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399 points gmays | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0s | source
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shdh ◴[] No.42167277[source]
The Earth is a complex system.

Warming is one aspect of climate change, but we'll likely see cascading effects in the system.

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For example, as global temperatures rise we are seeing that AMOC (Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation), and as a result the Gulf Stream, are "slowing down". [1]

This could result in EU cooling down.

The clathrate gun hypothesis suggests that large releases of methane could cause abrupt climate shifts due to methane’s strong greenhouse effect. [2]

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Its likely developing nations and their citizens will increase CO2 usage as they move towards a more western lifestyle.

That means there will be an increasing amount of energy production and usage.

Ideally we generate more with solar and nuclear.

Decreasing energy production and consumption is not a real solution.

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[1] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-39810-w

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clathrate_gun_hypothesis

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CalRobert ◴[] No.42167311[source]
"Decreasing energy production and consumption is not a real solution."

Why not?

A 5 passenger vehicle can be 1200kg or 3000kg but both offer almost the same utility. A diet of mostly-plants can be just as delicious as one with a lot of beef. Building a house closer to work can be just as useful as building one a long ways away (more, actually).

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shdh ◴[] No.42167351[source]
You're asking for global human behavior changes. Does that seem realistic?
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PradeetPatel ◴[] No.42167394{3}[source]
With sufficient education, awareness, and incentives. I don't see why not.

There's already a massive shift in the hospitality industry with paper straws and bio-decompositable cutlery, saving the world from a tremendous amount of plastic.

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1. hawski ◴[] No.42167761{4}[source]
I would think that education and awareness could work for another generation, though them being bombarded with a popular social media image of life it may be hard. Incentives work to some extent (the biggest being a cost of doing the good thing being lower enough than doing the bad thing), but if you will make costs of doing bad things artificially bigger (I know, it is about things the society currently thinks as free) you risk populists getting to power.