The Uninhabitable Earth • Hacker News Board

Re: The Uninhabitable Earth

#91

Post by crush-n-spread » Mon, Jul 10, 2017, 4:19 PM UTC

anon1253 wrote: post #58

It's silly to think we're unable to change. Nearly all of the CO2 emissions were done in just a generation. Post-world war 2 industrialization, automation and globalization caused the vast majority of CO2. There are still people alive today who lived through WO2. Why are we talking like this is an insurmountable problem, that the momentum is just too big? It literally took /one/ average human life span to get where w…

Joel, why do you live your life in a way that does not appease your true desires and concerns? You know that your current job and path is off course. Why are you sticking with it?

Re: The Uninhabitable Earth

#92

Post by tonyedgecombe » Mon, Jul 10, 2017, 4:20 PM UTC

paulpauper wrote: post #51

ChrisLomont wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They've never had the amount of data, the power of modern science, and computer modeling to show how it plays out, to back up the claims before.

but modern humans have better technology to possibly prevent, mitigate, and or delay crisis

We don't seem to be deploying it that much, carbon emissions are continuing to rise.

Re: The Uninhabitable Earth

#93

Post by state_machine » Mon, Jul 10, 2017, 4:21 PM UTC

I did not realize the physiological effects would be as severe:

> The fraction of carbon dioxide is growing: It just crossed 400 parts per million, and high-end estimates extrapolating from current trends suggest it will hit 1,000 ppm by 2100. At that concentration, compared to the air we breathe now, human cognitive ability declines by 21 percent.

Re: The Uninhabitable Earth

#94

Post by Danihan » Mon, Jul 10, 2017, 4:21 PM UTC

RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #68

A few observations: Trying to scare people into behavior does not work very well. The Catholic Church spent centuries threatening people with eternal hell if they had extra-marital sex, and people still had extra-marital sex. Studies have shown that abstinence only sex education results in more teen pregnancies. Thomas Malthus saw an impending famine and begged people to have fewer children. People did not listen. Wh…

>Birth control has resulted in a decline in teen pregnancies and population stabilization where it is available.

Birth control has also contributed to escalated rates of dysgenic fertility. Smarter people use it and don't pass their genes on, while those with worse future planning abilities disregard it and have more children.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289615...

Re: The Uninhabitable Earth

#95

Post by Brakenshire » Mon, Jul 10, 2017, 4:22 PM UTC

RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #70

awjr wrote: post #5

This always reminds me of this cartoon https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/514325219919218393/ "What if it's a big hoax and we create a better world for nothing?" I think the key point that the article makes is that fossil fuels have enabled much of the industrialisation of the 20th and 21st century but it is also beginning to make certain areas of the world uninhabitable and yet we still seem to want to ignore the warning…

Your quote demonstrates that global warming is either not all that bad or you are not advocating enough stuff to fix it. If it really is an emergency and is that bad, we should be doing stuff that would make our world worse if we are wrong.

Well, a lot of scientists do advocate to keep warming to below 1.5 C, but that is not seriously pursued because it is not considered to be economically realistic or politically viable. The Paris trajectory is aiming for 2C, and hoping that it won't end up being significantly more. That is, not making the okay the enemy of the good, or good the enemy of the perfect.

Re: The Uninhabitable Earth

#96

Post by Daishiman » Mon, Jul 10, 2017, 4:23 PM UTC

hacknat wrote: post #52

latch wrote: post #15

It's pretty hopeless. I used to think we'd adjust in time, but that was when the decline looked more linear (or at least I thought it looked more linear). Of the many people who I know who are seriously concerned re climate change, I'd say 2 have taken truly meaningful steps . It's not the handful of climate change deniers that's the problem. It's the overwhelming number of people who want to say they're green, but s…

> It's the overwhelming number of people who want to say they're green, but still own two cars, never take public transport, eat meat daily, live in big houses, and buy buy buy. The car and the "buy, buy, buy" are the only real problems. Cut those two out and the big houses and meat aren't a big deal (or are at least workeable). Probably the biggest thing you could do to help the environment is not buy any kind of mo…

Home heating and meat consumption are the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases. The creation of the mobile device is peanuts in comparison.

Re: The Uninhabitable Earth

#97

Post by Daishiman » Mon, Jul 10, 2017, 4:23 PM UTC

stevebmark wrote: post #85

Well, it worked. I'm worried, and I'm turning off some electronics I normally leave on.

Are you going to stop eating meat?

Re: The Uninhabitable Earth

#98

Post by Daishiman » Mon, Jul 10, 2017, 4:24 PM UTC

paulpauper wrote: post #51

ChrisLomont wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They've never had the amount of data, the power of modern science, and computer modeling to show how it plays out, to back up the claims before.

but modern humans have better technology to possibly prevent, mitigate, and or delay crisis

And it's not enough. It just isn't.

Re: The Uninhabitable Earth

#99

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Jul 10, 2017, 4:27 PM UTC

vram22 wrote: post #54

grondilu wrote: post #43

If you feel like watching more hopeful content on the subject, there is Allan Savory's TED talk about how to stop desertification[1], and Freeman Dyson's speech called "heretic thoughts about science and society"[2]. Basically, those speakers suggest climate change is an issue that can be solved with better land management . Soil is extremely good at absorbing Carbon Dioxide. Isn't it why there is so little CO2 in th…

Re. reversing desertification: Came across this technique - imprinting - recently - seems interesting: Imprinting soils – Creating Instant Edge for Large Scale Revegetation of Barren Lands: 1) https://permaculturenews.org/2012/09/19/imprinting-soils-cre... Excerpt: [ Imprinting is a method for instantly adding what permaculturists call the ‘edge effect’ to soils, utilising a heavy and dimpled/wedged roller to ‘imprin…

[deleted]

Re: The Uninhabitable Earth

#100

Post by tonyedgecombe » Mon, Jul 10, 2017, 4:27 PM UTC

latch wrote: post #15

It's pretty hopeless. I used to think we'd adjust in time, but that was when the decline looked more linear (or at least I thought it looked more linear). Of the many people who I know who are seriously concerned re climate change, I'd say 2 have taken truly meaningful steps . It's not the handful of climate change deniers that's the problem. It's the overwhelming number of people who want to say they're green, but s…

The big energy producers love this message because it results in nothing happening. The only way we will solve this problem is by attacking it at the source, by shifting taxes to carbon.