Earth Hour 2008

[McWizzle94]

This is something that i think that everyone should do.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qczUcQ-VjM

 

[Hadley4000]

I'll be out of the house anyway.

 

[AvGalen]

I guess I will bring candles with me to the Danish Open

 

[Dene]

Uh, I hate such typical American dribble. Did you hear his voice? Seriously? How could you make something sound so melodramatic? And, like a typical American, he has no idea how to pronounce "Melbourne" or "Brisbane". This sort of video makes me sick.
I for one will not contribute to such a wasteful cause either. Global warming, if it is even real, is a part of the Earth's natural cycle of Ice Age/Draught. If anybody thinks they can stop it, they have another thing coming.

 

[Hadley4000]

Uh, I hate such typical American dribble. Did you hear his voice? Seriously? How could you make something sound so melodramatic? And, like a typical American, he has no idea how to pronounce "Melbourne" or "Brisbane". This sort of video makes me sick.
I for one will not contribute to such a wasteful cause either. Global warming, if it is even real, is a part of the Earth's natural cycle of Ice Age/Draught. If anybody thinks they can stop it, they have another thing coming.

Don't get me started on global warming. It IS real. It is fact. Wake up.

 

[badmephisto]

Global Warming IS real, and Humans ARE causing it. Those two facts are agreed upon by most scientists. The topic of all discussion is exactly how this warming is going to change Earth. Exactly how fast will it change it? In what ways? That's the hard part.

Anyway, I will participate in the Earth Hour; we need to become a little more aware of the environmental issues, and hopefully all of this will also lead to more solar power usage and less environmental contamination.
If it were up to me there would be a laws for use of solar power and heavy subsidies for solar power research and development, as well as increased funding to hybrid production. The only reason none of this has happened yet is because there are people with millions in their pockets who don't want any of this to happen.

Also, have you seen all the stuff that accumulates inside the snow on sides of roads from car exhausts? We breath that ****, no wonder diseases like asthma are on the rise.

 

[AvGalen]

...I for one will not contribute to such a wasteful cause either. Global warming, if it is even real, is a part of the Earth's natural cycle of Ice Age/Draught. If anybody thinks they can stop it, they have another thing coming.

This cause is mostly about making a point and NOT being wasteful.
And I agree on the natural cycle, but we are accelerating that cycle a lot (and we can stop that).

I am wondering what that thing is that is coming my way now.

 

[Dene]

So what if it's being accelerated?
I'm going to discuss a theory here that was provided me by someone far more intelligent than myself, and my senior.
Consider this: A bacteria replicates through binary fission into 2 cells, and this can be achieved in approximately 10 minutes (which is the number we will use for the sake of simplicity). Optimal growth of bacteria is worked out using 2^n, where n is the number of generations. Thus, in one day, we could have 6*24 generations. 2^144=2.23007452*10^43. In a week we would have 2^144*7=.... Ok my calculator wont let me work it out, it's too big! You get the idea, in a very short space of time, the bacteria will have occupied the whole space of the Earth, and in not too much longer, the whole universe!
This, of course, doesn't happen. Why not? Well, there seems to be a kind of natural population cap. All sorts of things contribute, space, food, competition etc. that stop them from breaching a certain number.
I hope you can all see where I'm going with this. Perhaps we humans have reached a population cap ourselves? Such a happening is inevitable, and the effects that are going to keep our numbers down are the same things, as in, resources, space, competition.

As for you Hadley, I disagree, I am yet to be convinced that global warming, in the sense that modern scientists claim, is real. As far as I'm still concerned, it is part of a natural cycle, and most of the population will die, and humans will evolve to a greater species. Of course, this is so long away that you are wasting your time even thinking about it.

Mr. van Galen, what is coming is the inevitable . It cannot be stopped, the best thing to do is not to try and stop it (stupid choice) but instead prepare future generations for it (smart choice). I'm all with Stephen Hawking in this, in that space travel is our most viable option at the moment.

 

[AvGalen]

...the effects that are going to keep our numbers down are the same things, as in, resources, space, competition.

One of these effects is people realizing we are using to many resources and doing something about it like Earth Hour. I agree it is a small start that will be more symbolical than actually useful, but you and me discussing is already proving it's point.

... it is part of a natural cycle, and most of the population will die, and humans will evolve to a greater species. Of course, this is so long away that you are wasting your time even thinking about it.

That natural cycle exists, but if you analyze the rate of temperature changes in the past and right now you would understand that this ISN'T so long away anymore. The industrial era only started about a century ago (let's not try to be to precise), and currently only a limited portion of the human race is living "a western/modern" life-style. Already the effects are noticable and influence nature a lot. Imagine if/when giants like China and India adopt the same life-style and resource-use.

...what is coming is the inevitable

Yeah, that is kind of the definition, but you didn't answer the question. What should we prepare future generations for?

P.S. to give an indication how large China and India really are:
1 People's Republic of China[2]1,323,270,000March 26, 200819.84%Chinese Population clock, in Chinese2 India1,130,720,000March 26, 200816.95%Official Indian Population clock— European Union497,198,740January 1, 20087.39%Eurostat Population3 United States303,645,612March 16, 20084.55%Official USA Population clock

That is 37% in the 2 biggest countries and "only" 12% in the next 2 biggest "countries". I don't know how many resources those 12% use, but I guess it will be at least 50%.

