I find it interesting that in the US the weather report seems include the related dew point but in Europe it usually isn't.
Wet-bulb temperature
71–80 of 183 posts
Re: Wet-bulb temperature
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree that the plot repeatedly follows society making choices which I find implausible -- but if one reads that alienation (one's inner critic saying "this is not the world we live in") as part of the experience of the work, then it can function as a kind of compelling tool. Noting all the points where humanity in the book takes necessary and beneficial actions to improve their situation, that are available to but…
Is it particularly jarring to realize that central banks issuing a carbon-backed cryptocurrency will probably not save us from climate change?
I'm not familiar enough with international diplomacy or central banking for that to be the most jarring part.
But, when the head of an international organization takes a week and a half to get to a meeting on the other side of the planet, and thinks that it's nicer to take a sequence of trains and sailing ships than it used to be to fly ... that seemed totally alien. When subsistence farmers were surprised by the large amount of money they were paid for getting more carbon into their soil, that seemed really implausible. When KSM glosses by how easy and quick it was to make giant wildlife corridors across North America, and talks about whole communities packing up and voluntarily abandoning towns to ceded those areas to nature ... that seemed wildly implausible.
There were a lot of these moments for me, and while I get the people that use these as a criticism against the realism of the book, I also think that gap is a criticism against all of us.
Re: Wet-bulb temperature
#73If you haven’t read it yet, the first section of Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson describes a wet-bulb event in striking detail. The horror of this climate-change catastrophe is what finally triggers a significant global cultural shift around climate change. The passage was vivid enough for me to suggest preparatory measures to my retired parents. I wholeheartedly recommend the book to anyone intereste…
I clicked into this to see if MFTF was mentioned. Powerful opening scene.
Other commenters criticizing the book for the ending and the positivity turn it takes are missing the point of why the book is valuable, I think.
Like for you maybe, it was the first book that got me serious about climate. The value isn’t in the ending, but in the first half with unpleasantly accurate the early “oh sh*t” disasters were and same for the totally inept societal responses.
Made me realize we were likely procrastinating our way into an emergency, and any magical way out we find IRL will be at a high cost of suffering. We will probably get disasters, we will get climate terrorism, and it will get much worse before we get saved (by magic blockchain carbon fediverse haha?).
Re: Wet-bulb temperature
#74If you haven’t read it yet, the first section of Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson describes a wet-bulb event in striking detail. The horror of this climate-change catastrophe is what finally triggers a significant global cultural shift around climate change. The passage was vivid enough for me to suggest preparatory measures to my retired parents. I wholeheartedly recommend the book to anyone intereste…
I hate speaking negatively about Ministry for the Future, because I admire KSR, and we need fiction that confronts the climate crisis and shows people taking positive action to change the world for the better. Still, I sadly cannot recommend this book. To quote from my spoileriffic review, "This does not help us imagine realistic positive outcomes to the climate crisis. Robinson correctly diagnoses the threats we fac…
> we need fiction that confronts the climate crisis and shows people taking positive action to change the world for the better.
Like Termination Shock?
https://www.amazon.com/Termination-Shock-Novel-Neal-Stephens...
Re: Wet-bulb temperature
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
I stopped reading it because the premise is entirely unbelievable. A mass casualty event of pretty much any size would not lead us to do anything about climate change. For evidence, look at the deaths in the USA from gives and cars every year . Yet there is zero momentum toward doing anything about those from a policy standpoint.
News media like to have stories they can focus popular attention on, and no one car accident (unless it kills someone famous) will matter to enough people to warrant broader coverage than one's local paper. Despite this lack of media visibility, there actually is some movement at the city level to change the design of roads to reduce the lethality of accidents. This isn't very publicly visible yet, I don't think, and…
The idea in the book was this was a new event that never occurred previously that finally did and was able to demonstrate that climate change is doing some new and not survivable.
In the book, people galvanized around it kind of like 9/11 as it was clearly climate change, as opposed to other things that already existed and may or may not be due to climate change (more hurricanes, etc).
Re: Wet-bulb temperature
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
> It’s not THAT hard to cool down even if you’re incapable of sweating to do so. How would you recommend cooling down for hundreds of thousands of people at a time? I have to assume that those affected wouldn't have easy access to AC.
Fill a bath and get in it. The groundwater is usually much colder than the air. However there is a limit to how long you can live in the bath.
And how many bath tubs there are per-capita. Many newer homes are built with only showers.
You also have to worry about power when it comes to having access to sufficient water to cool a person in the first place.
Re: Wet-bulb temperature
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
A massive failure judging by the numbers. Which is my point. We will continue to feel bad, maybe drop in some metaphorical traffic circles, but do nothing to actually solve the issue.
Vehicle fatalities per capita and per mile travelled have been dropping in the US for decades. As has the absolute number of deaths. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_vehicle_fatality_rate_...
Still proving my point. 35K deaths per year.
We will normalize climate related deaths the way we have normalized traffic related deaths.
Re: Wet-bulb temperature
#78Earlier quoted context omitted.
A sudden mass causality event triggered 9/11 responses, pandemic response. A heat related mass death event most likely would trigger a response. The real question is would it be organized and tidy response, or civil unrest? When 4% hunt anymore and no one can grow a carrot? Suddenly logistics are interrupted worse than covid because, what, Phoenix burns down? Oh, it’ll trigger a response.
You sighted two totally ineffective responses to crises. We'll do something , it just won't be what is required to actually fix the underlying problem.
You sighted a problem and cited zero anything else.
Pandemic response was effective at avoiding healthcare system collapse and churning out a vaccine. It’s as good a plan as we can get with 30% of 300 million intentionally indifferent, centrists too absorbed in low effort consumerism, and anyone espousing concern being called a tree hugging pussy.
What else do you want? Too many seem to think the MCU should hop on saving them from themselves.
Say something useful yourself or get over it. You were never going to make it out of this life alive anyway.
Re: Wet-bulb temperature
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree that the plot repeatedly follows society making choices which I find implausible -- but if one reads that alienation (one's inner critic saying "this is not the world we live in") as part of the experience of the work, then it can function as a kind of compelling tool. Noting all the points where humanity in the book takes necessary and beneficial actions to improve their situation, that are available to but…
Is it particularly jarring to realize that central banks issuing a carbon-backed cryptocurrency will probably not save us from climate change?
As much as the story centered around central banking machinations, the buried narrative was that a lot of people in power probably have to die. This realization and it's impossibility make the story a tragedy when compared to the real world.
Re: Wet-bulb temperature
#80If you haven’t read it yet, the first section of Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson describes a wet-bulb event in striking detail. The horror of this climate-change catastrophe is what finally triggers a significant global cultural shift around climate change. The passage was vivid enough for me to suggest preparatory measures to my retired parents. I wholeheartedly recommend the book to anyone intereste…
I hate speaking negatively about Ministry for the Future, because I admire KSR, and we need fiction that confronts the climate crisis and shows people taking positive action to change the world for the better. Still, I sadly cannot recommend this book. To quote from my spoileriffic review, "This does not help us imagine realistic positive outcomes to the climate crisis. Robinson correctly diagnoses the threats we fac…
I feel similarly, and really love his older books. However his slide towards glorifying terrorism in his recent work is really troubling. The increasing focus in his work on uni-bomber like characters is really off putting.