The end of the world is probably closer than we think

[Ginger Harp Seal Pup]

I really think it is. The weather over the past couple of years has been really weird and destructive. The main natural disaster was the tsunami. We've had the Boscastle floodings a bit before that, we've got the hurricanes lashing the south-eastern United States, we've got the forest fires in California right now. I can remember the 126 mph winds in Britain in January 2005. It's like the Apocalypse and I think all this is going to be the downfall of the Earth. I'm just sitting tight and waiting for the next big natural disaster to hit the Earth.

[Hunter Lupe]

Surely we're not about to be wiped out by bad weather?

[Ginger Harp Seal Pup]

Surely we're not about to be wiped out by bad weather?

Not the bad weather, no. But I can't help but wonder if this bad weather is like a warning to us. A warning that something that will wipe out the Earth is approaching. Things all fit together and everything happens for a reason. What does this awful weather have as a reason? Think about it.

[alien]

see, this is where i blame everyone who drives just to drive. the pollution gets the ozone layer weak, then we are being slowly pulled closer to the sun, which is causing all the warm gulf waters which give us such bad hurricanes.. i dont have areason for anything else tho....

[Hunter Lupe]

I wouldn't read too far into meteorological events as a precursor of doom (then again, weather goes to climate, climate goes to changes, changes make problems). Anyhow, without looking at actual data, I'd blame it on the media attention to the current-day diasters of any kind (you don't hear about the wonderful sunny weather we're having back here, but rather only about how some place somewhere flooded (pretty depressing)).

A couple of centuries ago, people thought comets meant doom. They haven't wiped us out... yet

(then again, I bet on cockroaches surviving any natural diaster imaginable)

see, this is where i blame everyone who drives just to drive. the pollution gets the ozone layer weak, then we are being slowly pulled closer to the sun, which is causing all the warm gulf waters which give us such bad hurricanes.. i dont have areason for anything else tho....

I fail to see how the ozone layer becoming "weak" has anything to do with earth being pulled closer to the sun (we're in stable orbit, aren't we?).

Last edited by Hunter Lupe on Fri Sep 30, 2005 10:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[.:Requiem:.]

I have..umm...multiple words for you (I haven't had my coffee yet..)

Magnetic Field Reversal.

-nodnod-

Give it about...7 years, by the last thing I saw..

[Sapphire Faerie]

Ginger, I think this thread has great potential for good discussion.

It also has the potential to turn into an interesting debate. For now I'll leave it be, discuss away, children. But, should it move in the direction of a debate, it'll be locked right away and hopefully re-opened in the debate board.

Ginger, if you'd prefer to re-open it right away in the debate, go ahead and make the thread, let me know, and I can lock this one.

[Ginger Harp Seal Pup]

see, this is where i blame everyone who drives just to drive. the pollution gets the ozone layer weak, then we are being slowly pulled closer to the sun, which is causing all the warm gulf waters which give us such bad hurricanes.. i dont have areason for anything else tho....

I hear varying stories about the Gulf Stream. Some experts think the Gulf Stream is fading, getting colder which then means that Britain will get colder instead of warmer. Because the Gulf Stream is the reason why Britain doesn't get that cold, because the warm water from the Gulf Stream warms the sea around our coast. But with the September temperatures this year being well below average temperature and with all the hurricanes, it's like the two theories (the GS getting warmer and the GS getting colder) are just colliding with each other so who do we believe? Things are getting really weird and quite twisted. I guess all we can do is hold tight and wait to see what happens.

[sparkygoesforth]

Whoa! Don't get carried away - really. Sure, recently we've seen some pretty extreme weather which may or may not be due to human influence on the environment or some natural cycle - the jury's still well and truly out regarding the cause, and will be for some time to come. But the Apocalypse? Nowhere near...

Hurricane season happens every year (admittedly some years it's worse than others), and I seem to remember the California fires being very bad last year. The Tsunami was caused by an earthquake in the Indian Ocean, and earthquakes are pretty common in certain areas (isn't the West Coast of the USA overdue one?)

As for flooding, well, Boscastle was bad for sure but 5 years ago my neck of the woods took a hammering from torrential downpours which caused major flooding & property damage. Going further back in my memory the most extreme weather I personally have ever seen would be the Great Storm of October 1987 which ravaged the South East of the UK with winds up to 120mph. And, of couse, there are reports of freak and extreme weather conditions throughout recorded history. At least it hasn't started raining frogs - yet.

I certainly wouldn't lose too much sleep over it, especially when you live in an area of relative stability when it comes to weather.

[alien]

I fail to see how the ozone layer becoming "weak" has anything to do with earth being pulled closer to the sun (we're in stable orbit, aren't we?).

well its not it becomeing weak has stuff to do with it getting closer to the sun, but its the temperature, thats why its been getting so hot because theres nothing to keep it just a slight bit colder...

[Divine]

well its not it becomeing weak has stuff to do with it getting closer to the sun, but its the temperature, thats why its been getting so hot because theres nothing to keep it just a slight bit colder...

I thought the gradual increase in temperature was due to the greenhouse effect .

[Ginger Harp Seal Pup]

well its not it becomeing weak has stuff to do with it getting closer to the sun, but its the temperature, thats why its been getting so hot because theres nothing to keep it just a slight bit colder...

I thought the gradual increase in temperature was due to the greenhouse effect .

There are so many theories though. It's easy to become confused as to which one is the right one. Who's to say Alien isn't right in his theory? truth is, no one actually knows anything. It's all just guesswork. The experts are predicting things based on the evidence the Earth and weather patterns are producing but who's to say that they're right? For all we know the planet could hit us with something that no-one, not even the experts have predicted.

[Hunter Lupe]

Ooh, ToK can actually be useful.
Here's the trick: science never proves anything to be right. We trust it so much only because it rejects the obviously (and obscurely) wrong theories and models relatively fast, and whatever remains shares at least some elements with the truth.

[ahoteinrun]

Ooh, ToK can actually be useful.
Here's the trick: science never proves anything to be right. We trust it so much only because it rejects the obviously (and obscurely) wrong theories and models relatively fast, and whatever remains shares at least some elements with the truth.

You've shattered my belief that 1 + 1 = 2.

*cries*

[Hunter Lupe]

Ah, come on, everyone knows that 1 = 2, and therefore 1 + 1 = 4
a=b
a^2=ab
a^2-b^2=ab-b^2
(a+b)(a-b)=b(a-b)
a+b=b
2a=a
2=1 => 1 = 2