Is Climate Change Hopeless At This Point?

[acri1]

So what's the HL consensus on this?

At this point it kind of seems like the problem is insurmountable. Even with a pandemic going on and everybody staying home, emissions only went down something like 7% last year. Meanwhile natural disasters are getting worse and worse and it's only the tip of the iceberg. Even if people started using electric cars en masse it doesn't seem like it'd put a dent in emissions.

Carbon capture technology is cool and all but we're not even close to being able to scale it up to the point where it would make a significant difference, and even we we could nobody would want to pay for it.

And of course the problem is only going to get worse and worse as the population goes up and we start getting more and more climate refugees and food/water shortages start becoming more frequent.


So...is this a hopeless problem or is there some sort of solution I'm overlooking?

 

[mastermind]

So...is this a hopeless problem or is there some sort of solution I'm overlooking?

The solution is to make bad corporations suffer for their actions that destroy the environment to the point that it is economically not suitable.

WE will need a radical shift in our thinking that will have a harsh adjustment period for sustained survival.

Our political leaders are not interested in making corporations pay.

 

[Mook]

The solution is to make bad corporations suffer for their actions that destroy the environment to the point that it is economically not suitable.

WE will need a radical shift in our thinking that will have a harsh adjustment period for sustained survival.

Our political leaders are not interested in making corporations pay.

It's crazy cause even China is trying to move to take it seriously and cacs don't give a shyt.

 

[acri1]

The solution is to make bad corporations suffer for their actions that destroy the environment to the point that it is economically not suitable.

WE will need a radical shift in our thinking that will have a harsh adjustment period for sustained survival.

Our political leaders are not interested in making corporations pay.

All of that is true but it's not a solution. Saying "make corporations suffer for their actions that destroy the environment" is an nice ideology but it's not an actual course of action...

 

[mastermind]

All of that is true but it's not a solution. Saying "make corporations suffer for their actions that destroy the environment" is an nice ideology but it's not an actual course of action...

It is. You have to make it economically not viable to harm the environment. That means going at oil companies, food companies, tech companies etc.


This isn't an ideology.

 

[acri1]

It is. You have to make it economically not viable to harm the environment. That means going at oil companies, food companies, tech companies etc.


This isn't an ideology.

Okay but how do I do that? I can't help what corporations do. I vote every election for politicians who take the issue seriously but clearly voting isn't enough to address the issue.

You're saying to go after companies that harm the environment but you haven't said how to go about doing that. The general public has no control over what these companies do.

 

[mastermind]

Okay but how do I do that? I can't help what corporations do. I vote every election for politicians who take the issue seriously but clearly voting isn't enough to address the issue.

You're saying to go after companies that harm the environment but you haven't said how to go about doing that.

I meant our elected officials.

We as people? Imma be real with you, but the Greenpeace stuff that was called radical and crazy in the 90s is probably gonna have to happen now. What is happening to the planet is violence, so I think targeting corporations and CEOs with similar is fair game.

I know that will put me on some list, but its the truth

 

[dora_da_destroyer]

It’s insurmountable. We’re far from being unreliant on fossil fuels, the world population continues to grow which means more people putting pressure on natural resources and leaving a carbon footprint, more people need to be fed and more people are eating more meat thus big ag ain’t going anywhere, countries are chasing the China model which means they’re willing to deal with dirty manufacturing to make cheap goods to better their economies, our oceans are being poisoned from drilling, trash and overfishing…all of which are allowed to continue due to world demand

The thing is it takes so long for tangible damage to be seen that each generation adapts to the new norm yet will die before the next new norm - so there isn’t pressure to hit a hard switch in how we do things.

 

[2Quik4UHoes]

The solution is to make bad corporations suffer for their actions that destroy the environment to the point that it is economically not suitable.

WE will need a radical shift in our thinking that will have a harsh adjustment period for sustained survival.

Our political leaders are not interested in making corporations pay.

Agreed, groups like that extinction rebellion have the right idea but it needs to be even more radical. I’m all for Natives in the Amazon going militant and straight up waging armed struggle against those seeking to destroy the rainforest.

I think the worst of it can still be stopped and the eventuals can be mitigated against. But as you said, it would take a radical shift. More people have to realize that this is an existential threat to the future of life on earth.

Funny, we’re nothing but talking apes with clothes on but we seem to think our little concepts of the world around us is so grand that it can circumvent the very natural world that made us. Swear to God we’re fukkin stupid

 

[Micky Mikey]

I am extremely pessimistic on this issue. I think we'll likely surpass 1.5C this decade and pass the Paris Agreement target of 2.0C not too shortly after. These global average temperatures will present an existential crisis for many developing countries. And based on how poorly some Western governments have handled COVID (particularly the U.S.) I am not too confident we'll fare all that well either.

Its looking more and more likely that collectivist societies (like China) will be best suited to respond to the crises that will unfold due to climate change. America's political system is too rotton, corrupt and ultimately in the fate of a population who is deeply misinformed and too disconnected from reality to vote for politicians who'd make a difference. And even if we voted for someone like Bernies Sanders, we'd have to vote out most of the senators who've been bribed by Fossil Fuel corporations. There are too many road blocks in place to inact an effective climate strategy through Democratic means in such a short time frame. And we do not have time.

Also I hear a lot of hope being placed in carbon capture technology. It is simply too energy intensive and expensive to be a realistic solution. "MEER:RefLection" seems like a more promising solution that can buy us more time to reduce our emissions. It works by using giant mirrors to reflect solar radiation away from the planet to cool the biosphere. Hopefully it will some day be implemented at a large scale.

 

[jj23]

I can't see how the damage can be reversed outside of some miracle tech.

 

[Red Shield]

Nothing will be done. Bunch of reasons as to why..
But the main 2 are profit and because the people don't actually want a change that changes things in their personal lives. Even if they know this change is needed.


So for the short term next few decades..
You are just going to have to ride this out and deal with the nightmares that are waiting to be unleashed. You've been getting a sneak peak at what some of those nightmares are gonna be..


Long term.. like 60+years long term...That's what 3 gens. World will be a different place. Things will be "better" globally.

 

[DEAD7]

From the very start we were dealing with a tech our way out or die situation…

…the green push was never going to work. Hippies just seized the opportunity.

 

[FAH1223]

It’s irreversible we still need to lower carbon imprint big time but mitigation measures has to be the top thing

 

[wire28]

All of that is true but it's not a solution. Saying "make corporations suffer for their actions that destroy the environment" is an nice ideology but it's not an actual course of action...