Technology, Science and the Environment.

[String fellow]

1 hour ago, WigstonWanderer said:

There has been a recent “change of heart” regarding attitudes of the current Australian government and indeed the Murdoch press here, to the issue of climate change. They now claim to be fully onboard with the need to take action.

 

Unfortunately I believe that they have only climbed aboard in order to try to steer the process away from taking any meaningful action. I expect them to be pressing for unproven future CCS technologies that give them licence to dig more coal now with a “promise” to offset later. This is why they are currently digging their heels in regarding a more meaningful 2030 target (currently set at 28%), whilst playing lip service to net zero by 2050 (if their junior partners in government, the Nationals will allow them).

 

I fully expect them to try to sabotage any meaningful progress at COP26.

Maybe it would help the planet if the Queen gave the Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison a jolly good talking to.

Edited 21 October 2021 by String fellow

[leicsmac]

18 hours ago, WigstonWanderer said:

There has been a recent “change of heart” regarding attitudes of the current Australian government and indeed the Murdoch press here, to the issue of climate change. They now claim to be fully onboard with the need to take action.

 

Unfortunately I believe that they have only climbed aboard in order to try to steer the process away from taking any meaningful action. I expect them to be pressing for unproven future CCS technologies that give them licence to dig more coal now with a “promise” to offset later. This is why they are currently digging their heels in regarding a more meaningful 2030 target (currently set at 28%), whilst playing lip service to net zero by 2050 (if their junior partners in government, the Nationals will allow them).

 

I fully expect them to try to sabotage any meaningful progress at COP26.

That wouldn't surprise me,  more's the pity. 

 

Like I said,  either ignorant enough to not see the writing on the wall or malicious enough to simply not care about the future beyond themselves.

[leicsmac]

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-59039485

 

You bloody tell them, Sir David.

[Milo]

19 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-59039485

 

You bloody tell them, Sir David.

Unfortunately the ‘telling them’ bit isn’t the problem - it’s the ‘them listening and doing something about it’ that’s the issue. 

[leicsmac]

2 hours ago, Milo said:

Unfortunately the ‘telling them’ bit isn’t the problem - it’s the ‘them listening and doing something about it’ that’s the issue. 

Ain't that the damn truth. 

 

I'm reading up about science and policymaking right now and it's troubling to see how low a lot of policymakers consider scientific evidence such a low priority compared to economics and current legal concerns when creating policy. There's clearly a gap between researchers and policymakers that needs to be bridged better.

 

That said, there are often allies in unlikely places too, I've seen.

[Pliskin]

Scientists are set to reveal how far from our climate targets we are at COP26 apparently. And it’s set to make for very grim reading according to the Washington Post. 
 

I can’t help that most leaders will see this at a little vacation *cough* Boris, and not take it remotely seriously….. I mean, we can’t go an upset the oil barons can we? As we heavily rely on their industry….. 

[leicsmac]

1 hour ago, Pliskin said:

Scientists are set to reveal how far from our climate targets we are at COP26 apparently. And it’s set to make for very grim reading according to the Washington Post. 
 

I can’t help that most leaders will see this at a little vacation *cough* Boris, and not take it remotely seriously….. I mean, we can’t go an upset the oil barons can we? As we heavily rely on their industry….. 

At this point, I'm pretty certain such a lack of foresight on the matter can't be credited to ignorance, not when such a wealth of data exists on the matter that has been disseminated in a way anyone could understand. 

 

Which,  unfortunately, leaves motives that are almost exclusively malicious.

[Pliskin]

14 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

At this point, I'm pretty certain such a lack of foresight on the matter can't be credited to ignorance, not when such a wealth of data exists on the matter that has been disseminated in a way anyone could understand. 

 

Which,  unfortunately, leaves motives that are almost exclusively malicious.

It’s going to be a very interesting two weeks. I want every leader to leave the summit feeling sick to the core, deflated and very small…..

