The BS about changing the earth
Don't give me this BS about changing the earth . The earth does its own changes without any help from humans ...
This change is only 3 million years old , a mere blink in geological time ...
Below I have copied the entire online article from this link :
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=4073
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panama geologcal history
Twenty million years ago ocean covered the area where Panama is today. There was a gap between the continents of North and South America through which the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans flowed freely. Beneath the surface, two plates of the Earth s crust were slowly colliding into one another, forcing the Pacific Plate to slide slowly under the Caribbean Plate. The pressure and heat caused by this collision led to the formation of underwater volcanoes, some of which grew tall enough to break the surface of the ocean and form islands as early as 15 million years ago. More and more volcanic islands filled in the area over the next several million years. Meanwhile, the movement of the two tectonic plates was also pushing up the sea floor, eventually forcing some areas above sea level.
Over time, massive amounts of sediment (sand, soil, and mud) were peeled away from North and South America by strong ocean currents and fed through the gaps between the newly forming islands. Little by little, over millions of years, the sediment deposits added to the islands until the gaps were completely filled. By about 3 million years ago, an isthmus had formed between North and South America. (An isthmus is a narrow strip of land, with water on either side, that connects two larger bodies of land.)
Scientists believe the formation of the Isthmus of Panama is one of the most important geologic events to happen on Earth in the last 60 million years. Even though it is only a tiny sliver of land, relative to the sizes of continents, the Isthmus of Panama had an enormous impact on Earth s climate and its environment. By shutting down the flow of water between the two oceans, the land bridge re-routed currents in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Atlantic currents were forced northward, and eventually settled into a new current pattern that we call the Gulf Stream today. With warm Caribbean waters flowing toward the northeast Atlantic, the climate of northwestern Europe grew warmer. (Winters there would be as much as 10 degrees C colder in winter without the transport of heat from the Gulf Stream.) The Atlantic, no longer mingling with the Pacific, also grew saltier. Each of these changes helped establish the global ocean circulation pattern we see today. In short, the Isthmus of Panama directly and indirectly influenced ocean and atmospheric circulation patterns, which regulated patterns of rainfall, which in turn sculpted landscapes.
The formation of the Isthmus of Panama also played a major role in biodiversity on our world. The bridge made it easier for animals and plants to migrate between the continents. For instance, in North America today, the opossum, armadillo, and porcupine all trace back to ancestors that came across the land bridge from South America. Likewise, the ancestors of bears, cats, dogs, horses, llamas, and raccoons all made the trek south across the isthmus.
Scientists made this false-color image of Panama using data acquired in February 2000 by the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), flying aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavor. High-quality satellite imagery of Central America is generally difficult to obtain due to persistent cloud cover in the region. The ability of SRTM to penetrate clouds and make three-dimensional measurements has allowed scientists to produce the first complete high-resolution topographic map of all of Central America. Two visualizations were combined to produce this image of Panama: shading and color coding of topographic height. By computing the topographic slope in the north-south direction, scientists were able to make the shading that gives it its three-dimensional appearance. The colors directly relate to height. Green shows the lowest elevations, just above sea level. Yellows and then tans show progressively higher elevations, with white being the highest.
Image Courtesy SRTM Team NASA/JPL/NIMA
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And so?
Well , the earth's creation of the isthmus which filled in the gap between North and South America produced drastic changes to the climate of the earth . Its effects on the region we call Europe were profound . It used to be a lot colder there than is has been for quite a long while . [But lately with the cold there you wouldn't know that .]
But why the name of the article, Rich?
It is intended to show that human induced changes [if any] are inconsequential compared to what nature can do without any human influence .
There is no doubt that the earth is an amazing power, but sadly, so have we. We have far more power without having full knowledge of our impact.
I expect our main power is the ability to cause nuclear winter ...
That's what we know...
But what about what we don't know?
Since we are already at peak-oil it may not matter much .
But we haven't chopped down every tree in the rain forest yet.
Or fished the ocean dry
Or killed all the plankton...
We have so much work to do yet!
I am a stalwart defender of krill . We can't allow those murderous blue whales to eat up all the krill . Kill the blue whales ! [and the sperm whales and belugas too ] ... BTW , to those who don't know me , that was a joke ... really .
It is all a sign of the arrogance of the temporary.
Just like those who say that what humans create is not "natural," as if humans are, somehow, above and beyond nature, unique.
Bullshit.
Like how we are destroying the world through global warming. Bullshit.
It is all the effect of unfounded arrogance, man's need to believe he is something more than a click beetle to this earth, to this galaxy, to this universe, to all of the universes that exist.
Terry ,
I am of the opinion that there is climate change going on . But I am not presumptuous enough to declare that :
1) it is going to continue warming [on average]
2) that it is due to CO2 emissions or caused by man .
3) that its effects are uniformly bad
I don't pretend to know the future about this and I am of the opinion that those who we support to do research on this subject have distorted the conclusions they have come up with by exaggerating the conclusiveness of their research . Climatology is not currently a science any more than meteorology is . Neither one is particularly good at making predictions .
Agreed.
Guess my point went more to the overall, even unconscious (and unfounded) arrogance shown by these people.
From my POV it is actually not based on arrogance . It is based on misplaced good intentions . You know that old saying about the path to hell ?