We only have seven years left

September 10, 2008 by 20 Comments

Carlos Pascual and Strobe Talbott of the Brookings Institute declare in the Washington Post that the End is near, that we only have 7 more years to stop global warming and world devastation. From 7 Years to Climate Midnight;

The world may have only seven years to start reducing the annual buildup in greenhouse gas emissions that otherwise threatens global catastrophe within several decades. That means that between Inauguration Day in January 2009 and 2015, either John McCain or Barack Obama will face the most momentous political challenge of all time.

Reflecting a consensus of hundreds of scientists around the world, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has affirmed that greenhouse gas emissions are raising the Earth’s temperature. The Earth is on a trajectory to warm more than 4.5 degrees Fahrenheit by around mid-century. Exceeding that threshold could trigger a series of phenomena: Arable land will turn into desert, higher sea levels will flood coastal areas, and changes in the convection of the oceans will alter currents, such as the Gulf Stream, that determine regional weather patterns. Manhattan and Florida would be under water, while Nevada would have no water at all.

A suggestion: Don’t set dates. When you do and the date passes with the prediction not happening–as Christian end-of-time millennialists have learned–you look really foolish.

But I don’t think the world is going to do very much about this problem in 7 years. Maybe the world should, but it won’t. So perhaps we should all make plans to face our doom. Move out of Manhattan, Florida, and Nevada. Stockpiling supplies will only buy you a short time. Accept death with dignity. Above all, make peace with your Maker.

Filed Under: Science 20 Comments
About Gene Veith

Professor of Literature at Patrick Henry College, the Director of the Cranach Institute at Concordia Theological Seminary, a columnist for World Magazine and TableTalk, and the author of 18 books on different facets of Christianity & Culture.

  • Susan aka organshoes

    Was it 15 years ago when the brilliant environmental scientist Ted Danson warned us about the 10 years of life left in our oceans?
    How time flies.

  • Susan aka organshoes

    Was it 15 years ago when the brilliant environmental scientist Ted Danson warned us about the 10 years of life left in our oceans?
    How time flies.

  • http://www.utah-lutheran.blogspot.com Bror Erickson

    I would expect that with higher temperatures, evaporation would increase as would rainfall. So some areas might become deserts but wouldn’t some deserts become rain forests? Maybe it is the news and shoddy reporting I don’t see how these things follow from eachother. Manhattan and Florida going under I can see. Nevada having no water? It doesn’t have water now! I would like to see the papers that lay it all out. It doesn’t make sense the way the news reports it.

  • http://www.utah-lutheran.blogspot.com Bror Erickson

    I would expect that with higher temperatures, evaporation would increase as would rainfall. So some areas might become deserts but wouldn’t some deserts become rain forests? Maybe it is the news and shoddy reporting I don’t see how these things follow from eachother. Manhattan and Florida going under I can see. Nevada having no water? It doesn’t have water now! I would like to see the papers that lay it all out. It doesn’t make sense the way the news reports it.

  • http://www.bikebubba.blogspot.com Bike Bubba

    So the addition of a couple of parts per million of carbon dioxide is going to set off a chain reaction that will make our planet unliveable? Not even the most radical predictions of the IPCC serve to make this claim.

    We won’t have to wait seven years for these guys to look like idiots in the minds of thinking people. They look like idiots today, as judged by the very sources they’re using.

  • http://www.bikebubba.blogspot.com Bike Bubba

    So the addition of a couple of parts per million of carbon dioxide is going to set off a chain reaction that will make our planet unliveable? Not even the most radical predictions of the IPCC serve to make this claim.

    We won’t have to wait seven years for these guys to look like idiots in the minds of thinking people. They look like idiots today, as judged by the very sources they’re using.

  • Don S

    Obviously, the Washington Post still has far too much space available on their editorial pages, despite recent newspaper downsizing efforts. I suggest that the paper set an example by sacrificing its editorial section entirely to help stave off this coming environmental disaster.

  • Don S

    Obviously, the Washington Post still has far too much space available on their editorial pages, despite recent newspaper downsizing efforts. I suggest that the paper set an example by sacrificing its editorial section entirely to help stave off this coming environmental disaster.

  • Anon The First

    Huh. I’m going to go with the solar physicists, oceanographers and the Old Farmer’s Almanac on this one; we are heading into a cooling, possibly a severe one, if the very strange lack of sunspots continues throwing us into another Dalton or even Maunder Minimum. Absent that, the phase of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation we are entering into would ensure a good 22 years of cooler weather.

  • Anon The First

    Huh. I’m going to go with the solar physicists, oceanographers and the Old Farmer’s Almanac on this one; we are heading into a cooling, possibly a severe one, if the very strange lack of sunspots continues throwing us into another Dalton or even Maunder Minimum. Absent that, the phase of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation we are entering into would ensure a good 22 years of cooler weather.

  • Anon The First

    Anyway, we all know from Nostradamus and the Mayan Calendar that the world will end in 2012, and that any minute now, “the King of Terror” will arise to rule kingdoms on Earth.
    ;-) ;-) ;-)

  • Anon The First

    Anyway, we all know from Nostradamus and the Mayan Calendar that the world will end in 2012, and that any minute now, “the King of Terror” will arise to rule kingdoms on Earth.
    ;-) ;-) ;-)

  • The Jones

    I live in Louisiana.

    The world has always been as hot as Hades.

    Personally, I think the widespread availability and intensity of air conditioning in today’s society has created the feeling that the outside is MUCH hotter than it has ever been or ever should be. People just aren’t used to hot weather any more and they just wilt when they get a little.

    If you don’t acclimate, you will capitulate.

  • The Jones

    I live in Louisiana.

    The world has always been as hot as Hades.

    Personally, I think the widespread availability and intensity of air conditioning in today’s society has created the feeling that the outside is MUCH hotter than it has ever been or ever should be. People just aren’t used to hot weather any more and they just wilt when they get a little.

    If you don’t acclimate, you will capitulate.

  • CH

    Weren’t some scientists just saying that we could now be looking at a period of global cooling? This based on sun-spot activity (or the lack thereof).

    If this turns out to be the case I’m going to have one of those sore stomach, milk coming out of your nose belly laughs.

  • CH

    Weren’t some scientists just saying that we could now be looking at a period of global cooling? This based on sun-spot activity (or the lack thereof).

    If this turns out to be the case I’m going to have one of those sore stomach, milk coming out of your nose belly laughs.

  • Joe

    Well if this is true we may as well smash those particles together; I mean why not roll the dice?

  • Joe

    Well if this is true we may as well smash those particles together; I mean why not roll the dice?

  • Anon The First

    CH, that is why the alarmists have switched to the term ‘climate change’ – much as Crichton predicted in his novel _State of Fear_.

    That way, any record-breaking day – and usually every week has one, it seems, is ‘proof’.

  • Anon The First

    CH, that is why the alarmists have switched to the term ‘climate change’ – much as Crichton predicted in his novel _State of Fear_.

    That way, any record-breaking day – and usually every week has one, it seems, is ‘proof’.


CLOSE | X

HIDE | X