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National Geographic's 'Six Degrees Could Change The World'

Posted by Joseph Romm (Guest Contributor) at 2:03 PM on 10 Feb 2008

I haven't read the book -- who has time? Oh, but TV or a YouTube video -- well, that's another matter:

This Sunday, February 10th at 8pm EST on the National Geographic Channel, "Six Degrees Could Change The World," which offers a hypothetical look at how the world might change, degree by degree, if we don't curtail our emissions:

At One Degree, the world will experience a new American desert, massive coral bleaching, and lost Australian rainforests.

At Two Degrees, oceanic acidity will rise drastically, India will begin to face extreme Monsoon seasons, and water shortages will spell trouble in China and South America.

At Three Degrees, the Arctic will face 80% ice loss, New York City suffers from flooding, and Southern California will be constantly at risk for fires.

[Actually, the Arctic is already toast unless we reduce temperatures from current levels. And what the heck does he think has been going on in Southern California in recent years already. As for NYC flooding, that is of a much longer timescale than the other two, so it is confusing to lump them together.]

At Four Degrees, Asia will suffer from melting permafrost and Florida residents will become climate refugees.

[Asia already is.]

At Five Degrees, the desert dry belt in Africa will expand drastically, and human colonies will begin to pioneer Antarctica.

[The first one has started, and will go drastic at two or three degrees. As for pioneering Antarctica, that is a long, long, long time from now.]

At Six Degrees, the carbon cycle will explode and the human race will be struggling for survival.

[Since he's talking six degrees Centigrade, I'm afraid the carbon cycle will have long since exploded, maybe at half that temperature.]

OK, so he's an optimist, sort of. Well, relatively speaking. Anyway, the graphics should be cool, and you can click the links below to view the 30-second tune-in spot, as well as three news segments produced by "CNC News," a fictitious news source covering these events 25-75 years in the future.

:30 Second Tune-In

CNCNews -- NYC Under Water

CNCNews -- Midwest Dust Storm

CNCNews -- SoCal Water Crisis

This post was created for ClimateProgress.org, a project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

Before it's barely "warm"...

Before reaching those "extremes" of temperature, a whole shebang of collapse mechanisms will kick in!

http://edro.wordpress.com/collapsing-cities/

I avoid such shows like the plague.

First off, it is not important for me to see these shows. I am already convinced and very active on the issue. Other people who are still in denial are the ones who should watch these shows.

Second, after watching such shows my wife has to hide all the sharp cutlery in the house.

So, that is why I do not watch such shows.

Randy Cunningham

Randy Cunningham

Cable TV Promotes Global Warming


Geographic channel?

Isn't that excessive?

In fact, compared to broadcast tv or Internet, doesn't cable have a carbon footprint that could easily be eliminated by using one or the other?

Whereas broadcast has an existing infrastructure as does Internet, cable becomes extraneous and hence uses up precious energy that could be utilized...for like, making potato chips and all.

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