Please read something like this, that is the whole reason this topic exists.

P.S. space travel is a nice option, but not very realistic at the moment. Consider how many resources it takes to put some robot on a planet a few "galactic houses" away from us it isn't very useful yet.

 

[pcharles93]

Whether global warming is a cycle or not, take this into account: It's not changing anything that quickly. We'll most likely be dead before the damage is done.

 

[hinges]

has no one seen the Al Gore movie An Inconvenient Truth ?
it strongly proves that global warming is not a hoax and should be taken very seriously...i recommend everyone to see that movie...

and btw the more population of a country does not equal of it taking that many resources and contributing to that much pollution...its not a population to pollution ratio...because both of those countries are still developing they contribute a whole less pollution than the current developed countries are producing...

and america as we know it producing more pollution and either of those two countries...and thats a fact.

 

[AvGalen]

...and btw the more population of a country does not equal of it taking that many resources and contributing to that much pollution...its not a population to pollution ratio...because both of those countries are still developing they contribute a whole less pollution than the current developed countries are producing...

and america as we know it producing more pollution and either of those two countries...and thats a fact.

That was exactly my point. US + Europe are only 12% of the current population. Imagine what happens when China and India continue to "modernise" like US + Europe!

 

[Cerberus]

...I for one will not contribute to such a wasteful cause either. Global warming, if it is even real, is a part of the Earth's natural cycle of Ice Age/Draught. If anybody thinks they can stop it, they have another thing coming.

This cause is mostly about making a point and NOT being wasteful.
And I agree on the natural cycle, but we are accelerating that cycle a lot (and we can stop that).

I am wondering what that thing is that is coming my way now.

I also think that way and also I find such hours not that good as they seem, because if you realy want to do something about your own energy
consumption, then change your habbits EVERY hour, every day and turn off stand-by etc and you save the envirement much more than turn off everything one hour and after that turn on everything and waste energy. (however this can be done because energy can not be destroyed)

And about Al Gore, ok, he showed many people what the problems of global warming are but how does he himself travel? with private yet, big car, why not use public airplain or the bus to show that he is not better and trys to reduce his affect on global warming too?

P.S: another thing you should think about is to become a pirate, because of this:

 

[Mike Hughey]

Interesting that this is right in the middle of the scheduled Chattahoochee after party:
http://www.worldcubeassociation.org/results/c.php?i=ChattahoocheeSpring2008

 

[AvGalen]

Only 17????

Let's all not pretend to be holy. I am going to drive to Denmark just to play with a piece of plastic. Doing that at home would be better for the environment.

I don't think this hour will work very well. Nobody around me seems to know about it and I haven't heard it on the news either. I guess me (and Erik) will look silly cubing in Denmark using candle-light. (good moment for multi-blind)

Why isn't Erik talking in this thread? He studies this kind of thing.

 

[hinges]

Only 17????
Let's all not pretend to be holy. I am going to drive to Denmark just to play with a piece of plastic. Doing that at home would be better for the environment.

LOL good one...but i think cubers are doing a lot less polluting than other sports...

besides i think we should be helping the environment in the way we can...we dont have to adhere to rules or regulations or anything...

it comes down to more ethical and moral issue than anything else.

 

[Mike Hughey]

LOL good one...but i think cubers are doing a lot less polluting than other sports...

True - we stay home most of the time and play with our cubes, instead of going out and consuming. Although I must admit I always try to have plenty of light when solving. Hmm, maybe I should be more environment-friendly and always turn off the light during the solving phase of a BLD solve? (For 5x5x5 multis, this could be a pretty significant energy savings. )

 

[AvGalen]

Hmm, maybe I should be more environment-friendly and always turn off the light during the solving phase of a BLD solve? (For 5x5x5 multis, this could be a pretty significant energy savings. )

Considering the total amount of time you spend solving blind you can save a LOT.

Also, if you are sitting in the dark others won't see->talk-distract

 

[hinges]

Errr we are trying to be environment friendly...not turn into social outcasts...

hmm perhaps we are too late for that now...oh well.....

 

[abbracadiabra]

There are two issues:

One is global warming, which we could debate until we were blue in the face and never come to agreement. So let's shelve that for the moment.

The second is energy conservation, which I'm pretty sure everybody agrees is a worthwhile objective for many reasons, of which global warming is only one.

So at issue is whether everyone turning the lights out for one hour at the same time would save a significant amount of energy. Perhaps those of you who are mathematically inclined could answer that - I can't.

@cerebrus - You're probably correct that turning out the lights for a single hour isn't significant, but it sure couldn't hurt. And perhaps the united effort of multiple people might make a lasting enough impression on each of them to make energy conservation part of the culture of their daily existence. I think we're in agreement about the liklihood of that being more significant.

@pcharles93 - I don't think you're looking at the big picture. The fact that we may be dead before the consequences are paid for our actions is irrelevant. Ultimately, the price will be paid by our children and grandchildren, and that's something I care deeply about.