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By Roz Rogoff

About this blog: In January 2002 I started writing my own online "newspaper" titled "The San Ramon Observer." I reported on City Council meetings and other happenings in San Ramon. I tried to be objective in my coverage of meetings and events, and...  (More)

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Make Lemonade

Uploaded: May 17, 2014
There's an old saying "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." So when things are not going right, take what is wrong and make it into something right.

I was thinking about this after reading a report on the collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet. The article said this is beyond the point of no return, at least as far as the Antarctic glacier breaking up and melting into the sea.

What is melting ice? Water of course. One of the threats of global warming is that melting ice caps will cause the seas to rise, covering low lying ground areas. Scientists project as much as a 3-foot increase in sea-level by 2100. Since many of the low lying ground areas that could be flooded are heavily populated, that could result in loss of habitat for millions of people at great expense to relocate them.

In fact if sea levels in San Francisco Bay rose 3' by the end of this century, parts of Alameda and Oakland would be under water, including the Oakland Airport.

Can this be prevented, or at best mitigated (don't you love that word)? I believe it can to the benefit of many people and even create business opportunities. It is all a matter of how we all look at what we can do to work with what is happening instead of arguing about what is causing it.

So is there is anything that could be done to stop the increase in sea level to keep Oakland Airport functional into the next century. What could be done to keep the polar ice from melting into sea? How about moving the melting ice out of the polar regions to where water is needed.

If there is too much water one place and not enough in another place, move the water from where it shouldn't be to where it should be. Is this possible? Maybe not, but I'm proposing it as a possible solution if it could be possible.

Texas, California, and parts of Africa are in serious droughts. Crops cannot grow and there isn't enough potable water for the populations. Would it be possible for large tankers, like oil tankers to scoop up the ice sheets before they melt into the salt water, and filter and treat the resulting ice water in transit to a destination where it could be useable for irrigating crops in parched parts of the World?

Is this just my fantasy or a possibility? It would be a very expensive operation if it could be done, but it could also be very profitable and would slow the rising sea levels so low lying areas that could be susceptible to flooding would be protected.

Perhaps this is a little, or a lot, of wishful thinking, but stranger things have happened. One hundred-fifty years ago who would have believed you could string wires 3000 miles across the country and hear someone in New York say "Hello" to someone in California. Who would have believed men could fly to the moon? Harvesting an Antarctic glacier should be easy after that.
Democracy.
What is it worth to you?

Comments

Posted by Formerly Dan from BC, a resident of Bridle Creek,
on May 17, 2014 at 8:09 am

Formerly Dan from BC is a registered user.

Old hotness: The ARCTIC IS MELTING!!!
New hotness: THE ANTARCTIC IS MELTING!!!

Why is no one worried about the super volcano sitting under Yellowstone National Park?

I'll tell you why, because like climate/weather, you can't do a thing about volcanos other then moving out of the area.

It's nature and it will always win.

Dan


Posted by Cholo, a resident of Livermore,
on May 17, 2014 at 3:36 pm

I would rather that the natural habitat/sea life in all its glorious forms be allowed to thrive thrive thrive!

sorry pals you're gonna have to split or drown...

high waters? yup


Posted by San Ramon Observer, a resident of San Ramon,
on May 17, 2014 at 8:58 pm

San Ramon Observer is a registered user.

Dan,

I'm not taking about changing the weather. I'm talking about changing the results. Maybe we can't keep a volcano from erupting, but geothermal energy can be captured for heat and electricity.

Maybe it is impossible to move icebergs from Antarctica to Somalia Web Link to save people there from drought, war, disease, and starvation, but maybe thinking big could spark big ideas and big results, or at least ward off complacency.

Roz


Posted by San Ramon Observer, a resident of San Ramon,
on May 17, 2014 at 9:08 pm

San Ramon Observer is a registered user.

By the way to make this blog more relevant to local readers who want to make real lemonade and were hoping that's what this blog was about, I welcome everyone to post your favorite lemonade recipes here too.


Posted by Raymond Gunn, a resident of Another Pleasanton neighborhood,
on May 17, 2014 at 10:44 pm

I've got a cousin who drives an ice cream truck. Maybe with enough ice cream trucks making the haul from Antarctica to Somalia ... well, who knows?


Posted by john, a resident of Another Pleasanton neighborhood,
on May 18, 2014 at 11:14 am

I like it. There are a lot of ideas out there for how we could respond if projections for sea level rise turn out to be accurate.

Dan,

You're thinking small. What do you think about something like this as a long term solution for our energy needs?

Web Link


Posted by Cholo, a resident of Livermore,
on May 18, 2014 at 11:50 am

I don't think that Raymond Gunn is thinking small...duh

There's quite a distance between Antarctica and Somalia...I can see it now...ice cream all over Somalia on a hot and dusty day...gets my vote!

licky licky here and licky licky there...i luv ice cream!!!


Posted by San Ramon Observer, a resident of San Ramon,
on May 18, 2014 at 1:28 pm

San Ramon Observer is a registered user.

