4 ms·

I think people are internalizing what is essentially a macro issue down to the personal level. In reality, individuals are likely to be fine. We're not going to

I think people are internalizing what is essentially a macro issue down to the personal level. In reality, individuals are likely to be fine. We're not going to wake up one day and be instantly vaporized. The section about people not wanting to have children because of climate change is really shocking. I find it crazy that people would literally weed themselves out of the gene pool on the idea that the planet will be uninhabitable in the very near future. Humans are resilient, humans solve problems, humans have technology. Maybe this will push us to go to space sooner than we would have? Maybe we'll create underground cities? This is an opportunity to advance human technology and society, not the time to throw in the towel and commit genetic suicide. Thankfully I think most people wouldn't do that, it's just that doesn't make for compelling clickbait so those thoughts didn't get included in this article.

Fricken 8y ago
You're not going to weed yourself out of the gene pool by not having kids. Your genetic material is widely distributed amongst 7.7 billion other people.
XJOKOLAT 8y ago
PEOPLE ARE FUCKING DYING NOW, BRO ... this dick talking about vaporization ... Pricks ... Is what I would have said.
mycorrhizal 8y ago
I agree with you on the having kids issue, but I disagree that individuals should just treat it as a macro problem. Even in the US (where I live) there is planning you can do on an individual level to help you avoid some of the negative consequences of climate change. I actually think this would be an interesting discussion on HN. Some of the steps that I think are most important concern mainly where you choose to live for a specific example Miami could fare very badly wrt to flooding and increased storms. I can't imagine that will be good for property values not to mention safety. I would be interested to read about anyone else's suggestions on what plans someone could make on an individual level for both themselves and their children.
- malvosenior 8y ago
  I agree. People should be informed and responsible. Adaptation is going to require a lot of changes. Might as well acknowledge them and start dealing with them (as you suggest). I found the article to be anything but responsible though. More like hysterical.
Analemma_ 8y ago
> We're not going to wake up one day and be instantly vaporized. Nice strawman. No one ever said we're going to "wake up and be instantly vaporized". What's actually going to happen is this: - Food is going to continuously get more expensive as droughts shorten growing seasons, desertification and flooding eliminate arable land, the ocean depopulates, and increased atmospheric CO2 "de-nutrients" the crops that do grow. - We're going to rack up unbelievable debt trying to either migrate people out of flood zones or try to delay their immersion. I've said before that once Miami starts flooding enough that people can no longer stick their heads in the sand and pretend nothing is wrong, Florida real estate owners will probably demand some ultra-expensive engineering megaproject to try and save the city on the taxpayers' dime. The same will happen in every other low-lying coastal region. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12342617 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12342617 quotes a figure of $180 million just to migrate 600 people in Alaska; now multiply that by the size of the population in coastal areas and get a glimpse of the hole we're driving into. - Building on that last point, human migration is going to increase dramatically as people try to escape more affected regions for better-off ones. The current level of migration, relatively tiny all things considered, is already causing fatal autoimmune reactions in Europe and North America, and it's going to increase by orders of magnitude. Not to mention the additional unrest when the wealthy inevitably retreat to (literal or metaphorical) walled cities to escape the problem. - The above factors of resource scarcity, political unrest, and finger-pointing are going to cause global wars. So yes, this will affect all of us on the personal level of having a lower standard of living in a world of permanent social turmoil. It is not going to be fine. > Maybe this will push us to go to space sooner than we would have? Maybe we'll create underground cities? This is an opportunity to advance human technology and society, Even disregarding that your own use of the word "maybe" already indicates a certain amount of hopelessness about the situation, this is a fallacy of "just because circumstances forced us to develop this technology, that technology is a Good Thing and represents societal progress". I don't want to live underground or in space, I want to live on a healthy planet with lots of open space and diverse environments. At the very best, either of these options would be like spending your entire life in a climate-controlled office building. I'd prefer death.
- malvosenior 8y ago
  > What's actually going to happen is this: I don't think anyone knows what's going to happen. Definitely not extrapolated out as far as you have.
c0nducktr 8y ago
I'm sorry, but being pushed to living in space or underground sooner rather than later doesn't sound like something we should look at as a good thing. Most people don't want to do those things.
- malvosenior 8y ago
  It's inevitable that we'll have to go to space someday if we want to human race to survive. "Good" or "bad" has nothing to do with it.

