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Atmospheric CO2 levels accelerate upwards

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Re: Atmospheric CO2 levels accelerate upwards

#201

Post by pizza »

jsmthrowaway wrote: post #114
pizza wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand, who needs nation-states when they're submerged under water and their populations decimated?

Keep in mind that it is a perfectly reasonable position to both: a) agree with you and GP (though perhaps not to such a dramatic end), and b) slap on the brakes when discussing constitutionally perilous endeavors that could ultimately harm us more than this discussion can forecast; what else can I forbid or do in the name of existential issues? That I'm in the apparent minority here based on voting is far more alarmi…

These are fair points. I think there exists a certain degree of silent desperation in the population. Climate change is basically just dismissed as obnoxious or phony by the current administration and many in power. The Trump WH seem willfully ignorant, in particular..

To be honest, there are probably many Americans who are less attached to maintaining America's legal foundation - and would accept the laws of any other free society - than they are to taking action against climate change. I don't mean this to say to "throw out the constitution", and I agree we shouldn't remove things that grant us stability.. But what does even the totality of the rule of law mean in the face of the laws of physics?

To be fair I probably derailed the thread from the topic of advertising's nonexemption from 1st Amendment protection..

Re: Atmospheric CO2 levels accelerate upwards

#202

Post by tonyedgecombe »

spangry wrote: post #180
delegate wrote: post #145

The message I"m getting is not that I have to prepare for something or change energy sources , it's that "our lifestyle is killing the planet much faster than we thought". CO2 levels is just one of a myriad of indicators that are off the scale now. By lifestyle I mean supermarkets and restaurants and iPhones and planes ... all the stuff that we're so proud of as a society. Winning, getting ahead, being number one, ou…

CO2 levels is just one of a myriad of indicators that are off the scale now. By lifestyle I mean supermarkets and restaurants and iPhones and planes ... all the stuff that we're so proud of as a society. Scale relative to what, or when? I mean, yeah, we are certainly 'off the scale' for supermarkets, iPhones and planes compared to, say, the ancient Romans. But in fairness, they've got us well and truly beat on the ig…

Yet the reality is self-actualisation / spirituality are as out of reach for many now as they were years ago when we were 'poorer'.

Re: Atmospheric CO2 levels accelerate upwards

#203

Post by tremon »

kpil wrote: post #162
tremon wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That waste problem was already theoretically solved in the 1950s: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_breeder_reactor It is mostly because of military influences (proliferation risk) and environmental activism that these solutions have never been fully developed and deployed.

There are actual risks with handling really dirty waste and turn it into really dirty fuel - you can't just hand-wave away that as "environmental activism." It's much more risky than just leaving the waste in a pond cooling for 20 years while hoping that you will be retired before someone actually have to get rid of it.

Of course there are risks -- but are those risks really of a different order than having to build nuclear storage containers that will hold for thousands of years?

I'd say that activism has left us with the most undesirable outcome: we still have ancient reactor designs producing unmanageable waste, and every solution to actually reduce that waste has become politically unfeasible. All that we've done is create massive amounts of technical debt that will burden generations to come.

Re: Atmospheric CO2 levels accelerate upwards

#204

Post by uranian »

fsiefken wrote: post #181
uranian wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its the "economy" and the lack of vision and vigor of politicians to change it. As long as our policies and laws are still in favor of the economy we are doomed.

Do we have an alternative working model? What we have now, works to a certain extent, but is perhaps not sustainable. The risks, the potential cost of (radical?) changes is to high.

I doubt there is a working model, but The Venus Project by Jacque Fresco is very inspiring, moving towards a resource based economy. Our current economy is flawed to the extent that it will destroy us if we don't replace it with something better for our planet and humanity overall.

Re: Atmospheric CO2 levels accelerate upwards

#205

Post by gspetr »

amarant wrote: post #95

We have to expand nuclear power. Many don't like it but at this point we have no other choice. Let solar drive the phasing out of nuclear reactors instead of coal power plants! Sadly in my country (Sweden) nuclear is not only taboo but it's illegal to perform research of the subject.. Laws passed by a severely misinformed "green" movement...

Nuclear is over. Regardless if you're for it or against. It just is, at least in democratic countries.

After Fukushima it is political suicide to promote nuclear. The politicians will not vote for it. You'd need supreme political capital to expend on lobbying for it and the ROI is just not there for them.

Re: Atmospheric CO2 levels accelerate upwards

#206

Post by sundvor »

hyperbovine wrote: post #183
yjgyhj wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Being vegetarian is easy and healthy. I recommend it. If nothing else, buy a nice cookbook and make it a habit to cook nice non-meat food one night a week. Make it a date with your partner!

It's worth reiterating that there's a whole continuum between eating meat and eating no meat called "eating less meat". Always amazes me how people overlook this when writing off reduced meat consumption as not for them. Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison is a great way to start down this path.

I was going to say, I might look at simply reducing consumption. If everyone cut 1/3rd of their meat out, that'd have a huge impact.

Re: Atmospheric CO2 levels accelerate upwards

#207

Post by harwoodleon »

This is very simple, but something most of the HN people won't be able to do.

STOP FLYING!

Passenger numbers have gone up in a step change with CO2 count over the last 50 years, contrails compound the effect. The sad thing is - you will all look at this message and think. Why should I have to change? Why me, surely someone else must fix this?

Don't wait for governments, don't wait for industry. Make individual choices that affect the output now and we will see a reduction (eventually).

The psychology in this tells us not to lose hope, but to look to technology to solve the issues. But we must act responsibly in the meantime.

Re: Atmospheric CO2 levels accelerate upwards

#208

Post by raaaaraaaa1 »

scrps wrote: post #75

I generally get funny looks and the feeling that people are imagining me with a toothbrush mustache and a comb-over when I suggest this: Wouldn't population control to an extent help slow the rate of emissions? Caps on births or higher taxes on family sizes, etc. I know political/moral/ethical issues would make it impractical but I don't think any potential solution is worth ignoring.

Population will be reduced naturally as competition for natural resources causes wars.

Re: Atmospheric CO2 levels accelerate upwards

#209

Post by tonyedgecombe »

ZlxVLI1eWNFSDc wrote: post #136
givan wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When debugging performance problems you always search for the biggest bottlenecks not the minor ones, so what are the biggest contributors to CO2? I don't think the problem is the number of people living on earth but how modern society is making people live, for example some big contributors are high meat consumption (cattle methane) inefficient transportation (big suvs with just the driver inside sitting in traffic…

>We need to change or habits not our numbers, this is the source of the problem. So you say, doesn't make it true. The source of the problem is every person; increase the number, worsen the problem.

No, it's no good blaming the poor for a problem the rich world has created.

Re: Atmospheric CO2 levels accelerate upwards

#210

Post by specialist »

delegate wrote: post #145

The message I"m getting is not that I have to prepare for something or change energy sources , it's that "our lifestyle is killing the planet much faster than we thought". CO2 levels is just one of a myriad of indicators that are off the scale now. By lifestyle I mean supermarkets and restaurants and iPhones and planes ... all the stuff that we're so proud of as a society. Winning, getting ahead, being number one, ou…

"Ultimately it is the lack of spirituality in people that's killing the planet."

Bad accounting is killing our planet. Neglecting important parts of the balance sheet creates perverse incentives.

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