“Don’t let anyone tell you we’re going to get on rocketships and live on Mars. This is our home.”
Pharyngula
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
“Don’t let anyone tell you we’re going to get on rocketships and live on Mars. This is our home.”
I mean obviously we’re not going to pack up and move to Mars.
Be nice to have a research outpost over there, though, even a self-sustaining colony, just in case.
Myself, I think the Moon is a much better medium-term goal, though. Much closer, with better-understood engineering challenges to overcome.
@ 1 Rob Bos
I’m a cyclist and we hate to lose altitude when riding. Well, we sane cyclists do.
So once we are in space why go back down a gravity well? Let’s just figure out how to live in space and just sent tourists or the occasional minor down those holes.
It is good to see Gore is back. Nothing like watching climate deniers have fits to make one’s day.
The entirety of the Republican response:
Al Gore flies in jets, therefore… something bad.
Al Gore is rich, therefore… he is lying?
Al Gore is fat, therefore… oh, he’s funny! Therefore wrong!
Now that I have the time, I should take the time to watch his first movie.
I started reading about climate change back in the 1970’s. I know what has been happening since then. And I fully understand the difference between weather and climate; the latter requires a minimum of thirty years of weather in order to make a cogent statement.
The AGW denialists are like the creationists. Try as they might, they can’t show that what they believe is actually happening.
@2 (jrkrideau) – I’d say both have their appeals. Space has problems that planet-bound environments don’t have; humans don’t really do well in freefall, for instance. However, staying out of the gravity well means it’s much easier from a delta-V perspective to access asteroids for raw material.
I’d like to see a Mars colony/outpost, but I’d also like to see asteroid colonies and outposts, lunar colonies and outposts, and the aggressive preservation and restoration of Earth’s ecosystem. We can do all these things, we contain multitudes. We shouldn’t get stuck prioritizing one to the cost of the rest, or allow others to force us to choose.
Nerd: attribution studies can now pin individual weather events on the climate.
And at the current rate of change, you can spot global climate change from weather observations in fewer than 20 years.
30 years is way more than you need anymore.
Re: Mars:
Only rich people are gonna go to Mars.
That’ll make sense for the trumpentariat Meanwhile, yeah Al Gore’s a good guy, for an oligarch.
Ah, had a long argument here a Pharyngula, with an AGW denialist who tried to show a seventeen year span of weather meant climate change wasn’t occurring. Anytime I went beyond their 17 years, which by their creationist style data mining did show no increase, with a reminder that climate meant 30+ years, they got very irritated. LIke Inhofe’s snowball in the senate. It wasn’t anything meaningful, and came down to the difference between weather and climate.
I wonder if we have our Dem nominee for 2020? He seems to have learned a lot about inspiring speech. Men in their 70’s seem to be doing well in these races lately, and at least he, unlike the current pretender, shows no obvious signs of dementia.
I saw the video elsewhere and immediately thought of you PZ when he said that ;)
In case of what?
What exactly is the choice? Preserve/restore the ecosystem so that humans and other extant fauna and flora can continue to thrive in the environment they evolved in vs., um, what? Having a few hardy people (along with some minimal amount of other species) eke out a precarious, uncomfortable existence in a totally alien environment?
How is that even a choice?
Despite my previous comment, I’m all for sending Trump to Mars.
And Alec Baldwin could debate himself on SNL!
While I do believe in the scientific consensus Al Gore isn’t exactly the guy I’d want as a spokesperson considering his lifestyle.
Yes I know he has scaled things back but he still has a long way to go.
They can call him insincere and a hypocrite. The reason they are able to use that line of argument is because if he thinks it’s so damn urgent why is he living so far removed from what he’s talking about. He’s pretty easy to discredit as an individual when he still charters private planes, owns a 6500 Sq ft house and a pair of Lexus ‘s. It’s kind of like saying you stand up for the little guy and you are anti corruption while simultaneously taking shitloads of legalized bribes from banks and corporations.
The funny thing is, pipefighter, literally thousands of other people are also saying the exact same thing, and yet The Powers That Be aren’t listening to them, either.
They’re rejecting the message itself, not the messenger.
It’s good to see him striking back again. It’s going to take a lot of strident activism to counter the damage that Trump and his fellow enemies of the environment will attempt to do.
