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Study shows massive insect loss

washingtonpost.com

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Re: Study shows massive insect loss

#131

Post by roryisok »

moosey wrote: post #94
ethbro wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And so, slowly, we boil. Climate changing power, without the wisdom to wield it, is as plausible a Great Filter as anything. Hard to develop a space program when you're spending all your production fighting over scarce resources, plugging leaks, and attempting to feed a planet with decreasing yields. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Filter

I had two daughters before I came to the conclusion that this is the most likely path for humanity at this point. There is a possibility of a global awakening that might prevent this tragic loss of megafauna. But I'm already a vegan and don't drive much; can't think of more to do, and while I'm not too bad at dealing with this, it can be quite depressing.

As someone who's been through several cycles of climate related depression this year, I just want to reach out to fellow HNers and say it's not the end of the world.

Our society, and our civilisation is going to change, in massive ways in the coming century, one way or another. And all of us are going to live in less luxury than we do now - simply because such luxury is unsustainable. But it doesn't mean or children are all going to starve or drown.

We don't know what the future holds. Go back to the boundless optimism of the fifties, where everyone thought we'd live on the moon by now, drive spaceships to work and have robot butlers. I feel like today some of us are at the other end of the spectrum, in boundless pesimism.

Do all you can to pollute less, and encourage those around you to do the same. Drive less. Don't fly. Buy second hand. Replace your oil boiler. Grow veg. Write to your representatives But don't give up on your children's future. Just because the world of their twenties won't resemble yours, doesn't mean they won't find happiness. In 30 years the world could be ugly by todays standards but you and i and our kids will probably all still be in it.

And for your own mental health, don't let HN comments drag you down. I've seen people on here literally advocating suicide over this issue. We as tech heads are typically of a personality which is susceptible to these negative feedback loops, and reading posts on here can break a person. I'm breaking my own rule today even being here but I'm feeling good for once and wanted to spread it.

Be well, have fun with your daughters, watch them grow up.

Re: Study shows massive insect loss

#132

Post by ainiriand »

CptFribble wrote: post #98

At what point does the cost of continuing the status quo outweigh changing it? How do you even measure something like that, when the people in charge of making changes won't live to see them? I think a major problem humanity has, among many others, is the way we assign leadership roles. Leadership of major institutions should be balanced not just among gender, but also among age. Every government should include decis…

Take a look at the Irish Citizen Assembly which predates on your idea. The last decision was making abortion legal once and for all.

https://www.citizensassembly.ie/en/

Re: Study shows massive insect loss

#133

Post by y0ghur7_xxx »

moosey wrote: post #94
ethbro wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And so, slowly, we boil. Climate changing power, without the wisdom to wield it, is as plausible a Great Filter as anything. Hard to develop a space program when you're spending all your production fighting over scarce resources, plugging leaks, and attempting to feed a planet with decreasing yields. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Filter

I had two daughters before I came to the conclusion that this is the most likely path for humanity at this point. There is a possibility of a global awakening that might prevent this tragic loss of megafauna. But I'm already a vegan and don't drive much; can't think of more to do, and while I'm not too bad at dealing with this, it can be quite depressing.

> I'm already a vegan and don't drive much

Since 71% of pollution is coming from 100 companies[1] I don't think that you can stop global warming by being vegan or driving less. Blaming us single individuals is easy, but we a are not directly responsible for this. The most we can do is stop buying stuff from these polluting companies.

[1]https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/jul/10...

Re: Study shows massive insect loss

#134

Post by goatlover »

kamaal wrote: post #120
ethbro wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And so, slowly, we boil. Climate changing power, without the wisdom to wield it, is as plausible a Great Filter as anything. Hard to develop a space program when you're spending all your production fighting over scarce resources, plugging leaks, and attempting to feed a planet with decreasing yields. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Filter

>>Hard to develop a space program when you're spending all your production fighting over scarce resources, plugging leaks, and attempting to feed a planet with decreasing yields. All the more reason to develop your space program. At the risk of pointing to Movies, but yet, one of the underlying themes in the movie Interstellar is some day there will be no option but to leave. So its about time we think seriously abou…

It would take a whole lot for Earth to become less habital and more expensive than anywhere in space we can reach. Interstellar also included Matthew McConuhagh communicating quantum gravity info to his daughter in the past from inside a black hole. That’s not a realistic scenario.

