this post was submitted on 06 Dec 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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[–] Haagel@lemmings.world 44 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

Corporate execs right now: "If it's not happening next quarter then it's not my problem!"

You know who else has, dangerously short-term intelligence? My two year old son...

[–] Nacktmull@lemm.ee 35 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (2 children)

Fuck around (with nature) and find out. Even now big oil is thriving, SUVs are the best selling type of cars and greenwashing is the maximum of "commitment" we see from the corporations responsible for global warming, after they knew what they were doing for decades and kept the truth from us. Politicians from all parties do nothing serious to change it and only give us empty promises. At the same time people are hating on the youth when they risk their lives and health to protest for a change by gluing themselves to the road. Humanity had it coming for a long time and we absolutely deserve all of it. Worst part is imo that the people most responsible for the mess will also be the people least affected because they used the money they made by fucking us, to buy private islands, and build underground bunkers.

[–] anarchy79@lemmy.world 12 points 11 months ago (2 children)

We can't do anything about it, we are literally under the rule of a system that is predicated on exacerbating the problem in perpetuity. And peopl are so thoroughly gaslighted that they are cognitively incapable of picturing an alternative. As if that wasn't enough, it promotes and rewards those who champion the destruction, and severely punishes and demonizes those who don't.

The only way out of this is coordinated violent global uprising. I'm in, if you are too let's get planning.

[–] Nacktmull@lemm.ee 6 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I agree with you but I am also a coward who hates violence, sorry.

[–] Witchhatswamp@lemmy.world 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Some violence will be inevitable; but the real power will be when masses of us pull out of the system. Quit your job or work less. Don't make money, dont spend money, buy only what you need second hand or local. Grow your own food, make your own clothes. Don't pay taxes or pay for local permits if you can get away with it. You can help starve the beast so that others might slay it.

[–] Nacktmull@lemm.ee 2 points 11 months ago

Thank you for the input. Compared to murdering the ruling class, your approach seems much more attractive to me personally!

[–] benjhm@sopuli.xyz 1 points 11 months ago

History suggests it’s easier to catalyse an uprising than handle the reaction and govern well thereafter - need to think through the whole story.

[–] set_secret@lemmy.world 9 points 11 months ago (2 children)

It's like we're stuck in a bad movie, right? Big corporations, with their greenwashing antics, are like villains pretending to be heroes. They've known about the climate crisis for ages but kept pushing their meats, coal, SUVs and oil. Now, they're acting all concerned, but it's just for show. And the politicians? They're all talk, no action. It's always about the next election, never about the next generation. Meanwhile, the young ones are out there, literally sticking themselves to roads, begging for a future. But do they get listened to? No, they just get scorned. The worst part, as you said, is the injustice of it all. The big shots who caused this mess? They'll be chilling on their private islands or in their fancy bunkers while the rest of us deal with the consequences. It's a messed-up world where money talks louder than the planet's screams.

[–] solivine@sopuli.xyz 4 points 11 months ago

At least in a film there's normally a single person to target and the day is magically saved.

[–] doingthestuff@lemmy.world -4 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Young people gluing themselves to roads aren't making life difficult for oil CEOs or politicians. They're fucking with people trying to get to their jobs, people trying to get to the hospital, trying to get to their aunt's funeral. And where I live almost no one has access to any non-car alternatives. That's why those people are scorned.

[–] set_secret@lemmy.world 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

You've got a point. In places where there's no real alternative to driving, these protests can disrupt the lives of everyday people more than the bigwigs they're aimed at. It's like trying to throw a rock at a drone and hitting your neighbor's window instead. The CEOs and politicians probably don't even hear about it, while someone misses a crucial job interview or can't say goodbye to their aunt. It's a tough situation. The protesters want to be heard, but the people who really need to listen aren't the ones getting inconvenienced. It's a classic case of good intentions but maybe not the best execution, especially in areas where public transport is as rare as an honest politician.

[–] benjhm@sopuli.xyz 2 points 11 months ago

Except afaik, they do glue protests in big cities where there are plenty of metros, buses, bicycles ...

[–] Something_Complex@lemmy.world 2 points 11 months ago

I think we are missing the point. We are all complacent. Like it's you wanted to strike but people keep piercing the lines and going in to work.

Well in that case you are worse of financially (ik I can literally mean lose everything for some).

But when this plannet burns havung spent a few more years scrapping by sounds useless.

[–] benjhm@sopuli.xyz 23 points 11 months ago

Hi, just an inter-generational message:

25 years ago, I used to be a colleague of a lead author of that report. Like the others, he flew to global conferences, gradually built up a portfolio of papers, and so became a a famous professor with an interesting life, and can now release such reports with obvious timing to influence COP28 (and thereby get government support for the team to continue such research projects...).
But the contents are not really "news", most of this was predictable by those of us who knew the science back then 25 years ago, which was also reported the hottest year for a millenium. My thoughts then were similar to some of those some you write below (->above?). So I went to protests, and (by train, bicycle) to COPs to try to bridge the gap between science and policy, and instead of papers tried to spread knowledge via interactive web tools (really new tech then). I didn't nurture a career, because I didn't expect society to survive for so long. I assisted for a while near the core of IPCC and EU policy, but without papers and flights for networking, was easily disposable. Now 25 years later I sit shivering, in relative poverty, with little influence. To keep trying, I revive my interactive climate model (admittedly needs much more at the impacts end - no such big team), still hoping such tools could communicate something papers don't. I'm not judging who was right, just telling younger people - be aware this is a long-term game.

As I wrote in another post recently, tipping points are real, but thresholds vary by region and sector, and we don't know them accurately. So if you integrate over risk you get a curve - non-linear of course, but not showing that any year is particularly special - unless we make it so, socially.

[–] ininewcrow@lemmy.ca 13 points 11 months ago (1 children)

The world won't do anything until mass migrations start happening, wars break out and people become desperate. The rich and wealthy will wall themselves out as long as they can while we kill one another.

The rich are betting that they'll be the survivors to continue the species .... but chances are they'll just last a bit longer then everyone else and die out along with everything.

Humans survived and thrived as long as they did because they did things together. They won't last long if not enough of them are around. Especially in a hostile environment that we're definitely creating for future generations.

[–] anarchy79@lemmy.world 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

That is already happening and I don't see people do shit.

Having children is the single most potent pacifier there is, once people have children they have the perfect excuse to mask their fear and subjugation by saying they now only and singularly care about their fucking children, and therefore will fight to maintain their status as slaves at any cost, and go against their fellow slaves fighting for freedom.

[–] ParsnipWitch@feddit.de 0 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

Not having children is the single most biggest reason why people don't give a fuck about life after they've died. They only care to maximise their individual fun for their lifetime. And what happens with the people that come after them, they couldn't care less.

(Just to show how bland such general statements are.)

[–] ininewcrow@lemmy.ca 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Empathy, self awareness and an awareness of all life and all the lives of others now, in the past and into the future is the single biggest reason why people give a fuck and are absolutely appalled at how so many people of every kind could be so aware of their collective destructive behaviors yet not want to do anything about it.

[–] ParsnipWitch@feddit.de 2 points 11 months ago

I added a sentence to hopefully make clear that it was a response to the comment above mine.

[–] Cyberflunk@lemmy.world 9 points 11 months ago

We're already toast, just don't feel it yet. Mankind's time is over, it's just a slow decline, until it isn't.

[–] set_secret@lemmy.world 7 points 11 months ago (1 children)
[–] anarchy79@lemmy.world 6 points 11 months ago

FINANCIAL RUIN?!? SHIT IS ON NOW!!