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davieG

Technology, Science and the Environment.

By davieG, in General Chat

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leicsmac

leicsmac

Posted
Posted
9 minutes ago, lcfc278 said:

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.

https://climate.nasa.gov/effects/

 

This is a good place to start, but it's by no means an exhaustive summary.

 

To answer the point in the post, the world will not end, at least right away - but as temperatures increase, the ability to source both food and potable water in large parts of the world will become much more difficult.  This will result in famine, thirst and the potential for a billion people to be displaced and looking for a new home because their old one simply won't support them anymore. Does anyone think the richer nations would be in any way able or willing to handle that? Such strain on natural resources could well lead to shooting wars and human nature finishing what nature started, too, so there's more than one factor at play here.

 

There are also other serious consequences for other parts of the world,  such as more extreme weather and rising sea levels, but for me the potential lack of food and water for a truly vast number of people is the biggest consequence - such a thing could have knock on consequences that result in a truly terrible level of death and suffering. 

 

Again, not the end of the world, but the end of civilisation as things degenerate into Mad Max style warring city states is a worst case,  but plausible, scenario if we do not seek to solve this.

  • Like 3
Pliskin

Pliskin

Posted
Posted
19 hours ago, leicsmac said:

https://climate.nasa.gov/effects/

 

This is a good place to start, but it's by no means an exhaustive summary.

 

To answer the point in the post, the world will not end, at least right away - but as temperatures increase, the ability to source both food and potable water in large parts of the world will become much more difficult.  This will result in famine, thirst and the potential for a billion people to be displaced and looking for a new home because their old one simply won't support them anymore. Does anyone think the richer nations would be in any way able or willing to handle that? Such strain on natural resources could well lead to shooting wars and human nature finishing what nature started, too, so there's more than one factor at play here.

 

There are also other serious consequences for other parts of the world,  such as more extreme weather and rising sea levels, but for me the potential lack of food and water for a truly vast number of people is the biggest consequence - such a thing could have knock on consequences that result in a truly terrible level of death and suffering. 

 

Again, not the end of the world, but the end of civilisation as things degenerate into Mad Max style warring city states is a worst case,  but plausible, scenario if we do not seek to solve this.

Very true.

 

 

I think part of the problem is the billionaires will think they’re untouchable, so to them they won’t care, they probably think the fact they’re so rich they’re protected and would be able to continue to live a rich life, despite us lacking essential resources. 
 

I hope these next two weeks really open the eyes of the world leaders, but I fear it will further worsen the world wide tension that is currently bubbling away, Australia turning up with this sickening denial that continuing to farm fossil fuels is acceptable and sustainable, is just laughable….. are they really that thick or do they genuinely not care? Because their country would be one of the first to perish if things go south, so the irony is they will suffer as a result of their own idiocy. 

 

  • Like 1
leicsmac

leicsmac

Posted
Posted
10 minutes ago, Pliskin said:

Very true.

 

 

I think part of the problem is the billionaires will think they’re untouchable, so to them they won’t care, they probably think the fact they’re so rich they’re protected and would be able to continue to live a rich life, despite us lacking essential resources. 
 

I hope these next two weeks really open the eyes of the world leaders, but I fear it will further worsen the world wide tension that is currently bubbling away, Australia turning up with this sickening denial that continuing to farm fossil fuels is acceptable and sustainable, is just laughable….. are they really that thick or do they genuinely not care? Because their country would be one of the first to perish if things go south, so the irony is they will suffer as a result of their own idiocy. 

 

To be honest, I'm not entirely sure how much of it is ignorance of the facts of the matter, or how much of it is "I don't care,  it won't affect me" from the powers that be. 

 

Either way, it is a problem that desperately requires a solution.

  • Like 1
Bellend Sebastian

Bellend Sebastian

Posted
Posted

I hope something good comes out of it.

 

It does feel weird, hearing Boris Johnson talking so seriously about it. If politicians had talked in such tones 30 years ago, I wonder if we'd be somewhere different now

  • Like 1
Pliskin

Pliskin

Posted
Posted
6 minutes ago, Bellend Sebastian said:

I hope something good comes out of it.

