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U.S. Droughts Will Be the Worst in 1,000 Years

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Several independent studies in recent years have predicted that the American Southwest and central Great Plains will experience extensive droughts in the second half of this century, and that advancing climate change will exacerbate those droughts. But a new analysis released today says the drying will be even more extreme than previously predicted—the worst in nearly 1,000 years. Some time between 2050 and 2100, extended drought conditions in both regions will become more severe than the megadroughts of the 12th and 13th centuries. Tree rings and other evidence indicate that those medieval dry periods exceeded anything seen since, across the land we know today as the continental U.S.

The analysis “shows how exceptional future droughts will be,” says Benjamin Cook, a research scientist at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City and lead author of the study. The work was published online today in the inaugural edition of Science Advances and was released simultaneously at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting here.

Cook and his colleagues reached their conclusion by comparing 17 different computer projections of 21st century climate with drought records of the past millennium, notably data in the North American Drought Atlas. (The atlas is based on extensive tree-ring studies conducted by Cook’s father, Edward, a researcher at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory.) The models consistently demonstrated drought worse than at any time during that epoch, and worse than the current drought out West, which has prevailed for 11 of the previous 14 years, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. In 2014 the drought cost California more than $2 billion in agricultural loses alone, according to the University of California, Davis.

The models also revealed that the drying in the Southwest would result from a combination of less rain and greater soil evaporation due to higher temperatures. They were not as conclusive about less rain in the central Great Plains but all showed more evaporation there. “Even where rain may not change much, greater evaporation will dry out the soils,” Cook says.

Drought, of course, means more stress on crops and possibly greater water shortages in urban areas. “We have strategies today to deal with drought—develop more drought-resistant crops, use more groundwater,” Cook says. “But if future droughts will be much more severe, the question is whether we can extend those strategies or if we need new ones.” Municipal planners and legislators may have a tough challenge, and groundwater is a finite resource. “Our water laws and sharing agreements are very convoluted,” Cook notes. Untangling them in order to make conservation measures practical and equitable “could become a wicked problem.”

The next step for Cook’s group will be to try to determine when the transition to severe drought will begin: in the next 20 years, the next 50 years? We’re still uncertain about that,” he says.

scientific American



37 Comments on "U.S. Droughts Will Be the Worst in 1,000 Years"

  1. paulo1 on Fri, 13th Feb 2015 12:46 pm 

    It will be interesting to see if these predictions hold steady. I use the word, interesting, loosely. Of course it will be catastrophic with huge ramifications.

    With the change in the jet stream, (supposedly due to heating) the populous east coast is getting absolutely hammered with cold and snow. It is hard to convince the frozen there is a warming problem. Where I live we have almost no snowpack…(BC Coast). We need some snow on the mountains, badly. I believe we are at about 30% of normal.

  2. yellowcanoe on Fri, 13th Feb 2015 1:17 pm 

    You are right on about central Canada and the NE USA getting hammered with cold weather. In January, 2011 the average mean temperature here in Ottawa was -6.5C. Every winter since then has been colder than the previous winter. This January the average mean temperature was -13.2C. February is normally warmer than January but not this year. So far this month we have an average mean temperature of -14.8C and if the Weather Network 14 day forecast is correct we’ll likely finish the month with a lower average mean than January. I wish people would use the term climate change instead of global warming as some areas of the world are clearly getting much colder weather than they are accustomed to. Given that the general trend for the world is higher temperatures it is hard to accept that for us climate change means a colder climate.

  3. Plantagenet on Fri, 13th Feb 2015 1:59 pm 

    Obama promised to stop the seas from rising but he never said anything about making it rain

  4. Plantagenet on Fri, 13th Feb 2015 2:02 pm 

    @yellowcanoe

    The world is indeed getting hotter. Your little corner of the globe gets averaged in with the rest. 2014 was the hottest year on record.

    AND Global Warming is the correct term for what is occurring

  5. Rodster on Fri, 13th Feb 2015 3:11 pm 

    Water insecurity and scarcity in the near future will impact a lot of mankind and you can take climate change out of the equation.

    I forget how much fresh water is needed in the fracking process? There goes more clean drinking water.

    Lake Mead has gone critical several times thanks to Las Vegas. China only has 40% fresh drinking water left thanks to over industrialization.

