De opwarmende aarde als kosmische Titanic

The Titanic At 100 Years: We’re Still Ignoring Warnings, This Time It’s Climate Change, Says Director James Cameron
Door Joe Romm, Climate Progress, 13 april 2012

[...] [James Cameron:]

'Part of the Titanic parable is of arrogance, of hubris, of the sense that we’re too big to fail. Well, where have we heard that one before?
There was this big machine, this human system, that was pushing forward with so much momentum that it couldn’t turn, it couldn’t stop in time to avert a disaster. And that’s what we have right now.
Within that human system on board that ship, if you want to make it a microcosm of the world, you have different classes, you’ve got first class, second class, third class. In our world right now you’ve got developed nations, undeveloped nations.
You’ve got the starving millions who are going to be the ones most affected by the next iceberg that we hit, which is going to be climate change. We can see that iceberg ahead of us right now, but we can’t turn.
We can’t turn because of the momentum of the system, the political momentum, the business momentum. There too many people making money out of the system, the way the system works right now and those people frankly have their hands on the levers of power and aren’t ready to let ‘em go.' [...]

If we don’t act soon, the latest science suggests that few will escape the dire consequences, but certainly the poorest will suffer the most and the very rich will be able to insulate themselves, at least for a while (see “The Other 99% of Us Can’t Buy Our Way Out of the Impending Global Ponzi Scheme Collapse“).
[...] The tragedy today is not merely that we are ignoring multiple, highly credible warnings of disaster if we stay on our current course. The tragedy is that the cost of action is so low, one tenth of a penny on the dollar, not counting co-benefits (see “Introduction to climate economics“) — while the cost of inaction is nearly incalculable, hundreds of trillions of dollars.
[...] Finally, there’s one last amazing and relevant piece of the Titanic story that must be mentioned — the disaster was “predicted” 14 years in advance. [...] I was reminded of it reading the New Yorker piece:

[...] Perhaps the most unsettling item in the immense inventory of Titanic trivia is a novel called “Futility,” by an American writer named Morgan Robertson. It begins with a great ocean liner of innovative triple-screw design, “the largest craft afloat and the greatest of the works of men…. Unsinkable—indestructible.” Speeding along in dangerous conditions, the ship first hits something on its starboard side (“A slight jar shook the forward end”); later on, there is a terrifying cry of “Ice ahead,” and the vessel collides with an iceberg and goes down. [...]

Surprisingly, the New Yorker omits the full title of the 1898 book - Futility, or the Wreck of the Titan! Yes, the ship was named the Titan. And it had a shortage of lifeboats, and more than half the 2500 passengers died (compared to more than half of the Titanic’s 2200 passengers dying).
In the case of climate change, it’s not a fictional novel that is predicting what will happen, it is science. Full steam ahead.

Zie ook (later toegevoegd):

Achim Steiner: 'We haven't even begun to understand the damage we are bringing to bear on the sustainability of our planet'
Door Michael McCarty, The Independent, 9 april 2012

Time For Outrage On Behalf of the Planet
Door Bill McKibben, Common Dreams, 7 juni 2012

En ook m'n blognotities:
'Doemrapporten maken mensen murw'
Hansen: aanpak CO2-uitstoot over 10 jaar is te laat
'Nederland staan catastrofale overstromingen te wachten'
Stijging zeespiegel in kaart gebracht: Nederlantis
Zeespiegel van ijsvrije aarde
En de doorlopende klimaatcampagne 350.org, met de volgende mondiale actiedag op 5 mei 2012.

Tags: titanic, 100 jaar, honderd jaar geleden, eeuw, herdenking, herdacht, ramp, ondergang, klimaatverandering, hoogmoed