Nothing will change without strong incentive on the part of the elites. Unfortunately, it would be already deep in the catastrophe, when even them on their yachts will feel it.
Ask HN: IT jobs fighting against climate catastrophe?
51–60 of 101 posts
Re: Ask HN: IT jobs fighting against climate catastrophe?
#52This question pops up quite regularly on HN. I am always giving the same answer. We, HN crowd, presented with a problem tend to reach for a technical solution. Unfortunately, climate change is not an engineering problem, it's a political problem. IT will not solve it. The best we, as engineers, can do is the same as for anyone else - step out of our comport zone and join a climate movement. Extinction Rebellion is my…
We already have the solution: nuclear power. The rest is the political problem of the anti-science attitude of one party in the US being spread to the rest of the world.
No, it's the result of traditional reactors being inextricably linked to nuclear weapons proliferation, and the huge cloud of fallout across Europe in the early 80s.
Would you be happy for Iran to build a fleet of dozens of nuclear reactors to replace its current fossil fuel consumption?
The massive cost and time overruns don't help its case. When is Hinkley Point C going to be finished?
Re: Ask HN: IT jobs fighting against climate catastrophe?
#53This question pops up quite regularly on HN. I am always giving the same answer. We, HN crowd, presented with a problem tend to reach for a technical solution. Unfortunately, climate change is not an engineering problem, it's a political problem. IT will not solve it. The best we, as engineers, can do is the same as for anyone else - step out of our comport zone and join a climate movement. Extinction Rebellion is my…
It's very much a technical issue. The scale of energy utilization is one of the defining characteristics of how technologically advanced a civilization is. The total power output of the sun is 3.8 x 10^26 watts and our total power consumption is about 1.5 x 10^13 watts, which is about 0.000000000004% of sun's power output. As a civilization, we're still very undeveloped, almost non-existent.
Imagine designing an IT system for a dyson sphere when we can't even get websites consistent though
Re: Ask HN: IT jobs fighting against climate catastrophe?
#54This question pops up quite regularly on HN. I am always giving the same answer. We, HN crowd, presented with a problem tend to reach for a technical solution. Unfortunately, climate change is not an engineering problem, it's a political problem. IT will not solve it. The best we, as engineers, can do is the same as for anyone else - step out of our comport zone and join a climate movement. Extinction Rebellion is my…
I would argue the opposite, that its mainly a technical problem that has been coopted by a political movement. The technical problem should be (roughly), how can we continue to enjoy our lives and the standard of living we have achieved, and continue to bring more of the world to that level, in a way that is sustainable long term. There are lots of promising routes to making this happen, and we have already seen lots…
You know what will drastically reduce your standard of living?
Climate change.
Sure, it would be lovely to find a solution that would require no sacrifice from anyone. That is what everyone wants.
It doesn't exist.
If it did, do you think people have just been ignoring it? When it is exactly what everyone wants?
No. Sacrifice is required, to avoid an even greater sacrifice in the future. And it is time for you to step up and take responsibility, and act towards that end goal.
Re: Ask HN: IT jobs fighting against climate catastrophe?
#55One of the very lowest-hanging fruit for reducing emissions at the moment is bitcoin. It is burning 0.1% of the entire world's energy for doing barely anything at all.
Do all you can to make sure bitcoin is destroyed.
Re: Ask HN: IT jobs fighting against climate catastrophe?
#56You are passionate about a "catastrophe" that doesn't exist: https://environmentalprogress.org/big-news/2020/6/29/on-beha...
I'd be cautious about taking Shellenberger's conclusions as fact. He's not a climate scientist. His writings will basically lead to denialism rather than action and moderation [0]
For example he says to save the environment we should be producing more meat - this is in complete contrast to this 5 year Oxford University study [1].
This is a good summary (by a climate scientist) arguing against Shellenberger's claims.
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2020/07/shelle...
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[0] https://independentaustralia.net/business/business-display/m...
[1] https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2018-06-01-new-estimates-environme...
Re: Ask HN: IT jobs fighting against climate catastrophe?
#57I spent a few years working for a small environmental advocacy group in small-town USA. One thing you could do is branch out your skills and learn GIS, then offer that to small groups who are doing environmental advocacy.
These groups are crazy desperate for more people who know how to use GIS software, because there are needs for good mapping in almost every single aspect of the work they do. The issue is that anyone who is good enough at GIS to be useful can get a job elsewhere making 2-3x more money. Maybe they don't get to go help release a rehabbed sea turtle back into the ocean during their lunch break at that other job, but cash is king I guess. At my org we had an ex-high school history teacher working part time learning to use ArcGIS from youtube so we could present results of a bicycle infrastructure plan to local city councilpeople. For another project we paid a shit ton of money (like, more money than was responsible to spend for an org. of our size) for an architectural firm to basically come in with their intern who knows GIS and create maps with overlays of how much money the city would save with new stormwater infrastructure in key places.
Re: Ask HN: IT jobs fighting against climate catastrophe?
#58There is no climate catastrophe, buddy, just relax.
Can you provide more explanation?
It's not first time the experts make mistakes in their catastrophic predictions:
https://www.aei.org/carpe-diem/50-years-of-failed-doomsday-e...
And let's not forget our dear Al-Gore saying the ice on the artic would be vanished by 2014 :)
Re: Ask HN: IT jobs fighting against climate catastrophe?
#59This question pops up quite regularly on HN. I am always giving the same answer. We, HN crowd, presented with a problem tend to reach for a technical solution. Unfortunately, climate change is not an engineering problem, it's a political problem. IT will not solve it. The best we, as engineers, can do is the same as for anyone else - step out of our comport zone and join a climate movement. Extinction Rebellion is my…
Eh, I somewhat agree, but when it comes to engineering, there are more engineering fields than software. Civil engineers, for example, are one of the top 3 (my opinion obviously) of disciplines that can have a significant good impact on the environment. Bio, chem and even mechanical engineers can have a good sized impact as well. Software engineers... yea, not so much.
For example, when it came to the ozone layer, it was chemical engineers that led to alternatives to the aerosols of the time that allowed the Montreal pact to even be feasible. The ozone is still on track for full healing in 2060 because of that.
I just think tech folks in general have a hubris problem. To "solve poverty and gov control on currency", 37 megatons of extra co2 gets pumped in the air: https://digiconomist.net/bitcoin-energy-consumption. Let alone all the companies claiming to make the world a better place by harvesting private data and controlling what content the public is allowed to see or agree with.
It's a shame because mechanical and electronic engineers developed light bulbs (LED) that used a quarter of the power compared to traditional (incandescent).
It's also mechanical engineers that are developing better renewable energy generation.
So yes, engineers can help the environment. Most here are just the wrong kind of engineer that can actually do more than hold a glittery poster board saying, "I'm upset".
I switched out of dev to work in the concrete industry so I can do my part in cutting unnecessary co2 emissions.