5 ms·

We'll leave them with a whole array of low and no carbon energy sources, and the seeds for technology to draw down carbon. At some level our decedents will be b

by ch4s3 4y ago

We'll leave them with a whole array of low and no carbon energy sources, and the seeds for technology to draw down carbon. At some level our decedents will be born into a different world where people have adapted, they won't know anything else, but they'll have the tools to make the world they want. The future is full of possibility if we only look up a bit and try to imagine something better.

Scarblac 4y ago
Extinct species won't be back though.
- soraki_soladead 4y ago
  True but new species will emerge. There have be numerous mass extinction events on Earth.
- ch4s3 4y ago
  Some won't but there's no reason to believe we won't be able to revive some species. It's unfortunate, but some loss is unavoidable. All we can do is prioritize, protect what we can, and move forward.
- snikeris 4y ago
  Ultimately all species will perish due to the heat death of the sun unless we take them with us off this planet.
- bckr 4y ago
  There's this idea that we should be sad about this. I say, if you're sad about it, I understand. I feel a little sad, too. But I'm also curious about what comes next. What will only get a chance to live thanks to the things that have died? What will humans be able to do in the aftermath? It sounds morbid, but if you just let yourself play with these thoughts they can lead somewhere different and interesting. The future is not full of only despair[] . [] https://youtu.be/LxgMdjyw8uw https://youtu.be/LxgMdjyw8uw
  - ambrose2 4y ago
    This argument always upsets me. You’re curious about what new species will come about in hundreds of thousands of years, millions? It’s certainly not going to be anytime soon. With the loss of biodiversity, we either have less life or more of life which isn’t preferable. I forget the best examples, but invasive species will spread further, and wreak further havoc, and then what? What kind of better world are you imagining this will enable?
  - Scarblac 4y ago
    That will take millions, tens of millions of years. I don't see what use it is to be curious about that when no human will see it.
marssaxman 4y ago
You are right, of course, and I know the kids will be all right, but - I have a hard time taking any reassurance from this. Civilization will probably not collapse, but all wild places everywhere will be destroyed; there is no stopping it anymore. A world completely dominated by humans sounds like a miserable, ugly, suffocating kind of place, and I'm glad I won't have to live in it.
- ch4s3 4y ago
  > but all wild places everywhere will be destroyed I don't know about that. Forests are coming back in Europe and North America. As people get richer, they value those things more. Population will peak by the end of the century and decline for a while after that. At that point people and animals will have a lot more breathing room. We can put a price on nature now and start paying for conservation. Places like Costa Rica also offer really useful paths forward. A lot is possible if people who care don't give in to despair.
  - marssaxman 4y ago
    I am sure there will continue to be many parks and groves and "natural" areas, carefully managed by humans, in order to meet various human needs, and many people will enjoy the time they spend working on them or visiting them. But that's not the wildness I wish we could have left alone - untouched, busy with its own devices, for its own sake.
    - ch4s3 4y ago
      There probably hasn't been much "untouched" (by humans) wilderness anywhere since the Pleistocene. Basically all of North America was managed by fire and shaped into effectively a giant game park by indigenous peoples as the glaciers retreated. The Amazon basin was similarly intensively managed with burning, flood controls, and mound building. You'll find similar interventions in the land across the old world as well.
      - marssaxman 4y ago
candiddevmike 4y ago
I think you put too much faith in the collective "we". Right now the charity/investments of billionaires is funding most of the climate action from what I can tell.
- ch4s3 4y ago
  Energy markets are shifting away from coal and wind is becoming dirt cheap. Decarbonizing energy is probably the biggest near term win we could aim for.

by ch4s3 4y ago

Scarblac 4y ago

Extinct species won't be back though.

soraki_soladead 4y ago
True but new species will emerge. There have be numerous mass extinction events on Earth.
ch4s3 4y ago
Some won't but there's no reason to believe we won't be able to revive some species. It's unfortunate, but some loss is unavoidable. All we can do is prioritize, protect what we can, and move forward.
snikeris 4y ago
Ultimately all species will perish due to the heat death of the sun unless we take them with us off this planet.
bckr 4y ago
There's this idea that we should be sad about this. I say, if you're sad about it, I understand. I feel a little sad, too. But I'm also curious about what comes next. What will only get a chance to live thanks to the things that have died? What will humans be able to do in the aftermath? It sounds morbid, but if you just let yourself play with these thoughts they can lead somewhere different and interesting. The future is not full of only despair[] . [] https://youtu.be/LxgMdjyw8uw https://youtu.be/LxgMdjyw8uw
- ambrose2 4y ago
  This argument always upsets me. You’re curious about what new species will come about in hundreds of thousands of years, millions? It’s certainly not going to be anytime soon. With the loss of biodiversity, we either have less life or more of life which isn’t preferable. I forget the best examples, but invasive species will spread further, and wreak further havoc, and then what? What kind of better world are you imagining this will enable?
- Scarblac 4y ago
  That will take millions, tens of millions of years. I don't see what use it is to be curious about that when no human will see it.

marssaxman 4y ago

You are right, of course, and I know the kids will be all right, but - I have a hard time taking any reassurance from this. Civilization will probably not collapse, but all wild places everywhere will be destroyed; there is no stopping it anymore. A world completely dominated by humans sounds like a miserable, ugly, suffocating kind of place, and I'm glad I won't have to live in it.

ch4s3 4y ago
> but all wild places everywhere will be destroyed I don't know about that. Forests are coming back in Europe and North America. As people get richer, they value those things more. Population will peak by the end of the century and decline for a while after that. At that point people and animals will have a lot more breathing room. We can put a price on nature now and start paying for conservation. Places like Costa Rica also offer really useful paths forward. A lot is possible if people who care don't give in to despair.
- marssaxman 4y ago
  I am sure there will continue to be many parks and groves and "natural" areas, carefully managed by humans, in order to meet various human needs, and many people will enjoy the time they spend working on them or visiting them. But that's not the wildness I wish we could have left alone - untouched, busy with its own devices, for its own sake.
  - ch4s3 4y ago
    There probably hasn't been much "untouched" (by humans) wilderness anywhere since the Pleistocene. Basically all of North America was managed by fire and shaped into effectively a giant game park by indigenous peoples as the glaciers retreated. The Amazon basin was similarly intensively managed with burning, flood controls, and mound building. You'll find similar interventions in the land across the old world as well.
    - marssaxman 4y ago

candiddevmike 4y ago

I think you put too much faith in the collective "we". Right now the charity/investments of billionaires is funding most of the climate action from what I can tell.

ch4s3 4y ago
Energy markets are shifting away from coal and wind is becoming dirt cheap. Decarbonizing energy is probably the biggest near term win we could aim for.