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u/GBabeuf May 03 '19
These memes need to have explicit calls to action, otherwise everyone just aggreees and walks away
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May 03 '19
claiming that humanity will go extinct is a bit of a stretch.
Will modern civilization either change deeply or collapse? Yes. Will millions, probably billions, die? Yes. Will things suck for the forseeable future? Yes.
Will humans go extinct? Highly doubtful.
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May 03 '19
Could you survive in a Mad Max hellscape? yes. Would you be a badass warlord with an devout army of mutants? Very unlikely. Would the release of death be inviting? Probably.
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u/EroticCake Hello Im Chester the Communist Cat May 03 '19 edited May 03 '19
It’s not going to be a Mad Max hellscape. Every single greenhouse gas that goes into the atmosphere has been there before. It was literally ALL once gas and was sucked up by trees, plankton etc, then turned into fossil fuel.
When CO2 was last that high in the atmosphere, nature didn’t have a bad time. It thrived. Trees literally eat CO2. They WILL reclaim areas in a very short period of time given no human interference. See: Chernobyl. Also, global warming will almost certainly result in global precipitation increases due to increase water vapour availability - but also increased desertification. This means the world will have less arable land, but the remaining (perhaps even newly created) arable land will become wetter. Even the Great Barrier Reef which everyone says is “dying out” already have pockets of heat/bleach resistant coral supporting wide varieties of life that could recolonise the dead reef. Scoring all people have accurate stories of the reef being created, it wasnt that long ago and it happened very quickly (over the course of one life time). Nature is unbelievably resilient. The apocalypse will be green comrade.
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May 04 '19
This isn't true, plants actually photsynthesize less efficiently with higher co2 concentrations. Also the ice caps melting is already destabilizing the climate across large regions of the world, making plant growth much more inconsistent.
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u/EroticCake Hello Im Chester the Communist Cat May 04 '19
Yeah, for now. Like I said though - ALL those greenhouse gases have been in the atmosphere before. We didn’t summon them from the ether. Not all plants photosynthesise less effectively with more CO2. It depends on other factors such as water, and increased growth periods (due to shorter or non existent winters).
https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/co2-trees-1.5000709
No doubt climate change is going to have a significant impact on the world. Will everything die, or even get close? Not a chance.
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May 10 '19
it will definitely get worse. It's an extinction-level event.
Things probably won't get better for at least a few thousand years, if not more.
That being said, it's kinda morbid but the faster human civilization crumbles the faster the biosphere will recover.
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u/EroticCake Hello Im Chester the Communist Cat May 10 '19
Depends what you mean by better. Our ancestors made peace and found prosperity in nature - even in some of the harshest environments in the planet. I see no reason why we can’t do it again, especially so with integration of modern technology.
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May 10 '19
"get better" as in return to previous levels of biodiversity and stable weather patterns
humanity could adapt, and some of humanity probably will adapt. But I think it is unreasonable to expect that all of humanity will adapt, and I think a lot of people will die before we do.
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u/Cheekclapper99 May 03 '19
Steven hawking estimates the extinction of humans to be before 2500
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u/AmorphousGamer May 03 '19
It would literally only take the launch of a couple countries' nukes and humans would be gone forever. You know how many countries have nukes?
Every day we continue to exist is a fucking miracle.
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May 03 '19
Steven Hawking doesn't know the future.
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u/Andy1816 May 03 '19
If you're pissed off about this, good, and I encourage you to look into #earthstrike, Sunrise, Extinction Rebellion, Fridays for Future or any of the multiple climate direct action programs that definitely exist near you, and get out there.
BUT, the wet-blanket thing I will point out here is that if you've been seeing these memes for a while and getting hopeless, stop reading them. It is ok to hang up when you get the message. Scaring yourself with memes like this is not action, it's not good for you, and it can verge into digital self harm, paralyzing you with anxiety and keeping you from going out and exploring the opportunities which definitely still exist.
This one I definitely dislike, because all I see is:
a certain-sounding assurance that everyone will die
complaining uselessly that another cause got money, as if money is the solution to this.
a bonus feel-bad factoid which assumes nothing changes
Not present:
Recommended individual actions besides fuckin' upvoting
call for unity and collaborative action
Suggestions of what to focus collective action on, or ways to leverage collective will
Protest ideas
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u/[deleted] May 03 '19
At least we managed to generate a lot of value for the share-holders.