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NASA: Earth warming at unprecedented pace, unlikely to stay in Paris T° range
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It's a bit more complicated than that. Melting ice causes water levels to rise which can actually cause cooler temperatures in certain areas. It's complicated which is one of the problems. If the Earth was just getting warmer everywhere at the same time it would be harder to deny it outright.
Yes, it'll just be more extreme shifts in winter weather.
The world isn't unified on this because the world isn't equal in opportunity. Countries that depend on things that hurt the environment will continue hurting the environment because the alternative is just being more poor and worse off. Countries that could afford to do things won't because the money made lets them continue being as rich as they are now. Lives are two short for people to feel any of this impact besides reading ominous reports like this
There is literally nothing you can do. Even within the US you cannot get unity on what we should do about it, let alone every other country in the world.
There is literally nothing you can do. Even within the US you cannot get unity on what we should do about it, let alone every other country in the world.
Dirtyshubb
Member
Yeah I have read about all the work from China with going renewable which is really pleasing to see.
It's going to be funny/sad to see how the argument changes when the us/UK tries to blame the east later on when they eventually do a much better job meeting their goals compared to us.
I was in Glacier this summer. It's beautiful, but kinda depressing. There were 150 glaciers there in 1850. There are 25 today. They project that they may all be gone by 2020.
Any reduction is a solid start. Cutting out cattle and other ruminants out of our food supply would do wonders for preventing further climate change.
PantherLotus
Professional Schmuck
I think it's too late.
wild wild rice
Member
B-b-but my short term profits and share holders! Corporations are people!
Pilgrimzero
Member
One thing I've realized recently is we will get exactly what we deserve. If we don't fix the issue then we will die off as a species and we will we got what we deserved.
And frankly, humans are too self centered to fix it. Money and power are more important. The here and now. Other people's problems in the future.
Damn I'm pessimistic.
And frankly, humans are too self centered to fix it. Money and power are more important. The here and now. Other people's problems in the future.
Damn I'm pessimistic.
astroturfing
Member
China is actually doing shit though.. investing massively in solar etc. and have you looked up how many trees they've planted..? blew my mind.
what are Republicans and their leaders in America doing?
perfectchaos007
Member
Damn. Time to rename it to puddle park
That would be a dictatorship.
Part of the problem right now is that the executive branch has to rely on executive orders to get things done because of legislative paralysis. But this is only a temporary solution, considering that the leadership has a chance of changing every 4 or 8 years. Things that require money will have to go through Congress. Supreme Court can flip out in executive orders/actions that go too far.
It's not ideal, but it's also a necessary check on power.
tearsintherain
Member
China was responsible for 25% of the world's carbon emissions in 2014, more than the US and Europe combined. They are definitely moving towards cutting that down, but they still open one new coal plant basically every day, whereas in the US for all the bluster in this thread, basically there really aren't any new dirty coal plants opening anymore - as old ones go online, new ones that are nearly zero emissions may open, but even that is at a rate of maybe 2-3/year.
https://www.nrdc.org/experts/barbar...coal-consumption-putting-brakes-global-carbon
The reality is that the future of the world is in China and India's hands, they are the ones who (rightfully) want to develop a middle class into living standards comparable to the West. Sure, there are things the US should do to emulate Europe more - less food transport, better recycling, less meat consumption, better fuel standards for cars, etc - but its really Asia that is going to be in the drivers seat of deciding how much wider or smaller our carbon footprint is going to get. The US going from 14% to 9% will be great, but China going from 25% to 40% or 15% is the one that is going to make the difference, not the US.
People in this thread act like absolutely nothing is happening. It is. China cut the number of dirty coal fire plants dramatically over the last few years, but even still 155 coal plants will come online in 2016. Thats compared to 557 total in America, and that number declines every year. China has currently thousands of plants, many of them underutilized, but they keep building more because they have a dramatic problem of keeping construction workers working, and the entire pipeline of people supporting the construction of new plants.
http://qz.com/650709/china-has-the-...alf-the-time-theyre-doing-absolutely-nothing/
Megalosaro
Banned
Hahaha. You guys can judge the government all you want for not implimenting policy to combat this, but you'd be damn well pissed if these policies actually went into effect. Your quality of life would plummet.
JordanN
Banned
"Dad, why are my eyeballs melting?"
"Because we let the ozone layer run out son. Because we let it run out".
We're pretty much all complicit in this to some degree or other though. It's kind of hard not to be. I might not be lighting cigars with hundred dollar bills at Exon Mobil HQ, but I do my part sitting in front of a computer in an air conditioned room, waiting for Amazon to deliver my most recent frivolous purchase via an exhaust-spewing semi truck that will hand the package off to the UPS guy who will deliver it.
It's a big problem that can't be solved short of massive government intervention, and good luck with that in this political climate.
Fortunately, solar panels has reached the breaking point, and batteries are also becoming competitive for making cars. We have the tools, the main problem is the time - we are running out of time, and no one knows exactly the line of "no return".
I think we really need to capture carbon dioxide on mass scale.
I think we really need to capture carbon dioxide on mass scale.
Ether_Snake
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More and more humans consume more and more energy. The estimates have been lowballed.
victreeb3l
Member
Yeah, it is a little depressing. It still looks beautiful but in a different way. Hard not to feel sad about the ridiculous loss in such a short span of time.
