Things to fear more than terrorism  Image 1 of 11 |Things to fear more than terrorism  From the Pew Research Center’s latest surveys: “Americans, Europeans, Middle Easterners Focus on ISIS as Greatest Danger” … over everything else including climate change. Really? Check out the things we should all fear a lot more than terrorism!  Image 1 of 11 - Things to fear more than terrorism  From the Pew Research Center’s latest surveys: “Americans, Europeans, Middle Easterners Focus on ISIS as Greatest Danger” … over everything else including climate change. Really? Check out the things we should all fear a lot more than terrorism!  From the Pew Research Center’s latest surveys:...“Americans, Europeans, Middle Easterners Focus on ISIS as Greatest...Danger” … over everything else including climate change. Really?...Check out the things we should all fear a lot more than terrorism!  Image 2 of 11 |Things to fear more than terrorism  No. 1! Climate Change. The bad news on this front is coming so fast and ... hot, it’s hard to keep up with it all. For one, 2014 was the hottest year on record. Yeah, but I like it warm? Well, there are consequences that will require drastic measures to forestall and survive. The recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change group states in its big report on 2014: "Without additional mitigation efforts beyond those in place today, and even with adaptation, warming by the end of the 21st century will lead to high to very high risk of severe, wide-spread and irreversible impacts globally (high confidence).”  Image 2 of 11 - Things to fear more than terrorism  No. 1! Climate Change. The bad news on this front is coming so fast and ... hot, it’s hard to keep up with it all. For one, 2014 was the hottest year on record. Yeah, but I like it warm? Well, there are consequences that will require drastic measures to forestall and survive. The recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change group states in its big report on 2014: "Without additional mitigation efforts beyond those in place today, and even with adaptation, warming by the end of the 21st century will lead to high to very high risk of severe, wide-spread and irreversible impacts globally (high confidence).”  No. 1! Climate Change. The bad news on this front is coming so fast...and ... hot, it’s hard to keep up with it all. For one, 2014 was the hottest year on record. Yeah, but I like...it warm? Well, there are consequences that will require drastic...measures to forestall and survive. The recent Intergovernmental Panel...on Climate Change group states in its big report on 2014: "Without...additional mitigation efforts beyond those in place today, and even...with adaptation, warming by the end of the 21st century will lead to...high to very high risk of severe, wide-spread and irreversible impacts...globally (high confidence).”  Image 3 of 11 |Things to fear more than terrorism  Rising sea levels. Newest data suggests that sea levels will rise faster and higher than estimated. No big deal, until you consider that 123 million Americans live “in counties directly on the shoreline.”  That 39 percent of our fellow citizens will face vastly higher storm swells and, Heaven forfend, tsunamis that have a lot more water in the ocean to work with … let alone a status quo of water over seawalls.  So how do you move, say, 25 percent of those people inland? Where do 30 million Americans move to? And, of course, it’s not like a city with a quarter of its area under water can just continue functioning. Image what happens to all those sewer lines that need pumping 24/7? So, the rest of us won't just get new beach front property. And of course, 25 percent is totally arbitrary. The number of people directly affected, as in permanent water in the yard and basemen “directly," will be higher.  From Esquire on Tuesday: “James Hansen, the legendary former top climate scientist for NASA, is the lead author of a sobering new study that suggests that sea levels will rise as much as 10 feet in the next 50 to 100 years. … Evidence from the study suggests that coastal cities like New York may only have a few decades of habitability left.” Also, keep in mind that it’s not like we have until then for this water to show up — that date is when it reaches the high level. For the next 50 years, the water will rise and rise and rise causing problems until it hits that devastating mark.  Image 3 of 11 - Things to fear more than terrorism  Rising sea levels. Newest data suggests that sea levels will rise faster and higher than estimated. No big deal, until you consider that 123 million Americans live “in counties directly on the shoreline.”  That 39 percent of our fellow citizens will face vastly higher storm swells and, Heaven forfend, tsunamis that have a lot more water in the ocean to work with … let alone a status quo of water over seawalls.  So how do you move, say, 25 percent of those people inland? Where do 30 million Americans move to? And, of course, it’s not like a city with a quarter of its area under water can just continue functioning. Image what happens to all those sewer lines that need pumping 24/7? So, the rest of us won't just get new beach front property. And of course, 25 percent is totally arbitrary. The number of people directly affected, as in permanent water in the yard and basemen “directly," will be higher.  