Ants preventing global warming!!

[skookerasbil]

Yep......ahhhhhh ( takes toke of ciggy in classic Denis Leary fashion )

Can ants save Earth from global warming? - The Times of India


More fodder.........we don't know shit about shit regarding the climate and its dynamics. You have to have a plate in your head to think "the science is settled".......or, your a fraud bozo!!!

 

[Mr. H.]

Yoar a froad!

 

[flacaltenn]

This Global Warming circus can elevate ANY boring science study to the front page IF it involves
anything about CO2 and chemistry. IMMEDIATELY -- a nifty but useless factoid becomes a prescription for saving the planet.. Can it get any more dramatic????? Ants do more to save the earth by KILLING TERMITES than by "weathering sand"... TERMITES are the 2nd worse "carbon polluting" species on the planet..

What you gotta do get science funding these days. I'd rather wear an "I'm a Whore for Grants" sign in Crystal City..

 

[Katzndogz]

The ants ate my global warming

Maybe the deluded are trying to find a way out of their hoax

 

[skookerasbil]

I thought this story is funny as shit......


Just goes to show the level of cluelessness in the scientific community.


Makey-uppey science is gay.

 

[clarinemcCully]

I don't think ants can help in controlling the global warming. But if this is correct, then can anyone elaborate on how the ants contribute to controlling global warming?

 

[waltky]

Much of South Asia Could Be Too Hot to Live in by 2100...

Study: Just going outdoors could become deadly in South Asia
Aug 2,`17 -- Venturing outdoors may become deadly across wide swaths of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh by the end of the century as climate change drives heat and humidity to new extremes, according to a new study.

These conditions could affect up to a third of the people living throughout the Indo-Gangetic Plain unless the global community ramps up efforts to rein in climate-warming carbon emissions. Today, that vast region is home to some 1.5 billion people. "The most intense hazard from extreme future heat waves is concentrated around the densely populated agricultural regions of the Ganges and Indus river basins," wrote the authors of the study, led by former MIT research scientist Eun-Soon Im, now an assistant professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. While most climate studies have been based on temperature projections alone, this one - published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances - also considers humidity as well as the body's ability to cool down in response.

Those three factors together make up what is called a "wet-bulb temperature," which is the air temperature taken when a wet cloth is wrapped around the thermometer. It is always lower than the dry-bulb temperature - how much so depends on the humidity. It can help estimate how easy it is for water to evaporate. It can also offer a gauge for where climate change might become dangerous. Scientists say humans can survive a wet-bulb temperature of up to about 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit), beyond which the human body has difficulty sweating to cool down, or sweat doesn't evaporate, leading to heat stroke and ultimately death within just a few hours - even in shaded, ventilated conditions.

Indian women walk home after collecting drinking water from a well at Mengal Pada in Thane district in Maharashtra state, India. A new study suggests wide swaths of northern India, southern Pakistan and parts of Bangladesh may become so hot and humid by the end of the century it will be deadly just being outdoors. Such conditions would threaten up to a third of the 1.5 billion people living in those regions, unless the global community can rein in climate-warming carbon emissions.​

So far, wet bulb temperatures have rarely exceeded 31 C (88-90 degrees F), a level that is already considered extremely hazardous. "It is hard to imagine conditions that are too hot for people to survive for a more than a few minutes, but that is exactly what is being discussed in this paper," said Stanford University climate scientist Chris Field, who was not involved in the study. "And of course, the danger threshold for punishing heat and humidity is lower for people who are ill or elderly." Most of those at risk in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh are poor farmworkers or outdoor construction laborers. They are unlikely to have air conditioners - up to 25 percent in of India's population still has no access to electricity. In some areas that have been deforested for industry or agriculture, they may not even have very much shade. "What we see in this study is a convergence of intense weather projections and acute vulnerability," co-author and MIT environmental engineering professor Elfatih A.B. Eltahir said.

For the study, the researchers carried out computer simulations using global atmospheric circulation models under two scenarios - one in which the world comes close to meeting its goal of curbing emissions to limit Earth's average temperature rise to 2 degrees C (3.6 degrees F) above pre-industrial levels, and one if it continues emitting at current levels. Both scenarios play out dangerously for South Asia. But with no limit on global warming, about 30 percent of the region could see dangerous wet bulb temperatures above 31 degrees C (88 degrees F) on a regular basis within just a few decades. That's nearly half a billion people by today's population levels, though the full scale could change as the population grows. Meanwhile, 4 percent of the population - or 60 million in today's population - would face deadly highs at or above 35 degrees C (95 degrees F) by 2100. But if the world can limit global warming, that risk exposure declines drastically. About 2 percent of the population would face average wet bulb temperatures of 31 degrees C (88 degrees F) or higher. "This is an avoidable, preventable problem," Eltahir said. "There is a significant difference between these two scenarios, which people need to understand."

