4 ms·

Anyone working in the computer and software (or any high-tech) industry should be worried about global warming. Even if society collapses, you will have certain

by mempko 7y ago

Anyone working in the computer and software (or any high-tech) industry should be worried about global warming. Even if society collapses, you will have certain needs like food, clothing, etc. However, high technology requires a highly organized civilization to exist and develop. Global warming is a risk to organized human life and it's possible we won't be doing anything related to computers in 20-30 years. It's not crazy to think people will collectively lose the ability to make microchips and computers. Progress and technological development cannot be taken for granted and requires the right conditions to function. Global warming is an existential risk to our industry!

rimliu 7y ago
Where do you people get these ideas?
- mempko 7y ago
  That's it? This is the level of debate here?
  - tzakrajs 7y ago
    This place is full of racist ancaps so don't be surprised when they shit on the concerns you have for your community.
    - mempko 7y ago
      Was it always like this or is this a recent thing? Remember slashdot?
    - z9e 7y ago
      A single person has a disagreement and we end up at this? Seems a little far reaching.
- dang 7y ago
  Take HN threads further into flamewar will get you banned. Please review the site guidelines and don't do this here. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
lumberingjack 7y ago
I am a farmer, was a net admin earlier in life but from what I have seen and heard myself and talking to my tribe from up north climate change is a natural event and there is nothing we can do to stop things like Earth's axis slightly changing making the sun way hotter. People that want to fight climate change should start in the cites with smog it is man made, it changes the climate in a localized area, it kills, and you can do something about it. Yet I never see these Climate change fighters completely giving up smog making devices.
- mempko 7y ago
  You do tell them the sun isn't getting hotter right? Have you seen this? https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-whats-warming-the-world/ https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-whats-warming-the-wo...
  - davidw 7y ago
    I'm partial to this graphic... puts things in perspective and puts paid to the notion that what's happening now resembles natural climate fluctuations. https://xkcd.com/1732/ https://xkcd.com/1732/
    - chmod775 7y ago
      > puts paid I think you're being downvoted because of a typo.
      - davidw 7y ago
        I think people don't understand English. The graphic makes it very clear that what is happening now is very different in velocity and scale from historic climate swings. In other words, the climate change we're currently observing is man-made.
      - ChrisGranger 7y ago
        It's not a typo, but a common English phrase. https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/put-paid-to https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/put-pai...
TeMPOraL 7y ago
If global warming reaches the point it threatens our industry, our whole civilization will be halfway through collapse, and it won't end with computers not being needed for three decades. It'll end with a good majority of the world's population starving to death (or dying in acts of violence surrounding the event) and no one doing anything with computers for the next thousand years or so.
- buckminster 7y ago
  If it gets that bad computers in a thousand years may be out of reach. We have consumed all of the easily accessible fossil fuels so it will be much harder or impossible to bootstrap a new civilisation. This is plausibly the last great civilisation.
  - TeMPOraL 7y ago
    Yes. Which is why I believe that keeping our civilization in the stable state should be the most important policy goal. A point explored here, earlier today: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20447671 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20447671. It also bears reminding that climate change is not a threat to the planet or to humans as a species. Both will be fine. But it's an existential threat to technological civilization. Or, in other words: if you want your children and grandchildren to have even a semblance of quality of life an average person has today, climate change must be stopped now.
    - DennisP 7y ago
      The planet will be fine if you consider events like the Permian mass extinction to be "fine." If you doubt we could push things that far, see this recent MIT study: http://news.mit.edu/2019/carbon-threshold-mass-extinction-0708 http://news.mit.edu/2019/carbon-threshold-mass-extinction-07... Humans may well make it through that, but I don't think it'd be a sure thing, especially if we get secondary effects like pandemics or nuclear war.
      - TeMPOraL 7y ago
jotm 7y ago
Why is this even downvoted? One solar flare hit and the Internet takes a massive dive. I can always work construction, electrical and plumbing lol
- TeMPOraL 7y ago
  Because it's like saying that gunshot wounds are a problem because they can ruin your clothes.

by mempko 7y ago

rimliu 7y ago

Where do you people get these ideas?

mempko 7y ago
That's it? This is the level of debate here?
- tzakrajs 7y ago
  This place is full of racist ancaps so don't be surprised when they shit on the concerns you have for your community.
  - mempko 7y ago
    Was it always like this or is this a recent thing? Remember slashdot?
  - z9e 7y ago
    A single person has a disagreement and we end up at this? Seems a little far reaching.
dang 7y ago
Take HN threads further into flamewar will get you banned. Please review the site guidelines and don't do this here. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

lumberingjack 7y ago

I am a farmer, was a net admin earlier in life but from what I have seen and heard myself and talking to my tribe from up north climate change is a natural event and there is nothing we can do to stop things like Earth's axis slightly changing making the sun way hotter. People that want to fight climate change should start in the cites with smog it is man made, it changes the climate in a localized area, it kills, and you can do something about it. Yet I never see these Climate change fighters completely giving up smog making devices.

mempko 7y ago
You do tell them the sun isn't getting hotter right? Have you seen this? https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-whats-warming-the-world/ https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-whats-warming-the-wo...
- davidw 7y ago
  I'm partial to this graphic... puts things in perspective and puts paid to the notion that what's happening now resembles natural climate fluctuations. https://xkcd.com/1732/ https://xkcd.com/1732/
  - chmod775 7y ago
    > puts paid I think you're being downvoted because of a typo.
    - davidw 7y ago
      I think people don't understand English. The graphic makes it very clear that what is happening now is very different in velocity and scale from historic climate swings. In other words, the climate change we're currently observing is man-made.
    - ChrisGranger 7y ago
      It's not a typo, but a common English phrase. https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/put-paid-to https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/put-pai...

TeMPOraL 7y ago

If global warming reaches the point it threatens our industry, our whole civilization will be halfway through collapse, and it won't end with computers not being needed for three decades. It'll end with a good majority of the world's population starving to death (or dying in acts of violence surrounding the event) and no one doing anything with computers for the next thousand years or so.

buckminster 7y ago
If it gets that bad computers in a thousand years may be out of reach. We have consumed all of the easily accessible fossil fuels so it will be much harder or impossible to bootstrap a new civilisation. This is plausibly the last great civilisation.
- TeMPOraL 7y ago
  Yes. Which is why I believe that keeping our civilization in the stable state should be the most important policy goal. A point explored here, earlier today: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20447671 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20447671. It also bears reminding that climate change is not a threat to the planet or to humans as a species. Both will be fine. But it's an existential threat to technological civilization. Or, in other words: if you want your children and grandchildren to have even a semblance of quality of life an average person has today, climate change must be stopped now.
  - DennisP 7y ago
    The planet will be fine if you consider events like the Permian mass extinction to be "fine." If you doubt we could push things that far, see this recent MIT study: http://news.mit.edu/2019/carbon-threshold-mass-extinction-0708 http://news.mit.edu/2019/carbon-threshold-mass-extinction-07... Humans may well make it through that, but I don't think it'd be a sure thing, especially if we get secondary effects like pandemics or nuclear war.
    - TeMPOraL 7y ago

jotm 7y ago

Why is this even downvoted? One solar flare hit and the Internet takes a massive dive. I can always work construction, electrical and plumbing lol

TeMPOraL 7y ago
Because it's like saying that gunshot wounds are a problem because they can ruin your clothes.