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Is it too late? Has climate activism failed? Are we into damage control? [grist.org]

ToolGuy 9 Oct 11
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Has climate activism failed: no. Has it been 100 percent effective: no.
By damage control, I'm thinking you mean mitigation of the ongoing changes. I'd suggest that that is the best we could hope for.

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The most realistic solutions are the ones that cause the least change in how people live. All this talk about changing culture seems to me not only pipe dreams, but also tagging cultural change onto actual problems; an exploitation of the situation. This is especially true given the short time scientists tell us we have to act, that is by 2030.

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Pretty much, yeah

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Please note that the article is ten years old and we are still here

And Pacific islands are disappearing underwater.
And Arctic villages are vanishing as the ice melts out from under them.
And farmers don't know what to plant or when to plant it because the weather is so unpredictable.
And it's only going to get worse.

@Paul4747
We're going to Fiji in about two weeks. Should be interesting to see first hand how Micronesia is being impacted.

@Paul4747 True that sea level is rising. It’s been rising at 3mm/year since time immemorial.

[forbes.com]

You can hardly blame that on atmospheric CO2. Those low-lying islands would have been swamped in any event.

I’ll grant that the arctic is warmer. People are coping though. Some of them are happy to see warmer weather. Farmers are accustomed to weather anomalies. They know how to cope. A single wet spring does not indicate climate change.

@bigpawbullets I hope you enjoy your trip.

@Paul4747 Farm production has tripled since 1948.

[ers.usda.gov]

@ToolGuy From your NOAA site: “Sea level continues to rise at a rate of about one-eighth of an inch per year.”

One eighth inch is 3 mm.

@WilliamFleming Overall farm production in the last 70 years, yes, due to agribusiness, economies of scale, and improved technologies. Individual small farmers who live from year to year, on the other hand, are now dealing with the impact of unpredictable weather and it is hurting them.

I certainly can blame the rise in sea levels on CO2, since new data is showing that levels have risen incrementally, not a steady "3mm/year". [climate.nasa.gov] You can't melt polar ice and have it go nowhere.

@Paul4747 97% of farms in the US are family farms, and those farms have become more productive for the reasons you say. There has been no downturn due to climate change so far.

This graph based on satellite data shows no acceleration since 1963. Tide gauges show a bit of acceleration since 1870.

[climate.nasa.gov]

3.3mm/yr

@ToolGuy “Sea level continues to rise at a rate of about one-eighth of an inch per year.” There is absolutely no way to read that statement as anything but a steady rise, despite what the headline says. No study is necessary. You can simply look at a graph and see that the rate is not accelerating. Here: [climate.nasa.gov]? Look at the first graph. It shows actual average sea levels as determined by satellite measurement since 1963. You can look at the actual data and see that sea level rise is not accelerating.

A study might PREDICT that sea level rise might begin to accelerate in the future, but presently the rate is holding steady.

The second chart is based on tide gauge readings over the previous century, and it actually does show an increase in rate beginning about 1940 but holding fairly steady since then. Of course on both graphs the rate of rise fluctuates a lot over short intervals. You have to look at the overall picture.

good to see someone inject a note of calm reason into another outburst of global warming hysteria.
i think i'll let you carry the ball for a while.

@callmedubious Typical to dismiss science as "hysteria", as though that word changes anything. Have a nice game of water polo.

@Paul4747 ,
there is a science fringe that has released ridiculous alarmist predictions over many decades.
someone posted a long list here recently.
young Greta has been abused to the point of hysteria by some of the science fringe charlatans.
anyway, enjoy your self-righteous cocoon of ignorance.
i don't try to convert ppl to atheism & i'm certainly not going to try to convert any fervent global warming true believers.

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Too late to prevent Climate change from happening. Yes, climate change is already happening.
Too late to prevent serious harm. Yes, serious harm is already happening.
Too late to bother doing anything about it? No. As you say, damage control.
Too late because we focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions rather than the root cause of human greed? Plausible speculation but alternative views may be equally valid. History will tell.

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At this point Climate Activism IS damage control.

MsAl Level 8 Oct 11, 2019
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That the climate will change, that we will cause it and that it will not be good, is as much as anyone can say. There are too many difficult variables, anyone who thinks that they can make accurate predictions is deluding themselves.

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