Tentacle sex Poll

I've just realised that the phrase 'tentacle sex' means very different things to different people, and as there's a Redemption programme item about it...

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Global warming

It's seriously depressing when a pessimist like me turns out to have been too optimistic...

Here's what a warmer world means in practical terms.
http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article2211566.ece

Note that this is the range of temperature rises that we may see this century.

Here's the cruncy bits:

Main points of the IPCC report

* "Best guesses" are that the global temperature will rise by 1.8C to 4C over the next century,depending on the level of the world's population and industrial activity. These are global averages and the local figures would be higher in high latitudes, such as Britain.

* Worst-case scenario is that with high fossil fuel use and strong economic growth, rise could be 6.4C, again, with higher rises nearer the poles.

* Stabilising CO2 levels in the atmosphere at 550ppm - which some experts think the world should aim at - would itself probably mean a rise of 3C, and possibly 4.5C.

* Temperatures in the next two decades are likely to rise by 0.2C per decade.

* Sea-level rise worst case scenario is 59cm by 2100, less than predicted in 2001, but this might be much higher when climate system feedbacks are factored in, and ice discharge from Greenland and Antarctica rises.

* That global climate change is occurring is "unequivocal."

* That human beings are responsible for it is "at least a nine out of 10 chance".

Depressing filk - Sweet Cassandra

This song is even more depressing now than when I originally wrote it.

It used to be a sarcastic song which referred to others seeking the convenient lie. Now, I rather wish someone would tell me a convincing lie...


Cassandra, as I hope you all know, always prophesied correctly and was never believed. (the enemy across the sea can be the Greeks or a post climate change hurricane - take your pick)

SWEET CASSANDRA

Chorus
Oh, lie to me,
Sweet Cassandra lie to me.
Prophesy no enemy will come across the sea,
Oh, lie to me.


Where are the lands of heroes, the stories of the brave?
Where is fair Atlantis, that sank beneath the waves?
Where are all the people who lived in days of yore?
Who will tell their stories if we are no more?


Tell me there's no poverty, say the world is free,
Tell me there's no fighting, no one's a refugee,
Tell me there's no hunger, no illness we can't cure.
Say the world is happy - and say no more.


Tell me that the Green Crusade is really rather strange,
Tell me that the climate is never going to change,
Tell me that the oceans will never rise again,
Say I can ignore things, give me no blame.