5 ms·

This terrifies me. I read an article a few weeks ago how with the heat waves we had in the last years, the forests here stopped sequestering carbon in summer, t

This terrifies me. I read an article a few weeks ago how with the heat waves we had in the last years, the forests here stopped sequestering carbon in summer, turning them into net CO2 emitters. Meanwhile our politicians still don't dare taking unpopular measures and focus on symbol politics.

xrd 3y ago
Let's be frank. Drag queens pose a much greater threat right now. I'm so grateful for that focus. And, on Disney, with Mickey going into the public domain, we can't have him woke as well. But maybe that's the trick on both sides. Western state politicians focus on what's happening in Florida rather than on their own backyard. Florida focuses on drag queens and the stench of San Francisco. I do see a lot of damage to the morale of teachers in Florida, however, done by local Florida politicians.
- fnordpiglet 3y ago
  Don’t look up!
- WarOnPrivacy 3y ago
  I know you're OT but I'm still rebutting the fully false insinuation here. I have been active with sexual assault survivors for more decades than most here have been alive. Actual sexual grooming is properly defined by those who've experienced it. The overwhelming sexual threat to children and women has always been straight men. That is physics-level reality.
  - slater 3y ago
    (I think OP was joking)
    - tomrod 3y ago
      Aye, perhaps, and in poor taste.
    - voisin 3y ago
      Should have used the /s tag then to be clear.
  - xrd 3y ago
    I've been thoroughly down voted and I should be, as sarcasm isn't helpful here on HN. I'm 100% in agreement with you.
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
    - WarOnPrivacy 3y ago
      I understand. With kindness, I suggest that your phrasing may have been indistinguishable from the actual propaganda. Text is hard tho. I've certainly done similar. Maybe recently.
      - xrd 3y ago
        That's why it is great we are actually in conversation and not just reading sound bites. Nice to meet you and look forward to making the world a better place together!
adastra22 3y ago
Don’t look to politicians to solve these problems.
- yoyohello13 3y ago
  Who then? Individual action cannot make a dent. Corporations? Maybe when there is a profit incentive I’ll believe it.
  - adastra22 3y ago
    Invent the technology that solves the problem. In this case, modular nuclear reactors and/or fusion, and diamondoid molecular nanotechnology. The former gives us a nearly limitless source of carbon-free energy, while the later moves our technology base off of refined metals (which emit CO2 in production) and into using carbon itself as the fundamental base material, making carbon capture and even atmospheric drawdown profitable.
- greenie_beans 3y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_Air_Act_(United_States) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_Air_Act_(United_States)
- _nalply 3y ago
  It is more than time for many people, preferable the majority, to talk with politicians. Really talk with them. Have a very large strike. Express concerns loudly. Everywhere. Everybody. In Europe some people are gluing themselves to roads. This won't work because this riles up people, but we should rile up politicians, not people. About five years ago I switched my attitude from: "We will find a solution" to: "I hope we will find a solution". I am not very hopeful.
  - cratermoon 3y ago
    > This won't work because this riles up people, but we should rile up politicians, not people. There's a well-known essay that explains why this is effective. It's titled, "Letter From a Birmingham Jail”. Highly recommended.
nancyhn 3y ago
Don't fall into the doomerism trap and fear mongering orthodoxy. Climate deaths are at an all time low, global poverty at a low, there are more trees than there were 100 years ago, the Great Barrier reef is coming back. It has more coral now than in 36 years. The Earth and technology can handle it just fine. Climate ‘doomers’ are replacing climate ‘deniers’. U.N. reports and confusing headlines created a generation of doomers: https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/03/24/climate-doomers-ipcc-un-report/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/03/2...
- tomrod 3y ago
  Oh, so the mitigations are barely starting to work and we should increase our efforts since the net effect is working (no way have we reached full diminishing marginal returns). Cool. Agreed, doomerism is the wrong approach. But there is still massive cause for concern, and we should proceed forward.
- wongarsu 3y ago
  If the world would just consist of the USA, Canada and Europe I would agree, we could handle it just fine. It will be expensive, especially in infrastructure costs due to sea level rise. Transitioning our forests to species adapted to higher temperatures will be a pain, same for changes in our agriculture, but we would be fine. The problem are the nations with megacities at the coast, but no money to build massive sea walls. Or the nations that are already at the edge of survivable (wet-bulb) temperatures in the summer, but little AC coverage (and often too little electricity to meaningfully increase AC rollout, even if they had the money). Or the nations that have to compete with their neighbors over water sources for drinking and agriculture. Those nations will all be in significant trouble. Which will probably mean migrant waves that will be on an entirely different scale compared to what we are used to, and quite possibly beyond what we can handle. But at the same time, both it's hard to stop desperate people from moving (morally and physically)
ZeroGravitas 3y ago
American politicians have recently been on a bit of a catch up for lost time. And obviously some (at all levels from cities up) have been working away for decades. And that's not even counting the rest of the world where climate change is less of a political hot potato. Though yes more could and should have been done. So I'm not sure a blanket "politicians are terrible" is a particularly good take. It both lets the real guilty parties off the hook while simultaneously blaming the blameless.