  6. synapsid on Fri, 13th Feb 2015 3:52 pm 

    Rodster,

    Fracking does indeed use fresh water, though it can use brine too according to, I believe, toolpush.

    Looking at amounts, though, rockman generously worked through the figures for Texas–tops or near the top in fracking worldwide–and gave us the following:

    water used for fracking in Texas is equal to 0.7% of the amount used there for agriculture;

    water used for fracking in Texas is equal to 0.3% of water consumed in Texas.

    He added, whimsically, that California uses more water for golf courses than Texas does for fracking.

    I would like to add that fracking companies cannot just seize water for their use–they must buy or lease water rights from the owners. Where water use for fracking causes the prospect of shortages locally, the response lies with those who control the water rights, not with the frackers.

    I don’t defend fracking, just adding perspective.

  7. hculliton on Fri, 13th Feb 2015 3:58 pm 

    The map I saw over at Science Daily showed a drying of most of North America including my stomping ground in the Great Lakes littoral. While nowhere near as bad as the US Southwest, most of NA is going to see substantially drier conditions than in past. I’d sure hate to have to give up ice fishing on the Bay of Quinte, or have the lakes go the way of the Ariel Sea for that matter. In addition, where are all those climate refugees from the South West and indeed much harder hit Mexico going to go, and what will they do when they get there? I can’t see Canada “building the dang fence” along the “undefended” border ( if you ignore the DHS constitution-free zone) for logistical reasons if nothing else. But this far into population overshoot and climate change, I guess all bets are off. Alas, I guess that I’ll just have to follow James Lovelock’s lead and make sure that I appreciate the wonder that is Gaia before climate change really starts to bite hard. Today the temp rose to a balmy -18C and the Bay has over a foot of good ice. I think that I’ll go catch a pickerel or two while I still can, and figure out how to describe to my future grand kids the beauty I see around me. A beauty they might never know – and that’s the most depressing aspect of anthropogenic climate change.

  8. Makati1 on Fri, 13th Feb 2015 5:58 pm 

    hculliton, you are correct. We will never enjoy the world of our youth, or even the world of today, again. When I was born, (1944) there were still relatively unexplored parts of Africa and South America. Jungles were full of animals of every kind. Mountain lions still roamed the Appalachians. You could still drink straight out of most streams. And, I am sure there were droughts but they didn’t affect millions like today.

    That world is dying. Our grand kids will be struggling to survive, I think, not enjoying nature. Too bad. We destroyed it all with our lack of wisdom and our greed.

  9. Darrell Martin on Fri, 13th Feb 2015 6:37 pm 

    I usually refrain from writing publicly over issues that are controversial because usually it meets with only further division. In this thread though I was impressed with refreshingly intelligent remarks.
    There are deep energies which are beyond our normal comprehension in our scientific paradigm. The collective consciousness is definitely part of the equation. Whatever changes manifest on the planet it is a collective reaction to a collective set of actions. Trouble it is all manifest over periods of times which transcend our paltry hundred year cognition skills.
    Vested motives cloud every man to some degree. The true answer is that there is a trend reversal almost as if we are just at the precipice and finally the foot is going for the brakes. However we cannot measure it in one short 100 year summation so to most of us it seems a moot point. I am very optimistic though seeing the change in the quality of younger souls who are now entering.

  10. penury on Fri, 13th Feb 2015 7:04 pm 

    They cannot forecast climate a year in advance But their reputations are safe after all who will care if they were wrong in fifty years.

  11. Plantagenet on Fri, 13th Feb 2015 7:12 pm 

    People who don’t understand the science behind global warming are left with nothing but a hope that things won’t be as bad as predicted.

    Of course things are likely to be even hotter

  12. Apneaman on Fri, 13th Feb 2015 7:30 pm 

    Winter heat wave smacks Bay Area

    http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Winter-heat-wave-smacks-Bay-Area-6077754.php#photo-7518114

  13. Apneaman on Fri, 13th Feb 2015 7:32 pm 

    Dog Days of Winter? Alaska’s Lack of Snow Forces Change in Iditarod

    http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/02/150212-iditarod-dogs-sled-race-alaska-global-warming-science/

  14. Rodster on Fri, 13th Feb 2015 8:13 pm 

    Warm weather in the Bay Area could be construed as a freak event but a warming trend in Alaska is hard to dismiss.

  15. Apneaman on Fri, 13th Feb 2015 8:17 pm 

    It’s the new normal.

