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A comment on When will global greenhouse gas emissions peak?. Parent comment

Re:When will global greenhouse gas emissions peak? by uoaei on Sunday November 26, 2023 @11:13AM (#38422685)
Your grasp of physics metaphors leaves a lot to be desired. That's not how momentum works. Plus, the pendulum reference implies swinging back across to net-positive carbon emissions, which I don't think is part of anyone's plan.

What we want is a critically damped system, that inflects ASAP and approaches zero the quickest. Again, this requires a better grasp of the issues than "EVs will save the world". Our conveniences are the problems that need solving. Everyone who has the systems view (as opposed to the extremely narrow economics view) says we need to radically restructure our society so that lifestyles can be sustainable. This includes removing the need for most people to drive or fly, period.

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Re:When will global greenhouse gas emissions peak? by andrekandre on Sunday November 26, 2023 @11:34AM (#38422857) 

  > This includes removing the need for most people to drive or fly, period.
does this imply that most co2 emissions are caused by cars and consumer flying?
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Re:When will global greenhouse gas emissions peak? by uoaei on Sunday November 26, 2023 @11:53AM (#38423019)
No, but there are many sources of emissions related to the sprawl of car-centric culture.

The connection with flying is just how much emissions can be attributed to one passenger in a plane compared to an equivalent drive. When you fly you're trading more emissions for speed and convenience in your travels. The classic quoted stat is that a single flight is worth about a year of driving at today's averages.

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