Global Warming

[nab]

That influx has already been happening over the last ten to fifteen years.  My wife and I cannot afford to buy a house in Missoula, a town we both grew up in.  A more temperate climate might exacerbate the population increase and unless more efficient neighborhood planning is conceived and enforced, the quality of life for most Montana natives will continue to decline.  The invasion of the McMansion is not only an epidemic in Montana, but in fact it is a problem all over the west.  Money, not made in Montana, goes into trophy homes and poorly planned neighborhoods that are not only poorly built (and way overpriced) but also gobble up tons of open space.  This open space takes away from critical habitat for wildlife and leaves less forest (or prairie as in the case of eastern Montana) for us all to enjoy (this means not only Montanans but visitors as well).  The irony is that the appeal of open space is what is killing the open space around cities and towns in Montana as these McMansions and poorly planned neighborhoods are built close to the forest's edge, hoping to capitalize on the appeal of rustic living.  As each new development springs up the next one has to be built further out to capitalize on this appeal. 

     While this may seem to boost the economy of Montana, it is in fact usually a one time investment; the investment into the house itself.  Many of the people who own these McMansions don't live here but 3-4 months a year.  They are not contributing to economy of Montana when it is needed the most; during the winter when a lot of the tourist dollars are drying up.  Some of the tourist dollars used to be replaced by winter recreation, like skiing and snowmobiling, but global warming has taken its toll here as well.  Even when those from out of state move here year round, they seldom raise the standard of living beyond what they found when they arrived, preferring to rest on the laurels of a depressed local economy, meaning a cheaper standard of living and lower wages.  Why pay more if you don't have to?
   

[susep]

The irony is that the appeal of open space is what is killing the open space around cities and towns in Montana as these McMansions and poorly planned neighborhoods are built close to the forest's edge, hoping to capitalize on the appeal of rustic living.  As each new development springs up the next one has to be built further out to capitalize on this appeal.

Sounds similar to Maine, its happening all over where land is virgin.

"Build a city, build yourself a city to live in..."

[Hicks]

That influx has already been happening over the last ten to fifteen years.  My wife and I cannot afford to buy a house in Missoula, a town we both grew up in.  A more temperate climate might exacerbate the population increase and unless more efficient neighborhood planning is conceived and enforced, the quality of life for most Montana natives will continue to decline.  The invasion of the McMansion is not only an epidemic in Montana, but in fact it is a problem all over the west.  Money, not made in Montana, goes into trophy homes and poorly planned neighborhoods that are not only poorly built (and way overpriced) but also gobble up tons of open space.  This open space takes away from critical habitat for wildlife and leaves less forest (or prairie as in the case of eastern Montana) for us all to enjoy (this means not only Montanans but visitors as well).  The irony is that the appeal of open space is what is killing the open space around cities and towns in Montana as these McMansions and poorly planned neighborhoods are built close to the forest's edge, hoping to capitalize on the appeal of rustic living.  As each new development springs up the next one has to be built further out to capitalize on this appeal. 

     While this may seem to boost the economy of Montana, it is in fact usually a one time investment; the investment into the house itself.  Many of the people who own these McMansions don't live here but 3-4 months a year.  They are not contributing to economy of Montana when it is needed the most; during the winter when a lot of the tourist dollars are drying up.  Some of the tourist dollars used to be replaced by winter recreation, like skiing and snowmobiling, but global warming has taken its toll here as well.  Even when those from out of state move here year round, they seldom raise the standard of living beyond what they found when they arrived, preferring to rest on the laurels of a depressed local economy, meaning a cheaper standard of living and lower wages.  Why pay more if you don't have to?
   

Oh yeah I know all about soulless McMansion developments, they surround the city I live in. 

But I guess the upside (beside not freezing your ass off in the winter) is that more people will be coming to stay and spend money there and whatnot, I've kinda thought about checking it out myself, although that'd make me an invader too I guess.   :wink:

[susep]

The underlying issue is Exponential Population Growth.

[Hicks]

"too many puppies.  .  ."

Did you see Children of Men susep, I think you'd dig it. 

[susep]

"too many puppies.  .  ."

Did you see Children of Men susep, I think you'd dig it. 

nope, I'll check it out though.  Others descriptions left me curious about seeing it.

[Hicks]

I was surprised at how much it dealt with the immigration crisis, pretty depressing, but very well done. 

It's images have been rattling around in my head all day, which I guess suggests that it did it's job well.

[susep]

I was surprised at how much it dealt with the immigration crisis, pretty depressing, but very well done. 

It's images have been rattling around in my head all day, which I guess suggests that it did it's job well.

where can I see it?

[Hicks]

Cinema 21   :-D

[susep]

Cinema 21   :-D

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh :-D

[sophist]

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/02/070228-mars-warming.html

^thoughts on this?

[phil]

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/02/070228-mars-warming.html

^thoughts on this?

great article, thanks for sharing.

i don't really know enough about how the sun works to refute the guy, he very well may be spot on. kind of a scary thought b/c if it's true then we have no control over global warming like we do if it's caused by greenhouse gases.

[Hicks]

IMO opinion it doesn't matter if humans are the "cause" of global warming or not.

It's a known fact that CO2 contributes to the greenhouse effect and if we can decrease our CO2 output then we can slow down the warming, regardless of whether CO2 and other greenhouse gases were responsible for the warming in the first place.

Suggesting that we are somehow helpless to affect global warming is not productive to say the least. 

[rowjimmy]

Suggesting that we are somehow helpless to affect global warming is not productive to say the least. 

It's escapism.

To deny, at this point, the human capacity to both positively and negatively impact our environment in profound ways is the height of self-delusion.

[susep]

agreed on both points by ikki and rj.