4 ms·

> It takes a special kind of hubris for someone to think they understand climate change with the minute dataset we have. And an even greater hubris to ignore t

• dizzystar 9y ago
  In a certain state in said country, the majority of people are very much not a part of said party, recycle by law, and claim to live with minimal carbon footprint. They also prefer to buy gas-guzzling SUVs, use millions of gallons of water to maintain lawns in the desert, redirect water to their large population centers to do so, and line up to buy the new iThing each year (tossing out the perfectly good old one in the trash).
  • orf 9y ago
    > They also prefer to buy gas-guzzling SUVs, use millions of gallons of water to maintain lawns in the desert, redirect water to their large population centers to do so, and line up to buy the new iThing each year (tossing out the perfectly good old one in the trash). All whilst maintaining the third lowest CO2 emissions per capita. Incredible!
  • seanmcdirmid 9y ago
    I’m seriously trying to figure out what state you are talking about. Definitely not California (cities aren’t very near the desert, even Los Angeles is in a semi humid basin), Arizona doesn’t have lawns mostly, Utah SLC wouldn’t really qualify as desert either. So then I thought you might mean Saudi Arabia?
    • dragonwriter 9y ago
      > Definitely not California (cities aren’t very near the desert The coastal cities aren't, but the southern central valley cities (Bakersfield, notably) are in the desert.
      • seanmcdirmid 9y ago
        Sure, but that isn’t many of them. A drive through the desert finds it is mostly unpopulated. Definitely “desert” doesn’t define most of California’s population, it isn’t related to the Bay Area, Sacramento, etc.... You can find a list of California’s largest desert cities at https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deserts_of_California https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deserts_of_California, and it’s pretty marginal. Note Bakersfield isn’t even on that list.
        • seandougall 9y ago
          A drive through the desert looks very different if you don’t take the 5.
          • seanmcdirmid 9y ago
            I’ve taken highway 395 all the way from LA to Susanville (afterwards took an even more obscure highway to crater lake). Very nice drive if you can afford the detour. The only big desert city I went through was Reno.
        • dragonwriter 9y ago
          > You can find a list of California’s largest desert cities at https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deserts_of_California https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deserts_of_California, and it’s pretty marginal. The list is incomplete; it seems to include only cities in the named deserts, not cities in desert climate; much of the San Joaquin Valley, especially the southern part, is desert—but not in a specifically named desert—that is irrigated for agriculture.
          • 9y ago
• throwahey 9y ago
  That dataset is limited, it’s vast and accurate for around 100 years then the quality and data points drop exponentially the further back you look. Plenty of people agree that there is not enough data to draw conclusions about such a complex issue. Way to make this political for no reason.
  • orf 9y ago
    It's an inherently political issue, one that has pretty clear cut lines. I'll give you a dollar if you can guess which side of the line has more funding from oil companies and other vested interests. Can you imagine why that particular line might be the one espousing climate change denial and skepticism, uniquely in the developed world, whilst simultaneously preparing for it? Should you not be skeptical of where your skepticism comes from?
  • Oletros 9y ago
    > Plenty of people agree that there is not enough data to draw conclusions What people, climate scientists?