4 ms·

The numerous one-in-a-thousand-year floods don't get you? The super-typhoons and unprecedented hurricanes? Drought and the human migration motivated by drough

The numerous one-in-a-thousand-year floods don't get you? The super-typhoons and unprecedented hurricanes? Drought and the human migration motivated by drought and flood? Species extinction? Wildfires? Loss of islands? I think it was the photos of disinterred coffins floating through the flooded streets of New Orleans that first really hit me: it's here.

danielmg 8y ago
I don't think you read all of his comment. Picking a single event like New Orleans isn't great evidence. I lived through a once in 300 years hurricane in southern England in '87 - that tells us nothing. But the increasing frequency of adverse events and once in a x years events is starting to nod its head in the direction of the impacts of global warming starting to manifest. The point he made is a good one - media sensationalism, supported by people who should know better; it does more harm than good. The future looks bleak as we, in the west, can go 100% nuke, zero carbon etc but it's like a fart in a jacuzzi compared to what China will bring as its economy scales to western per-capita size.
- kojon99 8y ago
  Tough sanctions are the solution to that.
pyk 8y ago
To piggyback the above comment, the recent Nature[1] article about centuries-old baobab trees mysteriously dying over the past decade of warmer-then-even-warmer temperatures is what hit me. A potential litmus test for our future as a species. I suspect we will see more and more accumulation of research on impacts rather than just predicted impacts as we continue to experience increased temperatures. Although you do not have to touch a flame to know it will burn, more and more real world instances of getting "burned" are harder and harder to ignore. "The researchers found no signs of an epidemic or disease, leading them to suggest that changing climates in southern Africa could be to blame — but they stress that more research is needed to confirm this idea." [1] https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-05411-7 https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-05411-7

danielmg 8y ago

I don't think you read all of his comment. Picking a single event like New Orleans isn't great evidence. I lived through a once in 300 years hurricane in southern England in '87 - that tells us nothing. But the increasing frequency of adverse events and once in a x years events is starting to nod its head in the direction of the impacts of global warming starting to manifest. The point he made is a good one - media sensationalism, supported by people who should know better; it does more harm than good. The future looks bleak as we, in the west, can go 100% nuke, zero carbon etc but it's like a fart in a jacuzzi compared to what China will bring as its economy scales to western per-capita size.

kojon99 8y ago
Tough sanctions are the solution to that.

pyk 8y ago

To piggyback the above comment, the recent Nature[1] article about centuries-old baobab trees mysteriously dying over the past decade of warmer-then-even-warmer temperatures is what hit me. A potential litmus test for our future as a species. I suspect we will see more and more accumulation of research on impacts rather than just predicted impacts as we continue to experience increased temperatures. Although you do not have to touch a flame to know it will burn, more and more real world instances of getting "burned" are harder and harder to ignore. "The researchers found no signs of an epidemic or disease, leading them to suggest that changing climates in southern Africa could be to blame — but they stress that more research is needed to confirm this idea." [1] https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-05411-7 https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-05411-7