From Esquire on Tuesday: “James Hansen, the legendary former top climate scientist for NASA, is the lead author of a sobering new study that suggests that sea levels will rise as much as 10 feet in the next 50 to 100 years. … Evidence from the study suggests that coastal cities like New York may only have a few decades of habitability left.” Also, keep in mind that it’s not like we have until then for this water to show up — that date is when it reaches the high level. For the next 50 years, the water will rise and rise and rise causing problems until it hits that devastating mark.  Rising sea levels. Newest data suggests that sea levels will rise...faster and higher than estimated. No big deal, until you consider that...123 million Americans live “in counties directly on...the shoreline.”  That 39 percent of our fellow citizens will...face vastly higher storm swells and, Heaven forfend, tsunamis that...have a lot more water in the ocean to work with … let alone a status...quo of water over seawalls.  So how do you move, say, 25 percent...of those people inland? Where do 30 million Americans move to? And, of...course, it’s not like a city with a quarter of its area under water...can just continue functioning. Image what happens to all those sewer...lines that need pumping 24/7? So, the rest of us won't just get new...beach front property. And of course, 25 percent is totally arbitrary....The number of people directly affected, as in permanent water in the...yard and basemen “directly," will be higher.  From Esquire on Tuesday: “James Hansen, the...legendary former top climate scientist for NASA, is the lead author of...a sobering new study that suggests that sea levels will rise as much...as 10 feet in the next 50 to 100 years. … Evidence from the study...suggests that coastal cities like New York may only have a few decades...of habitability left.” Also, keep in mind that it’s not like we...have until then for this water to show up — that date is when it...reaches the high level. For the next 50 years, the water will rise and...rise and rise causing problems until it hits that devastating...mark.  Image 4 of 11 |Things to fear more than terrorism  Where do all the people go? Migration due to drought and rising seas will dramatically change life in America primarily for those who will be priced out of the places, such as Seattle, that will weather the crisis better for longer. So, there will be pitch battles over prime land and water rights in American courts … at first? Tell me that doesn’t challenge your sense of wellbeing.  Image 4 of 11 - Things to fear more than terrorism  Where do all the people go? Migration due to drought and rising seas will dramatically change life in America primarily for those who will be priced out of the places, such as Seattle, that will weather the crisis better for longer. So, there will be pitch battles over prime land and water rights in American courts … at first? Tell me that doesn’t challenge your sense of wellbeing.  Where do all the people go? Migration due to drought and rising seas...will dramatically change life in America primarily for those who will...be priced out of the places, such as Seattle, that will weather the...crisis better for longer. So, there will be pitch battles over prime...land and water rights in American courts … at first? Tell me that...doesn’t challenge your sense of wellbeing.  Image 5 of 11 |Things to fear more than terrorism  Water doesn’t scare me! Well, how about wildfires? If they don’t kill you outright or destroy your property … then the budgetary impact (so far Washington has spent $35 million fighting 29 large wildfires this year) will still be great and the smoke will take its toll. Caption to above photo release Wednesday (July 22) by NASA:  "The 2015 wildfire season in the Arctic has been very intense – and very smoky. As of July 15, over 3,190,000 acres had burned across Canada, according to Natural Resources Canada. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), more than 600 fires had burned millions of acres in Alaska as of July 7, making this worst wildfire season so far in state’s history. In much of Russia the 2015 fire season also started early and intensely, with highly destructive fires as early as April in the northern regions.  "As the wildfires consume vegetation they emit large quantities of smoke. This is especially intense in peat soils, which is a common soil in many boreal regions, especially in boggy areas or in permafrost. Peat is a soil made up of partially decayed vegetable matter, is readily ignited, and tends to burn with smoldering, smoky combustion rather than open flames. When small fires burn locally, the smoke tends to stay closer to the ground, but when large quantities of smoke are present there is an increased chance of a large quantity of smoke rising into the upper levels of the atmosphere and traveling long distances.  "On July 3, 2015, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this true-color image of a river of smoke passing over the Greenland Sea. The smoke most likely arose from fires in Canada and Alaska. Smoke was also reported to have cross the North Pole by July 12. (Image Credit: NASA/Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE/EOSDIS MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC)  Image 5 of 11 - Things to fear more than terrorism  Water doesn’t scare me! Well, how about wildfires? If they don’t kill you outright or destroy your property … then the budgetary impact (so far Washington has spent $35 million fighting 29 large wildfires this year) will still be great and the smoke will take its toll. Caption to above photo release Wednesday (July 22) by NASA:  "The 2015 wildfire season in the Arctic has been very intense – and very smoky. As of July 15, over 3,190,000 acres had burned across Canada, according to Natural Resources Canada. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), more than 600 fires had burned millions of acres in Alaska as of July 7, making this worst wildfire season so far in state’s history. In much of Russia the 2015 fire season also started early and intensely, with highly destructive fires as early as April in the northern regions.  "As the wildfires consume vegetation they emit large quantities of smoke. This is especially intense in peat soils, which is a common soil in many boreal regions, especially in boggy areas or in permafrost. Peat is a soil made up of partially decayed vegetable matter, is readily ignited, and tends to burn with smoldering, smoky combustion rather than open flames. When small fires burn locally, the smoke tends to stay closer to the ground, but when large quantities of smoke are present there is an increased chance of a large quantity of smoke rising into the upper levels of the atmosphere and traveling long distances.  "On July 3, 2015, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this true-color image of a river of smoke passing over the Greenland Sea. The smoke most likely arose from fires in Canada and Alaska. Smoke was also reported to have cross the North Pole by July 12. (Image Credit: NASA/Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE/EOSDIS MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC)  Water doesn’t scare me! Well, how about wildfires? If they...don’t kill you outright or destroy your property … then the...budgetary impact (so far Washington has spent $35 million fighting 29...large wildfires this year) will still be great and the smoke will...take its toll. Caption to above photo release Wednesday (July 22) by...NASA:  "The 2015 wildfire season in the Arctic has been very...intense – and very smoky. As of July 15, over 3,190,000 acres had...burned across Canada, according to Natural Resources Canada. According...to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), more...than 600 fires had burned millions of acres in Alaska as of July 7,...making this worst wildfire season so far in state’s history. In much...of Russia the 2015 fire season also started early and intensely, with...highly destructive fires as early as April in the northern...regions.  "As the wildfires consume vegetation they emit large...quantities of smoke. This is especially intense in peat soils, which...is a common soil in many boreal regions, especially in boggy areas or...in permafrost. Peat is a soil made up of partially decayed vegetable...matter, is readily ignited, and tends to burn with smoldering, smoky...combustion rather than open flames. When small fires burn locally, the...smoke tends to stay closer to the ground, but when large quantities of...smoke are present there is an increased chance of a large quantity of...smoke rising into the upper levels of the atmosphere and traveling...long distances.  "On July 3, 2015, the Moderate Resolution...Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite...captured this true-color image of a river of smoke passing over the...Greenland Sea. The smoke most likely arose from fires in Canada and...Alaska. Smoke was also reported to have cross the North Pole by July...12. (Image Credit: NASA/Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE/EOSDIS MODIS Rapid...Response Team, NASA GSFC)  Image 6 of 11 |Things to fear more than terrorism  Then there are droughts, as we’ve heard, that last longer and become more frequent, all exacerbated by *cue romantic sound track* warm days and cool nights … as in more of the former and fewer of the latter. This from the July 15 report on temperature extremes by NOAA:  "Although temperatures diverge among continents from year to year, the overall global trend is clear: the number of warm days has increased while the number of cool nights has decreased. …  "Very warm days can pose human health risks, especially in places that lack air conditioning; can stunt crops or interrupt key growth stages; and can stress livestock and other animals, including commercially and recreationally valuable fish in rivers and streams. Cool nights also have important impacts. For example, extremely cold winter nights play a role in controlling pests such as pine beetles out West and the hemlock adelgid in the East.”  Image 6 of 11 - Things to fear more than terrorism  Then there are droughts, as we’ve heard, that last longer and become more frequent, all exacerbated by *cue romantic sound track* warm days and cool nights … as in more of the former and fewer of the latter. This from the July 15 report on temperature extremes by NOAA:  "Although temperatures diverge among continents from year to year, the overall global trend is clear: the number of warm days has increased while the number of cool nights has decreased. …  "Very warm days can pose human health risks, especially in places that lack air conditioning; can stunt crops or interrupt key growth stages; and can stress livestock and other animals, including commercially and recreationally valuable fish in rivers and streams. Cool nights also have important impacts. For example, extremely cold winter nights play a role in controlling pests such as pine beetles out West and the hemlock adelgid in the East.”  