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Oceans hit highest temperature on record

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461–470 of 696 posts

Re: Oceans hit highest temperature on record

#461

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Predicting El Niño vs. La Niña vs. neutral: relatively reliable. Predicting how strong the El Niño will be: harder. Predicting exactly what it will do to rainfall, temperatures, storms, or snowfall: substantially less reliable.

And yet people will put forth dire predictions (drought, flooding, hurricanes, tornadoes, heat waves, etc.) every chance they get. No wonder so many people think it is all a hoax.

Yes, scientists have put forth dire predictions of extreme weather. Here's the thhing though - we actually see measurable increases in the frequency and severity of extreme weather events. They put forth dire predictions.. and they are absolutely correct. It's right there in the observational record.

Re: Oceans hit highest temperature on record

#462

Does anybody else feel like this is the answer to the Fermi paradox? Advanced civilizations simply exploit, consume, and pollute their way of existence.

Nah, they can't go multiplanetary because faster than rocket powered travel in space must be impossible and they die of radiation during the journey.

Planetary runaway heating can be worked with with underground cities.

Re: Oceans hit highest temperature on record

#463

Does anybody else feel like this is the answer to the Fermi paradox? Advanced civilizations simply exploit, consume, and pollute their way of existence.

Most probably it's because the universe is vast and as humans we cannot comprehend how far the stars are. No matter how advanced an alien civilization is, physics prohibits objects with mass travelling faster than light and that's tru for any civilization.

Re: Oceans hit highest temperature on record

#464

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Global consensus would be great, but "reliable mechanism" would be a decent start. In lieu of that, there's nothing to build consensus around.

Atmospheric sulfur seems to be the "default."

Yes which is an extremely dangerous and completely unproven idea.

Re: Oceans hit highest temperature on record

#465

Does anybody else feel like this is the answer to the Fermi paradox? Advanced civilizations simply exploit, consume, and pollute their way of existence.

What if we found ourselves on a planet that didn't have fossil fuels?

We'd go mass extinction and be the fossil fuels for the next intelligent species that appears.

Re: Oceans hit highest temperature on record

#466
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I am glad that I live far away from the effects Are you not on planet earth? Unless you're on Mars, you're not far away from any effects.

There are regions on the planet that will likely fare better than others, though.

[dead]

Re: Oceans hit highest temperature on record

#467
post #2

When I was younger, I remember thinking, "a few degrees, what difference does that make?" Then when I grew older I realised that in Climate science a few degrees is the difference between survival and annihilation. A few degrees warmer in the ocean and El Niño becomes an incredible problem for half the world. I am glad that I live far away from the effects but it is sad to think of people losing all kinds of things f…

Sea water temperature here in Valencia was something crazy this year. I do not remember anything like this before.

Re: Oceans hit highest temperature on record

#468

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because "why not?" Do we understand that humanity includes Chinese people? Do we also understand A) the steps they're already taking to reduce emissions and B) how much of their emissions historically and today are in service of Western consumers?

i don't accept arguments in the form of B when its a business (our pollution is just serving our customers demand, its their moral responsibility to reduce consumption), and I also don't accept it in country form. centralisation makes centralised opporunity for change. You have all the power, and also all the responsibility.

> i don't accept arguments in the form of B

Feel free to share why not. At the end of the China is still part of a global system dominated by capitalism and they have to play the markets game in order to survive.

They could easily fully do things their own way but that would mean, for example, chance of private intellectual property, which would mean no WTO membership, which would mean massively reduced capacity for trade, which would put them at such a disadvantage they'd inevitably collapse.

Re: Oceans hit highest temperature on record

#469

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because cheap fossil fuels's benefits will dissipate in two decades if we can move to green energy while the downsides project into whatever time remains of organized human civilization.

The benefits of fossil fuels will also be felt for centuries as well. It's what moved us into the comfortable lives we all enjoy today and lifted billions out of poverty. The point isn't that they're wonderful, it's that they're treated as this thing that only a few have benefited from, when it's exactly the opposite.

From the perspective of our evolutionary fitness function the most critical thing is to eliminate existential risk, and from the dawn of the industrial revolution to now all we've done is create them. Fossil Fuels allow us to keep 8 billion people alive at the same time temporarily, which is a reckless and irresponsible thing to do. If it isn't sustainable it's a joke.

Re: Oceans hit highest temperature on record

#470
post #442

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Western democracies at this point can't do anything at that even hints at minimally inconveniencing 5% of the population. Any 5% at that. We are stuck in local maximum even if it slowly and surely slides into the shitter

Pretty much everything the EU does, is inconveniencing most of its population, often in the name of "climate change" (while not actually making any impact). Positives: no mobile roaming charges Negatives: - less efficient home appliances (dishwasher, washing machine, drier) - cookie law - car annoyances (e.g. "beep if over the speed limit") - paper straws - attached bottle caps - LED lights - expensive electricity (a…

I wouldn't even mind the speed limit beeping if it was paired with correct data. But the rental car I recently used in Germany actively reduced the engine power when it detected going "over the limit", which was frequrently triggered by e.g. motorway exit lane speed limits being incorrectly parsed. Since there is talk in the EU to actively prohibit going over the limit, this issue needs to be urgently fixed.
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