  16. hculliton on Fri, 13th Feb 2015 8:31 pm 

    Penury: are you implying that the jury’s still out on anthropogenic climate change? If so then you’re deceiving yourself.

  17. Apneaman on Fri, 13th Feb 2015 8:39 pm 

    @penury

    Where ever did you get the idea that “they” cannot forecast climate a year in advance? Let’s go back to before the US civil war/war of northern aggression.

    The 1847 lecture that predicted human-induced climate change
    A near-forgotten speech made by a US congressman warned of global warming and the mismanagement of natural resources

    http://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2011/jun/20/george-perkins-marsh-climate-speech

    Climate Change 1958: The Bell Telephone Science Hour

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-AXBbuDxRY

    A 50th anniversary few remember: LBJ’s warning on carbon dioxide

    http://www.dailyclimate.org/tdc-newsroom/2015/02/president-johnson-carbon-climate-warning

    The Discovery of Global Warming February 2014
    Timeline (Milestones)

    http://www.aip.org/history/climate/timeline.htm

  18. DMyers on Fri, 13th Feb 2015 9:10 pm 

    My father often said to me, in his later years: “Son, a megadrought is a megadrought is a megadrought…”

    I don’t see how this distinction among megadroughts really matters. The important thing to note is that climatic conditions occur cyclically. We have ignored this verifiable fact and built a mini civilization in places where these hellish periods recur.

    Now, here we are, and here it is, at the same time. Awww, just didn’t plan on that! Ain’t fair! Mother Nature, don’t forget how special we are!!

  19. James Tipper on Sat, 14th Feb 2015 12:06 am 

    I’m sure at least in the Midwest where I am that this process will really help the ongoing salinazation and top soil loss(obvious sarcasm). It will be even more tough to try and deal with these issues of drought and famine in a post peak-oil world. I mean think of the year 1800, no oil, very crude tools for agricultural, a couple of dry harvests could mean the suffering and potential starvation of millions. And considering the population of the world is seven times bigger than that, one can only assume these events combined with peak oil will ultimately and sadly kill millions.

  20. Dredd on Sat, 14th Feb 2015 5:34 am 

    Come on Oil-Qaeda boyz we need to pump some more fossil fuels into our culture’s bloodstream to poison it all up some more.

    What is the price of a barrel of poison today?

    That is all that matters to Oil-Qaeda.

    You Are Here – 2

  21. Dredd on Sat, 14th Feb 2015 5:37 am 

    Oil-Qaeda makes the plastic out of very crude oil.

    So as to kill the oceans with plastic (World’s Oceans Clogged By Millions Of Tons Of Plastic Trash).

  22. Davy on Sat, 14th Feb 2015 5:49 am 

    I have read allot about AGW over many years. I was a doomer when doom was not cool. I don’t think the idiot intellectuals (incongruous juxtaposition) know exactly what is coming, where exactly, and when. I have problems with the forecast out of the academic bodies. This is true of population forecast, growth forecast, and AGW. I feel our human stable climate of the past many centuries that allowed civilization has been disturbed. We could see exponential climate changes over time or the abrupt variety. It will probably be both because the climate is dealing with water and heat sinks. Water and thermo-structures phase change. We know this phase change is already happening in the north with the ice melting. The deep ocean is warming. Then we have the secondary feedbacks to worry about and that is methane release. Basically all the above is bad and non-negotiable with technology. Technology only making it worse as a matter of fact.

    I see every reason to believe climate instability that is enough to collapse our complex energy intensive BAU is baked in. No amount of technology will save BAU from an unfavorable human climate. The basics of that statement is food production. A complex society needs food intensity, complexity, and energy intensity. The big issue I have with projections of AGW is the fact they do not account for the collapse of BAU when the brick wall of POD & ETP of oil hits. Good estimates by short and others puts this maximum of 10 years. When we understand BAU is in stable disequilibrium currently with a financial system that is adrift in debt, repression, corruption, manipulation, parasitic wealth transfers, and public wealth cannibalism then we see a pattern of multiple foundational elements to human civilization in stable disequilibrium that are ready to bifurcate to a lower level at any time.

