if you’re depressed about climate change, read this: Don’t go into the doom spiral, we can fix this
September 12, 2024
if you’re depressed about climate change, read this: Don’t go into the doom spiral, we can fix this
https://www.theclimatebrink.com/p/the-doom-spiral
by adessler
8 comments
LOL, I love how hopium is the new normal and even presented as somehow helpful.
Things are going to get much, much worse. Prepare for that. Don’t think humanity will solve it with good intentions or tech or whatever. Tech is what is driving the problem.
Live in the real world. It’s all getting worse, much faster than anyone thought it would. The methane in the permafrost melt positive feedback cycle (and many other powerful feedback cycles) are kicking in so hard that we will have runaway warming. That said, we should still work hard to bring down CO2 and CH4 emissions… but it’s not a solution. We can’t stop the bleeding, but we can slow it down and we should!
But don’t wait for it to get better. It won’t. If we work really hard we can slow how fast it gets a whole lot worse and give our species time to adapt. Averting the catastrophe is no longer possible, but slowing it down is. Every gram of CO2 or CH4 we can not emit slows it down.
It’s not getting better and no one is coming to save us, but if we work really hard we can help things not be quite so catastrophically bad for all future generations (and ourselves in later decades). Do your part!
Climate change is truly a political problem. That part you got right. So let’s all put together a political solution to convince China and India to stop burning FF.
lol. the ability to fix it isn’t what makes people feel disheartened
the consistent refusal to fix things and the clear trend that we will never bother to do enough fast enough is what makes the the doom obvious.
“Recent work over the last decade suggests that the **ZEC is zero**. In other words, once we stop emitting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, the climate will stop warming. ”
Bullshit, there is no peer reviewed studies that back up this claim. There has been some speculation that warming could start to slow in as little as ten years, but that is a very recent re-interpretation of what has always been the scientific consensus that it would take thousands of years for the earth to start cooling.
Last time the earth had over 420 PPM of CO2 was over 16 million years ago when there were crocodile related ancestors living in Saskatchewan, Canada. It took millions of years for the earth to stabilize its climate. The ice age lasted over 2 million years. No way we stop climate changes on a dime overnight.
Somewhat true, we are increasing the supply of ‘Green’ energy in the world which is taking up a lot of new demand… BUT: [https://ourworldindata.org/fossil-fuels](https://ourworldindata.org/fossil-fuels) – We are still using more fossil fuels than ever before in history and the number have yet to drop.
This article seems purposefully misleading.
Massive systemic change is needed. Moving away from capitalism to a green oriented/incentivized currency mixed with socialism is the ideal way forward.
Until that happens and if you feel powerless as an individual, there is some stuff you can do to contribute without having to fight the difficult systemic fight against conservative politicians and billionaires.
Electrify your house: heat pump + and electric air handler, induction stove, heat pump water heater. Done. Cancel your gas.
These technologies exist now and your utility bill will get cheaper as a result of canceling your gas bill.
Save up for an EV; or if you aren’t too far from work – an E bike or other active tranport (or public transport).
Volunteer for a land trust and contribute to reforestation events where you volunteer to plant native species.
This stuff all exists now and it feels incredibly good to achieve them (even if it doesn’t solve the world issues). Make these changes high on your priority list to save up for. Long term monthly savings are a bonus as well.
I think it was said best in “The Day the Earth Stood Still”:
“Your problem is not technology; the problem is **you**. You lack the will to change”
Even if we had all the carbon capture technology ready and could build plants and get us to carbon neutral globally, we would just use that to keep enabling our overconsuming and overproducing way of life.
We are too dumb and selfish to be entrusted with the care of an entire world, but here we are anyway.
Yeah… don’t go into doom spiral, but also don’t think that technology and politicians are going to save us any time soon. They will wait until things get bad before acting.
8 comments
LOL, I love how hopium is the new normal and even presented as somehow helpful.
Things are going to get much, much worse. Prepare for that. Don’t think humanity will solve it with good intentions or tech or whatever. Tech is what is driving the problem.
