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Discussion of climate, how it is changing, activism around that, the politics, and the energy systems change we need in order to stabilize things.

As a starting point, the burning of fossil fuels, and to a lesser extent deforestation and release of methane are responsible for the warming in recent decades: Graph of temperature as observed with significant warming, and simulated without added greenhouse gases and other anthropogentic changes, which shows no significant warming

How much each change to the atmosphere has warmed the world:

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Are we underestimating global warming? (www.vox.com)

submitted 2 weeks ago by Midnight@slrpnk.net to c/climate@slrpnk.net

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[–] rah@feddit.uk 0 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

That's what I find confusing.

I don't follow. What is it you find confusing?

I think what I want is data

Unfortunately, due to the way time works, nobody can give you data from the future.

You're saying famine in Chicago

Yes.

full on North Korean style society?

I don't know what you mean by that.

I'm sorry but this is what I'm talking about.

Again, I'm not sure what you mean. What is what you're talking about?

How did you reach these conclusions, if you know?

Firstly, the accelerated pace of global warming compared to predictions; we've already exceeded 1.5C globally for a short duration and things are getting worse not better, fast. It looks like we're going to go well beyond 2C and we're going to get there very quickly. The greatest fears of climate scientists 10 years ago now look like optimistic pipe dreams.

Secondly, the inaction from society as a whole. The time to have acted in order avoid the issue was 60 years ago. We're now well into the situation where people are dying and billions, even trillions of dollars of damage is being done by extreme weather and yet there are people in governments who are still literally in denial about the scale of the problem or even whether the problem exists at all. And most critically, the populace is not holding those people to account. Governments are still issuing new oil and gas drilling licenses. Airports are still adding runways. Our civilisation continues to increase CO2 emissions which is the wrong direction if you want to save humanity.

As a civilisation or perhaps species, it seems that we do not have the capacity to deal with this problem. The reality of the situation seems to be beyond the grasp of most people. We don't, as a society, have the means of identifying and fixing the psychological shortfalls that inhibit most people from acknowledging the scale of the problem. It's like the problem is so big and its consequences so dire that people cannot bear to look at it with their eyes open. They would rather keep their eyes closed, even if doing so reduces the likelihood of them and their children surviving. Humanity is like a rabbit, frozen in the headlights of climate change.

I have a suspicion that many governments have already concluded behind closed doors that they cannot prevent global calamity and so are just trying to put off the inevitable downfall of their respective societies and live in comfort for as long as they can.