Our changing planet: What will we do?

13

Comments

  • CM189191
    CM189191 Posts: 6,927
    tempo_n_groove said:
    I'm really curious as to why we haven't harvested the oceans power yet?  I have seen the tidal turbines that sit on top of the water but nothing about under water?

    There is a constant ocean current that we could put to good use to push turbines.  

    This has always baffled me.
    Would underwater turbines harvesting energy from the tides be considered lunar power then?
  • tempo_n_groove
    tempo_n_groove Posts: 41,599
    CM189191 said:
    tempo_n_groove said:
    I'm really curious as to why we haven't harvested the oceans power yet?  I have seen the tidal turbines that sit on top of the water but nothing about under water?

    There is a constant ocean current that we could put to good use to push turbines.  

    This has always baffled me.
    Would underwater turbines harvesting energy from the tides be considered lunar power then?
    I just googled it because I was curious and your definition matches the description I mentioned.

     http://www.lunarenergy.co.uk/
  • tempo_n_groove
    tempo_n_groove Posts: 41,599
    New memo was leaked about shrinking some National Monuments and expanding others.
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interior-secretary-recommends-shrinking-6-national-monuments/2017/09/17/c9a82d5e-9c1d-11e7-b2a7-bc70b6f98089_story.html?utm_term=.0d383278a2e1
  • CM189191
    CM189191 Posts: 6,927
    tempo_n_groove said:
    CM189191 said:
    tempo_n_groove said:
    I'm really curious as to why we haven't harvested the oceans power yet?  I have seen the tidal turbines that sit on top of the water but nothing about under water?

    There is a constant ocean current that we could put to good use to push turbines.  

    This has always baffled me.
    Would underwater turbines harvesting energy from the tides be considered lunar power then?
    I just googled it because I was curious and your definition matches the description I mentioned.

     http://www.lunarenergy.co.uk/
    seems like a no brainer

    could also save on seafood processing costs
  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,669
    An interesting idea here that could possible prevent the Yellowstone Caldera from wiping out humanity and at the same time provide an alternative energy source.  These question is, should we do this or should we let nature take its course?  To that, I think somewhere in between- we need to earn the right to remain a living species on this planet by showing that we care for it and not just our selfish, short-sighted greedy selves.

    http://themindunleashed.com/2017/09/nasa-threat-humans.html

    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

  • HughFreakingDillon
    HughFreakingDillon Winnipeg Posts: 39,758
    brianlux said:
    An interesting idea here that could possible prevent the Yellowstone Caldera from wiping out humanity and at the same time provide an alternative energy source.  These question is, should we do this or should we let nature take its course?  To that, I think somewhere in between- we need to earn the right to remain a living species on this planet by showing that we care for it and not just our selfish, short-sighted greedy selves.

    http://themindunleashed.com/2017/09/nasa-threat-humans.html

    jesus. 
    By The Time They Figure Out What Went Wrong, We'll Be Sitting On A Beach, Earning Twenty Percent.




  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,669
    HughFreakingDillon said:
    brianlux said:
    An interesting idea here that could possible prevent the Yellowstone Caldera from wiping out humanity and at the same time provide an alternative energy source.  These question is, should we do this or should we let nature take its course?  To that, I think somewhere in between- we need to earn the right to remain a living species on this planet by showing that we care for it and not just our selfish, short-sighted greedy selves.

    http://themindunleashed.com/2017/09/nasa-threat-humans.html

    jesus. 
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPMKlEwrIs8

    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,669
    Well that didn't work.  Try again...
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_dbOYNtAJ8

    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

  • tempo_n_groove
    tempo_n_groove Posts: 41,599
    http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/20/americas/mexico-earthquake-rescues/index.html

    Nobody is commenting on the earthquakes in Mexico?!?

    They are going to need help from us soon too.
  • CM189191
    CM189191 Posts: 6,927
    tempo_n_groove said:
    http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/20/americas/mexico-earthquake-rescues/index.html

    Nobody is commenting on the earthquakes in Mexico?!?

    They are going to need help from us soon too.
    They're not paying for our wall.  We're not paying for their earthquake.

    /ducks
  • PJ_Soul
    PJ_Soul Vancouver, BC Posts: 50,759
    edited September 2017
    tempo_n_groove said:
    http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/20/americas/mexico-earthquake-rescues/index.html

    Nobody is commenting on the earthquakes in Mexico?!?

    They are going to need help from us soon too.
    Not sure what to say.... It's terrible for them, and seeing images of parents digging through the rubble of a collapsed school is heartbreaking. I just never thought of an earthquake as something related to the topic at hand I guess. Unless we're talking about fracking, earthquakes aren't something caused by humans or anything we can prevent. I guess if doing something about our changing planet includes building better buildings to withstand earthquakes it could relate.... Always good to keep up strict building codes! Mexico isn't exactly well-known for that.
    Post edited by PJ_Soul on
    With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy. ~ Desiderata
  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,669
    tempo_n_groove said:
    http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/20/americas/mexico-earthquake-rescues/index.html

    Nobody is commenting on the earthquakes in Mexico?!?

    They are going to need help from us soon too.
    Terrible- over 200 dead.  7.1 is massive.  You can tell by several of the photos that, as PJS_oul pointed out, a lot of those structures never stood a chance up against that kind of movement.  Sad.
    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

  • CM189191
    CM189191 Posts: 6,927
    PJ_Soul said:
    tempo_n_groove said:
    http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/20/americas/mexico-earthquake-rescues/index.html

    Nobody is commenting on the earthquakes in Mexico?!?