MORE

See also:

Scientists: Much of South Asia Could Be Too Hot to Live in by 2100
August 02, 2017 — Climate change could make much of South Asia, home to a fifth of the world's population, too hot for human survival by the end of this century, scientists warned Wednesday.

If climate change continues at its current pace, deadly heat waves beginning in the next few decades will strike parts of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, according to a study based on computer simulations by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Key agricultural areas in the Indus and Ganges river basins will be hit particularly hard, reducing crop yields and increasing hunger in some of the world's most densely populated regions, researchers said. "Climate change is not an abstract concept. It is impacting huge numbers of vulnerable people," MIT professor Elfatih Eltahir told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "Business as usual runs the risk of having extremely lethal heat waves."

A Shiite Muslim man receives a spray of cold water to avoid heat during the Shiite Youm Ali procession in Karachi, Pakistan​

The areas likely to be worst affected in northern India, southern Pakistan and Bangladesh are home to 1.5 billion people, said Eltahir, the study's co-author. Currently, about 2 percent of India's population is sometimes exposed to extreme combinations of heat and humidity; by 2100 that will increase to about 70 percent if nothing is done to mitigate climate change, the study said. Heat waves across South Asia in the summer of 2015 killed an estimated 3,500 people, and similar events will become more frequent and intense, researchers said.

Persian Gulf

Projections show the Persian Gulf region will be the world's hottest region by 2100 as a result of climate change. But with small, wealthy populations and minimal domestic food production requirements, oil-rich states in the Gulf will be better able to respond to rising heat than countries in South Asia, Eltahir said. The study does not directly address migration, but researchers said it is likely that millions of people in South Asia will be forced to move because of blistering temperatures and crop failures unless steps are taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Disaster experts from South Asian countries met in Pakistan last month to launch a toolkit to help city governments develop ways to manage the impact of heat waves in urban areas. Ahmedabad, in western India, has already introduced a heat action plan — South Asia's first early-warning system against extreme heat waves. Authorities in the city of 5.5 million have mapped areas with vulnerable populations and set up "cooling spaces" in temples, public buildings and malls during the summer.

Scientists: Much of South Asia Could Be Too Hot to Live in by 2100

 

[IanC]

This Global Warming circus can elevate ANY boring science study to the front page IF it involves
anything about CO2 and chemistry. IMMEDIATELY -- a nifty but useless factoid becomes a prescription for saving the planet.. Can it get any more dramatic????? Ants do more to save the earth by KILLING TERMITES than by "weathering sand"... TERMITES are the 2nd worse "carbon polluting" species on the planet..

What you gotta do get science funding these days. I'd rather wear an "I'm a Whore for Grants" sign in Crystal City..

That's exactly what I thought when I saw the title of the thread!

For a moment after I saw your comment, I was thinking 'great minds think alike' but then I realized that we have just seen scenarios like this play out over and over again. What other reasonable conclusion is possible?

 

[flacaltenn]

Much of South Asia Could Be Too Hot to Live in by 2100...

Study: Just going outdoors could become deadly in South Asia
Aug 2,`17 -- Venturing outdoors may become deadly across wide swaths of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh by the end of the century as climate change drives heat and humidity to new extremes, according to a new study.

These conditions could affect up to a third of the people living throughout the Indo-Gangetic Plain unless the global community ramps up efforts to rein in climate-warming carbon emissions. Today, that vast region is home to some 1.5 billion people. "The most intense hazard from extreme future heat waves is concentrated around the densely populated agricultural regions of the Ganges and Indus river basins," wrote the authors of the study, led by former MIT research scientist Eun-Soon Im, now an assistant professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. While most climate studies have been based on temperature projections alone, this one - published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances - also considers humidity as well as the body's ability to cool down in response.

Those three factors together make up what is called a "wet-bulb temperature," which is the air temperature taken when a wet cloth is wrapped around the thermometer. It is always lower than the dry-bulb temperature - how much so depends on the humidity. It can help estimate how easy it is for water to evaporate. It can also offer a gauge for where climate change might become dangerous. Scientists say humans can survive a wet-bulb temperature of up to about 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit), beyond which the human body has difficulty sweating to cool down, or sweat doesn't evaporate, leading to heat stroke and ultimately death within just a few hours - even in shaded, ventilated conditions.

Indian women walk home after collecting drinking water from a well at Mengal Pada in Thane district in Maharashtra state, India. A new study suggests wide swaths of northern India, southern Pakistan and parts of Bangladesh may become so hot and humid by the end of the century it will be deadly just being outdoors. Such conditions would threaten up to a third of the 1.5 billion people living in those regions, unless the global community can rein in climate-warming carbon emissions.​

So far, wet bulb temperatures have rarely exceeded 31 C (88-90 degrees F), a level that is already considered extremely hazardous. "It is hard to imagine conditions that are too hot for people to survive for a more than a few minutes, but that is exactly what is being discussed in this paper," said Stanford University climate scientist Chris Field, who was not involved in the study. "And of course, the danger threshold for punishing heat and humidity is lower for people who are ill or elderly." Most of those at risk in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh are poor farmworkers or outdoor construction laborers. They are unlikely to have air conditioners - up to 25 percent in of India's population still has no access to electricity. In some areas that have been deforested for industry or agriculture, they may not even have very much shade. "What we see in this study is a convergence of intense weather projections and acute vulnerability," co-author and MIT environmental engineering professor Elfatih A.B. Eltahir said.