Re: Study shows massive insect loss

#135

Post by goatlover »

anonytrary wrote: post #45
carlesfe wrote: post #10

Years ago, my family used to drive to our grandparents' village in hot, summer Friday nights. The windshield ended so pestered with dead bugs that the first task on Saturday morning was to drive the car to the river to clean it. I remember it vividly because it was so fun to wash the car with the cold river water. Last August I went stargazing with my wife. We chose a secluded area because it was far away from light…

That the environment could slowly transition its chemistry into a state which is not suitable for life is one of my biggest fears. It would be a silent killer.

The dinosaurs evolved in a climate with 6 times the CO2 we have, after long term volcanic activity. It will take a lot more than climate change to knock out all life. Maybe a gamma ray burster a few light years a way could do it, or a massive collision that melts the crust. Not much else, though. Life as a whole is extremely reilient.

Re: Study shows massive insect loss

#136

Post by randcraw »

Growing up in the 1960s, I remember car windshields being just covered with dead bugs in summer, especially after highway trips. Thinking back, I haven't seen this happen since 1990, at latest.

Putting my zoologist hat on, arthropods make up the largest fraction of biomass of any other large animal group (phylum). The next largest, fish, heavily depend on arthropoda for food. As do small birds, and as it happens the worldwide loss of birds is also being called 'catastrophic', at about 40%. That makes me wonder, how much fish have we've also lost? And what's next?

https://e360.yale.edu/digest/forty-percent-of-the-worlds-bir...

When the world's population of insects drops 50% to 80% in only 40 years, this is a VERY BIG problem.

Re: Study shows massive insect loss

#137

Post by [deleted] »

goatlover wrote: post #134
kamaal wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>Hard to develop a space program when you're spending all your production fighting over scarce resources, plugging leaks, and attempting to feed a planet with decreasing yields. All the more reason to develop your space program. At the risk of pointing to Movies, but yet, one of the underlying themes in the movie Interstellar is some day there will be no option but to leave. So its about time we think seriously abou…

It would take a whole lot for Earth to become less habital and more expensive than anywhere in space we can reach. Interstellar also included Matthew McConuhagh communicating quantum gravity info to his daughter in the past from inside a black hole. That’s not a realistic scenario.

[deleted]

Re: Study shows massive insect loss

#138

Post by randcraw »

goatlover wrote: post #134
kamaal wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>Hard to develop a space program when you're spending all your production fighting over scarce resources, plugging leaks, and attempting to feed a planet with decreasing yields. All the more reason to develop your space program. At the risk of pointing to Movies, but yet, one of the underlying themes in the movie Interstellar is some day there will be no option but to leave. So its about time we think seriously abou…

It would take a whole lot for Earth to become less habital and more expensive than anywhere in space we can reach. Interstellar also included Matthew McConuhagh communicating quantum gravity info to his daughter in the past from inside a black hole. That’s not a realistic scenario.

Agreed. I loved "Interstellar", but leaving Earth is a hopeless prospect.

How do you move 8 billion people to another planet when it costs a $billion to send just 5 people into Earth orbit? Worse, there's nowhere enough sunlight and water anywhere in this solar system to sustain more than a handful of people.

No, if mankind can't make it here, we can't make it anywhere.

Re: Study shows massive insect loss

#139

Post by macintux »

adrianN wrote: post #103
anonytrary wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That the environment could slowly transition its chemistry into a state which is not suitable for life is one of my biggest fears. It would be a silent killer.

Life is pretty resilient. I'm sure some bacteria would manage to survive pretty much anything. Life survived a number of extinction events where >90% of all species were lost, so the chances are good that life will go on.

Life will definitely go on, but this would seem to be our sole chance at getting off the planet. Any future reboot wouldn't have the cheap energy resources we've exploited to this point.
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