Then there are droughts, as we’ve heard, that last longer and...become more frequent, all exacerbated by *cue romantic sound track*...warm days and cool nights … as in more of the former and fewer of...the latter. This from the July 15 report on temperature extremes by...NOAA:  "Although temperatures diverge among continents from year...to year, the overall global trend is clear: the number of warm days...has increased while the number of cool nights has decreased....…  "Very warm days can pose human health risks, especially in...places that lack air conditioning; can stunt crops or interrupt key...growth stages; and can stress livestock and other animals, including...commercially and recreationally valuable fish in rivers and streams....Cool nights also have important impacts. For example, extremely cold...winter nights play a role in controlling pests such as pine beetles...out West and the hemlock adelgid in the East.”  Image 7 of 11 |Things to fear more than terrorism  OK OK … global warming with its drier dry areas and wetter wet areas (with rain falling all at once instead of over the usual timeframe), ocean acidification and salinization … The Washington Post said on Tuesday:  "The warming Earth is already having real-world effects on the environment to which humans have become accustomed. It’s true that scientists can’t tell you exactly how ever-higher concentrations of atmospheric greenhouse gases will redound through the climate system, just as a doctor can’t predict with absolute certainty how and when many risky behaviors will affect a single patient’s body. That’s an illogical reason to ignore their warnings. Instead, world governments must hedge against the distinct risk that, without change, humans will make bad trends much worse.”  Got it. What else you got for us to fear more than terrorists?  Image 7 of 11 - Things to fear more than terrorism  OK OK … global warming with its drier dry areas and wetter wet areas (with rain falling all at once instead of over the usual timeframe), ocean acidification and salinization … The Washington Post said on Tuesday:  "The warming Earth is already having real-world effects on the environment to which humans have become accustomed. It’s true that scientists can’t tell you exactly how ever-higher concentrations of atmospheric greenhouse gases will redound through the climate system, just as a doctor can’t predict with absolute certainty how and when many risky behaviors will affect a single patient’s body. That’s an illogical reason to ignore their warnings. Instead, world governments must hedge against the distinct risk that, without change, humans will make bad trends much worse.”  Got it. What else you got for us to fear more than terrorists?  OK OK … global warming with its drier dry areas and wetter wet...areas (with rain falling all at once instead of over the usual...timeframe), ocean acidification and salinization … The Washington...Post said on Tuesday:...  "The warming Earth is already having real-world effects on the...environment to which humans have become accustomed. It’s true that...scientists can’t tell you exactly how ever-higher concentrations of...atmospheric greenhouse gases will redound through the climate system,...just as a doctor can’t predict with absolute certainty how and when...many risky behaviors will affect a single patient’s body. That’s...an illogical reason to ignore their warnings. Instead, world...governments must hedge against the distinct risk that, without change,...humans will make bad trends much worse.”  Got it. What else you...got for us to fear more than terrorists?  Image 8 of 11 |Things to fear more than terrorism  Well, you can fear Artificial Intelligence. Oh, come on. A couple of robots is nothing compared to ISIS cutting your head off. Well, yeah, but what about a robot cutting my head off with a space-based laser … while destroying everything we humans currently rely on for infrastructure? Food, water, electricity, mobility etc. The list of luminaries fearing this very real future continues to grow: Bill Gates, Stephen Hawkings, Elon Musk. They oughtta know.  Let’s just put it this way: Imagine a future that isn’t like the "Matrix" or “I, Robot” based on Isaac Asimov’s work. This future doesn’t contain a self-aware machine intelligence that, instead of just disappearing into its own vast timeless reality, decides to focus its powers on screwing over the human race that birthed it. What this future contains is self-operating cars, trucks, trains and planes. Self-regulating and manipulating stock markets (human traders are already nearly obsolete). Machines that solve the big problems of global warming, poverty, pollution and disease. Machines that can do everything, absolutely everything a human can do at about a million times the speed with beyond-comprehension creativity and accuracy.  