[QUOTE=Andrew;333194]Assuming global warming/climate change theory is true, is global warming/climate change necessarily a bad thing?[/QUOTE]

That's an excellent question.

I remember seeing an interview years ago (probably on the BBC) with the (at the time) Russian Energy Minister saying that to Russians global warming could only be a good thing. It would result in much more of their country being able to support crops.

China probably has a similar perspective, but obviously wouldn't be nearly as open about it.

For Canadians, the northern arctic is finally open for shipping, and drilling.

Screw everyone who lives anywhere near the equator. There the rich can afford air-conditioning, and hurricane resistant infrastructure....

[QUOTE=chalsall;333210]Screw everyone who lives anywhere near the equator. There the rich can afford air-conditioning, and hurricane resistant infrastructure....[/QUOTE]

Just wondering- how high are you above sea level on Barbados? I'm pretty sure that there are Pacific atolls that are already threatened, and Bangladesh is not far behind. (I realize that your comment above is a rhetorical flourish of the ironic sort.)

[QUOTE=kladner;333213]Just wondering- how high are you above sea level on Barbados? I'm pretty sure that there are Pacific atolls that are already threatened, and Bangladesh is not far behind. (I realize that your comment above is a rhetorical flourish of the ironic sort.)[/QUOTE]

My office is ~5 meters above sea level. My girl-friend's office is ~3 meters above sea level.

We're building a house which is ~100 meters above sea level.

Interestingly, Barbados experience an earthquake 2007.11.29 (a rare event here), and almost no-one thought about the possible resulting tsunami....

[QUOTE]We're building a house which is ~100 meters above sea level.[/QUOTE]

Sounds like a wise choice to me.

[QUOTE]Interestingly, Barbados experience an earthquake 2007.11.29 (a rare event here), and almost no-one thought about the possible resulting tsunami.... [/QUOTE]

I take it that you are far enough east that you're not much affected by the more geologically active area of the Caribbean.

[QUOTE=kladner;333219]I take it that you are far enough east that you're not much affected by the more geologically active area of the Caribbean.[/QUOTE]

Incorrect.

We're south, and west.

[QUOTE=chalsall;333221]Incorrect.

We're south, and west.[/QUOTE]

OK. I was visualizing Barbados as being further offshore. The map and discussion [FONT=&quot][SIZE=3][URL="http://www.ugr.es/~agcasco/igcp546/project.htm"]here[/URL] show the various plates and motions.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[QUOTE=kladner;333224]OK. I was visualizing Barbados as being further offshore.[/QUOTE]

Sorry... Human languages can be so ambiguous...

My and my girlfriend's offices are on the south and west coasts of Barbados.

Barbados is approximately 13.1594 degrees north, 59.5300 west.

Barbados is the eastern-most Caribbean island, but not as eastern as parts of the South American continent (far below the equator).

[QUOTE=chalsall;333217]Interestingly, Barbados experience an earthquake 2007.11.29 (a rare event here), and almost no-one thought about the possible resulting tsunami....[/QUOTE]
No one was thinking about tsunami in Thailand, before [URL="https://www.google.co.th/search?q=thai+tsunami+2004"]the big one[/URL] few years ago. Even during that, specialists called the officials to give the warning that "tsunami is coming, be prepared" and few idiots organized a reception committee at the airport, with banners and pom-pom girls, to welcome Mr Tsunami - they imagine is some important person visiting the city (this is not a joke). They had no idea what a tsunami is.

Now** if some guy goes at the seaside and fart, everybody else will run to the top of the nearby hills or mountains.... :smile:

(**or at least few year after the tsunami, because right now they already started to forget; the evacuation routes are still seen, and people are still educated, fortunately the people who was in the area at that time still remember, but the new comers who did not see, still treat it like a joke)

[QUOTE=LaurV;333268]... [a] few idiots organized a reception committee at the airport, with banners and pom-pom girls, to welcome Mr Tsunami - they imagine is some important person visiting the city (this is not a joke).[/QUOTE]

That's funny, and sad, at the same time....

[QUOTE=LaurV;333268][...]but the new comers who did not see, still treat it like a joke)[/QUOTE]
It seems that being in denial of the possibility of a disaster actually occurring is a dominant feature of human nature. If people have never experienced something terrible of the kind, they will not believe it is happening if they do not see it with their own eyes for the moment. I suppose evolutionary survival instinct has not caught up with the rapidly improving warning systems in place now.

You see it on a smaller scale very often. When there was a fire once in the students' union building where I studied and the fire bells all rang, huge numbers of people remained where they were saying "it isn't for real" until told by staff in no uncertain terms to get out.

Another effect you sometimes see is when people [I]do[/I] see or hear direct evidence of an emergency but look around themselves uneasily at everyone else who is present, notice that no-one else is reacting to the problem, and then perform the same inaction themselves because they are unwilling to do something outlandish (like call out "fire, fire" or something) when no-one else is behaving like that.

I expect that some of these features are involved in the mass denial of global warming too.

[QUOTE=chalsall;333234]Sorry... Human languages can be so ambiguous...[/QUOTE]

It wasn't a problem. I took your meaning once I looked at the maps. Besides, I wasn't even sure if Barbados is properly called "Caribbean". Also, the "Great Caribbean Arc" is pretty much east of you, and definitely north.