 

They need to understand that the time for “we just need to do this first” has gone, unfortunately things have to change today….. 

 

I don’t think some people realise the scale of the issue, but I can’t help but think simple changes made utilising the technology we have available in this century would make the world of difference?  
 

I know we are starting to make these changes, but they should have been done years ago, the millennium should have been the turning point!  But it seems to have gone the other way. 

[The Bear]

This is a nice proof of concept, assuming it can be scaled up to make a bigger difference. 

 

https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/co2-removal-climeworks-carbfix-iceland-b1933524.html?amp

[SecretPro]

Has the government just announced a cut to air travel duty for domestic flights? A few days before COP26?

[SecretPro]

On the Sewage issue...

 

[SecretPro]

[WigstonWanderer]

Scott Morrison (Australia’s PM) is apparently on his way to Glasgow, and will not doubt do his best to sabotage the COP26 talks. There is a very good series that I have started listening to in the Guardian about Australia’s destructive influence on international efforts to prevent climate change going right back to Kyoto in 1997.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/audio/2021/oct/25/australia-v-the-climate-part-1-kyoto

 

Another Liberal (read Conservative) government.

 

 

[leicsmac]

2 minutes ago, WigstonWanderer said:

Scott Morrison (Australia’s PM) is apparently on his way to Glasgow, and will not doubt do his best to sabotage the COP26 talks. There is a very good series that I have started listening to in the Guardian about Australia’s destructive influence on international efforts to prevent climate change going right back to Kyoto in 1997.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/audio/2021/oct/25/australia-v-the-climate-part-1-kyoto

 

Another Liberal (read Conservative) government.

 

 

Sadly, the coal lobby has its tentacles elsewhere too:

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-59060739

 

Progress on climate for everyone being held up by one guy (of two) in hock to black lung.

[SpacedX]

19 hours ago, SecretPro said:

On the Sewage issue...

 

I'm afraid that good heart these days is hard to find. 

[Pliskin]

The one thing that gives me a shred of hope with the war on climate is that even in the most hopeless of situations, we as a race have found a way to survive…

 

Provided the majority work together, the minority will lose out. This is why individuals can make a difference, the old girl propping up the bar claiming “electric cars won’t solve the issue”, might well be wrong, a minor change like this and switching to other forms of sustainable energy, will have a catastrophic impact on the big game players in the fossil fuel industries. 
 

But then again, only humans are thick enough to drive themselves into extinction for money…… 

 

I mean, we’ve sat buy for years and years and allowed people to be born and live into extreme poverty, because those with the financial power to do something don’t, because they only want more money.

 

Everyones grandma was right, money really is the root of all evil, it merely facilitates the destruction of the planet. 
 

Question is, how do we swiftly stop those contributing to it the most? 

[Buce]

14 minutes ago, Pliskin said:

The one thing that gives me a shred of hope with the war on climate is that even in the most hopeless of situations, we as a race have found a way to survive…

 

Provided the majority work together, the minority will lose out. This is why individuals can make a difference, the old girl propping up the bar claiming “electric cars won’t solve the issue”, might well be wrong, a minor change like this and switching to other forms of sustainable energy, will have a catastrophic impact on the big game players in the fossil fuel industries. 
 

But then again, only humans are thick enough to drive themselves into extinction for money…… 

 

I mean, we’ve sat buy for years and years and allowed people to be born and live into extreme poverty, because those with the financial power to do something don’t, because they only want more money.

 

Everyones grandma was right, money really is the root of all evil, it merely facilitates the destruction of the planet. 
 

Question is, how do we swiftly stop those contributing to it the most? 

 

[Buce]

World is failing to make changes needed to avoid climate breakdown, report finds

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/oct/28/world-failing-make-changes-avoid-climate-breakdown-report

 

We're fvcked, aren't we?

[leicsmac]

2 minutes ago, Buce said:

World is failing to make changes needed to avoid climate breakdown, report finds

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/oct/28/world-failing-make-changes-avoid-climate-breakdown-report

 

We're fvcked, aren't we?

