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Climate change: IPCC report is 'code red for humanity'

bbc.com

331–340 of 1001 posts

Re: Climate change: IPCC report is 'code red for humanity'

#331
post #67

The article, and many like it, does a poor job of explaining the consequences we will face. 1.5°C doesn't mean much to the lay man. Explain that uncertain harvests, tied to speculation on risks, will much likely lead to an increase in the price of bread. Add to that an increase in oil will also lead to a price increase. Heatwave in Greece ? Greece is usually hot in summer so one doesn't care. Now explain how many hou…

Wildfires in Canada and Russia. Floats in Germany. Etc, etc... We have known 40 years what will happen and now for our leaders those consequences seem to come as a surprise. I hope the Germans will vote for the Green party in the September's federal elections and other countries will follow the example.

I dearly hope the Greens will not win. Reducing consumption is an extremely tricky problem, and likely unfeasible without creating large amounts of poverty. I'd rather live in a rich, powerful nation with strong workforce and military rebuilding after each storm than being stripped my last rights and eating worms while a tiny elite still enjoying the freedoms we once had. Please do not fall for the propaganda.

Re: Climate change: IPCC report is 'code red for humanity'

#332
post #278
post #270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The emphasis many countries take is to focus on car owners and drivers by taxing private commuters to death, with dubious environmental gains outside of increasing state income. Meanwhile one cargo ship or cruise liner arguably pollutes way more than millions(!) of cars. I'm not sure that's a great route to take politically, no pun intended. They seem to go for the lowest hanging cash grab before going after those wh…

Same with garbage bags and plastic straws. Stuff comes in stores absolutely wrapped in tons of plastic and they go and ban plastic straws. Not to mention stuff that's triple wrapped (sweets for example).

Plastic straws are social media outrage about a tortoise and has no significant impact on global warming. People upset about plastic in the ocean should be focused on ghost fishing nets.

Re: Climate change: IPCC report is 'code red for humanity'

#334
Can air-conditioners capture CO2, collect fuel while keeping you cool as the world heats up? [1,2,3]

Humans added fossile fuels into the atmosphere and oceans already. This won't disappear completely for a thousand years [4], so we need to find ways to remove it.

[1] https://www.fastcompany.com/90342957/what-if-every-air-condi...

[2] https://duanetilden.com/2019/05/18/using-building-air-condit...

[3] https://www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks/may-4-2019-brain-resuscitati...

[4] https://skepticalscience.com/why-global-warming-can-accelera...

Re: Climate change: IPCC report is 'code red for humanity'

#335

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It’s just so hard to know what actions have what impact on CO2 production Not really. For some reason the actually quite simple problem is needlessly complicated in the discussions. Stop digging up ANY carbon from below ground where it was safely buried. Any carbon above ground is part of the cycle that includes atmospheric CO2. You need huge effort to change how much of it is in CO2 form at any time while still ha…

> Stop digging up ANY carbon from below ground where it was safely buried. If a country does this today, they will be at a severe economic disadvantage compared to a neighbouring country which continues using coal. All their manufactured goods will end up more expensive, nobody will buy their exports, and their population and economy will suffer. Only a few countries have done this to any extent, and they are countri…

> The US could do it if they were prepared to threaten sanctions or millitary force.

… in the 1990s, not today. Doing that today would just hand the world to China.

The Iraq disaster and electing a humiliating clown and con man as president have taken quite a toll on US power.

Meanwhile the rest of the world has grown.

The US is just no longer what it was, and doesn’t have nearly the “soft” power it once did. The huge military is of little help on this issue.

Re: Climate change: IPCC report is 'code red for humanity'

#336
post #70

So now we can get rid of fast fashion, mandate reusability for products, reintroduce basic woodworking, metalcrafting and sewing/repair work in school and with that get rid of a huge chunk of the needless shipping? Or are we still going to go after individuals eating traditional food while thought leaders fly across the globe in private jets (no kidding) telling us we need to change our diet? PS: I'm already a enthus…

Individual action won’t solve this problem. We need to leave the fossil fuels in the ground, which means switching energy sources, which is not something individuals have much influence on. Reducing energy use at the individual level is good, but insufficient if the energy used comes from fossil fuels. I’m not sure we need to switch lifestyles that much, but we will need to radically change energy production. There h…

>Individual action won’t solve this problem.

Although from an individuals perspective it makes sense to change on your own terms rather than waiting for it to be forced on you.

Re: Climate change: IPCC report is 'code red for humanity'

#337

It’s just so hard to know what actions have what impact on CO2 production. Some are high-pain, low-gain (switching devices off instead of standby?), some are opposite (cycling instead of driving when possible etc). For that if for no other reason, I’d rather if consumer prices included an explicit CO2 tax. The here can be a rebate for poorer people, or personal allowance, whatever, but there would be a fixed yardstic…

Switching what devices ?

High pain to me is no more transport, overheat, empty shelves.

Reducing devices seems like a freebie

Re: Climate change: IPCC report is 'code red for humanity'

#338
post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Individual action won’t solve this problem. We need to leave the fossil fuels in the ground, which means switching energy sources, which is not something individuals have much influence on. Reducing energy use at the individual level is good, but insufficient if the energy used comes from fossil fuels. I’m not sure we need to switch lifestyles that much, but we will need to radically change energy production. There h…

> which means switching energy sources, which is not something individuals have much influence on I'm not sure how it is in the US or around the world, but in Germany switching to 100% renewable energy for your home takes about 10 minutes online, by changing contract or company. Sure - if everyone did it there would not be enough supply, but apparently the majority does not despite being able to.

Good!

I'll just mention though that I think there is some double dipping going on here:

"Every" Norwegian seems to be happily thinking that they are using green hydropower, while at the same time the green certificates are sold to Germany.

Not saying this to discourage you guys, what you do makes green power more viable. Edit: The problem is Norwegians are living happy lives thinking they aren't contributing from power at least and nobody is telling.

I only want to help lit a fire under the feet of Norwegians :-)

And personally I could accept a small extra fee to get certified nuclear power ;-)

Edit 2: feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

Re: Climate change: IPCC report is 'code red for humanity'

#340
post #329

I'm still very skeptical how the measures will take into effect if they ever happen. In france the yellow vests protest was caused by a planned carbon tax increase on gas. Car dependent citizens rioted. A carbon tax will reduce the living standard of everyone, and it will take time for society to readjust. I really think the economy will tank and take a lot of time to adjust to a green economy, as it's not only elect…

> Only 12% of ROAD TRANSPORT emits co2.

Road transportation accounts for ca. 12% of global emissions. Nearly 100% of road transportation emits CO2.

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