6 ms·
Why would you do this before tackling the climate crisis?
by arbol 7y ago
Why would you do this before tackling the climate crisis?
- WalterBright 7y agoSpreading into the solar system is a long term solution.
- imtringued 7y agoOnly for the select few that were allowed to leave the planet.
- ta1234567890 7y agoA slightly shorter term solution: going underground. Earth is huge, we have barely scratched the surface. There is a lot of space and resources underground. And we don't have to go anywhere, we are already here.
- chr1 7y agoExactly, seasteading and 'terraforming' deserts are other short term solutions, but for any of that to get more investment we need growing population in rich parts of the world, that would need this and would have money for this. But unfortunately we do not have that.
- ta1234567890 7y agoI think we need better marketing and just a handful of very wealthy and highly visible people to invest in those alternatives instead of going into space. In any case, what really makes space exploration possible today, is military spending. Which means that for the alternatives to become viable, they need to have strategic military applications. Unfortunately.
- moksly 7y agoWe probably won’t tackle the climate crisis. The time to act was 25 years ago and we’ve done virtually nothing that’s had an impact.
- amelius 7y agoEven if we completely mess up the climate then Earth is still more inhabitable than some other planet in the Solar system.
- gnusty_gnurc 7y agoArguably we’re staving off an ice age which would make things _more_ habitable for humans.
- acdha 7y agoCheck your sources on that claim: it’s been widely circulated by fossil fuel lobbyists as a way to discourage action.
- gnusty_gnurc 7y agoSurely I shouldn’t be discouraged from saying scientific facts?
- acdha 7y agoCan you cite those alleged facts with something based on peer-reviewed research? https://skepticalscience.com/heading-into-new-little-ice-age-intermediate.htm https://skepticalscience.com/heading-into-new-little-ice-age...
- gnusty_gnurc 7y agoI don’t think I ever meant “there will be an imminent ice age” rather “normal ice age cycles will stop with current CO2 levels.” https://theconversation.com/climate-explained-why-we-wont-be-heading-into-an-ice-age-any-time-soon-123675 https://theconversation.com/climate-explained-why-we-wont-be...
- dalbasal 7y agoThe "why work on X before y is solved" approach has no legs. Why work on climate change while poverty, cancer or illiteracy still exists? By that logic, we should have never have had space exploration at all (and never should). I seriously doubt this would have improved our progress on the "bigger issues "
- jackcodes 7y agoWell in this case to a certain extent, it certainly does have legs. Because the way climate change is going it looks like we won’t be around to capture the results of those probes landing. Or at least not in a worthwhile sense (+5c and up).
- nostrebored 7y agowhat models are you using to make these guesses?
- kd5bjo 7y agoBecause studying the planetology of the various other bodies in our solar system may spark novel ideas about how to successfully manage our own planet.
- acdha 7y agoWe don’t need novel ideas — the problems are well recognized and the solutions are ready to go at lower cost than inaction. The problem is that a few specific companies need to become much less profitable after decades of being able to avoid paying for externalities. Talking about terraforming Earth is a common way of distracting from the real problem — and I say that as someone who loves the idea of exporting the solar system.
- kd5bjo 7y agoSome solutions are ready to go on a technical level but are struggling to gain enough social traction to be implemented; We should absolutely be pressuring the political sphere to move those projects forward. There’s no guarantee that they’re even in the catchment area of the ideal solution, however, so we should be continuing to look for better ideas in parallel with implementing the best ones we have at the moment— there’s always the possibility that a Norman Borlaug will come along with a better solution than the common wisdom.
- fuzz4lyfe 7y agoIn my view for humanity to exist long term we need to become a interplanetary species. An impact like the one that killed the dinosaurs can certainly happen again and the sun has a expiration date. Ultimately what is purposed isn't even a solution to the problem. Small reductions here and there that in total only manage to delay the inevitable. The only solution is mass scale terraforming projects and genetic modification of existing species to increase resiliency. If the coral reefs are dying we need to build reefs that are more resilient. If polar bears are overheating we need to breed ones who are more temperature tolerant. If the fish of the sea do not breed quickly enough for us to consume them at the rate that we currently do, we need to increase yields.