In the case of Petra, the climate changed and the water dried up. No water, no city.
The Pueblo dwellings were once in an agricultural area, but again, dried up.
Machu Picchu seems to be a cultural issue. India has a lot of abandoned cities as civilizations fell, although humans tend to just build a new city on top of the ruins, so that layers of civilizations blend just under the surface. Mexico City has modern apartments on ancient ruins.
The Vikings abandoned the Greenland Colony in about 1350. Little ice age and Climate related. The Vinland Colony was abandoned before that, also climate related, but also antagonistic natives. The Little Ice Age also made travel harder since the storms get worse when it gets cold. ( the opposite of modern climate con propaganda )
There are other examples, most due to deserts spreading ( sometimes because of Humans ) or water sources drying up.
The dominant reason for civilizations to fall is either the cyclic nature of Empires, get rich get big get fat & lazy.... barbarians come. ( Rome, The British Empire, Detroit ) Or you get Conquered by some one else. ( see Troy, Carthage, Eastern Europe, Africa
Sam Kinison agreed with you on the World Hunger bit.
I often ask people why "this temperature, today" is supposed to be perfect.
I think it should be warmer, except for a few weeks in August. Then I sweat, a lot, like most of the folk on the planet when it's hot. Because it's summer.
I was under the impression that this thread was not generally about climate change but more specifically about the planet getting warmer due to human overpopulation filling the atmosphere with spent fuel. If that is the case I have to admit that I'm pessimistic about human resources correcting the issue and would agree that natural forces are more adept at taking care of the problem. Cancer is a direct effect of poor air and as the atmosphere becomes more and more toxic, the disease will spread. Whether it will cause extinction of all life as we know it is debatable but surely it will eventually overwhelm the cultural and religious influences on birth control.
This thread is general science cool stuff plus the lies about spent fuel changing the climate PLUS the real pollution issues being ignored because of the huge amounts of monet being diverted from Real issues to the Climate Con.
Game of Thrones references optional.
Pollution is real. It is Far worse in places ruled by Marxist cults....like China. Much better but not perfect in free nations.
Bet ya 2014 will be declared the Warmest Year On Record. Probably the first day of Spring.
You know, it just hit me...the winters in thrones must be ice ages, and the summers are the interglacial periods. They happen much more quickly on that world is all. And the normal seasonal cycles are either not present, due to a circular orbit and a vertical spin axis in relationship to the orbital plane, or are so mild that what we would consider winter and summer hardly register. It isn't really explained in the books, so I'm free to come to my own conclusion.
So, as is often the case with Climate Change (on both sides of the debate sometimes) I reject your reality and substitute it with my own!
"Pollution is real. It is Far worse in places ruled by Marxist cults....like China. Much better but not perfect in free nations."
So if China were a "free society" (can you imagine that multitude running around with second amendment rights?) and their economy was based on capitalism (which it is), air pollution would be less? In other words, population is not the main factor. I think you're off base.
"can you imagine that multitude running around with second amendment rights?"
Statistically, there would be fewer violent crimes.
"and their economy was based on capitalism"
False. There is no free market in China.
"air pollution would be less?"
A simple comparison of the environmental damage done by said countries would appear to confirm that yes, that would be the case.
"In other words, population is not the main factor"
Let me guess, you're one of those people who believe there shouldn't be this many people on the planet. Whom do you reckon we ought to kill off? Can we start with you? That isn't a threat, that's to make you rethink your position on population reduction, which, I have to say, is right in line with modern leftist thinking. Population reduction is what you were alluding to, wasn't it? Why do you get to use energy to lead a first world lifestyle and they don't? Keep 'em energy poor, and they'll die off, eh? Energy enables population growth. GM food has kept BILLIONS from starvation. Guess who doens't like GM crops? Care to guess why? Hint: Their official reason is a lie.
"Really, then how do you explain the violence in Chicago and DC, two of the cities with the MOST restrictive gun laws?"
Restrictive gun laws in the cities mean little as long as gun laws are unrestrictive elsewhere. Last time I checked they weren't searching your car at the city limits.
FF its called prescreened victims the regular folks are disarmed! We had that problem with tourists getting car jacked Rentals used to have special plates. When asked why they rob tourists ( dey coming from da plane and got no gun! )
I do agree with you about over population Time to round up the libtards Pick your favorite purjoritive Its to the point they are too many and dangerous to let run the streets in packs and annoy every one on the web!
Yes, in the sense that China's leaders have embraced the wealth of business. Yes, and in some ways more "free" than the US. Because it's a corrupt authoritarian state.
People often chant the mantra that "uncontrolled" capitalism would sell human meat in the marketplace. In China that's true. ( that statement is falsely used to describe any change in regulation. China's the real deal )
No China is not Western free market Capitalism, because the regulation is at the Whim of the Party and the local party bosses, in an authoritarian regime that runs on bribes and corruption.
To be fair, as it did under Mao, the Emperors, and the warlords for the last 5000 years. The tyrants don't wear gold thread in public anymore, that's all.
Compared to what?
US. the Rich good guys. and, btw, pretty lame comeback.
Climate change is real. And, yes, we are, in part, to blame.
There is a 97% consensus among scientific experts that humans are causing global warming. Ninety-seven percent!
Yet some very vocal Americans continue to debate what is surely fact.
The very first line of the opinion piece is a lie. Of course there is debate.
97% consensus of humans causing global warming? That's going to depend greatly on exactly how the question is phrased. If it's that humans cause warming below the threshold of measurement, you are likely to get that 97% agreement. If you are asking if we cause the catastrophic global warming like ManBearPig talks of, then no you don't get that sort of consensus. Not by a long shot. Is this part a lie? Maybe. It's certainly not an honest representation of that statistic. There is a huge range of effect by humans to be debated. 97% do not agree on this point.
This piece was written by Carol Costello. Her credentials are a news room anchor. Very impressive.
The WSJ piece was written by Richard McNider and John Christy. I'm not familiar with McNider, but Christy is a long time climate scientist with NOAA, and a contributor to multiple IPCC reports on climate change. Yeah, be careful of the source of your information.
I'll ask you again Fred, since you seem to be dodging the question: Since we know there have been times when the earth is warmer than it currently is as well as colder, perhaps you'd like to explain to me why the current temperature (or any temp for that matter) is the correct one or best one?
"Yeah, be careful of the source of your information."
Heed your own warning. This guy Christy signed a statement in 2003 by the American Geophysical Union stating that the earth is warming at a faster rate than first believed. Apparently he's a flip-flopper and will justify whatever his backers desire.