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Re:'We're doomed': Mayer Hillman on the climate reality no o... by tim333 on Thursday April 26, 2018 @04:04AM (#16929879)
I skimmed it and edited a little. I guess I'm more optimistic about tech fixes that the author. Does anyone sensible think we're actually doomed?
Re:'We're doomed': Mayer Hillman on the climate reality no o... by mirimir on Thursday April 26, 2018 @04:20AM (#16929973)
Well, I'm personally doomed, as are we all, sooner or later. So far, anyway.

I agree that industrial civilization is very likely doomed. Or at least, except for the wealthy. There's just too much momentum from CO2 already in the atmosphere. Even if no more were released, starting today. And then there are all the potential, arguably likely, positive feedbacks. Such as melting of permafrost in northern Canada and Siberia.

But I disagree about the mass extinction aspect. Earth is in the midst of an anthropogenic mass extinction. But collapse of industrial civilization will mitigate that, I suspect. Climate change will drive some species extinct, but overall diversity will do better without so many people.

As you say, CO2 levels were higher in the past. But damn, when they were, the Earth was a tropical hothouse. But what's bad about rapid CO2 increase is that evolutionary change can't keep up. Species, even entire ecosystems, will get sucker punched. And even so, having less people will help.

I doubt that humans will go extinct, either. We're tough bastards. Maybe there's a population bottleneck coming, but that's often a good thing, in the long term.

Re:'We're doomed': Mayer Hillman on the climate reality no o... by dredmorbius on Thursday April 26, 2018 @04:34AM (#16930063)
Does anyone sensible think we're actually doomed?

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=scientists+letter+warning&atb=v64-...

"Thousands of scientists issue bleak 'second notice' to humanity"

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2...

"16,000 scientists sign dire warning to humanity - CNN"

https://www.cnn.com/2017/11/14/health/scientists-warn-humani...

"20,000 Scientists Sign "Warning To Humanity" Letter About ..."

https://trofire.com/2018/03/18/20000-scientists-sign-warning...

https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Gish_Gallop

Re:'We're doomed': Mayer Hillman on the climate reality no o... by crispinb on Thursday April 26, 2018 @04:23AM (#16929994)
> Does anyone sensible think we're actually doomed?

It's been at least 2 decades since I've met or heard from one who didn't.

Re:'We're doomed': Mayer Hillman on the climate reality no o... by Antimachides on Thursday April 26, 2018 @04:12AM (#16929925)
Ah yes, tech fixes.
Re:'We're doomed': Mayer Hillman on the climate reality no o... by lozenge on Thursday April 26, 2018 @07:00AM (#16930766)
The excess CO2 in the atmosphere, with a volume of 400,000 Empire State Buildings, is ripe for disruption!

Source: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal....

Re:'We're doomed': Mayer Hillman on the climate reality no o... by realusername on Thursday April 26, 2018 @04:18AM (#16929968)
we will need a lot more than "tech fixes" with the current situation.
Re:'We're doomed': Mayer Hillman on the climate reality no o... by whataretensors on Thursday April 26, 2018 @04:51AM (#16930142)
I think we'll be fine. The earth just needs a brain to heal itself, or to plan to heal itself.

I don't agree at all with the half-assed expensive solutions proposed so far.