Not yet.

 

That's about as optimistic as it gets, really.

[SpacedX]

13 minutes ago, Buce said:

 

The Cree did not have a set system of currency. It's more likely attributed to an essay written by Alanis Obomsawin in 1972 who was identified as Abenaki from the Odanak reserve, seventy miles northeast of Montreal. The sentiment clearly has its roots in a Native American saying, the attribution to the Cree, comes from a letter to the New York Times in 1995 which although doubtless apocryphal appears nonetheless to have stuck. 

[Pliskin]

11 minutes ago, Buce said:

World is failing to make changes needed to avoid climate breakdown, report finds

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/oct/28/world-failing-make-changes-avoid-climate-breakdown-report

 

We're fvcked, aren't we?

If we can put a man on the moon, we can win the war on climate change.

 

The real underlying issue is, do we want to? 
 

When you’re as rich as those in the fossil fuel industries you feel untouchable, almost god like, so to them, they won’t care they want to continue making money and find ways to make more of it. 
 

They’re modern day tyrants, and unfortunately we’ve heavily relied on their products for such a long time that they gave a firm grip on every economy pretty much. 
 

Like I discussed with @leicsmac tensions will rise, boil over and it wouldn’t surprise me if we ended up in conflict over climate change….. it will end up like some kind of a marvel movie without the superhero’s. 
 

We’ve lost control of in many aspects of life, we take too much, and we give too little. And the worst part is we could probably all come together and resolve this in a timely manner, but it’s the coming together that’s the issue.

 

 

It starts with the government, unfortunately they’re going to have to take a huge financial risk, potentially destabilise the economy in order to have a real impact. 
 

The only fact is, change is needed now, otherwise the end of humanity as we know it is literally within sight, and it will be entirely our own fault, that’s how (and excuse my turn of phrase) retarded a situation this is. 

[SpacedX]

1 minute ago, Pliskin said:

If we can put a man on the moon, we can win the war on climate change.

 

The Apollo programme required exerting control and the unified technical dedication and political will to do so. 

 

We are on the brink of losing the former, and globally, lack the latter. 

[Buce]

5 hours ago, Line-X said:

The Cree did not have a set system of currency. It's more likely attributed to an essay written by Alanis Obomsawin in 1972 who was identified as Abenaki from the Odanak reserve, seventy miles northeast of Montreal. The sentiment clearly has its roots in a Native American saying, the attribution to the Cree, comes from a letter to the New York Times in 1995 which although doubtless apocryphal appears nonetheless to have stuck. 

 

Mate, I generally enjoy your posts and I'm sure you're a top bloke, but your tendancy to patronise really isn't a good look at all.

 

No offence intended.

[SpacedX]

3 hours ago, Buce said:

No offence intended.

Don't be patronising. 

 

Seriously though, that wasn't the intention and not sure why you took it that way. It's something I'm greatly interested in. I've seen the meme before, which I though was amusing, because although the Cree traded and bartered, they had no monetary system or currency that I'm aware of. 

 

Like I said, the sentiment can be attributed to native Americans and ultimately the message that you were getting across is the important thing here. 

 

 

Edited 28 October 2021 by Line-X

[lcfc278]

Lots of articles and people of note saying we're close to or very nearly at the point of no return and we're all headed for disaster etc.

 

What does this actually lead to? Where are we headed? I know we're seeing more and more severe weather and issues with natural disasters, flooding, fires etc. Is there an article somewhere that kind of 'predicts' or explains what could happen to the world stage by stage if nothing changes or it doesn't change quick enough?

 

I've tried arguing a point with certain people IRL who aren't interested in climate change or the effects of fossil fuels etc. They seem to think that the world will just one day end because of it and they or their children etc. won't suffer, it will be over in a second. I'd like some sort of reasoned argument to explain what will happen if we don't change our ways and to prove that it won't just implode it will seriously affect peoples lives.