The Democratic Debates
Researchers are racing to find out why methane levels are increasing so fast
41–50 of 175 posts
Re: Researchers are racing to find out why methane levels are increasing so fast
#42There's already a news on front page at the moment which says bird population is declining in North America. The comments section mention that it's not just North America but also Britain, France and also that it could be due to declining insect population. We rarely get this kind of data from developing countries, which means these studies are rarely or not at all performed simply because they don't have resources t…
Act how? I'm being pragmatica here. How and to what end is this statement and the aggregation of headlines on hacker news hoping to persuade the hn reader? Donate all money to causes? Starve ourselves to death? Go retreat from our lives to invest in reforestation efforts, managing beehives, and growing pesticide free sustenance farms while microcurating our own little corner of the Earth? Or is it simply to strike un…
To anyone reading who wants to know what they can personally do--in rough order of decreasing impact:
https://citizensclimatelobby.org/ is doing really good work. They focus on a very non-adversarial approach, and are changing the minds of a lot of congresspeople about vital climate legislation. It's a very effective approach. Joining up with your local chapter and volunteering is a great way to spend your time and energy, if you have it.
A small thing anyone can do is sign up for https://projectgrandcanyon.com/ and call their congressperson once a month.
If you are willing to make a personal change, learn about veganism. You don't have to go completely vegan. It's great if you can, but if it's too scary, start with Meatless Monday and go from there. Rather than thinking about how to reduce meat, think about how to fill your diet with more meat-free options. Learn to make some tasty, filling vegetarian or vegan pastas, curries, and other recipes. Eat more starchy foods, whole grains, and beans.
If you can, and it suits you, move to a dense, walkable area of the city. This isn't possible or desirable for everyone, obviously.
Re: Researchers are racing to find out why methane levels are increasing so fast
#43The only way forward, the only chance we have is to invent technology to trap and sequester green houses gases from the upper atmosphere. Reducing human greenhouse gas output won’t happen fast enough to fix things, and I’m not sure that it’s possible to capture and trap existing green house gases, but it’s the only chance we have, because it’s the only way to stop the positive feedback loops that are currently runnin…
Do you know if there are any current technologies to trap and sequester green house gases ?
As far as I know, the most cost-effective method is very low tech--just find a good area and plant a variety of native trees.
Re: Researchers are racing to find out why methane levels are increasing so fast
#44Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Once voters realize that this would take personal cost This is why we need to make sure that voters feel that lost income from climate gas taxes goes directly back to them through other means. It could just be income tax subsidies for low income brackets. Or I mean anything that makes sense. Taxing climate impacting practices doesn't need to have an overall negative impact on the economy of the average voter! This…
> Taxing climate impacting practices doesn't need to have an overall negative impact on the economy of the average voter! This needs to be made super clear. Everything I've seen about the magnitude of change needed suggests this isn't true. And if we keep telling this story of "green growth", "only big corporations will have to sacrifice", you're going to get a ton of backlash once it becomes clear that is very much…
It’s not like we run a balanced budget. I hate that we do this, but we can always add to the debt and expect future generations to pay it off.
Re: Researchers are racing to find out why methane levels are increasing so fast
#45The only way forward, the only chance we have is to invent technology to trap and sequester green houses gases from the upper atmosphere. Reducing human greenhouse gas output won’t happen fast enough to fix things, and I’m not sure that it’s possible to capture and trap existing green house gases, but it’s the only chance we have, because it’s the only way to stop the positive feedback loops that are currently runnin…
Do you know if there are any current technologies to trap and sequester green house gases ?
One technology is called “TREES”, actually scratch that a more advanced version is called “RAINFOREST” (that one sequesters far more CO2 per square meter than TREES alone). Unfortunately people have cut down a significant portion of both TREES and RAINFOREST because they are economically incentivized to do so.
Re: Researchers are racing to find out why methane levels are increasing so fast
#46what if i don’t care? many of these worries are alarmist. from the IPCC report it seems like some coral will die and the temperature will raise a few degrees. which is bad, sure, but not apocalyptic. i doubt my children’s life will change unless i buy ocean front property and refuse to move for 100 years
Re: Researchers are racing to find out why methane levels are increasing so fast
#47Earlier quoted context omitted.
Russia has a substantially higher population than you are implying. Also, you give those in power far too much credit. If they had actually concluded the situation was hopeless, we would be seeing large geoengineering investments right now
Re: Russia's population: it's aging, and relative to China? China could field an army larger than the entire population of Russia if they were sufficiently motivated. Are there any geoengineering projects that would really work? What if we are on the precipice of a methane-driven feedback loop and military/intelligence secretly knows this? In any case perhaps that's not how they think. The powerful nations of the wor…
I found https://projectvesta.org/ interesting.
I am personally not totally convinced because the quantity of olivine that should be moved is greater that the oil we are currently moving annually, but still it looks slightly better than SO2 because there is no ocean acidification, from my layman perspective.
Re: Researchers are racing to find out why methane levels are increasing so fast
#48Article is more like a movie script then sharing facts and numbers. I believe in climate change but this kind of article not helping with anything.
Re: Researchers are racing to find out why methane levels are increasing so fast
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Do we need more evidence to act? What are we waiting for? We're waiting for a reversal in the apparent worldwide collapse of liberal democracy, I guess. Probably climate change and said collapse will feed into each other. The way most oligarchs and their toadies are wired, I think they're more likely to look to pull the ripcord for themselves rather than spend big on best-effort change for everyone else. Dismantlin…
Your mistake is assuming that democratic consensus will spur the kind of action we really need. Once voters realize that this would take personal cost for benefits they won't see in their lifetime, I can't see them willfully voting for any substantial reversal.
>Once voters realize that this would take personal cost for benefits they won't see in their lifetime, I can't see them willfully voting for any substantial reversal.
Dying on a burning planet is a cost I expect to feel personally.
Re: Researchers are racing to find out why methane levels are increasing so fast
#50Three guesses, Russia, China, or US oild fields.