5 ms·
So it turns out that the ideal temperature for global civilization is about 13 degrees celsius, and we had that for a long time, but now it might rise by one or
by Tycho 5y ago
So it turns out that the ideal temperature for global civilization is about 13 degrees celsius, and we had that for a long time, but now it might rise by one or two degrees and that would be a terrible temperature for global civilization? Pretty unlucky when you think about it.
- lm28469 5y agoI don't think luck has much to do with it
- amanaplanacanal 5y agoMore like our current civilization was built for the current temperature, and higher temperatures would require changes to our civilisation to adapt to the new temperature.
- missedthecue 5y agoThose adaptions seem a lot cheaper than trying to coordinate a global effort between hundreds of countries to engage in what is essentially long term geo-engineering.
- adrianN 5y agoIt's not the absolute temperature that is the problem, is the change in temperature. Humans can survive in a pretty large range of temperatures. But the places we currently settle and use for agriculture might become unsuitable. Similarly, the biosphere as a whole can adapt to essentially any temperature; Earth has been significantly hotter than today in the (distant) past. However during times of rapid climate change mass extinctions happen. To my knowledge, temperature hasn't changed as quickly as it is changing today, ever.
- Tycho 5y agoOver what sort of time frame do these mass extinctions occur?
- adrianN 5y agoWell, we're right in the middle of one. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocene_extinction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocene_extinction It's pretty hard to say how long they usually take because the fossil record from millions of years ago is difficult to date with good accuracy. For example, I don't think we can say with good confidence whether the asteroid that hit us 66 million years ago killed a large fraction of all living creatures within a year, or whether it took thousands of years or longer.
- selimthegrim 5y agoThere would be way more species going extinct if this was a true mass extinction, compare to the end-Permian
- adrianN 5y agoThe sources in the Wikipedia article seem to disagree with you on that. Perhaps you want to add your sources to the article and reword it with less strong language.
- selimthegrim 5y agoThe Ends of the World by Peter Brannen
- ipaddr 5y agoIn the past millions of years.
- delecti 5y agoIf you have a bunch of ice sitting on land that's at -1C and then you increase temperatures by 1.5C, then that ice will become water in the ocean. Incidentally, that hypothetical scenario lines up pretty well with the past 70 years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retreat_of_glaciers_since_1850#/media/File:1950-_Glacier_annual_mass_change_-_World_Glacier_Monitoring_Service.svg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retreat_of_glaciers_since_1850...