• Skasi@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    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.

    • Optional@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      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.

      • Skasi@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        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.

          • Skasi@lemmy.world
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            3 months ago

            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.

    • jabathekek@sopuli.xyz
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      3 months ago

      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.

      • LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net
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        3 months ago

        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.

        • jabathekek@sopuli.xyz
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          3 months ago

          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.

          • LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net
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            3 months ago

            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.

          • LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net
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            3 months ago

            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.