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Good, so we have shown that we can make a difference. That means the defeatist argument ("we can't, so what's the point") does not hold, and we can proceed to a
by anyfoo 5y ago
Good, so we have shown that we can make a difference. That means the defeatist argument ("we can't, so what's the point") does not hold, and we can proceed to actually do something. Patting ourselves on the shoulder that something has been done in the past will not help.
- gerdesj 5y agoQuite. Plant trees and conserve peat bogs.
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- actually_a_dog 5y agoI'm never going to say "don't plant trees," but, in the short term, there's some possibility that reforestation might actually increase warming by decreasing surface albedo. See https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2927/examining-the-viability-of-planting-trees-to-help-mitigate-climate-change/ https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2927/examining-the-viability-o... Even if that isn't the case, planting trees is still a long term move, and it's going to take at least several hundred billion trees to make a difference. It's not something where you can say "just plant trees, and everything will be alright."
- gerdesj 5y agoThis link: https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2927/examining-the-viability-of-planting-trees-to-help-mitigate-climate-change/ https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2927/examining-the-viability-o... has the word "albedo" mentioned six times. This is what you are alluding to: "In the near term and locally, says Saatchi, forest restoration may actually have a warming effect. As the trees mature, the new forest canopy cover would presumably make Earth’s surface albedo darker" "presumably".
- vegetablepotpie 5y agoWe actually do need action, and the whole “we can’t do anything so why try” argument was never made in good faith to begin with. Rather it’s just one barrier of many in a game of political trench warfare. The bottom line is that we have incumbent industries that make money from the status quo and they maximize income by running out the clock.