Live in the real world. It’s all getting worse, much faster than anyone thought it would. The methane in the permafrost melt positive feedback cycle (and many other powerful feedback cycles) are kicking in so hard that we will have runaway warming. That said, we should still work hard to bring down CO2 and CH4 emissions… but it’s not a solution. We can’t stop the bleeding, but we can slow it down and we should!
But don’t wait for it to get better. It won’t. If we work really hard we can slow how fast it gets a whole lot worse and give our species time to adapt. Averting the catastrophe is no longer possible, but slowing it down is. Every gram of CO2 or CH4 we can not emit slows it down.
It’s not getting better and no one is coming to save us, but if we work really hard we can help things not be quite so catastrophically bad for all future generations (and ourselves in later decades). Do your part!
https://apnews.com/article/carbon-dioxide-methane-global-warming-climate-change-94424de6b22f1f734b1afd6bce8489b2#:~:text=Last%20year's%20methane's%20jump%20of,the%20oil%20and%20gas%20industry.
Climate change is truly a political problem. That part you got right. So let’s all put together a political solution to convince China and India to stop burning FF.
lol. the ability to fix it isn’t what makes people feel disheartened
the consistent refusal to fix things and the clear trend that we will never bother to do enough fast enough is what makes the the doom obvious.
“Recent work over the last decade suggests that the **ZEC is zero**. In other words, once we stop emitting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, the climate will stop warming. ”
Bullshit, there is no peer reviewed studies that back up this claim. There has been some speculation that warming could start to slow in as little as ten years, but that is a very recent re-interpretation of what has always been the scientific consensus that it would take thousands of years for the earth to start cooling.
Last time the earth had over 420 PPM of CO2 was over 16 million years ago when there were crocodile related ancestors living in Saskatchewan, Canada. It took millions of years for the earth to stabilize its climate. The ice age lasted over 2 million years. No way we stop climate changes on a dime overnight.
“We are living through a legitimate, [once-in-a-lifetime energy revolution](https://web.archive.org/web/20220326032138/https://www.expressnews.com/opinion/commentary/article/Commentary-Believe-it-you-are-living-through-an-17029592.php). The last one was 150 years ago when the fossil-fuel era started. Today, we’re [moving from that energy system](https://renewablerevolution.substack.com/p/energy-after-fire), which is based on burning crap, to one based on directly generating electricity from renewable energy sources.”
Somewhat true, we are increasing the supply of ‘Green’ energy in the world which is taking up a lot of new demand… BUT: [https://ourworldindata.org/fossil-fuels](https://ourworldindata.org/fossil-fuels) – We are still using more fossil fuels than ever before in history and the number have yet to drop.
This article seems purposefully misleading.
Massive systemic change is needed. Moving away from capitalism to a green oriented/incentivized currency mixed with socialism is the ideal way forward.
Until that happens and if you feel powerless as an individual, there is some stuff you can do to contribute without having to fight the difficult systemic fight against conservative politicians and billionaires.
Electrify your house: heat pump + and electric air handler, induction stove, heat pump water heater. Done. Cancel your gas.
These technologies exist now and your utility bill will get cheaper as a result of canceling your gas bill.
Save up for an EV; or if you aren’t too far from work – an E bike or other active tranport (or public transport).
Volunteer for a land trust and contribute to reforestation events where you volunteer to plant native species.
This stuff all exists now and it feels incredibly good to achieve them (even if it doesn’t solve the world issues). Make these changes high on your priority list to save up for. Long term monthly savings are a bonus as well.
I think it was said best in “The Day the Earth Stood Still”:
“Your problem is not technology; the problem is **you**. You lack the will to change”
Even if we had all the carbon capture technology ready and could build plants and get us to carbon neutral globally, we would just use that to keep enabling our overconsuming and overproducing way of life.
We are too dumb and selfish to be entrusted with the care of an entire world, but here we are anyway.
Yeah… don’t go into doom spiral, but also don’t think that technology and politicians are going to save us any time soon. They will wait until things get bad before acting.
Nope