Up to one million species are on the verge of extinction, U.N. panel says • Hacker News Board

Re: Up to one million species are on the verge of extinction, U.N. panel says

#271

Post by kpennell » Mon, May 06, 2019, 4:43 PM UTC

wcoenen wrote: post #200

Someone else commented: > If you have any investments shift them from fossil to green. I'm interested in ideas about how to do this. There are some MSCI indices along these lines like the "low carbon" ones[1]. But these still include fossil fuel companies, just with a lower weight. There are also "ex fossil fuel" indices[2], but these only exclude companies that dig up the fossil fuels, and not necessarily those that…

SPYX was a simple one to get for me: https://us.spdrs.com/en/etf/spdr-sp-500-fossil-fuel-reserves...

Re: Up to one million species are on the verge of extinction, U.N. panel says

#272

Post by apacheCamel » Mon, May 06, 2019, 4:44 PM UTC

matz1 wrote: post #146

uptown wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ecosystems are all interconnected. As an example, see "How Wolves Changed Rivers": https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8448929 Now, imagine the impact of a million species being wiped from the earth.

There would be impact but if anything human are good with adapting and with technology. Is it impossible to image that these million species roles can be replaced with technology ?

This is an honest question: do you really see no issue in replacing bees with robo-bees? Do you really believe humanity can just technology our way out of every issue we face? What happens when the whole system collapses?

Re: Up to one million species are on the verge of extinction, U.N. panel says

#273

Post by malvosenior » Mon, May 06, 2019, 4:44 PM UTC

ada1981 wrote: post #263

RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also have a theory. Anxiety is increasing because anxiety sells. The right leaning sites raise anxiety about immigrants. Left leaning sites raise anxiety that Trump is on his way to becoming a dictator. Environmental sites raise anxiety about species going extinct. Business sites raise anxiety about increase regulation and taxes. Meanwhile, humans are the best off we have ever been. This is one of the most peaceful…

What you are saying is true. However never before have we humans been on the cusp of ecological collapse.

I don't know that this is true. Do previous ice ages not count? Or how about the plague? It seems that we've been near extinction at least a few times:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_bottleneck

I'd also add that until the 1990s the threat of total nuclear annihilation of the human race (and probably other stuff) was very real. That was anxiety inducing.

Re: Up to one million species are on the verge of extinction, U.N. panel says

#274

Post by homonculus1 » Mon, May 06, 2019, 4:44 PM UTC

MiroF wrote: post #109

homonculus1 wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Scale is not sustainable either. What we REALLY need is population reduction.

Silly to advocate for population reduction when people in the developed world (esp. the US) emit multiple times as much as those in the developing world. This is largely an overconsumption problem, not an overpopulation problem. Most of the people born today will emit less than you or I ever will.

Meat is great. Driving anywhere I want as often as I like is great. Cooling my house in the summer is great. Buying products made of plastic is great.

I don't want to stop doing any of these things, they make my life great. I could radically change my entire lifestyle to something much more limited and uncomfortable, only for the gains to be eaten up because my neighbor refuses to use contraception, and refuses to teach his 5 kids to use contraception.

The onus of climate change falls on people whose carbon footprint is exponential. Not me, mine is finite. I'm not going to move mountains in my life to make a difference that's fractional compared to other people's careless reproduction.

Re: Up to one million species are on the verge of extinction, U.N. panel says

#275

Post by erikpukinskis » Mon, May 06, 2019, 4:44 PM UTC

RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #259

kilroy123 wrote: post #120

I have a theory, and I have no evidence to back this theory up. The increases in anxiety in the general public over the last decade or so is in large part to people knowing we're on an unsustainable path. We're all collectively marching towards the edge of the cliff to jump off together. More people than ever have anxiety because we subconsciously (or consciously) know this. We're unsustainable with how we pollute an…

I also have a theory. Anxiety is increasing because anxiety sells. The right leaning sites raise anxiety about immigrants. Left leaning sites raise anxiety that Trump is on his way to becoming a dictator. Environmental sites raise anxiety about species going extinct. Business sites raise anxiety about increase regulation and taxes. Meanwhile, humans are the best off we have ever been. This is one of the most peaceful…

> humans are the best off we have ever been

This is too broad to be true. It's easily disproven with a single counterexample.

I could guess what you actually meant, but the tiny details in sentences like these change so much meaning I better let you clarify if this was an important point you're making.

Especially since you seem to be aiming to dismiss concerns about people who are not safe, I think it's important you be more specific.

