James Burke : "After The Warming", 11/11

Watch Entire Show: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=16E277DDB6723CC0&playnext=1

In typical "Connections" style, Mr. Burke takes a look at a possible future world where mankind has taken appropriate steps to forestall the ongoing trend of global warming, presumably primarily due to excess "greenhouse gasses". Burke takes a look at similar global temperature changes that had occurred in the past, of which there are two kinds.

One kind of global climate change happens in regular cycles having to do with alterations in the earth's orbital and also it's tilt with respect to the sun (the so-called minor and major "ice ages"). Burke examines periods in human history and development when these events occurred. Namely how they effected the entire human race, or individual societies.

The other class of changes happen through disruptions in the "temperature regulatory system" of the planet (these are like massive "rivers" deep beneath the oceans). This could happen for instance if a large "wall" of ice, acting as a dam for an even larger fresh-water lake, suddenly breaks releasing a lot of fresh water into a "salty" ocean. It turns out that the driving force behind this "oceanic circulatory system" is, in fact, salt. So if the salinity changes to a large enough degree, then the cycle alters, (or stops alltogether) and this can have dramatic effects on the earth's climate as a whole, and also over a very short period of time (less than a century).

Burke notes that climate change due to humans, being foreseeable, could be forestalled, prevented, or even reversed and presents the show as a news broadcast from the year 2050 wherein his ancestors (ie. our children) had the foresight to be able to prevent much of the catastrophic outcomes that normally result when major climate change occurs on Earth.

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[Maximara]

Just remember that it is half documentary and half future history (everything after 1989).

[itznora]

James Burke has done such excellent & intelligent work on this & other series. He attacks his subject with wit, rigor & a far-ranging intelligence. You don't see this high standard very often. ... Did he mention methane hydrates in the oceans?

[Ruebacca]

Going from 260ppm to 400ppm CO2 will have no effect on the heat capacity of a system. Socialist clap trap.

[Ionian1006]

@itznora No he did not mention those. Good reason too- the pollution that would cause would be monstrous. Methane is a terrible gas to deal with, in any form, for any use, for all reasons.

As for this series, it is so far off that I am left feeling like I have wasted my time watching. Alarmist- chicken-little syndrome without addressing what turns out to be the worst pollluter of all. I heard no appreciable mention of sulfur dioxide in any of this.

[xyzpr11]

Seems to be a message piece for the time it was made, a little off the rails at best.

Wonder if Al Gore picked up on this ??? Now there is a work of star class Hokum...

[xyzpr11]

Seems to be a message piece for the time it was made, a little off the rails at best.

Wonder if Al Gore picked up on this ??? Now there is a work of star class Hokum...

[kacplaymyst]

This program reminds me of the stories of chicken little and the boy who cried wolf.

[soylentgreenb]

Burke's predictions have been a big fat failure.

Greenhouse emissions accelerated.

Despite 60 odd years of faith-based, uncritical cheering and obscene subsidies all the solar power in the entire world produces only as much energy a medium-sized nuclear station with a couple of reactors.

Even Germany, hot-bed of organic farming, windmills and other nonsense has been forced to reconsider their nuclear phase-out; the alternative was to build a couple of dozen more coal plants.

[mzedong001]

Itznora I 100% aggree with you. I love the good work this man has done!! Way to go mr. Burke!!

[ewok40k]

its 2010, no massacre at Darwin...

And US is in no mood to stop American Way of Life TM

Predicting the future is well, tricky business...

[moronpaul]

Way too Malthusian. Burke's gone off the deep end here.

[JamesBurkeWeb]

Perhaps.