Cumulative emissions matter because CO2 accumulates in the atmosphere, and is removed fairly slowly by natural processes
this post was submitted on 20 Sep 2023
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Honestly, we are not doing it the way in the second graph. Probably not even the way it happens in the first one.
Globally, we haven't even started reducing our emissions at all yet. Our line is still going up
This is the thing people don't seem to understand. It's not that we're failing to slow down fast enough to avoid the point of no return, it's that we're continuing to speed up on our way to the point of no return.
The title kinda implies we get to net zero at all.
Don't get me wrong, I don't doubt that one day on Earth there will be net zero carbon emissions. But will it be because humanity plans to and will work on it or because we screwed things up so badly.
I don't have a good feeling about that.
Eventually there will be a global simplification. It remains to be seen if this will be by desing or desaster.
This is how a paper i read once put it and those words habe been engraved in my brain ever since.
At this point we all know we gotta pull all that extra co2 back out of the atmosphere and store it long term.
Not only do we need to pull co2 out of the atmosphere, but we also likely have to start spraying ocean water into the upper atmosphere to help keep things halfway stable.
Maybe start doing tests on ocean iron seeding as well to promote open ocean algae blooms. (there's been some research, but it was done in about the single worst way possible)
The point is, we've been accidentally geoengineering the planet for centuries, we need to stop that, and do it with intention.
Don't worry, in a few decades mother nature will decompress it catastrophically. In honest terms there is no political will to make the necessary changes to save our society. Anyone attempting to do so is essentially committing political suicide; any attempts to do so will quickly result in their replacement with someone maintaining the status quo