    The stability is shallow but enough to fool the masses of many TPTB and their sheeples. The human time factor of concern is the other issues. If this were a 2 year known window of doom we would be all over it like stink on feces. I think we can only plan to mitigate and adjust to all of the above of the foundational civilization elements. We can probably only adjust and mitigate at the local level. The top is adrift as a self-organizing systematic organism unmanageable by participants. We can try to gauge time frame to prioritize the risk. Personally I see the systematic elements of failed states, financial system failure, or WWIII giving first.

    It doesn’t matter which goes first whether that is the systematic, the climatic, or the oil supply destruction. All of them will send billions adrift in the unknown of instability of food, shelter, and organization. It is likely when instability hits energy intensity and complexity breaks we will see a drastic drop in AGW industrial pollutants only to be traded for a drastic destruction of the ecosystem. Either way the billions will have to be decimated and I am not talking 1 in 10 I am talking over 5 in 10 in a generation. Probably more population decimation because of the drastic destruction of the ecosystem over a generation by billions adrift scouring the environment for survival without complexity and energy intensity. That is worst case a better case is a long emergency where economic activity, food production, and systematic organization fall but still manageable in degree and duration for human civilization to adapt in a state of descent. For this to happen the blame game must stop.

    Climate instabilities lurk even if humans make it through the transition of a break up of globalism and our industrial epoch. I am a pessimist that is an optimist. In the global and macro the situation is hopeless but in the local and individual I believe many will get along OK. Gone is the amusement park of BAU for the masses. Hello to what we see in the poorest parts of the globe now. Nature cycles and the Anthropocene epoch will be short but disruptive. Nature will heal and evolve as it always has. Humans have been nothing but her tool of extinction and change. The comparison would be an ice age. The exceptionalism humans feel now is delusional. We are only a tool of nature not her master. Nature is the only game in town.

  23. kenny on Sat, 14th Feb 2015 11:11 am 

    Holly crap. The earth is 4.5 billion years old. Climate change is the norm. Chicago was covered with a mile thick glacier a simple 10,000 years ago. Do climate scientists want to return to that era? Maybe that is good news for the skeptics. The northern climate alarmists want to fix climate change and create the destruction of the Northern US! The Chicago Way (Obama corruption) will be eliminated by a mile thick glacier! New York and Liberal Points North are eliminated. The US doesn’t need a civil war because the South is the only place left.

  24. Mike989 on Sat, 14th Feb 2015 2:04 pm 

    It’s sad to see the “Greatest Generation” and the leading edge of the Baby Boom Generation that beat the Nazi’s turn into the Dumbest Generation of Right Wing Idiot Nuts.

    It’s sad to see their real legacy turn into the TOTAL Destruction of America, based on their own Racism.

  25. Mike989 on Sat, 14th Feb 2015 2:09 pm 

    Look at this “genius” Kenny.
    A GED would help had here’s why:

    The change in the climate problem is it’s Rate of Change, and the CAUSE of the change.

    Today the change is CAUSED by 7 Billion people burning Coal, OIl and natural gas, releasing 20 pounds of CO2 into the atmosphere for every gallon of gas burned.

    And the RESULTS of that change, the Mass Extinction of 33% of life on the planet right now, and that percentage continues to rise.

    When you put this much carbon into the atmosphere there’s going to be Consequences, that’s Physics.
    It’s the LAW.

    It’s not too late to check out the catalog of your local community college. Physics 101 might be a good start. It’s usually taught by some bright people.

  26. GregT on Sat, 14th Feb 2015 2:25 pm 

    Physics 101 Mike?

    Back in the 70s, we learned about the consequences of putting all of the carbon back into the environment, in science class, in grade nine. Education has obviously gone downhill over the last 40 years.

  27. Makati1 on Sun, 15th Feb 2015 12:20 am 

    GregT, yes, Mike is a member of the dumbest generation. We learned in high school what they now pay for in college. But then, that is the advantage of age. It give you perspective.

  28. Davy on Sun, 15th Feb 2015 5:30 am 

    Mak, your generation had the chance to steer us in a new and sustainable direction in the 70’s but you chose greed and amusement instead. It is your generation who are now getting Social Security but don’t deserve what they get because your generation broke the system. It is your generation in the current positions of power in DC and WS that have corrupted our markets and constitution. Your generation is the worst generation not the greatest.

  29. Makati1 on Sun, 15th Feb 2015 5:45 am 

    Davy, you still have a chance, but don’t blame the older generation for your current weakness’. If it had not been for them, you would be speaking German and saying “Heil” instead of hello. Or, if you live on the west coast, you would probably be speaking Japanese and eating a lot of rice.

