NASA reports earth gets hotter by 4 degrees - Page 3  

Yeah, the guy driving the Prius is just hurting the environment slightly less than someone who drives a van or pickup. He is still emitting greenhouse gases.

 

I drive a civic, and it's a Low Emissions Vehicle, CARB certified, blah blah. I think it's cool, but I don't go around educating people about it like I'm better than them. I am in no way saving the planet. In my opinion saving the planet is impossible due to how our society is set up. IMO this "green" movement is just a scam for some guy to make a few extra bucks.

 

I'm trying my best not to talk about politics.

Edited by salannelson - 11/1/10 at 2:24pm

One of the best movies ever.  Rent it, DL it, steal it.  Try to ignore the narrator in the video below.

 

Edited by Anaxilus - 11/1/10 at 2:26pm

Heck that's on Netflix watch instantly so I'll watch it. . .  what a cheesey trailer tho lol. . . 

Edited by Satellite_6 - 11/1/10 at 2:42pm

haha win.

 

 

And it's definitely not going up, my degrees for this week are averaging out high 30s and low 40s, in case you didn't know that's pretty damn cold...

I think they're talking relatively hotter e.g. instead of it being 86 degrees next Aug 10th, it will be 90. Ad infinitum.
 

In all seriousness, driving a Prius probably wont make any difference, as manufacturing the car produces more pollution than the car would emit in its lifetime.  The number 1 cause of global warming is the production of meat for human and animal consumption.  If someone wanted to be serious about making a difference, they'd become vegetarian, or even vegan, as well as doing as much as possible to use fewer resources in their daily life.

 

As for the OP's post, 4 degrees in one year is impossible, but very likely in a couple of decades.  By that time, if things continue as they are, the consequences of the temperature change will have resulted in such severe environmental de-stabilization that we would have lost a couple of billion people to the effects.  Europe is already heading rapidly towards a food shortage in the next decade as a result of things so far.

I rented a Prius for a road trip a couple of years ago. Environmental arguments aside, the thing saved me a lot of cash in gas. Almost bought one, but I ran the numbers and found a conventional car that made better economic sense, even without as good of mileage.

I do agree with cutting back on meat, Currawong. A couple of years ago, I made some radical changes in my eating habits. I'm vegetarian 5-6 days a week. Can't bring myself to entirely cut out meat, but I am happy with veggies, fruit and grain 95% of the time. Funny thing is my cat eats more meat than I do these days.

Good to hear.

 

I'm thinking of trading up from my 660c buzz-box to a second-hand Prius next year some time, as that will get me the best of both worlds.  If not that, then a Honda Fit, as they get as good mileage even with a larger engine, and once you've driven a car with a IVT gearbox, it's impossible to go back.  Regardless though, if I'm going to be waiting a minute or more at red lights, I turn my engine off, even with my tiny car.  It all adds up.

Dude, you better research that concept. First of all, you probably halving the life of your car's ignition and other parts by doing this. Think of the energy/pollution involved in dumping an old car and building a new one! And secondly, something tells me the intial starting of the car probably produces the maximum amount of exhaust.

 

 

I don't know why people can't get the concept that saving money on gas in a GOOD THING. Jesus, EVERY nitwit in my area of California drives a Ford F150. It's fugging ridiculous. Everyone is in a truck. Mass conciousness/herd mentality/unoriginal thought. I'm disgusted by it. California the land of forward thinking .... except when it comes to having to drive a behemoth truck to compensate for their lack of brains. I've been driving small Hondas for 35 years. They drive better, last longer and are great on gas. My old Civic hatch used to get 42mpg back in 1993! Why wouldn't you want to save money on gas? My dumb friend drives a Jeep and says he has to practically stop at the gas station twice a day for his commute to work. Ludacrist. Why are we so stupid in America? Gas shot up over $4 a gallon a year or two ago and everyone was talking Prius. It drops back down a dollar and everyone jumps back into a Ford Avalanche!  I personally HATE people who drive trucks. I loving staying the speed limit in my CIvi SI on the highway to piss them off (because they're speeding, of course) so I can listening to them floor their gas pedal, rev their engines and roar around me. I have to laugh thinking, "Okay fool, you just burned up three dollars worth of your paycheck to save 1.5 seconds of time." God, Americans, why are we so stupid with our trucks?

 

Edited by chadbang - 11/2/10 at 9:09am

Pickups are so spectacularly practical that they've become ubiquitous. The downside is that many now "need" a pickup to haul around their stuff, and pickups have gotten so incredibly expensive that families can no longer afford to have a secondary vehicle. It used to be easy to have a pickup for when you need it and a small car for when you don't. Not so easy anymore for the less fortunate among us.

It is strange how families "need" a 6,000 lbs. vehicle with four wheel drive just to take two kids around. Do they really have that much stuff to take along?

Growing up, we always had conventional sedans for our four person family. They worked fine and I never once remember running out of space or wishing that there was more room to take things.

Personally, I'm fond of hatchbacks with a clutch. There's always plenty of room to occasionally haul stuff when you fold down the rear seats. Mine gets around 25/35 MPG city/highway. To really slash gas consumption, I'm tempted to pick up a Ninja 250. It'll outhandle a moped, is faster and has much better brakes, too, and still turns in 70MPG.

LOLZ

LoL, they sent people to moon THEN (in 1969 or so)

But right now they send only robots... Let's say NASA development runs backward.

Nothing wrong with starting and stopping at red lights other than increased wear and tear on batteries and starters for cars that weren't designed to do so, many manufacturers are incorporating that feature into upcoming cars in order to improve real world city mileage. The only real impediment to implementation is, ironically, the EPA fuel economy testing cycle where the fuel savings from start stop tech doesn't show up.

Don't buy it. The majority of non-commercial trucks and large SUVs around here aren't used for anything that a compact hatchback or station wagon couldn't also comfortably handle. Occasionally, the extra hauling capacity afforded by a truck is used a couple of times a year, which is the sort of frequency more appropriately handled by a rental. Mostly though, trucks and large SUVs are bought on image instead of practicality.

Don't buy the cost argument either. If it were true, there would still be a healthy market for affordable compact trucks in the US. There isn't. The Big 3 are in the process of pulling out of that market as their non-commercial customers have long been trending towards extended and crew style cab half ton trucks with sticker prices well in the entry level luxury range.

Edited by marvin - 11/2/10 at 10:37am

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