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This is very bad. The warning signs were there https://news.mongabay.com/2009/02/burning-rainforests-melting-tundra-could-accelerate-global-warming-well-beyon

This is very bad. The warning signs were there https://news.mongabay.com/2009/02/burning-rainforests-melting-tundra-could-accelerate-global-warming-well-beyond-current-projections/ https://news.mongabay.com/2009/02/burning-rainforests-meltin... I'd lie if I'd say that I'm optimistic about the future.

gremlinsinc 2y ago
it's just a runaway feedback loop, no biggie. /s
- m463 2y ago
  It will self correct by the next ice age.
  - gremlinsinc 2y ago
    I don't think humanity will die out but there was this time we got down to very low numbers like 7k or less we might get to that...
deadbabe 2y ago
We’re fucked, why do anything? Just ride it out. If you had kids that’s your problem to deliver the bad news.
- 0xEF 2y ago
  This take is so deliriously apathetic that I am starting to wonder if HN is being infected with bot accounts.
  - deadbabe 2y ago
    The people who have not yet fallen into apathy are simply the people who have not yet realized the magnitude of the forces at work that we cannot stop or reverse.
    - goatlover 2y ago
      Climate change is a matter of degree, and it will unfold over a long period of time. There is time to mitigate and adapt. It's just a matter of how much. Renewable energies are rapidly being adopted, battery storage and transmission are all improving. Nuclear is back on the table. We may still have a breakthrough in fusion. AI will help with better predictive models and eliminating waste.
      - katbyte 2y ago
        None of that will do anything if we get into a runaway feedback loop where all the carbon is coming from natural sources. The change is speeding up. The time to act was 60 years ago but Reagan and oil interests put profit over planet. The last time to act was the last decade or so, as it appears we are too late and the us about to floor the gas pedal on oil instead of green tech.
        melling 2y ago
        Lyndon Johnson was president 60 years ago. I always like to start 40 years ago with Carl Sagan https://youtu.be/Wp-WiNXH6hI?si=2UJST6T6IBkHtZTq https://youtu.be/Wp-WiNXH6hI?si=2UJST6T6IBkHtZTq
        katbyte 2y ago
        Yea I ball parked it whenever the epa was told by Reagan to not do anything about carbon is when I start the clock
        gremlinsinc 2y ago
        I start it with neoliberalism which really picked up steam with Nixon. But even Clinton and Obama were neoliberals every president since Nixon was neoliberal just with different social issues (divide and conquer the plebes). Globalization and exponential consumerism. before 1990 you buy a phone like corded even cordless and they still work today if you have a landline. Now I need a new phone every 3 years. All electronics are made to be replaced not to last and that just makes business sense but not very good environmental sense.
  - ikiris 2y ago
    its not bots, its just privileged software engineers, surprising amount of which are libertarian.
  - lazide 2y ago
    Eh, plenty of people in this boat. If you can’t change it (or think you can’t), what else are you going to do?
- ianburrell 2y ago
  It matters how fucked we are. There is a big difference between disaster that wipes out humanity, one that sends back pre-industrial technology, or one that keeps some modern technology. We might want to prepare preserving knowledge for next civilization. It matters if we can slow it down. More time means more technology. For example, robot industry might transition happen faster, and might also make possible for smaller civilization survive. It also means more time to use resources that are available now before they get scarce. It matters if we work together towards goal. That will reduce chances of people fighting which will make things worse. With fighting, "riding it out" will be unpleasant. Maybe the horse will sing.
- breakyerself 2y ago
  This assumes the problem is a binary. Either we are fucked or not fucked. When in fact it's a gradient of more and more fucked that goes on indefinitely making us more fucked the longer we take to deal with it.
  - Wool2662 2y ago
    The problem very much is binary. Ocne you have a self sustaining feedback loop going it's game over. Its a gradient until it isn't.
- k4rli 2y ago
  Being vegan or buying an electric car would surely change everything.

gremlinsinc 2y ago

it's just a runaway feedback loop, no biggie. /s

m463 2y ago
It will self correct by the next ice age.
- gremlinsinc 2y ago
  I don't think humanity will die out but there was this time we got down to very low numbers like 7k or less we might get to that...

deadbabe 2y ago

We’re fucked, why do anything? Just ride it out. If you had kids that’s your problem to deliver the bad news.

0xEF 2y ago
This take is so deliriously apathetic that I am starting to wonder if HN is being infected with bot accounts.
- deadbabe 2y ago
  The people who have not yet fallen into apathy are simply the people who have not yet realized the magnitude of the forces at work that we cannot stop or reverse.
  - goatlover 2y ago
    Climate change is a matter of degree, and it will unfold over a long period of time. There is time to mitigate and adapt. It's just a matter of how much. Renewable energies are rapidly being adopted, battery storage and transmission are all improving. Nuclear is back on the table. We may still have a breakthrough in fusion. AI will help with better predictive models and eliminating waste.
    - katbyte 2y ago
      None of that will do anything if we get into a runaway feedback loop where all the carbon is coming from natural sources. The change is speeding up. The time to act was 60 years ago but Reagan and oil interests put profit over planet. The last time to act was the last decade or so, as it appears we are too late and the us about to floor the gas pedal on oil instead of green tech.
      - melling 2y ago
        Lyndon Johnson was president 60 years ago. I always like to start 40 years ago with Carl Sagan https://youtu.be/Wp-WiNXH6hI?si=2UJST6T6IBkHtZTq https://youtu.be/Wp-WiNXH6hI?si=2UJST6T6IBkHtZTq
        katbyte 2y ago
        Yea I ball parked it whenever the epa was told by Reagan to not do anything about carbon is when I start the clock
        gremlinsinc 2y ago
        I start it with neoliberalism which really picked up steam with Nixon. But even Clinton and Obama were neoliberals every president since Nixon was neoliberal just with different social issues (divide and conquer the plebes). Globalization and exponential consumerism. before 1990 you buy a phone like corded even cordless and they still work today if you have a landline. Now I need a new phone every 3 years. All electronics are made to be replaced not to last and that just makes business sense but not very good environmental sense.
- ikiris 2y ago
  its not bots, its just privileged software engineers, surprising amount of which are libertarian.
- lazide 2y ago
  Eh, plenty of people in this boat. If you can’t change it (or think you can’t), what else are you going to do?
ianburrell 2y ago
It matters how fucked we are. There is a big difference between disaster that wipes out humanity, one that sends back pre-industrial technology, or one that keeps some modern technology. We might want to prepare preserving knowledge for next civilization. It matters if we can slow it down. More time means more technology. For example, robot industry might transition happen faster, and might also make possible for smaller civilization survive. It also means more time to use resources that are available now before they get scarce. It matters if we work together towards goal. That will reduce chances of people fighting which will make things worse. With fighting, "riding it out" will be unpleasant. Maybe the horse will sing.
breakyerself 2y ago
This assumes the problem is a binary. Either we are fucked or not fucked. When in fact it's a gradient of more and more fucked that goes on indefinitely making us more fucked the longer we take to deal with it.
- Wool2662 2y ago
  The problem very much is binary. Ocne you have a self sustaining feedback loop going it's game over. Its a gradient until it isn't.
k4rli 2y ago
Being vegan or buying an electric car would surely change everything.