Are we totally screwed?

[Space Voyager]

"The battle is lost"... Well, that's that.

 

I hope we'll find a way to cope.

[Thorondor]

Quote

The opportunity to preserve the WAIS in its present-day state has probably passed, and policymakers should be prepared for several metres of sea-level rise over the coming centuries.

::

According to the conclusions of yet another study, published here in science magazine Nature Climate Change, the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is likely no longer salvageable. Cope we shall have to indeed.

Or, perhaps more accurately, our children quite simply must down the line.

[Space Voyager]

The world will do nothing untill the climate becomes unbearable. Only when the price to exist will be higher than the price to salvage the climate will we react. We are this incredibly stupid.

[Thorondor]

I have to agree with you, SV. I see the same outcome. The fat cats' money is just too good for any politician to walk away from and the rest of us are stuck on conveyor belts mostly just keeping our respective families afloat.

The result when someone tries to raise the alarm and make people take notice? Here are a couple of recent examples, one at the outskirts of Lisbon and another near parliament:

Happens everywhere, from London to Germany. Protesters get violently removed from the street by common people and otherwise often end up arrested, if only briefly and fined for disrupting "public order". This is what will continue to happen. Until collapse is imminent.

Here's a fitting quote from a well-known sci-fi author:

"Humans were still not only the cheapest robots around, but also, for many tasks, the only robots that could do the job. They were self-reproducing robots too. They showed up and worked generation after generation; give them 3000 calories a day and a few amenities, a little time off, and a strong jolt of fear, and you could work them at almost anything. Give them some ameliorative drugs and you had a working class, reified and coglike."
- Kim Stanley Robinson, 2312

[Thorondor]

Quote

'The effects of global warming are progressively more severe, and possibilities such as a worldwide societal breakdown are feasible and dangerously underexplored', the team warned. 'By the end of this century, an estimated 3 to 6 billion individuals - approximately one-third to one-half of the global population - might find themselves confined beyond the livable region, encountering severe heat, limited food availability, and elevated mortality rates because of the effects of climate change'.

::

In keeping with the 'cheery' projections motif, a new "state of the climate" report that was signed by 15.000 researchers from 163 countries warning of the potential for societal collapse we shall be facing was published on Tuesday, as reported here.

To paraphrase the famed Starship Troopers line: "Would you like to know more?" 🙄

[Space Voyager]

No. No... But whether we'd like it or not, we'll know more.

[Thorondor]

Quote

Co-author Manjana Milkoreit from the University of Oslo said that "our global governance system is inadequate to deal with the coming threats and implement the solutions urgently required."

::

200 researchers created the over-400 page Global Tipping Points Report, reiterating the looming threat to humanity, as reported here.

In other news, around 2.400 people connected to the coal, oil and gas industries have been registered for the COP28 climate talks. Coming to see the light at last, no doubt. 🙄

[Space Voyager]

LOL, no doubt whatsoever. 

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20231204-saudi-arabia-says-absolutely-not-to-oil-phaseout-at-cop28

 

Even countries like Austalia and Poland are totally reliant on coal and are thinking about going nuclear. Even if they do go all-out nuclear, it will take decades to build the necessary powerplants, meanwhile business as usual. 

 

We ARE totally screwed.

[Space Voyager]

 

[Space Voyager]

It is a bit disconcerting to see that the model, whose data seemed impossible due to extremes it predicts, matches the reality the most... And that nobody was talking about it because it seemed impossible.

[Thorondor]

Impossibles... errrrm, those things that are supposed to be, uh, fiction? Right.

The problem with that is that reality tends to supercede and outdo fiction on a daily basis, namely in the most unpleasant side of the spectrum (the inhumane things humans very much do regardless of what they know). Unthinkable extremes? Oh, do think of them at least a little when making decisions about your future.

To make things somewhat easier and less esoteric (the realms of chance and prediction being too nebulous): what is the one thing that governs the fates of the Earth and, consequently, all who live within it today?

Greed. And what does it want? Moooooooore!!

 

"Fiction writers, magicians, politicians and priests are the only people rewarded for entertaining us with their lies" - Bangambiki Habyarimana, The Great Pearl of Wisdom

And there you have it. 😐

[Thorondor]

::

Just came across this little article from September of last year. Yeah - game over - we're so very FUBAR.

[Thorondor]

::

Looking for a bit of fresh air? Taking a stroll to the beach might prove ill advised. Ocean spray has been found to emit more PFAs than even industrial polluters, particularly in the Northern hemisphere, as reported here.

Enough to dampen one's mood I'd say... *sigh*

[Space Voyager]

As if the global warming wasn't bad enough...

[Thorondor]

::

What's your choice of plastics? Toxic or BioToxic? According to researchers, Bioplastics are unfortunately as toxic as regular plastics, as reported here.

I know, I know - when it rains it pours. More bad news. But at least we're now more aware of what's what.