    You also would not even be here if your parents didn’t exist. After all, they too are of the generation that you are blaming. And obviously they are more to blame for today’s situation than I am, if they are truly as wealthy as you claim. Be an adult and accept that you are responsible for it as much as anybody.

  30. Davy on Sun, 15th Feb 2015 6:17 am 

    Mak, my generation is the downhill product of your generation and so on down the line with each generation a worse product. But it is clearly your generation that dropped the ball from the greatest generation that won the war. In the 70’s your generation could have embrace the club of Rome findings on the limits of growth. It was your generation that rejected Jimmy Carters message.

    Mak, my parents are your generation. The same age as you Mak so I know plenty about you and that age group. It always comes back to wealth when you want to criticize me but it shows your weakness of position. Appealing to the usual class warfare technics is a product of lack of ideas.

    My parents are not me. I do not live off my parents. I had a real job that left me with my money not your situation where you are living off ill-gotten gains of Social Security. A system of the old living off the young. A system of your generation ruining the future then demanding ransom for all the debt your generation in leadership has now created. I will be a part of a large trust someday per BAU. BAU is dead in a few years so I don’t even consider a trust in the future. My savings is in the productivity of the land I am currently working.

    Mak, what have you been doing lately. Have you been out to your jungle hang? I put up 4 x 50ft grape trellises yesterday. Are you doing anything to your jungle hang for survival? I think you spend most of your time at the cheap pool below your cheap apartment complex in the heart of an Asian overshoot called Manila.

    You realize talking about a refuge is different from building one. I never hear you talking about doomstead activity only that you have some jungle hang that is supposed to be safe from the 100MIL Filipinos in a country the size of Arizona. You have often said how your jungle hang is far from all these people and the locust effect of a desperate hungry mass of people. Somehow these locust people will bypass your hang because of distance and difficulty being in the highlands. I find that hard to believe.

    I want to give you some advice. Get the hell out of the heart of Manila and move to New Zealand or something. The only problem an American social security check barely will pay the air fare. So you are committed to the nice climate of the Philippines with no exit. It reminds me of the song of your generation “Hotel California”. Good luck Mak with your fateful decision.

  31. Makati1 on Sun, 15th Feb 2015 6:57 am 

    Hahahaha….Davy, you are a hoot! I read the first paragraph and the last of your rambling, just for entertainment. NZ? The land of the rich? What makes you believe that a war with China is going to avoid those islands? The bombs are going to fall on Missouri also this time, wait and see.

    And why do you think I want to leave the Ps even if war breaks out and my SS stops? There are no “safe ports” in today’s world, only degrees of survival possibilities. I’ll take a country where I don’t have to worry about freezing to death or starving, thank you. Where the neighbors are not armed to the teeth and crazy on painkillers and uppers. We share. That is a foreign word in the Us these days. Good luck in Missouri.

    BTW: I have been shopping my trip in May. RT is ~$1,372 US. Both are way under one month of SS.

  32. Makati1 on Sun, 15th Feb 2015 7:22 am 

    BTW, Davy, I went back and read the rest of your comment.

    Class warfare is the current rage, pun intended. It is what will eventually take down the US if Russia/China doesn’t do it sooner. I am from a middle class family. My friends were all middle or lower class when I was a kid. I know poverty and sharing.

    You parents are not you, but you are more them than you may realize. Your ideas about SS “ill gotten gains” is elite thinking. I was forced into that program and had to pay for it all of my working life, even when I needed money to feed my family. So, yes, I will accept it as long as it lasts. so would you, if it were to last that long.

    It is easy to say you will not take your inheritance, but if you can, I suspect that you will. I have none to think about, My parents are not wealthy. No inheritance beyond a few trinkets of memory value.

    We have a caretaker family on the farm that plants and builds for us. Do you think I was born yesterday? Yes the Makati condo has a pool, but I have never been in it nor do I sit and enjoy my retirement there. I plan and do. We have planted at least 50 fruit and nut trees in the last 2 years, besides the ones that were previously there. Three crops per year, if we want. Currently in pineapples and cassava.

    As for ‘hungry hordes’, I will have less likely a problem than you will. Those who live nearby are already self sufficient or they couldn’t live there. No jobs. No ‘welfare check’ to lose.