Re: Up to one million species are on the verge of extinction, U.N. panel says

#276

Post by x3haloed » Mon, May 06, 2019, 4:45 PM UTC

thwarted wrote: post #188

x3haloed wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Careful - the belief in evolution as a sacred and holy process is what leads to racism. I know you said you're half sarcastic, but that means you half-believe it. Evolution is simply a process by which generations of organisms become more fit to their environment over time. Treating it as something more - some kind of natural state of the universe or hand of destiny is what leads to the idea that it's necessary to fa…

But pretending that we have no impact or control of any kind in the process of evolution on Earth is just an attempt wash our hands of responsibility. Intelligence can be humanity's evolutionary advantage. But that does not mean humanity is the final arbiter of evolution, even of its own, at least at this stage of development. To think that humanity exists outside evolution, or that humanity's intelligence is not the…

> that does not mean humanity is the final arbiter of evolution, even of its own, at least at this stage of development

Oh, I agree, and I did not mean to imply so. I'm just saying that that we do have some degree of control. Choosing to launch a nuke at the Galapagos island would certainly shape evolution. That's just example to show that we have the power to interfere on a large scale if we choose.

Re: Up to one million species are on the verge of extinction, U.N. panel says

#277

Post by jniedrauer » Mon, May 06, 2019, 4:47 PM UTC

komali2 wrote: post #223

rv-de wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The best reason for exactly these individual changes you are describing is that - and this is a really funny and convenient coincidence - you are benefiting of them first and foremost yourself! > - Stop flying to conferences. Go to a local meetup. It's fun. And cheaper. If you really need to get out of town, take a train. No unnecessary hassle and stress from flying to far away places or getting stuck in traffic jams…

Chicken, fish, and turkey are some of the healthiest delivery mechanisms for protein on the planet. They can be grown sustainably, as well, so again, veganism isn't required. At the supermarket, just get the expensive chicken breasts - I'm guessing the vast majority of us on this website can afford it.

> Chicken, fish, and turkey are some of the healthiest delivery mechanisms for protein on the planet.

Observing the diets of blue zone populations, it definitely seems like meat should be consumed rarely. Although they consume different forms of meat, they seem to share in common meat consumption of roughly 1-2 servings per month. This is far rarer than the average American diet.

Re: Up to one million species are on the verge of extinction, U.N. panel says

#278

Post by inflatableDodo » Mon, May 06, 2019, 4:48 PM UTC

matz1 wrote: post #266

inflatableDodo wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>So at least for me, I don't see reason to not just let bee extinct. Then I really can see no reason for you not to be forced to spend your entire life pollinating plants by hand with a paintbrush. And this goes even if there are still enough bees. We will let them watch you work while giving them little cups of honey.

>Then I really can see no reason for you not to be forced to spend your entire life pollinating plants by hand with a paintbrush Like I mentioned before, if human can find better way to pollinating plants (better than paintbrush nor bees) then yeah no reason to do any of these. Keeping in mind that keeping bee alive will also incur cost and sacrifice.

>Keeping in mind that keeping bee alive will also incur cost and sacrifice.

Do you live anywhere near an active volcano? I have been reading up on Maya culture and thanks to your comment I may have a plan to save the bees. It is unlikely to work I'd be the first to admit, however I think it could be worth a try.

Re: Up to one million species are on the verge of extinction, U.N. panel says

#279

Post by dkarbayev » Mon, May 06, 2019, 4:49 PM UTC

One thing that I fail to wrap my mind around: aren’t all those corporations executives, politicians, and poachers living on the same planet Earth as all of us? Don’t they ever think that they’re actually destroying our planet and there’s no other place to live? I can imagine that they don’t believe pro-climate change people, but they could simply hire an independent group of researchers, don’t they? And I mean actually independent researchers, not those who will produce any outcome you demand from them.

Re: Up to one million species are on the verge of extinction, U.N. panel says

#280

Post by jniedrauer » Mon, May 06, 2019, 4:49 PM UTC

glaurung_ wrote: post #36

neuronic wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Don't upgrade your phone. Seriously. The market makes this easy nowadays. Unless your phone is broken/severely outdated there is next to zero benefit to upgrading at this time. Prices for flagships become prohibitive as well. Upgrading phones every 1-2 years is a dead tradition outside of contract incentives, only relevant to hyper enthusiasts (r/android etc...). Even then I am not sure why aside from corporation b…

Two things I look for when replacing a phone: 1. Lineage OS support. (So you actually get security updates) 2. A decent repairability score on iFixit. (So you don't end up with a brick when your battery dies in a few years.) Right now I'm on a OnePlus 2. It will be 4 years old this summer and doesn't seem to have any issues with the newest Android (in the form of Lineage OS), or any apps I use!

I should try lineage OS... I'm on a OnePlus 3, and the battery is starting to go. I was thinking of trying the Librem 5 when it ships, but we'll see.