Live data from Hacker News

Earth had hottest 3-months on record; unprecedented sea temps & extreme weather

public.wmo.int

501–510 of 591 posts

Re: Earth had hottest 3-months on record; unprecedented sea temps & extreme weather

#501

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand, looking at lived experience the story is quite tricky. From the perspective of an individual it is very hard to detect this level of climate change. I can't tell how much warmer any given month was compared to even 20 years ago. We're talking about 28 vs 28.5°C average for a month. (and July and August made news because of pronounced anomalies, other months were probably even murkier stories due to…

This is a fair point. Out of curiosity, I went back and looked at the temperatures in my area the year I was born. Our highest temperature of the year was 96F ... on September 24! Let me tell you, if we hit 96F two weeks from now, it'll be front page news and evidence of climate catastrophe. I think everyone has now fallen into the trap of mixing up weather with climate. We used to deride the deniers who said a cold…

We now have the knowledge to connect weather events to climate.

Re: Earth had hottest 3-months on record; unprecedented sea temps & extreme weather

#502

> red meat I've been vegan for decades, and I would love to see humanity move on from meat, but the idea is so incredibly offensive to people that I find it far easier to imagine the the Amazon razed and replaced with cattle feeding lots before that will happen.

It's not incredibly offensive; those are rhetorical tactics and you are falling for them: Act crazy and the other side will give up; it's a simple as that.

They don't care about meat; they care about defeating liberalism. They will shift their belief in a moment.

Re: Earth had hottest 3-months on record; unprecedented sea temps & extreme weather

#504
post #376

And this is a good thing! For the most of its history, Earth was much (>5F) warmer than today: http://www.climate.gov/media/11332 https://www.climate.gov/news-features/climate-qa/whats-hotte... We are still technically getting out of the last ice age. Warmer climates mean more places are warm enough to grow food. More CO2 means plants grow faster (also more food). Yea, some low lands might get flooded - either build…

So how do you think we should avoid all the costs and realize the benefits? The costs are enormous. How do we handle massive food production loss, migrations, flooding, etc.?

Our civilization was built for the climate as it has been for 10,000 years. Do we just toss out much of that capital? Who will pay for it?

Re: Earth had hottest 3-months on record; unprecedented sea temps & extreme weather

#505
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dont let global warming get you down, civilizations die all the time, just like that, why ours could wake up dead tomorrow.

Part of me feels sad, part of me feels dread, and part of me says, "well, we're just reaping what we have been (and still are) sowing, and we collectively deserve all that is coming." All the suffering sucks though.

How about another response: Do something about it. You're not a spectator; it's in your hands.

Re: Earth had hottest 3-months on record; unprecedented sea temps & extreme weather

#506
post #294

"China, the United States and India — contribute 42.6% total emissions, while the bottom 100 countries only account for only 2.9%.". Asia is the largest emitter with China at 27%". While selling renewables to the rest of the world, China seems reluctant to reduce its reliance on coal-fired power stations. 'Global Energy Monitor and the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air finds the country quadrupled the amoun…

China, the United States and India also make up 40% of the world population.

Do you believe that the US, at least, doesn't emit more per capita than most less-developed countries?

Re: Earth had hottest 3-months on record; unprecedented sea temps & extreme weather

#507
post #114

For a fraction of the US federal debt we could have gone full nuclear.

We have a very hard time building nuclear power stations. This claim, which seems to absolve energy consumption, is easy to say but very hard to do in practice.

Re: Earth had hottest 3-months on record; unprecedented sea temps & extreme weather

#508
post #294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

China, the United States and India also make up 40% of the world population.

Do you believe that the US, at least, doesn't emit more per capita than most less-developed countries?

Developed countries definitely emit more per capita than less developed countries.

Re: Earth had hottest 3-months on record; unprecedented sea temps & extreme weather

#509

> red meat I've been vegan for decades, and I would love to see humanity move on from meat, but the idea is so incredibly offensive to people that I find it far easier to imagine the the Amazon razed and replaced with cattle feeding lots before that will happen.

This would address less than a tenth of 1% of the problem, but sure.

Re: Earth had hottest 3-months on record; unprecedented sea temps & extreme weather

#510

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That was hyperbole. But also not entirely unrealistic or uncommon, and I live in an european city with good public transport. If I want to buy something special like a good cut of beef, go to an asian market, I’ll be doing a 30km roundtrip by car. From what I’ve seen a roundtrip to Walmart in the US for weekly groceries can be in the same ballpark - even in the city, since the larger stores are always on the outskirt…

>That was hyperbole. >But also not entirely unrealistic Well which is it? Hyperbole or not, the intent behind it is the same, which seems to focus the climate change problem on some of the weakest sources of fuel consumption who also happen to be some of the poorest, most vulnerable people. I think it's a kind of subconscious projection, that the example you've brought to the fore is those poor people driving to buy…

> some of the poorest, most vulnerable people

That is a strawman you introduced into the conversation. Most cities in the west are planned around cars. I’ve been to a few of the largest cities in the US and don’t think those 6-lane highways were clogged with “the poorest most vulnerable people”. You see the same patterns in south america.

This is really about the average car-centric culture, consumption patterns, the system of centralized food distribution through massive supermarket chains. It’s about urban planning, incentives, regulations and public policies, not lords vs servants. Note that I didn’t suggest individuals should stop driving to fight climate change, these changes can only start happening at a much higher level.

The EPA says emissions from transportation are responsible for 29% of all pollution [1]. This is a bigger slice than industrial pollution, and 58% of it coming from light vehicles, 28% from trucks (including the ones that supply these supermarkets, and not accounting for the diesel used to bring our bananas, garlic and olive oil by sea from across the world).

[1] https://www.epa.gov/transportation-air-pollution-and-climate...

Post reply on HN