Live data from Hacker News

Nine climate tipping points now 'active,' warn scientists

phys.org

11–20 of 99 posts

Re: Nine climate tipping points now 'active,' warn scientists

#12

If you want to do something as a techie, I would suggest helping out projects like the ones found here: https://github.com/topics/climate-change I would also suggest joining communities like https://climateaction.tech/

I would like to add this article by Bret Victor: "What can a technologist do about climate change? (A personal view)" http://worrydream.com/ClimateChange/

Re: Nine climate tipping points now 'active,' warn scientists

#13
The article in Nature published as a "Comment" is "Climate tipping points — too risky to bet against" - https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-03595-0

For the ice sheet collapses, it takes 100s or 1000s of years for the effects to be realized. Others such as permafrost melting or Amazon forest disappearance are faster, but time scales are not given. For example -

>The Greenland ice sheet is melting at an accelerating rate3. It could add a further 7 m to sea level over thousands of years if it passes a particular threshold. Beyond that, as the elevation of the ice sheet lowers, it melts further, exposing the surface to ever-warmer air. Models suggest that the Greenland ice sheet could be doomed at 1.5 °C of warming3, which could happen as soon as 2030.

>Thus, we might already have committed future generations to living with sea-level rises of around 10 m over thousands of years3. But that timescale is still under our control. The rate of melting depends on the magnitude of warming above the tipping point. At 1.5 °C, it could take 10,000 years to unfold3; above 2 °C it could take less than 1,000 years6. Researchers need more observational data to establish whether ice sheets are reaching a tipping point, and require better models constrained by past and present data to resolve how soon and how fast the ice sheets could collapse.

Re: Nine climate tipping points now 'active,' warn scientists

#14

Human civilizations have always blossomed in warmer climate. All this scaremongering about global warming ending human civilization and destroying nature is just laughable.

May I humbly ask: What are your qualifications that enable you to come to this conclusion? I would be very interested in studying your publications - where can I find your analysis? Also it would be really very appreciated if you would like to publish the datasets that lead you to this conclusion - would you like to give us a public repo with the data, so we can check your results? Thank you very much!

That's not very humble. His assertions are quite basic, and don't need research-grade qualifications to consider. The earth has certainly prehistorically been much warmer, so nature handled it just fine, and it is an interesting question to consider how much more arable land a warmer earth would have.

Re: Nine climate tipping points now 'active,' warn scientists

#15
"Scientifically, this provides strong evidence for declaring a state of planetary emergency, to unleash world action that accelerates the path towards a world that can continue evolving on a stable planet."

Talk about weasel words

"Exiting the fossil fuel economy is unlikely before 2050, but with temperature already at 1.1°C above pre-industrial temperature, it is likely Earth will cross the 1.5°C guardrail by 2040. The authors conclude this alone defines an emergency"

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told us “The world is going to end in 12 years if we don't address climate change” likewise Greta Thunberg warned us that according to the UN’s IPCC, (the same one THE Scientists/authors use as a reference on this paper)“we have less than 12 years left in which to correct our mistakes.” and now THE Scientists/authors talk for LIKELY cross the 1.5°C by 2040?

Re: Nine climate tipping points now 'active,' warn scientists

#16

It seems like they are always saying we are on the brink of some "tipping point." Is there an example of any we have already passed?

Pretty hard to take climate change reporting seriously.

The media is an amplifier that only publishes the most alarmist scientific findings, always blanketed in paragraphs of the editors own apocalyptic interpretation.

Climate science is complex. There's a broad spectrum of findings, many are not world-ending, and sometimes disagree on the details.

Re: Nine climate tipping points now 'active,' warn scientists

#17
One thing I find encouraging is how many people (particularly young people) are now understanding the seriousness of the climate situation. I would really like to see a public pledge from companies, universities, etc that people who risk their education/career by pushing for real change will not be disadvantaged.

If anyone is interested in helping to make this a reality, shoot me an email at together@highestsupport.com

Re: Nine climate tipping points now 'active,' warn scientists

#18

"Scientifically, this provides strong evidence for declaring a state of planetary emergency, to unleash world action that accelerates the path towards a world that can continue evolving on a stable planet." Talk about weasel words "Exiting the fossil fuel economy is unlikely before 2050, but with temperature already at 1.1°C above pre-industrial temperature, it is likely Earth will cross the 1.5°C guardrail by 2040.…

The warming is going to continue for decades even after net emissions have dropped to zero. So yes, we're in a real hurry even if the worst effects are still a few decades away. It's not like we can wait UNTIL the 1.5° point is crossed and then magically stop the warming.

Re: Nine climate tipping points now 'active,' warn scientists

#19

If you want to do something as a techie, I would suggest helping out projects like the ones found here: https://github.com/topics/climate-change I would also suggest joining communities like https://climateaction.tech/

It took me a very long time (years) to come to terms with the idea that as a techie I can't do anything to help climate. Tech projects is just an excuse to stay in my comfort zone. A very uncomfortable realization.

Re: Nine climate tipping points now 'active,' warn scientists

#20
post #12

If you want to do something as a techie, I would suggest helping out projects like the ones found here: https://github.com/topics/climate-change I would also suggest joining communities like https://climateaction.tech/

I would like to add this article by Bret Victor: "What can a technologist do about climate change? (A personal view)" http://worrydream.com/ClimateChange/

This piece by Brett Victor gave me the push to focus more on what work I do rather than just focusing on personal wealth + career. I ended up being employee #1 at solar forecasting company that is targeting the intermittency problem of renewables.

If you’re in a privileged enough situation, I’d highly recommend renewable energy sector, lots of problems where applying technical skill can be extremely impactful.

Post reply on HN