    Nor will the government take their pieces of land if they can not pay taxes on it. You cannot say the same. Your farm is yours only until you cannot pay the government/bank fees to keep it.

    I know I am not going to change your mind and you are not going to change mine. Good luck, and just ignore my comments if they bother you. I ignore most of yours.

  33. Davy on Sun, 15th Feb 2015 8:10 am 

    Mak, I love when you get your hackles up. It shows your true nature as a creep. You try to ignore me but eventually you can’t take it. Until you agree to the truce I have talked about on several occasions we are at war. Most of the regular commenters here would like moderations from both of us but you refuse. I will comment on every single BS comment you make per your agenda. I will be a thorn in your side for your respectability.

    There are many anti-Americans that will speak up on your behalf and agree with you. I am not speaking to them because they do not hear my message of fairness and balance. I am speaking to the many that visit this site that are not extremist and do not comment.

    It is a pity you do not choose moderation to your agenda of hate and conflict. Our messages have a common meeting point. Our messages could together contribute to the common theme of PO and its implications. That is not enough for you. You choose the selfish passion of your personal agenda instead of more effective moderate tone to the benefit all.

    The blame and resentment game is a dead on arrival message that will only achieve more conflict and instability. You are the type that will bring on the end of the world if you would be king. You are the type that will jump to your death because your vision of a refuge will collapse under the weight of reality. This reality is every local is in danger from a destabilized global. The global is the amalgamation of all our locals in a codependence of interconnectedness. There is no decouple from this arrangement with winners losers. All locals and regions will suffer. To claim winners and losers is the wrong message.

    I have no problem criticizing the US at all levels. I have no problem discussing the dangers to my refuge. I have no problem discussing the excesses of the 1%ers which I know firsthand and you fantasize about. I want this discussion to revolve around common dangers and common risks to all regions and locals. Agendas that point fingers, that blame and demonstrate resentment have no place in a moderate, scientific and reality based discussion.

  34. R1verat on Sun, 15th Feb 2015 9:11 am 

    Davy you are wasting your time with Mak. I LIKE Shaw’s quote, “Never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it.”

    Doesn’t matter what generation kicked the can down the road, we are all guilty of contributing.

  35. Davy on Sun, 15th Feb 2015 10:55 am 

    RivRat, I’m ready to get dirty – Onward Christian Soldiers! Mak is attacking my people at a macro and micro level. He is the enemy. If he would moderate I could just ignore him. Either moderation or balance and fairness would do.

    When I mentioned the generational culpability there is no denying that generation’s blame. They were the first to know limits and AGW for example. Every generation since has gone through progressive decay. The latest generation are so far away from human and into the abstract digital as to be a different type of man. We can call them “I”theropods.

    I personally am crazy and mentally ill so I have nothing to glorify or brag about. I am just being me. I am good to my friends and mean as a junk yard dog to the dregs. Most are my friends here and I would give the shirt off my back to help them on their journey of making sense of this crazy world.

  36. Kenz300 on Sun, 15th Feb 2015 12:52 pm 

    Pope Francis’s edict on climate change will anger deniers and US churches | World news | The Guardian

    http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/27/pope-francis-edict-climate-change-us-rightwing

  37. Northwest Resident on Sun, 15th Feb 2015 1:35 pm 

    Speaking of Pope Francis, a man who is making a lot of sense these days:

    But can’t Pope Francis, the world’s moral conscience, lead a resistance movement against Big Oil and the Koch Empire? Save the world? True, he does lead a powerful army of 1.2 billion Catholics worldwide … and, yes, he will soon issue a historic warning in his papal encyclical, making official his position that climate change and global warming are indeed manmade … that capitalism is the root cause of all the world’s deteriorating physical and social environment … that humans are killing their planet.

    In recent months the pope has travelled the world warning us capitalism is the enemy of Planet Earth: In capitalism the “worship of the ancient golden calf has returned in a new and ruthless guise in the idolatry of money … lacking a truly human purpose” … our “constant assaults on the natural environment” are “the result of unbridled consumerism” … having “serious consequences for the world economy” … capitalism is morally destructive of the world’s soul and your soul … capitalism will eventually self-destruct the planet and itself.

    http://www.marketwatch.com/story/planet-earth-is-the-titanic-climate-change-the-iceberg-2015-02-13?link=mw_home_kiosk

    Self destruction. Here it comes.

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