#16 pipefighter
It’s a systemic problem. Getting to carbon-neutral energy production and all-electric transportation (plus preferably “deep electrification” to replace emissions elsewhere) is going to be what slows down climate change. It’s not great that Al Gore has a way higher carbon footprint than the average person, but it doesn’t mean much compared to the changes that need to be done – and he’d pay a higher price along with everyone else if or when we do them.
Climate change is real. I live in Wisconsin, in the city of Madison. I can see the changes every year. I have lived here since 1980. 37 years. The lakes here ice up later and and ice out sooner than in 1980. The average ice time on Lake Mendota is 102 days. The last two years it was 62 days. It’s pattern you can see in one’s lifetime. Plant and animals species are migrating northward.
The Spring of 2012 was insane, 82 degrees in March. And heat that lasted for a week. Fruit crops damaged by a later frost. The Summer of 2012 was also quite remarkable here, it was like living in west Texas. Hot, dry, and for me, frightening. This is just my part of the world, where I can actually observe, casually, what is happening. What’s happening in the Arctic is just plain terrifying. The muskeg is melting. Villages are disappearing. The ice flow is retreating. I can’t see this happening, but I read the reports and chill (no pun intended) runs down my spine.
The policies of the current administration will be it’s own ruin. They are out of their depth. They are paranoid and inept. They are avaricious and cruel. While the rest of world mobilizes for a different climate, they band the use of the words “climate change’. They stick they’re heads in the sand and pander to the polluters, cynically hoping to cash in. Not caring what will happen to the little people when their policies bring ruin on us all.
As I watched the trailer, as flashy and polished as it was, I had one thought. “What’s in it for Al Gore?”
What does he gain by all this? How does this promote his brand? What is his end goal?
Something to ponder.
I don’t recall this conviction in Gore from his presidential campaign. I also don’t see the point in criticizing his motives or technique if you support his message.
Don’t worry, the rising seas will be fun!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0vFUxE3SrM
And who needs to travel past our coasts to build biodomes in alien environments?
I do not get the criticism of All Gore from the liberal pro climate change side of this discussion.
We live in a stratified class society, All Gore is from a very old prominent family he has himself accumulated significant wealth. Has he made his money operating a ponzi scheme or as an oil company CEO or something.
Should he live like a monk in a hair-shirt to be thought of a sincere or something.
How should someone who has his level of calibrate and generates that level of criticism and hate live. Does he live like a rock star or a sports hero?
Why is the criticism from the right taken as something valid?
uncle frogy
not calibrate which makes no sense but celebrity which Gore certainly has.
spell check jumps around with choices and the wrong thing gets clicked maybe I need patience or something
uncle frogy
I’m not saying Gore should be some micro apartment dwelling, bicycle riding hipster who only eats bugs and compost. What I am saying is that it is hypocritical as he’ll to talk the way he does and live the way he does. We wouldn’t think twice about using that argument if he was in favour of some right wing cause. We just tend to turn a blind eye because he’s a great thinky leader on our end of the spectrum.
And I’m calling BS on the stratification argument. His heritage justifies nothing.
Thank you for showing the “purity” argument that is the division within us progressives. Not everybody needs to be a Jerry Brown during his first gig as California Governor. I won’t complain about Gore, as he does spread the right message. Part of spreading that message is the need to travel, hitting several cities hundreds of miles apart within a week.
When I purchased my new car, I didn’t buy an electric/hybrid vehicle. They didn’t make one in the style of car (hatchback) I wanted, and was recommended by Consumers Report and Car and Driver. So, my option was to buy a cheaper gasoline powered car, or a more expensive alternative that didn’t suit my needs on my retirement monies. The gasoline car is also cheaper to repair, another consideration. In 2.5 months, I haven’t even put 400 miles on it. Driving only locally is also a way to help the environment, and driving is required here in the sub/exburbs.
andyb @20: Gore has had the conviction, and acted on it, since 1976. What I remember about his presidential run was the gross misrepresentations about him that the “liberal” media indulged in.
Purity? Clearly you didn’t read the whole comment.
The Prophecy is clear: the Democratic nominee will be Lisa Simpson. We have 3 1/2 years to find her.