I'm sure we've seen this on social media, but given our unique relationship with science and the natural world, I figured it might spark some discussion here.

https://scripps.ucsd.edu...ng-the-annual-low-point/



For context, the 400ppm mark represents a symbolic tipping point, where positive feedback mechanisms begin to pick up steam, meaning serious climate change, is probably here to stay.

Blessings
~ND

Graph:

In south-east oz, we have had a surprisingly wet winter and spring in certain parts. Which should help vegetation growth going into summer. Unfortunately though, drought is a constant and the grassy bush land will dry out creating a perfect storm for bushfires with extra fuel from the growth. Controlled burns are vital to prevent out of control bushfires, but the hippies scream and protest when this is proposed.
These are some deep issues that are rarely discussed in the town square. Australia is an extract and sell economy, always has been. This has never been more evident than the proposed port near the barrier reef being steamrolled though parliament, whose main purpose is to export coal to SE Asia.

But we are beginning to see more extreme weather events that will be impossible to ignore, Queensland has been in drought for half a decade http://mobile.abc.net.au...atus/7405286?pfmredir=sm

One of my many jobs is in the distribution of plantation pine to China and India. I work with shipping containers, thousands of them. Each one is subleased by the owner. Who makes profit off of it when it is in circulation. Many are investments. Banks own millions of them. It is in their interest to keep the ships rolling over the waters, burning that filthy, dirty diesel. Keep the export/import machine alive and watch the profits roll in.
This is an unsustainable practice. Manufacturing needs to be localised and automated.
This planet is screwed. The nihilist in me prays for a big CME or comet, let the tardigrades and cockroaches and field mice start over.
Maybe we can build a pyriamid somewhere that chronicles our mistakes for future intelligent spider civilisations.

Here's a slightly more pantsoiling graph:



Blessings
~ND

Chill out, the planet is already getting greener and doing fine. Fear is the tool for making politics, whether it's left or right. If enough damage occurs, people are forced to change, whether they like it or not. If people don't change, not enough damage has occurred.

Carbon Dioxide Fertilization Greening Earth, Study Finds
https://www.nasa.gov/fea...ilization-greening-earth

Written from my CO2 neutral powered netbook.

Personally, I'd be hesitant to suggest that the earth is "doing fine" based on select positive spin-offs associated with climate variability/change. Numerous other studies (Walther et al., 2002; Bellard et al., 2012; Deutsch et al., 2015 etc), identify negative impacts associated with climate change, so maybe the earth is not doing fine? Imo, the majority of evidence points towards more detrimental effects as opposed to positive spin-offs.

Alright, the earth is doomed and it's a good idea to commit suicide because I fear death.



Or maybe I just chill out and wait for the rioters to raid my neighborhood. I'll politely point them to my meat-eating and large car driving neighbors. Lots of beef there for a good ol fashioned looting. Or maybe start with the Ayahuasca tourists, who feel the need put CO2 in the atmosphere some "spiritual healing"? Maybe even shut down Burning man and chill out with your local crew instead with Paris Hilton and mostly white upperclass hedonists? But, but... my meat, my jungle adventure, my festival, my truck, my A/C!!!1

Personally I would invest as much in wind farms or fusion energy as possible, so you can get protection from the state power or the local milita. Coal rollers will be the first who go extinct. You can see this already in the stock charts, I don't think there's a coal energy business with a bright future.

Why the looting scenarios? (I get the irony sarcasm, btw, Ufostr.!) Have people forgotten how to co-operate entirely?

It's easy to forget about collective action when sat staring at a computer screen...


And I'm glad I've moved somewhere flat where I can easily ride my bike and I don't need to re-mortgage my life to afford a train-fare!

Global warming will cause a reduction in the carrying capacity of the planet because there won't be as much arable land, therefore a shortage of important resources (water, food). Mass-produced food will have to be transported from farther and farther away (using oil, probably), further exacerbating food scarcity/emissions. To make matters worse, human population is still growing exponentially and we are already way over the carrying capacity even now (assuming western lifestyle). Traditional food/water supply lines will be disrupted, especially in countries that are already unable to feed their populations. This will cause massive migration and displacement of people, and that usually leads to xenophobia and potential for conflict (who takes the refugees?). It's very likely that conflict over resources will lead to world war sometime in the next 10-30 years.

We've brewed a perfect storm of catastrophe and I don't see any realistic way to stop it. Doing so would require a global initiative to control population, eliminate fossil fuel use, switch to local sustainable agriculture techniques, and eliminate consumerism/capitalism (the worst offender of all, the drive for profit and the creation of an infinite number of useless gadgets causes more damage to the environment due to the resource mining/manufacturing/transportation). All of these drastic steps would have to be undertaken worldwide in the next few years to make a difference, even then it might not be enough to reverse the positive feedback mechanisms already underway. We're screwed.

I think the best way to ensure survival into the future would be to reduce your dependence on society, grow your own food, move to a location that is likely to stay a temperate climate during your lifetime, and stay away from populated areas. This is my plan. Cities are wholly unsustainable and will eat themselves alive once it's not possible to truck in fresh food from hundreds of miles away every day.

Haha, I've been sarcastic indeed, but actually I doubt that people are uncooperative. I mean look at your computer you're writing on, it's a thing build on thousands of years of cooperative action. That's why I said the earth is getting greener already. People/governments are addressing this problem. With the necessary intensity? Probably not.

Personally for me it all boils down to an energy problem. Where do you get your energy from without damaging the environment (too much)? So if people can't answer the question, they're left with two options: either lower the energy consumption or ignore CO2 pollution - the graph is a hoax, we're coming out of an ice age phase!1

But what if people can address the energy problem? Why not switching to a Tesla 3 (or an E-Golf) and solar panels? Why not buy shares of a windfarm? Or because you mentioned collective action: start crowdfunding fusion reactors? Skunk Works can do it privately, so can other private entities.

Just intensify clean energy research. Privately and collectively. Actually very easy if ~ 1bn people are really interested in clean air and water. That's $71 per person, if you would buy all the Lockheed Martin shares as a whole. And you get a defense corp. for free with your clean energy research project which you can sell for ~ $60bn (ITER costs are $10bn), if you have no need for it. Maybe keep 10% of the defense shares for taking out militant coal rollers.