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Remote sensing reveals Antarctic green snow algae as important carbon sink

nature.com

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Re: Remote sensing reveals Antarctic green snow algae as important carbon sink

#31

Post by hummel »

ravenstine wrote: post #16
civilized wrote: post #8

To anyone who is gearing up to doompost: the abstract says this is likely a negative feedback counteracting warming and carbon rise.

Also, we aren't necessarily doomed if we were willing to actually try anything. No one wants to try nuclear for reals because people are frightened of it and world governments don't have an economic interest in building more nuclear. We don't have an equivalent of an "operation warp speed" for developing next-gen CO2 scrubbing technology. I guess that's just not as cool to people as building tunnels under LA or launc…

I'm working on this direction, with an very specific seaweed that solve this problem now and doesn't need freshwater or fertilizers. If anyone is interested reach me on my profile.

Re: Remote sensing reveals Antarctic green snow algae as important carbon sink

#32

Post by [deleted] »

parksy wrote: post #13
civilized wrote: post #8

To anyone who is gearing up to doompost: the abstract says this is likely a negative feedback counteracting warming and carbon rise.

In which case I would have to take a step back and think about the world for a bit. Is there a possibility when it gets warmer / more carbon rich, the carbon-hungry microbes go to town, reducing temperatures (*eventually, maybe not over time periods important to humans?) If the world's microbiome is geared to maintaining (rather than merely existing in / responding to) temperatures and atmospheric gas ratios within a…

[deleted]

Re: Remote sensing reveals Antarctic green snow algae as important carbon sink

#34

Post by moffkalast »

webreac wrote: post #19
ravenstine wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, we aren't necessarily doomed if we were willing to actually try anything. No one wants to try nuclear for reals because people are frightened of it and world governments don't have an economic interest in building more nuclear. We don't have an equivalent of an "operation warp speed" for developing next-gen CO2 scrubbing technology. I guess that's just not as cool to people as building tunnels under LA or launc…

Nuclear is not dead: French President Emmanuel Macron announced a shift to small modular nuclear reactors https://www.france24.com/en/france/20211013-france-unveils-n...

Fuck yeah, IKEA reactors for the win!

Re: Remote sensing reveals Antarctic green snow algae as important carbon sink

#35

Post by labster »

parksy wrote: post #13
civilized wrote: post #8

To anyone who is gearing up to doompost: the abstract says this is likely a negative feedback counteracting warming and carbon rise.

In which case I would have to take a step back and think about the world for a bit. Is there a possibility when it gets warmer / more carbon rich, the carbon-hungry microbes go to town, reducing temperatures (*eventually, maybe not over time periods important to humans?) If the world's microbiome is geared to maintaining (rather than merely existing in / responding to) temperatures and atmospheric gas ratios within a…

The thing is there are hundreds of negative and positive feedbacks, and they’re all modeled by people whose job is to think of these things. You are not going to think of something novel unless you are an expert in a related field. Your curiosity is not a bad thing. As a climatologist I’ve heard so many versions of “climate models don’t account for X” where X has been modeled since the 1980s that it just kind of triggers me.

The error bars of the IPCC report are our best guess on what we think we know about uncertainty. Sure, we could end up outside of it, on some heretofore unknown feedback, but it’s like betting our collective future on a longshot horse. The same applies to the assuming it will be much worse.

Re: Remote sensing reveals Antarctic green snow algae as important carbon sink

#36

Post by moffkalast »

ravenstine wrote: post #16
civilized wrote: post #8

To anyone who is gearing up to doompost: the abstract says this is likely a negative feedback counteracting warming and carbon rise.

Also, we aren't necessarily doomed if we were willing to actually try anything. No one wants to try nuclear for reals because people are frightened of it and world governments don't have an economic interest in building more nuclear. We don't have an equivalent of an "operation warp speed" for developing next-gen CO2 scrubbing technology. I guess that's just not as cool to people as building tunnels under LA or launc…

> No one wants to try nuclear for reals because people are frightened of it and world governments don't have an economic interest in building more nuclear

Well it's also worth noting that it's become like that because of the oil lobby's decades of scaremongering and the oversupply of natural gas which makes those plants the most profitable choice.

But still it's mostly a NIMBY problem. If smaller, mass produced, gen 4 reactors could be set up in some uninhabited areas we'd basically solve all that.

Re: Remote sensing reveals Antarctic green snow algae as important carbon sink

#37

Post by _3u10 »

xyzzyz wrote: post #29
ravenstine wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, we aren't necessarily doomed if we were willing to actually try anything. No one wants to try nuclear for reals because people are frightened of it and world governments don't have an economic interest in building more nuclear. We don't have an equivalent of an "operation warp speed" for developing next-gen CO2 scrubbing technology. I guess that's just not as cool to people as building tunnels under LA or launc…

> Speaking of algae, we're not turning wasteland into algae farming ponds and developing more useful algae because, well, I don't really know. One of the reasons is that, according to many environmental activists, there is no such thing as “wasteland” that you could develop with minimal loss to environment. This is not a theoretical concern: read up on Ivanpah solar power plant, built in the middle of the literal des…

Dude in BC they pretend a pod of orcas is a separate species because orcas aren’t endangered so they had to invent a species with 73 members so they could have something to complain about.

Look up Southern Resident Orca

Re: Remote sensing reveals Antarctic green snow algae as important carbon sink

#38

Post by bertil »

ravenstine wrote: post #16
civilized wrote: post #8

To anyone who is gearing up to doompost: the abstract says this is likely a negative feedback counteracting warming and carbon rise.

Also, we aren't necessarily doomed if we were willing to actually try anything. No one wants to try nuclear for reals because people are frightened of it and world governments don't have an economic interest in building more nuclear. We don't have an equivalent of an "operation warp speed" for developing next-gen CO2 scrubbing technology. I guess that's just not as cool to people as building tunnels under LA or launc…

> Also, we aren't necessarily doomed if we were willing to actually try anything.

I maintain that, given how the majority of tax rebates and financial aid is still going to fossil fuels, unless we kick people out of that option for good, they will latch to the last dollar of subsidy or political donation until human life on Earth is beyond hope. The only way to kickstart changes and investments is to put executives in front a judge for the mass murders that are already well documented and be clear that they will be held responsible for the millions of deaths related to unusual climate events.

How did we stop populist from legally raising to position of power against after the 1940s? Nuremberg and Tokyo trials. Climate disruption is a much bigger threat and needs a gesture at least as big.

Re: Remote sensing reveals Antarctic green snow algae as important carbon sink

#39

Post by adflux »

ahevia wrote: post #6
watertom wrote: post #4

It was the rise of phytoplankton that created the atmosphere necessary for human life. It will be the collapse of the phytoplankton that will eliminate the the atmosphere necessary for human life. Humans won’t be around to see the planet warm.

This is unnecessary doomerism. Yes our situation is not exactly the brightest but is doomposting on HN really the best action you can take? Humans will still be around to see the planet warm. The question is will individuals & society band together to limit that warming & adapt?

The main problem with doomtalk is the defeatist attitude that usually accompanies it. Utterly useless way of thinking

Re: Remote sensing reveals Antarctic green snow algae as important carbon sink

#40

Post by schiffern »

>terran

Could we please not alter headlines to replace real words with made-up scifi words? The original headline uses "terrestrial," which is correct.

Also even in the context of scifi, "terrestrial" has a completely different meaning ("of the land surface", vs "of the planet Earth").

Inb4 'all words are made up' etc etc boring thread

Mods, can we get a fix?

EDIT: Thanks!

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