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Dismaying to see the reactions to this range from denial to complacency to wishful thinking. Climate forcing has such momentum that it takes two decades for th
by throwaway72762 3y ago
Dismaying to see the reactions to this range from denial to complacency to wishful thinking.
Climate forcing has such momentum that it takes two decades for the full impact of emissions to be felt and many more for cascading impacts. The fires we're seeing? The droughts? The floods? That's from emissions from the early 2000s, before China and India embarked on rapid industrialization and growth of energy use, especially coal.
This isn't the apocalypse either. It's just something of a scale we've never faced in human records, like what the Mayans faced at the end of their civilization but global.
- mulmen 3y agoDo you have a rabbit hole entry point for the downfall of the Mayan civilization, specifically the climate factors? It's a civilization and series of events I know little about but is fascinating.
- npunt 3y agoFall of Civilizations podcast is good https://fallofcivilizationspodcast.com https://fallofcivilizationspodcast.com
- photonerd 3y agoThe Maya civilization was mostly destroyed by the Spanish conquest. That’s the level of existential threat climate poses to use.
- throwaway72762 3y agoSpanish conquest was centuries after the collapse of lowland Mayan civilization.
- photonerd 3y agoThe end of the Classic period? Sure. The 200 year drought did not help by reducing agricultural capacity and the political upheaval tanked any ability to adapt of much of the cities. But it was the resulting warfare from all that that really fucked then up. But post-classical Mayan civilization was still healthy and large in scale. Just not the same kind of thing. It would be a mistake to say their civilization ended then. It simply changed. The Spanish killed it though. Killed it so systematically it became myth for centuries
- mulmen 3y agoHm, I don't see the similarity then. The Spanish were deliberate and malicious. Climate change is a consequence of our own actions, although the accounting needs work.
- photonerd 3y agoNot a direct comparison, more a comparable level of existential threat.
- throwaway72762 3y agoOne summary/review article among many: https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev-earth-060115-012512 https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev-earth-0601... Basically political and economic dysfunction combined with drought and soil degradation over a couple centuries.
- cheshire137 3y agoI love the Fall of Civilizations podcast. Here's their episode on the Mayans: https://youtu.be/SnFaRXeep5Y https://youtu.be/SnFaRXeep5Y
- userbinator 3y agoHow many predictions of "catastrophic climate change" have actually come true in the past few decades? Some of us have lived long enough to realise the truth.
- revscat 3y agoNo one under the age of 40 has seen a record low month. The number if record highs continue to increase, year over year. The number of record lows continues to decrease, year over year. Average humidity increases year over year as the oceans warm. And the oceans are warming as well. The climate models Exxon ran in the 1980s predicting widespread warming were frighteningly accurate. The only way you can rationally argue with the numbers is to provide measurements which indicate the opposite. But you can’t, so you question the motives of those who chose wisdom over polemics.
- SketchySeaBeast 3y agoUp here in the Canada we see record lows too. But we also see record highs. The instability of the jet stream makes both our extremes more so, and we get hit with the bad conditions on both ends.
- revscat 3y agoFrom what I can tell there have been no record lows in any Canadian province for at least 10 years. There have been many record highs.
- userbinator 3y agoLook beyond 10 years and you'll see even more record highs.
- SketchySeaBeast 3y agohttps://globalnews.ca/news/9462527/ontario-record-cold-temperatures/ https://globalnews.ca/news/9462527/ontario-record-cold-tempe... Here's an example of some record lows from this winter.
- Rapzid 3y agoComplacent reactions? What sort of HN reaction will move the needle?