How will changing climate effect your lifestyle?

A few things about the migration to the east...

1. It is too cold for them here to overwinter.
2. Jack pine is not an economically important species at all. It is generally a slow growing, scrubby tree.
3. The forests in the orange areas of the map are of mixed wood species
4. The supposed 1.5 degree warming, would make a cold week in these areas -38.5 C, instead of -40C.
5. If people think we can do anything about it, how about some suggestions. I have heard the fear: Now what?

It is just not as big an issue for the areas to the east for those reasons, and many more.

I really do not mean to argue, it is just a grossly overblown thing. Just like the flooding in Saskatchewan, there are holes in the suppositions, missing facts that need to be pointed out.

But there is the problem. Jack pine may not be economically important but it is environmentally important - as is Black Spruce.

One solution is to immediately prevent any more wetlands or swamps from being filled in for agriculture, industry or development.

And again - the increase in temperature that is worrisome and that is causing and will cause the change in weather patterns is the warming of the oceans.

I hope you're right but these are some things to consider.

1 - too cold to overwinter = mass exodus flights in late summers to warmer locations as evidenced by what's been happening since the 2009 exodus was first observed.

2 & 3 - Uneconomic jack pine and mixed wood species = the fungus carried in the heads of pine beetles doesn't care about economics or the specifics of wood. It's not as discriminating a tree killer as pine beetles are and temperatures are not as important a deterrent. The fungus blocks the nutrient conducting columns of trees draining the trees of their nutrients and causing the trees to starve to death. With or without a pine beetle.

4 - your colder area might not be more resistant to the fungus than any other location, that remains to be seen I guess. Hopefully your colder area will be resistant and won't be effected - that is provided your temperatures continue to stay so cold. Good luck with that, I hope you stay cold, truely I do. And no offense intended, I'm not being sarcastic or snarky here but I doubt that people with other concerns in other effected areas will care much about what's happening in northern Saskatchewan when their own locations might be getting devestated by different climate change problems.

5 - suggestions? That's partly what the purpose of this topic was. A discussion about what people are personally doing to mitigate impacts on themselves in their own individual locations - suggestions for solutions to a variety of climate change impacts effecting other people in many different locations might be helpful for everyone who is actually concerned.

Insects have a way of changing the game. And if they can survive at high elevations in the northern Rockies they will not be afraid of a Saskatchewan winter.

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison say the pine beetle is now attacking whitebark pine forests in the northern Rockies in the western U.S. and B.C.

“These whitebark stands are very fragile, high elevation ecosystems. Very slow growing tree,” said Ken Raffa, who led the study.

The trees don't have much economic value, but are considered ecologically valuable.
Staffan Lindgren, an entomologist at the University of Northern B.C., said he’s concerned about the impact the insect’s destructive migration could have on grizzly bears, who rely on the whitebark pine.
The whitebark pine is a slow-growing tree found at high elevations. (U.S. Forest Service)

“Their seeds are the main over-wintering source of energy for grizzly bears. They're important in terms of hydrology. They're important in terms of serving as nurse trees for other trees coming up behind. They play an important role in containing the snow pack,” Lindgren told CBC News.

While researchers say it’s difficult to predict if there will be another epidemic, a warming climate means the hardy beetle will likely find more new trees to eat.

And that will stop "global warming/ climate change" forever? How much C02 would that be?

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"If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun" - President Obama June 14, 2008

What was there when the earth was warmer a billion(whatever the number really is) years a go?

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"If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun" - President Obama June 14, 2008

Don't recall, but I do recall there were no humans

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Vicker
If you're born to hang, you'll never drown.

Re: those boreal forests that grew up after the glaciers receded - do you know what else is there besides those boreal forests? In Canada it's called muskeg, maybe you're more familiar with it by the name peat bog. Are you perhaps thinking that large tracts of Canadian muskeg lands and thawed out permafrost (mud) could become productive? There's a reason why those parts of Canada have no roads and are agriculturally non-productive and uninhabitable for humans.

Muskeg. The boreal trees are growing on spongy, soggy rafts of mud, peat and grass floating on top of deep water. They are treacherous. Roads and equipment just sink out of sight in it during thaw times. Sometimes even larger animals like moose or bears will break through a raft they're walking across and get trapped and drown under the raft. The only time muskeg can be safely traversed is when it's frozen solid during the winters. Perhaps you've heard of Canada's winter "ice roads" over the muskeg, there was a TV series about it.

The red zone is the muskeg upon which the boreal forest is growing.

Nothing will stop it now. But why help it to develop faster?

No people.

So, there were no people, yet the earth was warmer back then. We(humans) must not have anything to do with any kinda of warming then.

Good to know! Thanks!!

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"If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun" - President Obama June 14, 2008

These things they are a changing...and not for the better. Look and see.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20130502/DA61C3EG0.html

This simply is not true.

I have lived in Missouri, and I have family that has lived in Missouri for over a century, and this much snow happens a few times a decade, and has for . . . well, I asked my grandfather, and he said for as long as he's been alive.

I do, personally, remember one warm Tuesday September where the humidity was so high that we had to close up the house and turn on the AC. it was 70 F at 8:00 the next day, and then the temp started dropping and it started raining.

Rain turned into freezing rain, then sleet, and by 5:00 pm, it was snowing so bad that they canceled youth group at church, and by 7:00, they had already canceled school the next day (Thursday).

