — who would think the latter? Who?!

Anyway, I saw the programme last night, and it was good. Although a lot of implications for humans were brought up, a lot of it concentrated on how the warming will wreck the environment and kill off a massive number of species.

I mean, I don't know about you Tommy, but I'd say killing off many of the world's creatures including ourselves is a fairly significant issue. Perhaps not for us specifically, but our children and/or grandchildren will definitely feel the burn in that respect.

The programme was worth watching though, and some of the key points it brought up that I wasn't really aware of were:

1. The great rainforest(s) will start to burn up and die, resulting in a massive unleashing of carbon into the atmosphere, plus whatever other implications on animals that might have.

2. The melting of the ice will result in less white to reflect sunlight back up, meaning that the oceans will absorb a lot more sunlight than they have in a long time.

3. The oceans will turn acidic due to their aborbing of the carbon whatsits, slaughtering many of the world's ocean life.

There was obviously loads more, like the implications of general water rise and whatever, but that's all stuff everyone knows about anyway.

On a slightly unrelated note, did anyone catch Ocean Odessy? It was a high budget two-part BBC documentary about the life of a sperm whale that was on this week and the week before, and it was great. Mainly because it was all about the deep sea, with that being where they spend a lot of their time.

Honestly, I find the deep sea more interesting than space. They need to make more programmes about that sort of thing.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
tree-hugger

Yes, caring about things other than ourselves and our present status is a terrible idea. Live in the now, man!

Thinking about the environment makes me sad.

It's not out yet, but Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth seems to be very interesting, if this interview about the film is anything to go by. The May issue of Wired also has some coverage about Gore's work, as well as a technological view on it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Yes, caring about things other than ourselves and our present status is a terrible idea. Live in the now, man!

I take it your not a House fan?

Anyway, the BBC has got this on their website. Enjoy.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I take it your not a House fan?

House is all about revealing cheating partners and guessing it's always the same disease, not the environment. It's pretty good though.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Would you people step down off your soapboxes and get your heads out of your rears for a second? I never said that things like cutting back on pollution and taking a stand on environmental issues was a bad thing. what I'm saying (and pay attention, those of you who like to quote people) is that the terminology used is flawed. Saying we need to "save the planet" sounds altruistic, when what we're really referring to is saving our own hides. Just be honest about it and say "save the humans"! :hmph:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

We know what you're saying, and I'm not sure why you even feel the need to say it.

It's in our interests to retain the planet in roughly its current state as we as a species rely on it to exist. Sure, we may have self-preserving motives (although there are plenty who'd like to look after the environment just for the sake of doing so), but that doesn't mean we don't want/need to 'save the planet'. Saving the planet and saving our own asses go hand-in-hand.

What you're doing is being is pedantic for no good reason, and are acting as if we can't appreciate blatant terminology and wordplay insinuations, instead diverting the topic in a direction that it doesn't need to head in. Do you seriously think we need the distinction between saving an ecosystem and saving ourselves pointing out?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Bah, terminology. The only possible misinterpretation of "saving the planet" is purposeful misinterpretation. There is no deception and there is no need to specify what exactly we are saving - it's understood.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
It's not out yet, but Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth seems to be very interesting...

No, it's pure evil.

You'd think the title would be something like "Global Warming: Could It Destroy Our Economy?" (among other things), but... well..

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
No, it's pure evil.

You'd think the title would be something like "Global Warming: Could It Destroy Our Economy?" (among other things), but... well..

I have now seen the truth, thank you!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

After reading the interview with Al Gore in the latest issue of Wired I really want to see that movie.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Yeah, it's a great film. Saw it at its Sundance premier.

Also, Tommy B, many other animals besides humans would die as a result of climate change.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Can't be just create the technology we need to move to a new planet when we're done with this one?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

No. No we can't. I mean, which planet? We'll never fuck up Earth so it'll be worse than Mars. As for moving millions of people to another planet... We can't even move ONE.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Then we should ask "God" to create a new planet for us.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

We could always just do what they did in Titan AE and make a deployable planet.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm convinced I'm going to live forever, so , yeah, this subject is a big concern of mine.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×