Now imagine your place in that world. Sure the first couple of years sitting around drinking, drugging, having sex and playing video games might be okay … if the AI decided to or had the programing to spread the wealth around (imagine Donald Trump programing an AI). But even so, your present and future environment is completely independent of your efforts. We could take up the great religious wars of time past (ahem) and cut each other’s heads off with zeal … but we’d have to program the machines to let us do that, and there’d be no immediate reason for it other than just trying to make some point or other that doesn’t even matter.  We have all the food and drink and advantage we can want, but there’s nothing to do. So, humans being what we are, we’ll likely attempt to use AI against each other … then the AI becomes like a nuclear weapon wielded by those who program it. One tactic could be to program your AI to make China’s AI turn the resources of the entire nation into paper clips. Or China’s AI hacks our AI and convinces it to turn everything off.  “One can imagine such technology outsmarting financial markets, out-inventing human researchers, out-manipulating human leaders, and developing weapons we cannot even understand. Whereas the short-term impact of AI depends on who controls it, the long-term impact depends on whether it can be controlled at all,” Stephen Hawking et al. in Huff Post Science.  Image 8 of 11 - Things to fear more than terrorism  Well, you can fear Artificial Intelligence. Oh, come on. A couple of robots is nothing compared to ISIS cutting your head off. Well, yeah, but what about a robot cutting my head off with a space-based laser … while destroying everything we humans currently rely on for infrastructure? Food, water, electricity, mobility etc. The list of luminaries fearing this very real future continues to grow: Bill Gates, Stephen Hawkings, Elon Musk. They oughtta know.  Let’s just put it this way: Imagine a future that isn’t like the "Matrix" or “I, Robot” based on Isaac Asimov’s work. This future doesn’t contain a self-aware machine intelligence that, instead of just disappearing into its own vast timeless reality, decides to focus its powers on screwing over the human race that birthed it. What this future contains is self-operating cars, trucks, trains and planes. Self-regulating and manipulating stock markets (human traders are already nearly obsolete). Machines that solve the big problems of global warming, poverty, pollution and disease. Machines that can do everything, absolutely everything a human can do at about a million times the speed with beyond-comprehension creativity and accuracy.  Now imagine your place in that world. Sure the first couple of years sitting around drinking, drugging, having sex and playing video games might be okay … if the AI decided to or had the programing to spread the wealth around (imagine Donald Trump programing an AI). But even so, your present and future environment is completely independent of your efforts. We could take up the great religious wars of time past (ahem) and cut each other’s heads off with zeal … but we’d have to program the machines to let us do that, and there’d be no immediate reason for it other than just trying to make some point or other that doesn’t even matter.  We have all the food and drink and advantage we can want, but there’s nothing to do. So, humans being what we are, we’ll likely attempt to use AI against each other … then the AI becomes like a nuclear weapon wielded by those who program it. One tactic could be to program your AI to make China’s AI turn the resources of the entire nation into paper clips. Or China’s AI hacks our AI and convinces it to turn everything off.  “One can imagine such technology outsmarting financial markets, out-inventing human researchers, out-manipulating human leaders, and developing weapons we cannot even understand. Whereas the short-term impact of AI depends on who controls it, the long-term impact depends on whether it can be controlled at all,” Stephen Hawking et al. in Huff Post Science.  Well, you can fear Artificial Intelligence. Oh, come on. A couple...of robots is nothing compared to ISIS cutting your head off. Well,...yeah, but what about a robot cutting my head off with a space-based...laser … while destroying everything we humans currently rely on for...infrastructure? Food, water, electricity, mobility etc. The list of...luminaries fearing this very real future continues to grow: Bill...Gates, Stephen Hawkings, Elon Musk. They oughtta know.  Let’s...just put it this way: Imagine a future that isn’t like the "Matrix"...or “I, Robot” based on Isaac Asimov’s work. This future...doesn’t contain a self-aware machine intelligence that, instead of...just disappearing into its own vast timeless reality, decides to focus...its powers on screwing over the human race that birthed it. What this...future contains is self-operating cars, trucks, trains and planes....Self-regulating and manipulating stock markets (human traders are...already nearly obsolete). Machines that solve the big problems of...global warming, poverty, pollution and disease. Machines that can do...everything, absolutely everything a human can do at about a million...times the speed with beyond-comprehension creativity and...accuracy.  