 

It does feel weird, hearing Boris Johnson talking so seriously about it. If politicians had talked in such tones 30 years ago, I wonder if we'd be somewhere different now

I think this is the question we would all like answering really… I mean how many of us learnt about global warming at school….. and for some that was years and years ago, now we’re scrambling around looking for answers and action when something could have been done even before the turn of the millennium. 
 

But isn’t it typically human to leave things to chance and react when it’s needed. The issue we have now is various nations are pulling in different directions, and that is what will derail and attempts to resolve the issue globally. 

WigstonWanderer

WigstonWanderer

Posted
Posted

I really hope they pull something off at COP26, but I’m not optimistic.

 

Half hearted commitment from Russia and China, outright opposition from Saudi Arabia, Biden hamstrung by the crackpots in Congress, Australia hamstrung by the crackpots in government. Doesn’t auger well.

  • Like 2
HybridFox

HybridFox

Posted
Posted (edited)

All good and well making these commitments for 2050 etc now when all it takes is a change in government at the next elections to reverse everything.

 

Edited by TK95
yorkie1999

yorkie1999

Posted
Posted
  • Power: Clean power becomes the most affordable and reliable option worldwide.... Price of every other form of power becomes unaffordable
  • Road transport: Zero emission vehicles become the new normal and are accessible, affordable and sustainable in all regions...Price of every other form of transport becomes unaffordable.
Heathrow fox

Heathrow fox

Posted
Posted
10 hours ago, leicsmac said:

What's everyone's thoughts on COP26 so far? I'd be interested to see.

It’s had wall to wall coverage so I’m surprised it hasn’t been mentioned much.Was expecting it to have it’s own thread.All the channels have made a week of it.I was expecting a barrage of propaganda from Radio 4 but fair play to them,they put some good stuff out.Very informative.Showed concern for the less well off who may get clobbered going forward.When it’s the less well off who have done least damage.

Great programme on Friday morning half eleven,about tech giant’s claiming to be green.They really aren’t.Surprise surprise.

leicsmac

leicsmac

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Heathrow fox said:

It’s had wall to wall coverage so I’m surprised it hasn’t been mentioned much.Was expecting it to have it’s own thread.All the channels have made a week of it.I was expecting a barrage of propaganda from Radio 4 but fair play to them,they put some good stuff out.Very informative.Showed concern for the less well off who may get clobbered going forward.When it’s the less well off who have done least damage.

Great programme on Friday morning half eleven,about tech giant’s claiming to be green.They really aren’t.Surprise surprise.

Thanks for the input! I'm curious about the bolded though:

 

- what exactly would be defined as propaganda here? The scientific facts of the matter are what they are.

- absolutely it's the less well off who have done least damage, but the simple fact is that if things don't change they will be the first ones to suffer greatly from the consequences anyway, so change has to happen while supporting them as it does.

ozleicester

ozleicester

Posted
Posted
On 30/10/2021 at 15:51, Pliskin said:

Very true.

 

 

I think part of the problem is the billionaires will think they’re untouchable, so to them they won’t care, they probably think the fact they’re so rich they’re protected and would be able to continue to live a rich life, despite us lacking essential resources. 
 

I hope these next two weeks really open the eyes of the world leaders, but I fear it will further worsen the world wide tension that is currently bubbling away, Australia turning up with this sickening denial that continuing to farm fossil fuels is acceptable and sustainable, is just laughable….. are they really that thick or do they genuinely not care? Because their country would be one of the first to perish if things go south, so the irony is they will suffer as a result of their own idiocy. 

 

May be an image of text that says "MANKOFF "And so, while the end-of-the-world scenario will be rife with unimaginable horrors, we believe that the pre-end period will be filled with unprecedented opportunities for profit.""

  • Like 3
String fellow

String fellow

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Zear0 said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-59201590

 

Can't actually believe JWT is close to launch.  I remember my A-Levels physics teacher getting me fascinated with this thing...I'm now 33!

Let's hope that the JWT doesn't have any of the problems that marred the Hubble Space Telescope's images when it was first put into commission. It's strange to think that it will see objects from so far back in time that they may no longer exist.

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