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I’m frankly less concerned about climate change - in reality we don’t have enough data for super definitive answers. Further, we can and the world can fairly ea

I’m frankly less concerned about climate change - in reality we don’t have enough data for super definitive answers. Further, we can and the world can fairly easily adapt. A few degrees over a hundred years is easily manageable. In contrast, insect populations are dropping like a stone. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decline_in_insect_populations https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decline_in_insect_population... We’re going to have serious problems within the next 5-10 years if that continues. We also have declining water availability and increasing water usage in the western US. And we have a potentially massive issue with solar weather (which can theoretically wipe out all electronics).

cool_dude85 5y ago
>A few degrees over a hundred years is easily manageable. No it's not.
- lettergram 5y ago
  It’s already happened. The last 100 years.
  - sammalloy 5y ago
    What the science says: > Human-caused climate change is occurring too rapidly for species to be able to adapt. Plants and animals are currently dying off at a rate that is 100 to 1000 times faster than the average rate of extinction over geological timescales. Because of this, there is mounting evidence that we are heading towards a mass extinction event. https://skepticalscience.com/Can-animals-and-plants-adapt-to-global-warming.htm https://skepticalscience.com/Can-animals-and-plants-adapt-to...
giantrobot 5y ago
> Further, we can and the world can fairly easily adapt. A few degrees over a hundred years is easily manageable. Adapt? Yes. Easily adapt? Not in the slightest. Higher average temperatures are leading to changes in rainfall patterns. Some regions see more torrential rain while others see aridification. Increased rainfall means regions that previously saw floods once a century will see them once a decade. Similarly regions facing aridification will see more and longer heat waves and less water availability. While those situations are survivable they're destructive and thus expensive. Even if no one died during such events they will still cause significant economic impact. People can't just pack up and migrate en mass to avoid flood zones or arid regions. Changes in rainfall also affect farming. A region with good soil may need increased irrigation to deal with aridification. Irrigation has its own set of problems it introduces even if there's some ready source of water to feed into the irrigation system. Even small increases in temperature also affect atmospheric and oceanic conveyors. Even single degree increases can change the thermal gradients enough to break them down for portions of the year. If money was infinite and humans acted without prejudice a lot of coming environmental issues would have some technological mitigation. Neither of those things are true so conditions in some places are going to get very bad.
inetknght 5y ago
> We’re going to have serious problems within the next 5-10 years I'm having trouble reconciling your statement there with your first one: > I’m frankly less concerned about climate change - in reality we don’t have enough data for super definitive answers. Further, we can and the world can fairly easily adapt. A few degrees over a hundred years is easily manageable. So let me understand: 1. You think that insect population decline isn't related to climate change. Okay I can buy that. Humans have built a lot of roads and vehicles emit a lot of pollutants and pollutants kill insects. So what do you propose to do to solve that? Or do you think it's a different problem? Perhaps climate change is a contributing factor. 2. You think we have declining water availability. Indeed, we do. Many states have had more severe and more prolonged droughts that previously recorded. But, on the flip side, some states are getting inundated with more rain than ever before. It's almost as if the climate is changing. So anyway, how do you propose to solve the water availability problems? 3. Solar weather could wipe out all electronics. Yeah that's a tough one. It sure would be unfortunate if our planet's magnetic shield stopped working one day. But on the flip side there's not much we could do about it. So why worry? There's other things to worry about like climate change and the insect apocalypse.

cool_dude85 5y ago

>A few degrees over a hundred years is easily manageable. No it's not.

lettergram 5y ago
It’s already happened. The last 100 years.
- sammalloy 5y ago
  What the science says: > Human-caused climate change is occurring too rapidly for species to be able to adapt. Plants and animals are currently dying off at a rate that is 100 to 1000 times faster than the average rate of extinction over geological timescales. Because of this, there is mounting evidence that we are heading towards a mass extinction event. https://skepticalscience.com/Can-animals-and-plants-adapt-to-global-warming.htm https://skepticalscience.com/Can-animals-and-plants-adapt-to...

giantrobot 5y ago

> Further, we can and the world can fairly easily adapt. A few degrees over a hundred years is easily manageable. Adapt? Yes. Easily adapt? Not in the slightest. Higher average temperatures are leading to changes in rainfall patterns. Some regions see more torrential rain while others see aridification. Increased rainfall means regions that previously saw floods once a century will see them once a decade. Similarly regions facing aridification will see more and longer heat waves and less water availability. While those situations are survivable they're destructive and thus expensive. Even if no one died during such events they will still cause significant economic impact. People can't just pack up and migrate en mass to avoid flood zones or arid regions. Changes in rainfall also affect farming. A region with good soil may need increased irrigation to deal with aridification. Irrigation has its own set of problems it introduces even if there's some ready source of water to feed into the irrigation system. Even small increases in temperature also affect atmospheric and oceanic conveyors. Even single degree increases can change the thermal gradients enough to break them down for portions of the year. If money was infinite and humans acted without prejudice a lot of coming environmental issues would have some technological mitigation. Neither of those things are true so conditions in some places are going to get very bad.

inetknght 5y ago

> We’re going to have serious problems within the next 5-10 years I'm having trouble reconciling your statement there with your first one: > I’m frankly less concerned about climate change - in reality we don’t have enough data for super definitive answers. Further, we can and the world can fairly easily adapt. A few degrees over a hundred years is easily manageable. So let me understand: 1. You think that insect population decline isn't related to climate change. Okay I can buy that. Humans have built a lot of roads and vehicles emit a lot of pollutants and pollutants kill insects. So what do you propose to do to solve that? Or do you think it's a different problem? Perhaps climate change is a contributing factor. 2. You think we have declining water availability. Indeed, we do. Many states have had more severe and more prolonged droughts that previously recorded. But, on the flip side, some states are getting inundated with more rain than ever before. It's almost as if the climate is changing. So anyway, how do you propose to solve the water availability problems? 3. Solar weather could wipe out all electronics. Yeah that's a tough one. It sure would be unfortunate if our planet's magnetic shield stopped working one day. But on the flip side there's not much we could do about it. So why worry? There's other things to worry about like climate change and the insect apocalypse.