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Re:Ask HN: Working in tech for climate? by collyw on Wednesday August 03, 2022 @04:11AM (#32328964)
Where is the electricity coming from to charge your electric vehicles? Electric vehicles have a lot of potential to reduce pollution and noise in cities, but as a solution to "fixing" inevitable climate they are a con.
Re:Ask HN: Working in tech for climate? by dagss on Wednesday August 03, 2022 @04:25AM (#32329067)
Electric vehicles use a lot less energy in total in the supply chain than gasoline cars (extracting and refining and transporting oil uses a lot of energy too, some of it electricity).

So electric vehicles reduces the energy required.

Longer term: Gasoline cars are not viable at all; electric cars are viable to the extent one can secure the energy for them. It is a way of getting any road transportation done in the future AT ALL; that is surely not a con?

I hope noone is arguing that moving to electric cars by itself is sufficient to stop climate change. That would be a con but also seems like a strawman.

The goal should be net zero, and electric cars are needed to have road transportation at all.

Re:Ask HN: Working in tech for climate? by tremon on Wednesday August 03, 2022 @07:15AM (#32330172)
Absolutely agreed, except for one part: I don't think net zero will be enough. It might have been enough if we were at net zero thirty years ago. But now, in addition to net zero (which would be an impressive feat to achieve, society-wide), we need to work on absorbing carbon from the atmosphere, before the ocean does it for us.
Re:Ask HN: Working in tech for climate? by collyw on Wednesday August 03, 2022 @08:25AM (#32330764)
What won't net zero be enough for?

The mythical climate change boogeyman, that's hasn't melted all the glaciers or put Manhattan underwater like we were warned of 30 years ago.The fearmongering is all based on models- and covid demonstrated how useless those are with complex systems.

What's the solid evidence any of it will happen? The IPCC model is an average of other models, it has no validity by itself (just reject the carp models until it's past performance looks good). What models have had an accurate forecast and for how long?

https://nypost.com/2020/01/10/the-telling-tale-of-glacier-na...

Re:Ask HN: Working in tech for climate? by tremon on Wednesday August 03, 2022 @09:03AM (#32331147)
What's the solid evidence any of it will happen?

What kinds of solid evidence will you accept? Should we wait until all corals have bleached and withered away? Should we wait until all of Greenland is arable? How many years of drought should California endure until you might start accepting that maybe something has been changing for the worse?

Or should we rather ignore you and focus instead on things we can change?

Re:Ask HN: Working in tech for climate? by tcfhgj on Wednesday August 03, 2022 @07:10AM (#32330153)
Nope, the goal must be net negative... If you dont want to end up with at least 4-8 degrees more
Re:Ask HN: Working in tech for climate? by collyw on Wednesday August 03, 2022 @08:26AM (#32330768)
This is pure speculation, not based in any kind of falsifiable science.
Re:Ask HN: Working in tech for climate? by tcfhgj on Wednesday August 03, 2022 @09:19AM (#32331323)
It's not speculation. It's just looking at CO2 levels and their corresponding equilibria
Re:Ask HN: Working in tech for climate? by collyw on Wednesday August 03, 2022 @08:27AM (#32330773)
The climate has always changed. Trying to stop it is an exercise in stupidity.
Re:Ask HN: Working in tech for climate? by zaccusl on Wednesday August 03, 2022 @06:49PM (#32337411)
Can two thing not be true?

1. the climate has always changed. 2. the rate of change depends on a lot things, among them how much green house gases exist in the atmosphere.

You have to have a pretty poor understanding of science to deny either one.