Re:July was the hottest month ever recorded, according to Nasa
by __jal on Tuesday August 23, 2016 @02:44PM
(#12346332)
I don't disagree. I'm completely on board with reducing GHGs. I'm talking about proposals to pump sulfur compounds into the stratosphere[1], or the loon that decided to dump a bunch of iron into the ocean several years ago.
You might be reacting to my parting, pessimistic shot - that's fine. I don't think we should give up either. I'm just not optimistic when it comes to humans and collective action problems.
[1] details may be incorrect; I haven't paid a ton of attention to the specific proposals.
Re:July was the hottest month ever recorded, according to Nasa
by zamalek on Tuesday August 23, 2016 @03:02PM
(#12346498)
Your well-presented argument merely deserved a contribution. I really had to do a double-take on those proposals :). As for your collective action concerns, I agree with you in general - although I have recently been privy to a small glimmer of hope.[1] Until a few weeks ago I regarded this outcome as less probable than the human race improving our climate impact and had many brilliant hypotheses as to why; something that I have since been proven wrong about.
I really hope that I am proven wrong about it being too late due to trapped GHGs (but we can still try).
[1]: http://ewn.co.za/2016/08/22/Victory-for-DA-as-Herman-Mashaba...
There is evidence to support what you are saying: every year there is new research that brings the inhospitable-deadline closer to today - there is a high degree of uncertainty. However, assuming that humans are at the very least responsible for the acceleration of climate change by pumping out GHGs, we could start by reversing that single change that we have made.
It's not as though we should just give up.