    They are going to need help from us soon too.
    Not sure what to say.... It's terrible for them, and seeing images of parents digging through the rubble of a collapsed school is heartbreaking. I just never thought of an earthquake as something related to the topic at hand I guess. Unless we're talking about fracking, earthquakes aren't something caused by humans or anything we can prevent. I guess if doing something about our changing planet includes building better buildings to withstand earthquakes it could relate.... Always good to keep up strict building codes! Mexico isn't exactly well-known for that.
    I understand 1/2 Mexico City is built on a dry lake bed, which is where most of the damage is.  Maybe not the building codes, so much as the foundation it's on.

    /all the Mexicans I know are very familiar with building codes
  • PJ_Soul
    PJ_Soul Vancouver, BC Posts: 50,759
    CM189191 said:
    PJ_Soul said:
    tempo_n_groove said:
    http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/20/americas/mexico-earthquake-rescues/index.html

    Nobody is commenting on the earthquakes in Mexico?!?

    They are going to need help from us soon too.
    Not sure what to say.... It's terrible for them, and seeing images of parents digging through the rubble of a collapsed school is heartbreaking. I just never thought of an earthquake as something related to the topic at hand I guess. Unless we're talking about fracking, earthquakes aren't something caused by humans or anything we can prevent. I guess if doing something about our changing planet includes building better buildings to withstand earthquakes it could relate.... Always good to keep up strict building codes! Mexico isn't exactly well-known for that.
    I understand 1/2 Mexico City is built on a dry lake bed, which is where most of the damage is.  Maybe not the building codes, so much as the foundation it's on.

    /all the Mexicans I know are very familiar with building codes
    I didn't say they aren't aware of building codes. I'm saying that they aren't necessarily adhered to in Mexico the way they are in some other places (just like with many other countries in the world). Also, more of their buildings are really old and not upgraded. The condition of the buildings is absolutely a factor here - not an opinion, but a fact.
    And yes, the fact that it's built on a dry lake bed has an impact in that the composition of the earth beneath the city does not absorb the shocks of the earthquakes well at all, so that just makes it that much worse.
    With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy. ~ Desiderata
  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,669
    A lot of it is poverty. Mexico is not a rich country.
    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

  • kce8
    kce8 Posts: 1,636
    This is not new.  Still unbelievable what we are doing. It's like using violence against the earth and oneself. 
    So. Business is going down - looks like we have to do something.

    "Indonesia is made up of more than 17,000 islands. The only country that dumps more rubbish into the sea than Indonesia is China. Indonesia has said it aims to reduce marine plastic waste by 70% by 2025, but looking at these pictures, it seems there is a lot more work to be done."

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/42511483
  • rgambs
    rgambs Posts: 13,576
    brianlux said:
    my2hands said:
    I'll take a few birds smacking into a turbine over blowing the tops off of mountains
    I would agree if the number of birds lost was small but the Audubon Society (  http://www.audubon.org/news/will-wind-turbines-ever-be-safe-birds , among other sources) say that as many as 328,000 birds are killed each year in North America by wind turbines.  There are some efforts to reduce those numbers but that really is a lot. 

    Removing mountain tops is certainly a big problem too.  Here's an excellent book on that subject:





    I don't think that is very many birds, there are estimated to be billions of breeding birds in North America.
    Monkey Driven, Call this Living?
  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,669
    rgambs said:
    brianlux said:
    my2hands said:
    I'll take a few birds smacking into a turbine over blowing the tops off of mountains
    I would agree if the number of birds lost was small but the Audubon Society (  http://www.audubon.org/news/will-wind-turbines-ever-be-safe-birds , among other sources) say that as many as 328,000 birds are killed each year in North America by wind turbines.  There are some efforts to reduce those numbers but that really is a lot. 

    Removing mountain tops is certainly a big problem too.  Here's an excellent book on that subject:





    I don't think that is very many birds, there are estimated to be billions of breeding birds in North America.
    And billions of humans.  Lets knock off an extra 320,00 a year for no reason and see how that goes over!
    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,669
    kce8 said:
    This is not new.  Still unbelievable what we are doing. It's like using violence against the earth and oneself. 
    So. Business is going down - looks like we have to do something.

    "Indonesia is made up of more than 17,000 islands. The only country that dumps more rubbish into the sea than Indonesia is China. Indonesia has said it aims to reduce marine plastic waste by 70% by 2025, but looking at these pictures, it seems there is a lot more work to be done."

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/42511483
    Disturbing images!
    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,669
    Back to the original question.  What will we do?  Probably not enough.  We ask questions like, "Is global warming real?" and too often we seek the answer that is most comfortable, that implies the least amount of effort, that requires no change in our behaviors, that eases our concerns.  Anything but the truth.  I grow weary and cynical of the whole rotten mess. 

    We are in another drought year in the west.  Fires are raging in winter. Last night  I dreamed about the drought.  The time was now, late December, and the weather warned to the point where what little bit of snow we've had was melting and the rivers were running with the melted off.  I dipped my feet into the river and considered that if I jumped in, these last waters would carry me away, far, far away.  I wish.
    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

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