Methane news & reactions roundup

[hmpf]

This is what I just posted to a thread on boingboing:

Seems to me as if the only truly reasonable reaction to this is, for each of us, to turn our lives around so as to reduce our personal emissions *as much as possible*, *right now* - and start to get politically active so as to get society to adopt that course, as well.

Of course, that's for a definition of 'reasonable' which is based on two assumptions:

1.) The survival of civilisation/humans/life on earth is a priority that overrides individual desires for unnecessary luxuries. (I'm not equating the three things separated by slashes in the previous sentence, btw - I'm just listing them in the order of likelihood of their being threatened.)

2.) In a complex system which we do not fully understand, we should not be too ready to declare that 'it's over' and 'we're screwed'. As long as there are factors that aren't understood, there is hope. This means that giving up now is unreasonable, because only by giving up (and, by implication, continuing our lives the 'business as usual' way as long as it's still possible) do we condemn ourselves with *absolute* certainty.

**

Links:

I've posted most of these before, but here they are again, collected in one handy post for easier clicking. Discussion is still going on in the comments, so it pays to check back occasionally.

Green blogosphere:

http://climateprogress.org/2008/09/23/has-runaway-climate-change-begun/

http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/008702.html

http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/9/24/111531/839

Newspapers:

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/exclusive-the-methane-time-bomb-938932.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/sep/23/climatechange.scienceofclimatechange1?gusrc=rss&feed=environment

Addendum:

Nice animated movie explaining positive feedback loops and tipping points:

http://wakeupfreakout.org/

Comments

[mikes-grrl.livejournal.com]

The survival of civilisation/humans/life on earth is a priority that overrides individual desires for unnecessary luxuries.

Well, there you go, then. We're doomed.

I don't pretend to care as much as you do about this; I see the signs and read the articles etc. etc. but then I look around at everyone I know and NONE of them are going to give up their minor conveniences, much less their entire lifestyle, for the sake of "What Might Happen."

There has been too much 'cry wolf' from the environmentalists for anyone to take the direst warnings seriously (I lived through the 'acid rain' terror, which turned out to be less armageddon and more general-disturbance) and most people (my Husband included) don't care enough anyway.

You can fight anything but ennui.