Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Animal Populations Fell by 68% in 50 Years and It’s Getting Worse

bloomberg.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 298 posts

Re: Animal Populations Fell by 68% in 50 Years and It’s Getting Worse

#21

Post by thatguy0900 »

ecmascript wrote: post #15
thatguy0900 wrote: post #13

Really sucks being young 20s. Between climate and the looming covid recession, is there even a point to planning for the future? Seems like the world will be trashed before I'm anywhere close to retirement anyway, almost like I might as well enjoy my money while I can do things with it.

If there is something you should do as a young person who thinks the future is bleak is to invest. Invest in stuff that will be worth a lot when the shit hits the fan. Long before the economic system will collapse you will have a lot chances to buy properties make money from stocks and build to prepare for a potential collapse. If you invest now and prepare for a dystopian future you will be well prepared when and if…

"If you invest now and prepare for a dystopian future you will be well prepared when and if it arrives" I mean this is what I'm talking about, who cares about living in a dystopia future. Surely it's better to go all in on enjoying the world now for 10 or 20 years than desperately try to carve out a maybe somewhat tolerable middle aged life in a dystopia. At least I'll have good company at the bottom in the future

Re: Animal Populations Fell by 68% in 50 Years and It’s Getting Worse

#22

Post by graeme »

echelon wrote: post #5
cmendel wrote: post #2

It is going to be a rough rest of your life, buckle up.

For us, not really. The generations that come after us? Probably. And therein lies the problem. The people making the rules and pulling the strings don't have a bleeding, burning pressure to change course. And they won't until it's too late. Complain all you want about climate and biodiversity and pollution, but nothing is going to be done until we've stunted the lives of the people at the top. That's just how the sh…

There’s a lot to what you say, but: if you’re under 40-50 or so, I also expect a rough life. Assume you’re 30 and live to 85: 55 more years is until 2075.

There’s a lot of time to do damage by then.

Re: Animal Populations Fell by 68% in 50 Years and It’s Getting Worse

#23

Post by 52-6F-62 »

nemo44x wrote: post #18

I guess it was alluded to in the article but my main concern is the amount of fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides we use. As we clear more land for Ag we are of course limiting habitat for animals but also zapping them constantly with these chemicals. Fertilizers get into water and decimate the life in there. Herbicides coupled with pesticides decimate insect ecosystems. The development of land gives larger anima…

It's not a new problem, either. Growing up in a rural, agricultural zone we learned thoroughly about run-off and the potential for harm, and the harm that had happened in the past.

DDT was nearly a curseword. It's etched into my mind that way. (And then the Ramones didn't help that) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDT#Use_in_the_1940s_and_1950s

Re: Animal Populations Fell by 68% in 50 Years and It’s Getting Worse

#24

Post by itsoktocry »

thatguy0900 wrote: post #13

Really sucks being young 20s. Between climate and the looming covid recession, is there even a point to planning for the future? Seems like the world will be trashed before I'm anywhere close to retirement anyway, almost like I might as well enjoy my money while I can do things with it.

>Between climate and the looming covid recession, is there even a point to planning for the future?

For real? Imagine having lived through a global depression, fighting a world war on the other side of the planet and watching an entire society vapourized by nuclear weapons, all in the span of a decade.

>I might as well enjoy my money while I can do things with it.

You should always enjoy your money, because you can't take it with you.

Re: Animal Populations Fell by 68% in 50 Years and It’s Getting Worse

#26

Post by ecmascript »

thatguy0900 wrote: post #21
ecmascript wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If there is something you should do as a young person who thinks the future is bleak is to invest. Invest in stuff that will be worth a lot when the shit hits the fan. Long before the economic system will collapse you will have a lot chances to buy properties make money from stocks and build to prepare for a potential collapse. If you invest now and prepare for a dystopian future you will be well prepared when and if…

"If you invest now and prepare for a dystopian future you will be well prepared when and if it arrives" I mean this is what I'm talking about, who cares about living in a dystopia future. Surely it's better to go all in on enjoying the world now for 10 or 20 years than desperately try to carve out a maybe somewhat tolerable middle aged life in a dystopia. At least I'll have good company at the bottom in the future

Sure, but I don't think you or me will experience any dystopian future. Such a future is still far from being here and we will most likely die before that happens.

But I guess it's different ideologies, by going "all in" as you suggest you simply add haste and helps to ensure that such a dystopian future is actually going to become reality.

I am on the other hand preparing, trying to become self sustainable and lower my consuming to such a degree I don't need any income from any other source than my investments. This will help reduce emissions, by "enjoying the world" you will help to create emissions. Who told you cannot enjoy life as the same time you plan for a shitty future? Plan for the worst, hope for the best.

This is a good talk about the economics but you can take it further than that:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-Li_sFNc4Q

Since I've started to follow this mindset I have moved to the countryside, sold my car, started to grow my own vegetables, got chicken from a specific race that is threatened of extinction (thus helping its continued existance) and stopped purchasing unnecessary stuff. I can already feel how I have improved my life in such a way that I have more money than ever before and I can save about 50% of my income.

Re: Animal Populations Fell by 68% in 50 Years and It’s Getting Worse

#27

Post by itsoktocry »

echelon wrote: post #5
cmendel wrote: post #2

It is going to be a rough rest of your life, buckle up.

For us, not really. The generations that come after us? Probably. And therein lies the problem. The people making the rules and pulling the strings don't have a bleeding, burning pressure to change course. And they won't until it's too late. Complain all you want about climate and biodiversity and pollution, but nothing is going to be done until we've stunted the lives of the people at the top. That's just how the sh…

>but nothing is going to be done until we've stunted the lives of the people at the top

Do people honestly believe "nothing" is being done? We are chipping away at these problems, otherwise you wouldn't be reading about it in a mainstream newspaper article. People (especially younger people) are more conscious about these issues than at any time in my lifetime. It's not like you can flip a switch and change a society that has developed over millennia.

Re: Animal Populations Fell by 68% in 50 Years and It’s Getting Worse

#29

Post by ginko »

ecmascript wrote: post #26
thatguy0900 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"If you invest now and prepare for a dystopian future you will be well prepared when and if it arrives" I mean this is what I'm talking about, who cares about living in a dystopia future. Surely it's better to go all in on enjoying the world now for 10 or 20 years than desperately try to carve out a maybe somewhat tolerable middle aged life in a dystopia. At least I'll have good company at the bottom in the future

Sure, but I don't think you or me will experience any dystopian future. Such a future is still far from being here and we will most likely die before that happens. But I guess it's different ideologies, by going "all in" as you suggest you simply add haste and helps to ensure that such a dystopian future is actually going to become reality. I am on the other hand preparing, trying to become self sustainable and lower…

Arguably investing your money accelerates the unsustainable growth of our economy and hastens a dystopian future as well.

Re: Animal Populations Fell by 68% in 50 Years and It’s Getting Worse

#30

Post by ecmascript »

ginko wrote: post #29
ecmascript wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but I don't think you or me will experience any dystopian future. Such a future is still far from being here and we will most likely die before that happens. But I guess it's different ideologies, by going "all in" as you suggest you simply add haste and helps to ensure that such a dystopian future is actually going to become reality. I am on the other hand preparing, trying to become self sustainable and lower…

Arguably investing your money accelerates the unsustainable growth of our economy and hastens a dystopian future as well.

It depends on what you invest in!
Post reply on HN