Now imagine your place in that world. Sure the first...couple of years sitting around drinking, drugging, having sex and...playing video games might be okay … if the AI decided to or had the...programing to spread the wealth around (imagine Donald Trump...programing an AI). But even so, your present and future environment is...completely independent of your efforts. We could take up the great...religious wars of time past (ahem) and cut each other’s heads off...with zeal … but we’d have to program the machines to let us do...that, and there’d be no immediate reason for it other than just...trying to make some point or other that doesn’t even matter....  We have all the food and drink and advantage we can want, but...there’s nothing to do. So, humans being what we are, we’ll likely...attempt to use AI against each other … then the AI becomes like a...nuclear weapon wielded by those who program it. One tactic could be to...program your AI to make China’s AI turn the resources of the entire...nation into paper clips. Or China’s AI hacks our AI and convinces it...to turn everything off.  “One can imagine such technology...outsmarting financial markets, out-inventing human researchers,...out-manipulating human leaders, and developing weapons we cannot even...understand. Whereas the short-term impact of AI depends on who...controls it, the long-term impact depends on whether it can be...controlled at all,” Stephen Hawking et al. in Huff Post Science.  Image 9 of 11 |Things to fear more than terrorism  Meteor strikes. Asteroids large enough to really hurt us are out there, but what can we do? Well, a lot of scientists say we can track more asteroids and have plans readied for a response if one is detected heading our way. Waste of money? Sure, if you think humanity should just roll the dice on all fronts.  The Associated of Space Explores states effectively: “Human society faces a long-term hazard from asteroid and comet impacts on Earth. The chances are 100% that our planet will be struck again by a large near-Earth object (NEO), and we have discovered only a tiny fraction of the million or so objects capable of destroying a city. Recognizing the threat posed by hazardous NEOs, the ASE, as an international association of influential space fliers, is active in promoting global discussions aimed at a near-term capability to prevent a future damaging impact.”  Image 9 of 11 - Things to fear more than terrorism  Meteor strikes. Asteroids large enough to really hurt us are out there, but what can we do? Well, a lot of scientists say we can track more asteroids and have plans readied for a response if one is detected heading our way. Waste of money? Sure, if you think humanity should just roll the dice on all fronts.  The Associated of Space Explores states effectively: “Human society faces a long-term hazard from asteroid and comet impacts on Earth. The chances are 100% that our planet will be struck again by a large near-Earth object (NEO), and we have discovered only a tiny fraction of the million or so objects capable of destroying a city. Recognizing the threat posed by hazardous NEOs, the ASE, as an international association of influential space fliers, is active in promoting global discussions aimed at a near-term capability to prevent a future damaging impact.”  Meteor strikes. Asteroids large enough to really hurt us are out...there, but what can we do? Well, a lot of scientists say we can track...more asteroids and have plans readied for a response if one is...detected heading our way. Waste of money? Sure, if you think humanity...should just roll the dice on all fronts.  The Associated of...Space Explores states effectively: “Human society faces a long-term...hazard from asteroid and comet impacts on Earth. The chances are 100%...that our planet will be struck again by a large near-Earth object...(NEO), and we have discovered only a tiny fraction of the million or...so objects capable of destroying a city. Recognizing the threat posed...by hazardous NEOs, the ASE, as an international association of...influential space fliers, is active in promoting global discussions...aimed at a near-term capability to prevent a future damaging...impact.”  Image 10 of 11 |Things to fear more than terrorism  How about the collapse of bee and bumble bee populations destroying agriculture as we know it.  As a Slate writer put it: “Bumblebees are facing critical declines across both Europe and North America due solely to climate change, reports a new global study published this week in Science. As temperatures rise, these humble bumblers are failing to migrate out of their homelands, which are rapidly becoming inhospitable to their survival. This is bad news for bumblebees, and it’s also terrible news for humans.  “Pollination by insects—mostly bees—is necessary for 75 percent of the crops we depend on for food. As bees have declined over the past few decades, our reliance on them has become abundantly clear. United Nations Under-Secretary-General Achim Steiner put it eloquently back in 2011: "Human beings have fabricated the illusion that in the 21st century they have the technological prowess to be independent of nature. Bees underline the reality that we are more, not less dependent on nature's services in a world of close to seven billion people.”  Image 10 of 11 - Things to fear more than terrorism  How about the collapse of bee and bumble bee populations destroying agriculture as we know it.  