Ibon wrote:dissident wrote:If you want quantification of impacts then you need to resort to models. But as we have seen with the ice melt the models are behind the curve. So treat their "predictions" as lower bounds to the coming impact.
We have already had good studies on drought and agricultural impacts done on the basis of previous IPCC round model results (not the current batch):
http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/ ... e1633.html
http://www.cgd.ucar.edu/cas/adai/papers ... ES2010.pdf
We can move this discussion toward two pertinent questions
1) Will there ever be unequivocal data that will drive global consensus around acknowledging climate change?
2) We we make any meaningful efforts to mitigate before consequences force us to our knees?
This is where the mainstream media comes in. It determines the consensus in society and thus shapes policy. People try to pin the blame on scientists for allegedly "not spreading their message effectively". I say BS. Their message is being sabotaged by paid shills and misinformation sponsored by Exxon, the Koch brothers and assorted other special interests who think that climate change is some sort of commie hoax to deny them their filthy lucre. Just because they are rich does not make these clowns intelligent.
In many ways the damage is irreparable. Climate science has been politicized and a huge chunk of the population thinks their worthless opinion is precious on this topic. It is just another political platform to be derided and rejected. Not too many people run around claiming that gravity is a hoax. But that is the f*cktard level of discourse on climate change.
I think there will be lots of action but at least a couple of decades too late. When the signs are all irrefutable that even denier drones shut their imbecilic traps then it is already too late. The action must happen when the signs are still subtle. This is an ironic aspect of this problem, that the massive, high inertia atmosphere-ocean system gives off soft and barely perceptible initial signals of an impending crash that will obliterate all before it. Humans are not adapted for processing such signals. But we are past this stage already and I would say that there are some clear signs of what is coming already. But that requires objectivity to perceive which the current corrupted public awareness does not have. It is still easy to filter out these signs based on political convictions.