Climate Change

[crankplank]

Populations may decline barely in some regions but earth = sum total. It will never decrease overall without a major, major catastrophe, everywhere. Covid tried, but not nearly hard enough.

Overheard in grocery store today, one young stocker says to the other "I've never seen so many babies in here". I politely quipped don't drink the water and the girl replied without hesitation " I won't be having kids because it there's too many already".

I'm not a ZPG believer but that's the 5 ton gorilla in the room for any young person struggling to just get by in already developed countries. It's becoming harder and harder for them to see the light, or look forward to a future that their parents, grandparents, g-grandparents had. Minimal housing they can own, a renter's society. Minimal jobs due to threats of more AI. Minimal forests as they will burn or get dozed. 6th extinction, major collapse of wildlife. No fresh seafood. No clean water. Wars. Extreme weather. No elderly care. Most of these kids grew up with a smartphone in their face since they were old enough to hold a spoon; the doomscroll is real with them.

I try to avoid catastrophizing but this choice seems to be the only one, the biggest thing I can do is not create another western appetite. I cant convince myself my children would see a better world than me- there just is not evidence that things will improve in that timespan, and they are getting worse every year. We will never hairshirt our way out of this- i cant seem to stop driving and flying and filling up my garbage can, despite all my guilt and frustration. IMO the only way we meet targets is that there *actually is a global cabal* secretly meeting to manipulate us into accepting the new world of zero shipping and air travel so that they still have a society and economy to control, cuz this country sure as shit aint gonna vote in our species interest.

Its really tiring trying to remember who Ive expressed this to, because most people still want to have kids and I am not going to try to make anyone feel bad about that. But ultimately it underscores every moment and decision, and I cant really reach full relationships with people who refuse to acknowledge the reality were living in and actually adjust in any way whatsoever.

I really want to be wrong, and would love to look on my current beliefs wistfully when I'm old and gray.

[SumJongGuy]

The entire reason we have societies and collective representation is to separate personal interests and desires from the interests of the community and mankind. Those leaders make decisions to take action NOBODY would do on their own left to our own devices and desires. We've lost that entire dynamic now.

[Stuntmonkey]

Those leaders make decisions to take action NOBODY would do on their own left to our own devices and desires. We've lost that entire dynamic now.

Bang on. There's really nothing else to say.

[Bunion 2020]

Easy to blame the elected but the reality is that no matter who is POTUS, if they went before the American people and told them the truth they would be impeached or run out of town. We are the problem.

[old goat]

The problem of having kids--I say as a father of two and gf on one so far--is that as irrational as it is to have kids, reproduction is the underlying basic principle of biology, and rationality is a very thin veneer pasted on our animal brains.

[k2skier112]

I've mentioned Canada half a dozen times and made mention of CANDU already, you're leading me to believe you don't actually read.

Let me reiterate; Nobody gives a fuck about America and Nuclear energy. The country cannot build plants with ANY expediency, especially under the current circumstances.

Canada is a large sparsely populated country, no one gives 2 fucts about Canada, lol

You could dump spent fuel rods all over the NW territories or Nunavut and no one would be irradiated for a thousand years

[Stuntmonkey]

Canada is a large sparsely populated country, no one gives 2 fucts about Canada, lol

You could dump spent fuel rods all over the NW territories or Nunavut and no one would be irradiated for a thousand years

Easy to blame the elected but the reality is that no matter who is POTUS, if they went before the American people and told them the truth they would be impeached or run out of town. We are the problem.

lmao. What a fucking moron.

[DoYou WannaDance]

The problem of having kids--I say as a father of two and gf on one so far--is that as irrational as it is to have kids, reproduction is the underlying basic principle of biology, and rationality is a very thin veneer pasted on our animal brains.

Human society as you know it (with shit like internet and electicity) depends on a growing population. Not a low carbon score.

You might need to import people who want to work...which most do. My whole family are immigrants theres plenty of money to be made by anyone that wants it.

But the demand to come here should offset most labor issues. And noone cares about your lazy kids. This is America once you are in you are IN this is the American dream see you on the slopes motherfucker.

[k2skier112]

lmao. What a fucking moron.

stfu noob

Canuckistan wants all our spent fuel rods to be put in their secure storage facilities. moran

[old goat]

Human society as you know it (with shit like internet and electicity) depends on a growing population. Not a low carbon score.

You might need to import people who want to work...which most do. My whole family are immigrants theres plenty of money to be made by anyone that wants it.

But the demand to come here should offset most labor issues. And noone cares about your lazy kids. This is America once you are in you are IN this is the American dream see you on the slopes motherfucker.

If you actually read this thread--that is, care about what anyone besides yourself thinks--you'd know that my basic premise is that human society as I know it -cannot continue, if there is any hope for saving the planet. And that part of that means not growing, and eventually shrinking the population, which will mean considerable hardship economically and in terms of sustainable lifestyle, especially for retirees.

As far as my lazy kids--they're both surgeons who work well over 40 hours per week. Not necessarily as hard as someone harvesting the food I eat as an example, but definitely not lazy.

As far as seeing me on the slopes--in the sustainable world I envision skiing is probably not an option.

