Great presentation. It’s largely the trajectory I described 5 years ago and was called an alarmist and doomer on r/science.
My one criticism is that even this frank description is making the same mistake seen all along – it ultimately portrays the future mainly in terms of the BEST case outcome. That best case outcome relies on utterly naive predictions of future emissions; as if they will fall like a stone beginning tomorrow. People defending this approach to informing the public say it’s necessary to avoid doomerism.
Yet that approach has prevented the public from being properly informed of the likely trajectory that the climate is on, and thereby minimizes the political pressure to take appropriate steps. It is literally an approach co-opted and endorsed by the fossil fuel industry.
Climate minimization and the prioritization of ‘preventing attitudes of futility and doomerism’ was and remains a mistake.
I’ve seen a lot of people on this sub be total doomers on the situation and stop having hope. This is absolutely *not* the right thing to do. In fact, it’s the narrative the narcissistic politicians, fossil fuel companies and various other psychos want you to believe. What we should do is highlight ***both*** the positive and negative events, maintain realistic optimism and take action for our common future, a harmonious, just society, a society that advances science further than ever before, and a society where no psycho shall remain alive, for that is simply justice.
Not going to go past the first lie. The Holocene Climate Optimum was a mere 5000 years ago and was much warmer than today. If the idiot can’t get that right then be assured that the rest is as poorly researched.
Optimism is great. It’s a matter of
*simple physics that the earth is only so big
* simple ecology that resources are renewed only so fast
* simple historical fact that no capitalist society has ever been satisfied with its rulers without economic growth
The one thing that gives me optimism is that more and more people are talking about the necessity of redesigning our economic system, so that growth becomes anathema rather than the elixir of life. Without a *steady state* economy operating under a people-first democratic government, everything we are doing is necessary like running the pumps on the titanic but without turning our backs on Perpetual Economic Growth Addiction, every positive thing we are doing buys us time, only.
4 comments
Great presentation. It’s largely the trajectory I described 5 years ago and was called an alarmist and doomer on r/science.
My one criticism is that even this frank description is making the same mistake seen all along – it ultimately portrays the future mainly in terms of the BEST case outcome. That best case outcome relies on utterly naive predictions of future emissions; as if they will fall like a stone beginning tomorrow. People defending this approach to informing the public say it’s necessary to avoid doomerism.
Yet that approach has prevented the public from being properly informed of the likely trajectory that the climate is on, and thereby minimizes the political pressure to take appropriate steps. It is literally an approach co-opted and endorsed by the fossil fuel industry.
Climate minimization and the prioritization of ‘preventing attitudes of futility and doomerism’ was and remains a mistake.
I’ve seen a lot of people on this sub be total doomers on the situation and stop having hope. This is absolutely *not* the right thing to do. In fact, it’s the narrative the narcissistic politicians, fossil fuel companies and various other psychos want you to believe. What we should do is highlight ***both*** the positive and negative events, maintain realistic optimism and take action for our common future, a harmonious, just society, a society that advances science further than ever before, and a society where no psycho shall remain alive, for that is simply justice.
Not going to go past the first lie. The Holocene Climate Optimum was a mere 5000 years ago and was much warmer than today. If the idiot can’t get that right then be assured that the rest is as poorly researched.
Optimism is great. It’s a matter of
*simple physics that the earth is only so big
* simple ecology that resources are renewed only so fast
* simple historical fact that no capitalist society has ever been satisfied with its rulers without economic growth
The one thing that gives me optimism is that more and more people are talking about the necessity of redesigning our economic system, so that growth becomes anathema rather than the elixir of life. Without a *steady state* economy operating under a people-first democratic government, everything we are doing is necessary like running the pumps on the titanic but without turning our backs on Perpetual Economic Growth Addiction, every positive thing we are doing buys us time, only.