AstroNut325
Member
Why are you depending entirely on the government? Why not take proactive steps towards a lower carbon footprint in your life?
Next time you're car shopping, get a EV. Eat less meat, use less air conditioning, get solar if you can, use public transit, reduce your consumption of goods that need to be imported from the other side of the planet. There's many things we can do RIGHT now on top of writing letters to representatives.
Because right now, the only message we're sending to our representatives is that we don't care. We see the problem, but we personally do nothing about it.
Heck, every car thread on GAF still has everyone only recommending ICE cars only still. That's insane.
Edit:
THIS! No one wants to make any changes or sacrifices. The people in this very thread will continue to live the same way they do now despite significant warnings.
Expect the government to fix it! Then..
WTF... why is driving so expensive now?
WTF... why is food so expensive now?
And so on and so on.
Perpetually wet. As if it's possible for it to rain any more. At least it won't be chilly, just always vaguely mild and wet.
In all seriousness this is quite depressing. I also know some people who believe everything will be fine and everything will work out, therefore not wanting to do much about it.
Pankratous
Member
We should all have better policies for waste food. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong but I believe it is France where it is illegal to just dispose of unsold food in supermarkets and it has to be donated to the homeless / charities, or something along those lines.
That should be a thing everywhere.
astroturfing
Member
i'd be totally ready to ration meat, electricity, water etc if everyone did it as well.
then again i'm already pretty poor so it wouldn't be much of a drop in quality of life.
evilromero
Member
Tell all your parents and state representatives thank you for stealing away a positive future from their grandchildren and their grandchildren's children. If they want their children to have the same kind of quality of life of they experienced, then it's time to do something drastic. Otherwise we prepare to live with the harsh consequences.
Fenderputty
Banned
I'll wait for the study backed by big oil, thank you very much Nasa.
Yep, and all the carbon we've burned was the collective remains of literally billions of years of existence if this planet. All dug up and burned in a matter of a few thousand years and fundamentally altering the climate in which we live, by the looks of it, irrevocably.
Our political structure simply is not up to the task. Short termism, money, greed, complete and utter selfishness and an unwillingness to plan ahead. Our politicians are never going to save us, our entire system has caused this. Time to start afresh. God help us
There is no god.DragonSworne
Banned
Why not build a big net to capture this CO2?
This right here.
I've encountered many people who seem completely dejected in the face of climate change, and understandably so, but then refuse to change their meat intake for the sake of alleviating the problem. Every little bit helps.
LegendofJoe
Member
I've been researching insect meats lately. Anyone in this thread have any personal experience cooking it or have advice to share?
iamaustrian
Member
I find it really disturbing that many people still make fun and jokes of this.
A warmer earth doesn't turn now cold places into tropical paradises.
this is not magic.
I tell you what earth will be in 50-100 years: A war-ridden hell with millions of "earth warming" related deaths each year.
funny huh?
btw: the worst attitude is "Doesn't matter what I do as a single person cause china and co fuck it up anyway".
with this stance all is already lost indeed.
A warmer earth doesn't turn now cold places into tropical paradises.
this is not magic.
I tell you what earth will be in 50-100 years: A war-ridden hell with millions of "earth warming" related deaths each year.
funny huh?
btw: the worst attitude is "Doesn't matter what I do as a single person cause china and co fuck it up anyway".
with this stance all is already lost indeed.
SugarDaddy
Member
Shut down every coal plant, and just let everybody starve already
EuricaeriS
Member
The midges, man. THE MIDGES.
PsychoSoldier
Banned
I don't let it get to me because ultimately until the moneyed interests in our country decide that it is important enough to be acted upon it is simply not going to be acted upon and I can't do a damn thing about that.
So I'm going to do the best I can without worrying about it too much because I don't have any control over it.
PsychoSoldier
Banned
Exo protein bars are okay, as I understand it cricket flour is fairly edible and easy to work with.
LegendofJoe
Member
The Sierra Club with the help of Michael Bloomberg has been kicking the coal industry's ass over the last few years with the Beyond Coal campaign. If you want to help donate money to the cause. They're incredibly effective at both stopping new coal plants from being built and convincing utilities to abandon old coal plants.
Edit: There are a lot of incredibly amazing people who have devoted their lives to preventing and mitigating the damaging effects of climate change. That's something we need to remember before we decide to embrace nihilism and give up hope.
Carbon capture and sequestration is an area of active development, but it's expensive and not viable in all areas. Not producing the carbon in the first place would be preferable I think, but I don't know much about carbon capture technology.
AstroNut325
Member
So you'll continue to eat massive amounts of meat everyday, continue using fossil fuel powered cars, and keep the AC running while you're not home?
Yes. Climate change affects extremes, which are also cold extremes. This is why people call bullshit when politicians start spewing garbage like "if the world is getting hotter why do we still got snow?!"
LegendofJoe
Member
Thanks, I imagine you have to buy this stuff over the Internet unless you happen to live in a place that already eats insects. It's not ideal getting it shipped over distances because the only reason I'm interested is to protect the environment, so hopefully I'll be able to locate a store relatively nearby at some point.
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