As far as your family being immigrants, it seems likely to me that you were educated in America, since you are incapable of writing a coherent sentence although you are fluent in American profanity.

[AK47bp]

Well that can’t be good.

https://twitter.com/extremetemps/sta...85331539820545

It’s happening folks, it’s really happening.

[Supermoon]

This is interesting. Almost all of the temperature spike this year can be attributed to a decrease in sulfur dioxide from implementing cleaner shipping fuels. Apparently we have been shielding ourselves from the true effects of climate change by just using other pollutants.

https://twitter.com/hankgreen/status...169930241?s=20

[From_the_NEK]

This is interesting. Almost all of the temperature spike this year can be attributed to a decrease in sulfur dioxide from implementing cleaner shipping fuels. Apparently we have been shielding ourselves from the true effects of climate change by just using other pollutants.

https://twitter.com/hankgreen/status...169930241?s=20

So start pumping out the SO2 until we get more CO2 capture plants online?

[old goat]

So start pumping out the SO2 until we get more CO2 capture plants online?

That was actually proposed earlier in the thread. SO2 is acid rain. Perfect example of our dilemma--dealing with climate change without making other things worse.

[PB]

Turns out, unintended consequences are consequential.

[J. Barron DeJong]

https://heatmap.news/economy/carbon-...-us-government

[SumJongGuy]

[PB]

I'm sure a rake is up to the task. I mean, after all, rakes solved the forest fire problem.

[sb]

https://beachgrit.com/2023/08/califo...fuel-industry/

[PB]

Bigger maybe, but also slower and mushier due to "added ingredients".

[neufox47]

https://beachgrit.com/2023/08/califo...fuel-industry/

The only post you should be making in this thread is to apologize for being so wildly wrong and denying the reality that was right in front of your face.

[SumJongGuy]

How's that "drill baby drill" working out for Alaska?

https://abcnews.go.com/US/glacial-br...y?id=102056193

[Bunion 2020]

Some good news

U.S. lab says it repeated fusion energy feat — with higher yield
By Ben Brasch
,

August 6, 2023 at 8:57 p.m. EDT

A group of U.S. scientists say they have repeated their landmark energy feat — a nuclear fusion reaction that produces more energy than is put into it. But this time, they say the experiment produced an even higher energy yield than one in December that got international attention for making a major step forward toward the long elusive goal of producing energy through fusion.
10 steps you can take to lower your carbon footprint

This second achievement by researchers at the federal Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California is another crucial step — albeit in a journey that may still take decades to complete — in the quest for an unlimited source of cheap and clean power. The successful effort was initially reported by the Financial Times on Sunday.

“We have continued to perform experiments to study this exciting new scientific regime. In an experiment conducted on July 30, we repeated ignition at (the National Ignition Facility),” Paul Rhien, a spokesman for the federal laboratory, said in a emailed statement. “Analysis of those results is underway, but we can confirm the experiment produced a higher yield than the December test.”

Rhien said the lab “won’t be discussing further details” of the July experiment until after more analysis. But the team plans to “share the results at scientific conferences and peer-reviewed publications as part of our normal process for communicating scientific results.”

What you need to know about the U.S. fusion energy breakthrough

Right now, nuclear power plants use fission, which creates energy by splitting atoms — the science at the center of the current blockbuster “Oppenheimer.” While nuclear power produces bountiful clean energy, it has long drawn concerns over safety, though it is getting renewed attention amid an international push to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and slow global warming.

Fusion, on the other hand, creates energy by merging atoms together. It’s long been a dream because it could create limitless clean energy without the radioactive byproducts of nuclear power or the risk of meltdown. Plus, the fuel to make fusion happen is simply heavy hydrogen atoms, which can be found in something that Earth has in abundance: seawater. No mining of uranium is required.


Researchers have produced fusion reactions before, but it has taken more energy to cause the reaction than they could get back. The key thing about these last two experiments is that they get more energy back than they put in to create the reaction. That efficiency has been the elusive holy grail of fusion research.

(Still, it is limited in the sense that they are considering the amount of energy required to power lasers that were used to smush the hydrogen atoms together — not the power that’s necessary to make the whole project work.)

The White House praised the work at the time of the first breakthrough in December.

“This is such a wonderful example of a possibility realized, a scientific milestone achieved, and a road ahead to the possibilities for clean energy,” Arati Prabhakar, the White House science adviser, said during a news conference.

U.S. announces milestone on fusion energy, sparking hopes for clean power

Still, scientists are far away from using the energy produced by fusion.


Researchers can only create a fusion reaction about once a day because they have to let the lasers cool and replace the fuel target. But a commercially viable fusion plant would need to be able to do it several times per second, Dennis Whyte, director of the Plasma Science and Fusion Center at MIT, previously told The Washington Post.

[Peruvian]

Has Project 2025 been mentioned yet? It’s the conservatives attempt
to repeal many non-oil/gas regulations and primarily only support the fossil fuel industry if they prevail in the next presidential election

[skaredshtles]

Some good news

Fusion and ambient temp/pressure superconductivty...

COME ON, SCIENCE!!