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There is nothing hypothetical about climate change. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instrumental_temperature_record https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instrumental_te

• Doxterpepper 7y ago
  I think his point is that the consequences of climate change are still down the road and just how bad it will be is yet to be seen. Harder to get people around on big changes due to climate change since we're a couple years off from big consequences. The impact from deforestation of the Amazon can be seen right now.
  • underbluewaters 7y ago
    The consequences of climate change are here and have been for years. In Hawaii >50% of coral reefs died off in 2015 [1], including my favorite fishing spots. Three years later most of this eroded habitat was then destroyed by winter swells. These reefs had never bleached in modern history. I saw a coral colony the size of a small house (100s of years old) flipped over and crushed. It was so sad that it was a major contributor to me deciding to leave the state. Many coastal communities are dealing with more serious problems. [1] https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/reefresponse/files/2016/09/WHI-Coral-Bleaching-Survey.pdf https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/reefresponse/files/2016/09/WHI-Coral...
• dmix 7y ago
  Sure, yet many of the worst future risks are very much still abstract and not yet fully developed concrete risks in people's minds. Human motivation is very fickle and it seems to be in our nature to do everything last minute, maybe some genetic legacy to conserve energy and a natural aversion to adding more effort for yet another problem. With this sargassum issue they can no longer just say they "don't believe" in something when its in front of them. The stuff that's happening today is probably the best motivator to get people to invest in the future. That's why all of those BBC nature docs are the great sales pitches as they always touch on real issues happening now (see: shots of a polar bear on an ice block!). Plus it's not just climate change, it could be any major human disruption of natural habits.
  • sprafa 7y ago
    I think we’re beginning to see the madness of even a slight climate adjustment and how it’s impacting lives (and in the case of Greece and Portugal and many other people - killing people in massive fires) People are beginning to seriously freak out. I see that in the UK where I live and in Portugal where I come from and in Brasil where my family is from. People are seeing fires, drought and extreme weather (in Europe heatwaves are killing people). It feels like the end of times. To be fair climate change denial is mostly a political Problem. Most Americans believe in climate change and same in the Uk and I believe in most of the developed world.
    • icebraining 7y ago
      Eh, I live in Portugal and while climate change doesn't help, I also don't think that's the biggest cause of our large fires, we mostly just suck at managing the forest - we depopulated the interior without having a backup plan. The fires in the Artic and Siberia, that does feel like the end of times :/
      • sprafa 7y ago
        I do feel temperatures have been getting higher than they used to be when I was a kid. Particularly in peak summer. In my hometown I don’t remember barely being able to be out in the sun for so many days as lately.
• vixen99 7y ago
  The comment refers to 'some hypothetical climate change in the future'. Given that there is no justification for projecting trend lines beyond existing data points, use of the word hypothetical is correct.
  • sgt101 7y ago
    There is a clear justification in projecting the trend lines; we have a theory developed from observation that has predicted what has happened so far. This theory predicts that the trends will continue, it is robust and substantiated. The introduction of greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere by humans is causing the earth to heat.