this post was submitted on 15 Apr 2024
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Climate - truthful information about climate, related activism and politics.

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Discussion of climate, how it is changing, activism around that, the politics, and the energy systems change we need in order to stabilize things.

As a starting point, the burning of fossil fuels, and to a lesser extent deforestation and release of methane are responsible for the warming in recent decades: Graph of temperature as observed with significant warming, and simulated without added greenhouse gases and other anthropogentic changes, which shows no significant warming

How much each change to the atmosphere has warmed the world: IPCC AR6 Figure 2 - Thee bar charts: first chart: how much each gas has warmed the world.  About 1C of total warming.  Second chart:  about 1.5C of total warming from well-mixed greenhouse gases, offset by 0.4C of cooling from aerosols and negligible influence from changes to solar output, volcanoes, and internal variability.  Third chart: about 1.25C of warming from CO2, 0.5C from methane, and a bunch more in small quantities from other gases.  About 0.5C of cooling with large error bars from SO2.

Recommended actions to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the near future:

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[–] [email protected] 27 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I think the world is slowly waking up to the fact that the West’s decades of power has largely come from the income and vast benefits of cheap access to energy. I have personally benefited from this as a western person as I know most have here. That said, due to the power structures that developed around this core, it is going to be vigorously defended, especially if head on attacked by small groups and individuals. We are no match for the power and influence of the oil and gas Industry. The only way to defeat is to personally suck up the costs of transitioning to green energy solutions even if it costs more than the gas it replaces. Further it is up to the West with its higher income to bite the bullet and take the financial hit to shift to green at the individual level as it is clear our governments are wrapped up in the core of the oil and gas power structure. No one is coming to save the planet…we have to step up. We the people need to act before too late.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Only a matter of time before it runs itself into the ground

[–] [email protected] 13 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Or all of us into the ground during its death throes which it seems to be starting lately.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Eh humanity had a good run.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

I take solace in the fact we generated a lot of value for the top 0.1% while we turned the planet into an uninhabitable wasteland!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Did we ? Some species managed millions of years, we're at what 100k-150k or so, seems a very shitty run really.

Jokes aside, I suppose we're not witnessing the end of humanity, just the end of this civilisarion. Pity we're taking so many other species down and leaving the place in a fucking mess.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

In all seriousness, I think the reason why we are in the situation we are in is that, for about 50 years, people have ignored the worse scenarios and paid attention only to the ones that aren't that bad. That isn't the correct way to manage risk.