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Swiss glaciers have shrunk by a quarter since 2015, study says

france24.com

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Re: Swiss glaciers have shrunk by a quarter since 2015, study says

#11
post #9
post #6

I’m having a hard time contributing anything intellectually interesting. This is emotionally terrifying to me. What can be said?

I guess we can hope America starts taking climate change seriously again instead of chasing short term stock market returns

Stand up, fight back now... gotta save democracy first sadly. What a thorn in my side it has been to trade one existential crises for humanity for a government that seems actively opposed to doing a god damn thing about it

Re: Swiss glaciers have shrunk by a quarter since 2015, study says

#12
post #9
post #6

I’m having a hard time contributing anything intellectually interesting. This is emotionally terrifying to me. What can be said?

I guess we can hope America starts taking climate change seriously again instead of chasing short term stock market returns

And China too with its ~30-31% of world CO2.

Re: Swiss glaciers have shrunk by a quarter since 2015, study says

#13
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess we can hope America starts taking climate change seriously again instead of chasing short term stock market returns

And China too with its ~30-31% of world CO2.

China is leading the world in renewable energy production. Nuclear buildout, wind farms, solar farms. There's even some minor thermal (even though they're not geographically suited for that).

Sure, they are starting from a high number as the worlds manufacturer, but they're are clearly making strides that the other major industrial nations (the US) are not.

Re: Swiss glaciers have shrunk by a quarter since 2015, study says

#15
post #6

I’m having a hard time contributing anything intellectually interesting. This is emotionally terrifying to me. What can be said?

You have to weigh up the negatives with the positives and look at trends. AI can gave you a more exhaustive list of positive developments, but some I've noticed:

* "FERC: Solar + wind made up 91% of new US power generating capacity in H1 2025" [1] - The rollback of the IRA will reduce the speed of the US transition.

* "Solar and wind growth exceeded global demand growth in the first half of 2025" [2]

* Perovskite solar panels could lead to even lower solar costs [3]

There's also increased investment in nuclear, exicting geothermal advances (eg. Fervo Energy), increasing EV sales, a massive expansion of battery storage, zero emissions concrete (https://sublime-systems.com/). There are lots of positive developments, so I'd recommend learning more about them to offset your current fears and introduce some hope.

1. https://electrek.co/2025/09/03/ferc-solar-wind-91-percent-ne...

2. https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/global-electricity-...

3. https://www.ft.com/content/a5095373-1762-41cd-a078-af533e264...

Re: Swiss glaciers have shrunk by a quarter since 2015, study says

#17
post #6

I’m having a hard time contributing anything intellectually interesting. This is emotionally terrifying to me. What can be said?

China is building, domestically deploying, and exporting solar, wind, batteries, and EVs so fast that the world will have no choice but to rapidly move towards net zero simply due to economics. Existing excess atmospheric carbon emissions remain to be sequestered. China deployed 277GW of solar in 2024 and is accelerating, having deployed 212GW in the first half of 2025. 1GW of solar is being deployed globally every 15 hours. Clean energy and global electrification flywheel go brrrr.

https://ember-energy.org/data/china-cleantech-exports-data-e...

https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/china-energy-transi...

https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/china-is-quietly-saving-the-wo...

https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/08/21/china-clean-renewable-e...

Re: Swiss glaciers have shrunk by a quarter since 2015, study says

#18
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess we can hope America starts taking climate change seriously again instead of chasing short term stock market returns

And China too with its ~30-31% of world CO2.

Considering America is literally promoting fossil fuels over renewables and the US administration is publicly saying climate change is a scam, I think America deserves more flack than China here

Re: Swiss glaciers have shrunk by a quarter since 2015, study says

#19
post #16
post #6

I’m having a hard time contributing anything intellectually interesting. This is emotionally terrifying to me. What can be said?

[flagged]

> If you are so emotionally attached to solid water [...]

That's an oddly personal remark to be making when global warming is a concern for humanity.

That final sentence is not a positive note, either: "we're still experiencing above average ice melt - but this year wasn't as bad and some other years!".

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