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I’ve literally had this argument on lemmy multiple times. It always goes like this:
Me: [some comment to the effect of “the planet is dying”]
Them: the planet will be fine. Yes all life will perish, but the earth itself will continue.
Me: . . .
Them: What. It’s just the fact. Don’t worry about the planet.
Sometimes they quote Carlin without realizing it and without context so to them it’s not a joke about how fucked up we are, it’s a simple truth without any additional layers. It’s a little boggling.
Yes all life will perish, but the earth itself will continue.
Why would all life perish? From what I’ve heard and read about nuclear disaster exclusion zones, humans disappearing tends to make space for other forms of life that had previously been displaced by cities full of humans and such. To my understanding long time life probably won’t care about anything for the next few million years.
Short term many or most humans might die or suffer. I don’t think it’s easy to predict how fragile humankind is, civilization may crumble. I doubt all of humankind will be gone in a thousand years, though I wouldn’t bet against a semi “post apocalyptic” future.
Because the threat is not a nuclear winter. It’s the disruption of all environmental systems that regulate the planet that is the threat in question. Which, in turn, disrupts the food chain, which starves whatever requires that food, which is for all intents and purposes, all life.
I don’t understand how this is such a conversation with so many people here.
Well disruptions of a system eventually lead to new, different forms of stability where things will settle down. I can’t imagine life is as fragile as you make it.
Having the ability to kill all complex life sounds like a misconception humans made up. After all, humankind always liked feeling important, feeling special and putting itself in the center: pretending they life at the center of a disc, pretending the whole universe revolves around the planet, pretending only human bodies were inhabited by an eternal soul, pretending an all-powerful being cared about them, pretending they’re the peak of evolution, pretending machines could never outperform them.
Humans always try to find new things that make them unique and set them apart from other forms of life. Yet they keep getting disproven.
Ach.
And what are you, a Klingon?
And what are you, a Klingon?
Qo’
The reason I use the term “human” is because this phenomenon seems to exist throughout all of history, it wasn’t limited to one specific person or culture or era. This is also why I gave so many examples. If you think there’s a better way to convey the point without using this term, let me know.
Why would all life perish?
All life wouldn’t perish, the only things that will be left will be certain bacteria, phagocytes and viruses that can tolerate and indeed will likely proliferate in extreme environments. Everything larger then that will die of starvation due to a cascade of failing systems, likely starting with the death of the marine biosphere when the temperature rises to unsustainable levels and/or the pH lowers too much for the same effect. Though of course no one really knows what will actually happen because there are too many unknown variables.
There is absolutely, unequivocally, no evidence that this will happen and no serious scientific prediction that this will happen from climate change has ever been made.
The science illiteracy here is getting almost as bad as the right wingers.
Though of course no one really knows what will actually happen because there are too many unknown variables.
Though of course no one really knows what will actually happen because there are too many unknown variables.
Though of course no one really knows what will actually happen because there are too many unknown variables.
It was fun thinking of it. Chill out.
But we do know because thousands of hardworking scientists have devoted their lives to answering this question.
If you want to have fun speculating wildly then be clear that this is what you’re doing and don’t frame it as things that “will” happen.
Sorry this is a pet peeve of mine because I think it feeds into a paralyzing pessimism. People need to understand that we aren’t doomed to feel like they can work for a better future.
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I may have stated it slightly too strongly but this is wild speculation on Hansen’s part. Show me a published prediction.
Even if what he said was accurate, burning that much fossil energy is almost certainly impossible.
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Climate change isn’t going to be an existential threat for a very long time. Realistically we’re making life incredibly difficult and expensive for ourselves. Population numbers will drop markedly over time. But people don’t see that this is still something to take urgent action on.
Depends on if you work outside for a living or live near a coastline or a forested area. It won’t be like a Star Trek: The Original Series where everyone’s in a big room and a red glow starts pulsating and we all groan and crumple to the floor. No, it won’t be like that.
It’ll be like heat exhaustion exacerbated a hitherto unknown heart condition that deaded you. Or a Cat 6 hurricane rolled a tree over you. Or failing crops mean you couldn’t fight off COVID-26 or whatever.
No, we’re not going to all die at once, as such. Depending on your timeframe for “at once”.
It’ll be like Katrina. Probably in Florida at first. Probably in the next ten years. Probably more than once.
Replied to the wrong comment.
Even life will never perish. We’re certainly going to cause an apocalyptic level extinction event, taking many species with us, but life will always find a way.
Likely as slimy mats on the floor of what’s left of the ocean. Also whatever’s left in hot-springs and caves.
Life is way hardier than you think… Unless we completely blast the world with nukes, we will not get that far.
There is one single planet we know of that hosts complex organisms. Dont go claiming extraordinary things like that, when all evidence points to the opposite. Life is extremely fragile, and only comes about in very specific conditions. New data models show we may be the only creatures capable of communicating vast distances in the entire galaxy. We should be treating this with the severity it actually has, potential universal blackout. What is the universe if there is nothing there to experience it?
That’s very lovely, but ultimately egotistical. I mean, I romanticise about it too, but the universe ultimately just… is. The only severity is for us humans. No other species has a sense of “species” as a community AFAIK. Heck, even humans have a terrible track record. We can’t even seem to sterilise machines we sent to space no matter how hard we try, even after being exposed to outer space. That’s the evidence we have.
From our perspective, only human eyes record history. Without us around to experience and document the universe, is it any different from not existing at all? It doesn’t matter that the universe is. What is is if there is nothing around to define it?
I just don’t really understand the point of the question. I care about “the planet” because I feel empathy for my fellow humans and would like to leave a healthy environment for the future generations to come. I won’t leave any offspring. So when I die, my linage ends. After I die I will stop experiencing anything. And yet I still care. But I only care because my brain is wired to feel empathy.
I don’t care at all that the universe might have no one to experience it when our sun blows up. As statistically unlikely as that might be.
Ughhhhhhhh.
It’s also true. It’s a great way to bring home the reality to people who still think climate science is about preserving some wetlands while we continue as normal.
I never meant to cause you any sorrow
I never meant to cause you any pain
I only wanted one time to see you melting
I only wanted to see you
Melting in Venus’ acid rain
Little dead mankind
Baby you’re much too oxygen-dependent
“But the planet is still there.”
Check and mate! I feel so PWN3D. You see? If you don’t mind not breathing, carbon dioxide isn’t so bad after all!
it only said to the planet not anything living on it
Technically correct
The best kind of correct
Milloy has been spouting denial for decades, but this might be the dumbest thing I’ve seen him say yet.
Technically correct, the best kind of correct. Also, this is trolling.
Ask Elon to shoot him to Venus for a brighter future. Plzzzzzzzz!
Everyone seems to be taking this seriously. Am I the only one here that reads this as sarcasm?
You might also be the only on here who didn’t read his bio.
Poes law
Care to post some Venusian blurbs to drive your point?
FYI: I think the estimate is that humans can burn all of the fossil fuels that exist several times over and still not hit the critical tipping point that leads to Venus. So Venus is not really on the table as a worst case scenario.
I heard we can cause widespread suffering and death for all animals in the greedy, blinkered pursuit of ever more money and it’ll be fine. Scientifically, of course.
He could also shoot himself in the head. The surprising part? He’s still there. Maybe not much alive, but still there.