John,

Wow, very interesting link. I have not heard of the Dyson Sphere before, or Freeman Dyson. I have a Dyson vacuum cleaner, but James Dyson doesn't appear to be related to Freeman. I used to be into Science Fiction, but more mass marketed stuff like Star Trek and Star Wars.

I worked for Hughes Space and Communication Group from 1982 to 1992 where we actually built satellites and had Government contracts to develop President Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative, which was kind of a global "Reagan Sphere" to block Soviet missile attacks. Web Link

I wasn't involved in anything that futuristic. I was an Instructional Designer in the IT Department and conducted training on Purchasing, Receiving, and A/P Systems.


Posted by Formerly Dan from BC, a resident of Bridle Creek,
on May 18, 2014 at 9:03 pm

Formerly Dan from BC is a registered user.

John,


"Dan, You're thinking small. What do you think about something like this as a long term solution for our energy needs?"

Nuclear, but not because of the supposed need for carbon reduction.

It's good sense.

Dan


Posted by William Tell, a resident of Birdland,
on May 18, 2014 at 10:49 pm

They say the Fiji people are being driven up hill by the surging seas. Their pure water is all becoming salinized. And many Fijis are now applying for refugee status in New Zealand and Aussie Land. Maybe we could recruit them to drive the ice cream trucks. Just how stupid does one have to be to dwell on an isolated island in the Pacific? LOL Well, more sooner than later we'll be seeing them lined up at the welfare offices in Oakland.


Posted by Formerly Dan from BC, a resident of Bridle Creek,
on May 19, 2014 at 8:55 am

Formerly Dan from BC is a registered user.

William Tell,

"They say..."

Who's "they".

Provide a link or go back into your hole, troll.

Dan


Posted by San Ramon Observer, a resident of San Ramon,
on May 19, 2014 at 12:10 pm

San Ramon Observer is a registered user.

You "Tell" him, Dan! OK I couldn't resist that one.

Roz


Posted by Formerly Dan from BC, a resident of Bridle Creek,
on May 19, 2014 at 11:12 pm

Formerly Dan from BC is a registered user.

Roz,

:)

Dan


Posted by Raymond Gunn, a resident of Another Pleasanton neighborhood,
on May 20, 2014 at 10:34 am

Hey Right and Dan. Here's a bunch of Democrat Party goobly glop from a lefty source. You're right, William Tell, what they don't realize is how funny it is to think of these stupid islanders choosing to live their lives on an isolated island that's now getting salted down. They're saying also that Marshall Islands have no more pure water. Its now all salt. Who cares? My only concern is that these fat horn blowing hula dancers are going to make their way to Oakland. And I have to pay for their stupidity?

I'm with yous Dan, Roz, Right, and William.

Web Link


Posted by Raymond Gunn, a resident of Another Pleasanton neighborhood,
on May 20, 2014 at 11:18 am

I've linked some more propaganda below. They're trying to tell us that this is happening to island nations all over the world. What they don't tell us is that climate change happens in a cycle every 10,000 years. Since humans didn't inhabit the planet 10,000 years ago, that means that people recently CHOSE to swim or paddle to these godforsaken places. Well, stupid is as stupid does. People will now continue to blame climate change, Islanders will continue to ask for handouts, the oceans will go down, and in a century or two people will all return. They can bring fresh water along with them. So, why the sudo-alarmism?



Web Link


Posted by john, a resident of Another Pleasanton neighborhood,
on May 20, 2014 at 1:11 pm

"Since humans didn't inhabit the planet 10,000 years ago"

I believe the current thinking is that humans inhabited the planet for hundreds of thousands of years.


Posted by Raymond Gunn, a resident of Another Pleasanton neighborhood,
on May 20, 2014 at 1:42 pm

Read your Bible, John. That and common sense is more than enough to uncover the money grubbing scandal known as "climate change."


Posted by Raymond Gunn, a resident of Another Pleasanton neighborhood,
on May 20, 2014 at 1:46 pm

Oh and regarding your "current thinking" aren't you aware that most of the current thinking is a hokes? Any so-called scientists can melt down dog bones into dinosaur bones and send the world a twitter. There's no evidence. Show it to me and I might change my mind. While your at it, show me evidence that the Bible is wrong. See ya! I'm outta here!!!


Posted by Raymond Gunn, a resident of Another Pleasanton neighborhood,
on May 20, 2014 at 2:17 pm

Here's another one! Kiribati. Who ever herd of such a place? Climate change charlatans are claiming that it and a couple hundred other no-name Pacific islands will be underwater in less than 10 years. And guess what the islanders are saying? Need three guesses? That they all want to flee to the developed nations (like the US surprise surprise). Just combine the "scientists" asking for money with the applications to come to the US, and you've got the global warming lie in a nut shell. If they don't like the taste of salt water, why did they go there in the first place? And we're supposed to bail them out? LMAO



Web Link


Posted by Cholo, a resident of Livermore,
on May 23, 2014 at 4:22 pm

A very sweet ditty: if you can't live and you can't die make lemonade!

VIVA LEMONADE FOREVER!


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