xrd 3y ago

Let's be frank. Drag queens pose a much greater threat right now. I'm so grateful for that focus. And, on Disney, with Mickey going into the public domain, we can't have him woke as well. But maybe that's the trick on both sides. Western state politicians focus on what's happening in Florida rather than on their own backyard. Florida focuses on drag queens and the stench of San Francisco. I do see a lot of damage to the morale of teachers in Florida, however, done by local Florida politicians.

fnordpiglet 3y ago
Don’t look up!
WarOnPrivacy 3y ago
I know you're OT but I'm still rebutting the fully false insinuation here. I have been active with sexual assault survivors for more decades than most here have been alive. Actual sexual grooming is properly defined by those who've experienced it. The overwhelming sexual threat to children and women has always been straight men. That is physics-level reality.
- slater 3y ago
  (I think OP was joking)
  - tomrod 3y ago
    Aye, perhaps, and in poor taste.
  - voisin 3y ago
    Should have used the /s tag then to be clear.
- xrd 3y ago
  I've been thoroughly down voted and I should be, as sarcasm isn't helpful here on HN. I'm 100% in agreement with you.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - WarOnPrivacy 3y ago
    I understand. With kindness, I suggest that your phrasing may have been indistinguishable from the actual propaganda. Text is hard tho. I've certainly done similar. Maybe recently.
    - xrd 3y ago
      That's why it is great we are actually in conversation and not just reading sound bites. Nice to meet you and look forward to making the world a better place together!

adastra22 3y ago

Don’t look to politicians to solve these problems.

yoyohello13 3y ago
Who then? Individual action cannot make a dent. Corporations? Maybe when there is a profit incentive I’ll believe it.
- adastra22 3y ago
  Invent the technology that solves the problem. In this case, modular nuclear reactors and/or fusion, and diamondoid molecular nanotechnology. The former gives us a nearly limitless source of carbon-free energy, while the later moves our technology base off of refined metals (which emit CO2 in production) and into using carbon itself as the fundamental base material, making carbon capture and even atmospheric drawdown profitable.
greenie_beans 3y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_Air_Act_(United_States) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_Air_Act_(United_States)
_nalply 3y ago
It is more than time for many people, preferable the majority, to talk with politicians. Really talk with them. Have a very large strike. Express concerns loudly. Everywhere. Everybody. In Europe some people are gluing themselves to roads. This won't work because this riles up people, but we should rile up politicians, not people. About five years ago I switched my attitude from: "We will find a solution" to: "I hope we will find a solution". I am not very hopeful.
- cratermoon 3y ago
  > This won't work because this riles up people, but we should rile up politicians, not people. There's a well-known essay that explains why this is effective. It's titled, "Letter From a Birmingham Jail”. Highly recommended.

nancyhn 3y ago

Don't fall into the doomerism trap and fear mongering orthodoxy. Climate deaths are at an all time low, global poverty at a low, there are more trees than there were 100 years ago, the Great Barrier reef is coming back. It has more coral now than in 36 years. The Earth and technology can handle it just fine. Climate ‘doomers’ are replacing climate ‘deniers’. U.N. reports and confusing headlines created a generation of doomers: https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/03/24/climate-doomers-ipcc-un-report/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/03/2...

tomrod 3y ago
Oh, so the mitigations are barely starting to work and we should increase our efforts since the net effect is working (no way have we reached full diminishing marginal returns). Cool. Agreed, doomerism is the wrong approach. But there is still massive cause for concern, and we should proceed forward.
wongarsu 3y ago
If the world would just consist of the USA, Canada and Europe I would agree, we could handle it just fine. It will be expensive, especially in infrastructure costs due to sea level rise. Transitioning our forests to species adapted to higher temperatures will be a pain, same for changes in our agriculture, but we would be fine. The problem are the nations with megacities at the coast, but no money to build massive sea walls. Or the nations that are already at the edge of survivable (wet-bulb) temperatures in the summer, but little AC coverage (and often too little electricity to meaningfully increase AC rollout, even if they had the money). Or the nations that have to compete with their neighbors over water sources for drinking and agriculture. Those nations will all be in significant trouble. Which will probably mean migrant waves that will be on an entirely different scale compared to what we are used to, and quite possibly beyond what we can handle. But at the same time, both it's hard to stop desperate people from moving (morally and physically)

ZeroGravitas 3y ago

American politicians have recently been on a bit of a catch up for lost time. And obviously some (at all levels from cities up) have been working away for decades. And that's not even counting the rest of the world where climate change is less of a political hot potato. Though yes more could and should have been done. So I'm not sure a blanket "politicians are terrible" is a particularly good take. It both lets the real guilty parties off the hook while simultaneously blaming the blameless.