As a Slate writer put it: “Bumblebees are facing critical declines across both Europe and North America due solely to climate change, reports a new global study published this week in Science. As temperatures rise, these humble bumblers are failing to migrate out of their homelands, which are rapidly becoming inhospitable to their survival. This is bad news for bumblebees, and it’s also terrible news for humans.  “Pollination by insects—mostly bees—is necessary for 75 percent of the crops we depend on for food. As bees have declined over the past few decades, our reliance on them has become abundantly clear. United Nations Under-Secretary-General Achim Steiner put it eloquently back in 2011: "Human beings have fabricated the illusion that in the 21st century they have the technological prowess to be independent of nature. Bees underline the reality that we are more, not less dependent on nature's services in a world of close to seven billion people.”  How about the collapse of bee and bumble bee populations destroying...agriculture as we know it.  As a Slate writer put it: “Bumblebees are facing critical...declines across both Europe and North America due solely to climate...change, reports a new global study published this week in Science. As...temperatures rise, these humble bumblers are failing to migrate out of...their homelands, which are rapidly becoming inhospitable to their...survival. This is bad news for bumblebees, and it’s also terrible...news for humans.  “Pollination by insects—mostly bees—is...necessary for 75 percent of the crops we depend on for food. As bees...have declined over the past few decades, our reliance on them has...become abundantly clear. United Nations Under-Secretary-General Achim...Steiner put it eloquently back in 2011: "Human beings have fabricated...the illusion that in the 21st century they have the technological...prowess to be independent of nature. Bees underline the reality that...we are more, not less dependent on nature's services in a world of...close to seven billion people.”  Image 11 of 11 |Things to fear more than terrorism  Disease outbreak? Ebola had us all freaked out for a couple of months. So, where did it go? Just *poof* and it’s gone? Well, it and worse are still out there! *Cue death march music*  As The Guardian put it during the last ebola outbreak: "Humanity is locked in a millennia-old battle to the death with diseases … We have fought them back with herculean effort. We developed penicillin and other antibiotics to treat bacteria like the ones thought responsible for the Black Death, and vaccines to fight viruses.  But we are in an arms race. And while our ability to treat disease is better than ever before, the current outbreak of Ebola, and the first diagnosis of the virus outside of Africa, is reminding us that as our cities get bigger and international travel becomes easier, the risks involved in an outbreak grow ever higher. We are, as Mark Woolhouse, a professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh, says, “in a perfect storm for viral emergence.”  Image 11 of 11 - Things to fear more than terrorism  Disease outbreak? Ebola had us all freaked out for a couple of months. So, where did it go? Just *poof* and it’s gone? Well, it and worse are still out there! *Cue death march music*  As The Guardian put it during the last ebola outbreak: "Humanity is locked in a millennia-old battle to the death with diseases … We have fought them back with herculean effort. We developed penicillin and other antibiotics to treat bacteria like the ones thought responsible for the Black Death, and vaccines to fight viruses.  But we are in an arms race. And while our ability to treat disease is better than ever before, the current outbreak of Ebola, and the first diagnosis of the virus outside of Africa, is reminding us that as our cities get bigger and international travel becomes easier, the risks involved in an outbreak grow ever higher. We are, as Mark Woolhouse, a professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh, says, “in a perfect storm for viral emergence.”  Disease outbreak? Ebola had us all freaked out for a couple of...months. So, where did it go? Just *poof* and it’s gone? Well, it and...worse are still out there! *Cue death march music*  As The...Guardian put it during the last ebola...outbreak: "Humanity is locked in a millennia-old battle to the...death with diseases … We have fought them back with herculean...effort. We developed penicillin and other antibiotics to treat...bacteria like the ones thought responsible for the Black Death, and...vaccines to fight viruses.  But we are in an arms race. And while...our ability to treat disease is better than ever before, the current...outbreak of Ebola, and the first diagnosis of the virus outside of...Africa, is reminding us that as our cities get bigger and...international travel becomes easier, the risks involved in an outbreak...grow ever higher. We are, as Mark Woolhouse, a professor of infectious...disease epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh, says, “in a...perfect storm for viral emergence.”
Americans fear terrorists most of all, according to new data by the PEW Research Center, and that’s stupid. What we fear: ISIS – 68 percent; Iran’s nuclear program – 62 percent; Cyber-attacks – 59 ...