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Is there reason to be "terrified" of climate change? The scientific consensus forecasts from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change show that the risks w

by pzone 6y ago

Is there reason to be "terrified" of climate change? The scientific consensus forecasts from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change show that the risks we face are manageable, and we have decades to prepare mitigation measures like improved flood management and forest management. Certainly we would like to avoid these outcomes if possible, but I don't see a reason it should keep you up at night any more than other government policy questions. https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/ https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/

asdff 6y ago
Does crop failure, both from temperatures and loss of pollinators, famine, and civil unrest terrify you? It terrifies me.
matthewdgreen 6y ago
https://twitter.com/zlabe/status/1319471578405466114?s=21 https://twitter.com/zlabe/status/1319471578405466114?s=21
twojacobtwo 6y ago
That link seems to speak only of the effects of hitting the hoped for limit of warming (1.5 Celsius), while it's entirely possible that we will surpass that. Even if we do stop at the 1.5 C limit, it seems silly to say "manageable". We are already seeing massive a drop-off in biodiversity and increases in extinctions. We don't even fully know how the ecological damage we're already seeing will echo into the future, but the outcomes are almost certainly not good. Beyond the unknowns of ecological damage, the increases in forest fire and storm event damages we're already seeing are also hitting us now, not in decades. Further, from everything I have read thus far since that report was released , most of the models have underestimated the release of methane, which could mean we're already accelerating faster than previously thought. All of this also assumes that there will be a massive effort to cut emissions to 0 in a reasonable time - a big assumption in the time of Trump's America.
- Supermancho 6y ago
  > a big assumption in the time of Trump's America. "Trump's America" is a strange TDS moment, when you have "Xi's China", sheesh. Nothing is GOING to change.
  - dlp211 6y ago
    China's a tough problem so America shrugs and gives up. What a defeatist attitude...but I expect nothing less from weak people that vote for/support a weak man. We managed to absolutely crush CFCs in the late 80's and reverse the damage that we were doing to the Ozone layer. Only in Trump's America is America relegated to a non-actor on the world stage...and he did it by choice.
    - Supermancho 6y ago
      > What a defeatist attitude...but I expect nothing less from weak people that vote for/support a weak man. Not sure what makes you think this has anything to do with Trump, per se. I don't care about Trump. This is about fixating on the wrong things, which is at the heart of how the problem has become so severe.

by pzone 6y ago

asdff 6y ago

Does crop failure, both from temperatures and loss of pollinators, famine, and civil unrest terrify you? It terrifies me.

matthewdgreen 6y ago

https://twitter.com/zlabe/status/1319471578405466114?s=21 https://twitter.com/zlabe/status/1319471578405466114?s=21

twojacobtwo 6y ago

That link seems to speak only of the effects of hitting the hoped for limit of warming (1.5 Celsius), while it's entirely possible that we will surpass that. Even if we do stop at the 1.5 C limit, it seems silly to say "manageable". We are already seeing massive a drop-off in biodiversity and increases in extinctions. We don't even fully know how the ecological damage we're already seeing will echo into the future, but the outcomes are almost certainly not good. Beyond the unknowns of ecological damage, the increases in forest fire and storm event damages we're already seeing are also hitting us now, not in decades. Further, from everything I have read thus far since that report was released , most of the models have underestimated the release of methane, which could mean we're already accelerating faster than previously thought. All of this also assumes that there will be a massive effort to cut emissions to 0 in a reasonable time - a big assumption in the time of Trump's America.

Supermancho 6y ago
> a big assumption in the time of Trump's America. "Trump's America" is a strange TDS moment, when you have "Xi's China", sheesh. Nothing is GOING to change.
- dlp211 6y ago
  China's a tough problem so America shrugs and gives up. What a defeatist attitude...but I expect nothing less from weak people that vote for/support a weak man. We managed to absolutely crush CFCs in the late 80's and reverse the damage that we were doing to the Ozone layer. Only in Trump's America is America relegated to a non-actor on the world stage...and he did it by choice.
  - Supermancho 6y ago
    > What a defeatist attitude...but I expect nothing less from weak people that vote for/support a weak man. Not sure what makes you think this has anything to do with Trump, per se. I don't care about Trump. This is about fixating on the wrong things, which is at the heart of how the problem has become so severe.