Fricken 8y ago

You're not going to weed yourself out of the gene pool by not having kids. Your genetic material is widely distributed amongst 7.7 billion other people.

XJOKOLAT 8y ago

PEOPLE ARE FUCKING DYING NOW, BRO ... this dick talking about vaporization ... Pricks ... Is what I would have said.

mycorrhizal 8y ago

I agree with you on the having kids issue, but I disagree that individuals should just treat it as a macro problem. Even in the US (where I live) there is planning you can do on an individual level to help you avoid some of the negative consequences of climate change. I actually think this would be an interesting discussion on HN. Some of the steps that I think are most important concern mainly where you choose to live for a specific example Miami could fare very badly wrt to flooding and increased storms. I can't imagine that will be good for property values not to mention safety. I would be interested to read about anyone else's suggestions on what plans someone could make on an individual level for both themselves and their children.

malvosenior 8y ago
I agree. People should be informed and responsible. Adaptation is going to require a lot of changes. Might as well acknowledge them and start dealing with them (as you suggest). I found the article to be anything but responsible though. More like hysterical.

Analemma_ 8y ago

> We're not going to wake up one day and be instantly vaporized. Nice strawman. No one ever said we're going to "wake up and be instantly vaporized". What's actually going to happen is this: - Food is going to continuously get more expensive as droughts shorten growing seasons, desertification and flooding eliminate arable land, the ocean depopulates, and increased atmospheric CO2 "de-nutrients" the crops that do grow. - We're going to rack up unbelievable debt trying to either migrate people out of flood zones or try to delay their immersion. I've said before that once Miami starts flooding enough that people can no longer stick their heads in the sand and pretend nothing is wrong, Florida real estate owners will probably demand some ultra-expensive engineering megaproject to try and save the city on the taxpayers' dime. The same will happen in every other low-lying coastal region. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12342617 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12342617 quotes a figure of $180 million just to migrate 600 people in Alaska; now multiply that by the size of the population in coastal areas and get a glimpse of the hole we're driving into. - Building on that last point, human migration is going to increase dramatically as people try to escape more affected regions for better-off ones. The current level of migration, relatively tiny all things considered, is already causing fatal autoimmune reactions in Europe and North America, and it's going to increase by orders of magnitude. Not to mention the additional unrest when the wealthy inevitably retreat to (literal or metaphorical) walled cities to escape the problem. - The above factors of resource scarcity, political unrest, and finger-pointing are going to cause global wars. So yes, this will affect all of us on the personal level of having a lower standard of living in a world of permanent social turmoil. It is not going to be fine. > Maybe this will push us to go to space sooner than we would have? Maybe we'll create underground cities? This is an opportunity to advance human technology and society, Even disregarding that your own use of the word "maybe" already indicates a certain amount of hopelessness about the situation, this is a fallacy of "just because circumstances forced us to develop this technology, that technology is a Good Thing and represents societal progress". I don't want to live underground or in space, I want to live on a healthy planet with lots of open space and diverse environments. At the very best, either of these options would be like spending your entire life in a climate-controlled office building. I'd prefer death.

malvosenior 8y ago
> What's actually going to happen is this: I don't think anyone knows what's going to happen. Definitely not extrapolated out as far as you have.

c0nducktr 8y ago

I'm sorry, but being pushed to living in space or underground sooner rather than later doesn't sound like something we should look at as a good thing. Most people don't want to do those things.

malvosenior 8y ago
It's inevitable that we'll have to go to space someday if we want to human race to survive. "Good" or "bad" has nothing to do with it.