By the time it stopped snowing, there was 15" on the ground (not drifts, which aren't an accurate measure of how much snow fell,) and we didn't get dug out until the Tuesday after.

This happened in Springfield in the '90's, and it also happened more than once in the 00's, and it happened in the 80's . . .

So "never had this before" is not at all accurate.

I can't quite follow the logic of this conversation. it seems to be leaning towards "Kill every man, woman and child on the planet, so the earth can survive" and somehow, I think that attitude misses something important. if I figure it out, I'll let you know, and i hope you'll do the same for me........Joe

It may appear to you that the logic of the conversation is about killing everyone so the earth can survive (I don't see it that way but I won't debate that somehow you see it that way) - but the purpose of the topic as stated in the original post was to request responses to these questions, as follows.

- Are you re-evaluating how climate changes and extreme weather shifts will effect you and your family's future lifestyles and livelihoods in the location where you live?

- Are you doing anything different this year in your location to prepare for extreme changes of weather and temperatures?

- Are you planting the same things as usual or are you changing over to different types of food plants?

- Are you raising the same livestock or are you changing over to different livestock?

- Do you anticipate that you might have to move to a different location in the future if the climate in your location gets worse?

Some people have answered those questions and explained what they're doing - some people have deviated away from the purpose of the topic with different responses, but basically answers to those questions were what the topic was supposed to be about.

Do you ever consider living a sustainable lifestyle?

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Vicker
If you're born to hang, you'll never drown.

We already have. Our cars get far better gas mileage than they did 30 years ago and all our major manufacturing plants have been moved to China.

So now what do we do?

BTW, the rest of us might take AGW folks a little more serious when AGWers stop being NIMBY when it comes to the question of where to put those wind farms.

Warmer is more mild... Don't think so? When is storm season? Spring and fall or mid-summer? Fact is warmer is better in about every way imaginable. We even get less hurricanes with warmer temps.

The cold is what I worry about. If the average temperature dropped 2C life on most of the land mass of the world would be very difficult. Google up little ice age.

Lowering CO2... What Laughable non-sense. Man contributes a tiny portion to a minor gas in a vast atmosphere. God forbid we do lower co2. At it's current amount we are barely into the safe zone. At 250PPM photosynthesis stops. Do you want that? The earth was precariously close to this limit just 200 short years ago. Imagine if it had happened.


1C on average means no change. It would take 5C to equal a growing zone. Only the most extreme predictions are this high.

In 100 years my location has a 20% probability of being in an iceage. That goes up 7-8% per 100 years. To a total of about 75% 1000 to near 100% in 5000 years from now. When we exactly are to slide into the deep dark abyss of ice age for 90,000 years +/- 10,000 is open to contention. Not that we will. The planet has a "fever" as Gore likes to say. But the actual prevailing conditions are cold.


P.S. global warming is rapidly becoming "ocean warming"... Agro will fix that in 20 years like the satellites fixed surface warming. For others that don't know. current ocean "warming" is in the range of .0002 degrees C. read on thermometers calibrated to .5C or 1 F. Yes they are serious.

China is looking at ways to reduce their carbon output because their government doesn't allow the oil companies to create false controversies about how we are changing the climate. Their scientists are telling their government about the need to make changes to energy production and use and their government is acting. That's in contrast to the US congress members who cling to the idea of a flat earth.

We still waste a huge amount of energy in this country. We need a carbon tax to let the free market forces work on this problem. Then we can reduce payroll taxes by an equal amount so that it is tax neutral and more of the economy is put in the pockets of working Americans.

Personally I will be building a home that is extremely energy efficient and has a secure water source.

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"Do you believe in the devil? You know, a supreme evil being dedicated to the temptation, corruption, and destruction of man?" Hobbs
"I'm not sure that man needs the help." Calvin

Maybe they should fix the issues you note above by not selling the west... America in particular solar panels.

They cost more co2 than they "save".


Why not go zero emission with your home? Also, please do not use plastics(oil), metal or concrete (co2 intensive), or old growth wood for it. Don't have a drive way, quarries, tar, ect.. All terrible co2 hogs. Who needs a car anyway? Buses and trains are much more carbon neutral. Really just make it out of recycled materials. It would be best. Don't big up virgin ground. Building it on an old city lot would be best. Maybe you shouldn't build new at all. There are all those old houses in the city... Just fix one of them up! It would be more green. Maybe you can fix one up and rent out a portion. People should be in high density housing to save the environment. You really only need a place for your bed and clothes. The rest should be community space. It's better to have fewer appliances after all. You don't have a lot of clothes do you? They are made with pesticides and co2 spewing modern agriculture? Gosh I hope not. You could just share your bed on 8 hour shifts, like navy life... It's very efficient. This way it will be warm when you get in it and you won't be taking up so much of earths resources.

Sounds great doesn't it?

Climate happens over a span of many, maybe hundreds of years. I have about twenty to go, so I think I can "weather the storms" so to speak, if that's what the experts say is happening in the present: more sudden extremes, unpredictable weather changes from the usual. My winters here "seem" to be a bit milder, and my summers are hotter and dryer--at least that's my opinion. So, I am doing things to deliver water more efficiently to my garden, while conserving my well in doing so. And the county got rid of the two one hundred foot pine trees that were leaning toward the house, so I'm covered in any violent windstorms(hopefully it will hail so I can get a new roof....... )

As for my children, I will be leaving this place paid in full for them to enjoy and raise their own food, if necessary........ That's what I'm doing about my own local climate change.

geo