For the study, the researchers carried out computer simulations using global atmospheric circulation models under two scenarios - one in which the world comes close to meeting its goal of curbing emissions to limit Earth's average temperature rise to 2 degrees C (3.6 degrees F) above pre-industrial levels, and one if it continues emitting at current levels. Both scenarios play out dangerously for South Asia. But with no limit on global warming, about 30 percent of the region could see dangerous wet bulb temperatures above 31 degrees C (88 degrees F) on a regular basis within just a few decades. That's nearly half a billion people by today's population levels, though the full scale could change as the population grows. Meanwhile, 4 percent of the population - or 60 million in today's population - would face deadly highs at or above 35 degrees C (95 degrees F) by 2100. But if the world can limit global warming, that risk exposure declines drastically. About 2 percent of the population would face average wet bulb temperatures of 31 degrees C (88 degrees F) or higher. "This is an avoidable, preventable problem," Eltahir said. "There is a significant difference between these two scenarios, which people need to understand."

MORE

See also:

Scientists: Much of South Asia Could Be Too Hot to Live in by 2100
August 02, 2017 — Climate change could make much of South Asia, home to a fifth of the world's population, too hot for human survival by the end of this century, scientists warned Wednesday.

If climate change continues at its current pace, deadly heat waves beginning in the next few decades will strike parts of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, according to a study based on computer simulations by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Key agricultural areas in the Indus and Ganges river basins will be hit particularly hard, reducing crop yields and increasing hunger in some of the world's most densely populated regions, researchers said. "Climate change is not an abstract concept. It is impacting huge numbers of vulnerable people," MIT professor Elfatih Eltahir told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "Business as usual runs the risk of having extremely lethal heat waves."

A Shiite Muslim man receives a spray of cold water to avoid heat during the Shiite Youm Ali procession in Karachi, Pakistan​

The areas likely to be worst affected in northern India, southern Pakistan and Bangladesh are home to 1.5 billion people, said Eltahir, the study's co-author. Currently, about 2 percent of India's population is sometimes exposed to extreme combinations of heat and humidity; by 2100 that will increase to about 70 percent if nothing is done to mitigate climate change, the study said. Heat waves across South Asia in the summer of 2015 killed an estimated 3,500 people, and similar events will become more frequent and intense, researchers said.

Persian Gulf

Projections show the Persian Gulf region will be the world's hottest region by 2100 as a result of climate change. But with small, wealthy populations and minimal domestic food production requirements, oil-rich states in the Gulf will be better able to respond to rising heat than countries in South Asia, Eltahir said. The study does not directly address migration, but researchers said it is likely that millions of people in South Asia will be forced to move because of blistering temperatures and crop failures unless steps are taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Disaster experts from South Asian countries met in Pakistan last month to launch a toolkit to help city governments develop ways to manage the impact of heat waves in urban areas. Ahmedabad, in western India, has already introduced a heat action plan — South Asia's first early-warning system against extreme heat waves. Authorities in the city of 5.5 million have mapped areas with vulnerable populations and set up "cooling spaces" in temples, public buildings and malls during the summer.

Scientists: Much of South Asia Could Be Too Hot to Live in by 2100

Same old projections based ONLY on a couple degree shift in mean temperature.. This IGNORES the trajectory of human development totally. The Mid East is a great example. With DEVELOPMENT and economic expansion (which has already started in East Asia, they will ICE SKATING AND SKIING in indoor environments by 2100.. Just like they do NOW in the UAE,, Dubai, and other "unlivable" places...

LOTS of stuff gonna happen by 2100..

 

[flacaltenn]

This Global Warming circus can elevate ANY boring science study to the front page IF it involves
anything about CO2 and chemistry. IMMEDIATELY -- a nifty but useless factoid becomes a prescription for saving the planet.. Can it get any more dramatic????? Ants do more to save the earth by KILLING TERMITES than by "weathering sand"... TERMITES are the 2nd worse "carbon polluting" species on the planet..

What you gotta do get science funding these days. I'd rather wear an "I'm a Whore for Grants" sign in Crystal City..

That's exactly what I thought when I saw the title of the thread!

For a moment after I saw your comment, I was thinking 'great minds think alike' but then I realized that we have just seen scenarios like this play out over and over again. What other reasonable conclusion is possible?

Part of this is that the relative new field of "climate science" has too much exposure to the press -- and not nearly enough exposure to the REST of science and common sense..