this post was submitted on 20 Nov 2023
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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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[–] silence7 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Bikes with studded tires do amazingly well in snowy conditions. The main reason people don't use them more is that car drivers are a lot more dangerous. Get rid of the cars, and it's totally doable.

Even seasonal replacement of cars would be an improvement.

[–] millie 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

If you tried to bike in heavy snow here your entire tire would literally be buried. Especially if there were no plows.

There are, in fact, places that get real snow.

[–] activistPnk 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

somewhere that it gets cold and snowy,

Cyclist’s mantra: There is never bad weather, only bad clothes.

Especially if there were no plows.

If only plows existed.

[–] millie 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

They won't if you get rid of cars. Good luck plowing with a bike.

[–] activistPnk 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You don’t use a car to plow the sidewalk. It’s too wide. Why would think a cycle path doesn’t have the same problem? Of course you use a bicycle to plow a cycle path.

[–] millie 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Have you ever experienced actual snow? Like, four feet deep with a frozen crust on top? You're not plowing that with your feet.

[–] activistPnk 1 points 1 year ago

Yes, in Minnesota. I shoveled it but just as well could have used a snow blower. I certainly would not have driven a car or truck onto a path as narrow as a sidewalk.

[–] silence7 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yes, there are conditions where you are better off on skis or snowshoes than a bike. And there are conditions where you should be in a snowmobile and not a car or truck. What you're describing sounds like that.

[–] millie 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Skis would probably be more reasonable at certain times of year, but the terrain between cities isn't exactly designed for skiing.

I know you want American infrastructure to not necessitate some sort of vehicle bigger than a bike, but it literally just does. Wanting it won't make the change, and making unrealistic suggestions will remain just as ineffective as making no suggestions at all.

Accessibility is also more or less non-existent with these proposed solutions.