Has the climate change battle already been "lost?"

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

I'm gonna say yes. After discussing this over with a friend, by 2097 Florida is going to be underwater and all the coastal cities, including New York, will be flooded and that will ultimately lead to climate migration. I'm hoping that I don't live to see it, and I'm glad I won't have any kids to deal with that future either.

[Kamala's side hoe]

Depends on where you set the goalposts. If you’re asking about eventual sea level rise or 1.5 C/2 C/etc threshold of warming at any point between 2100 and say 2500, then yeah we were always going to lose. But if you look at the issue in terms of transitioning towards renewable energy or adopting voluntary lifestyle changes, then there may be more cause for optimism.

[Ferguson97]

I think that framing climate change as a battle to “win” or “lose” is misguided.

Giving up isn’t going to get us anywhere and isn’t going to make anyone’s life better. Every action can make a difference, no matter how small.

[Kahane's Grave Is A Gender-Neutral Bathroom]

In 2014, we were on track for ~3.9-4.2C of warming

In 2021, we were on track for ~2.7-3.0C of warming

With the IRA and other legislation, that number is likely around ~2.5-2.8 now.

I'd hardly call that 'lost', even though we do need to take more action.

[Mr. Smith]

I think that framing climate change as a battle to “win” or “lose” is misguided.

Giving up isn’t going to get us anywhere and isn’t going to make anyone’s life better. Every action can make a difference, no matter how small.

Some people stand to break bank by not changing, those that can't get nice rides and so many other conveniences that stand they to lose.

Just like buggy makers and train operators lost everything with suburbanization in the 50s and 60s.

[Kahane's Grave Is A Gender-Neutral Bathroom]

I think that framing climate change as a battle to “win” or “lose” is misguided.

Giving up isn’t going to get us anywhere and isn’t going to make anyone’s life better. Every action can make a difference, no matter how small.

Some people stand to break bank by not changing, those that can't get nice rides and so many other conveniences that stand they to lose.

Just like buggy makers and train operators lost everything with suburbanization in the 50s and 60s.

But buggy makers and train operators didn't own the government.

[FT-02 Senator A.F.E. 🇵🇸🤝🇺🇸🤝🇺🇦]

We simply cannot afford to lose this battle to be lost. Just because a few brainlets in charge of our governments have their heads stuck in the sand on this issue doesn't mean we have to concede defeat. Nay, we must win this battle with the ferocity and the willpower needed to do so.

[HillGoose]

We simply cannot afford to lose this battle to be lost. Just because a few brainlets in charge of our governments have their heads stuck in the sand on this issue doesn't mean we have to concede defeat. Nay, we must win this battle with the ferocity and the willpower needed to do so.

declare war on the sun

[dead0man]

no

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

Some extinctions and other disasters are set in stone, but this isn't binary.

[Antonio the Sixth]

That's a bad way to think about it. There's clearly going to be some climate change (hell, plenty of it has already taken place) but we still have a lot of control over how much.

That's the attitude to take in general, honestly. We can't really fight for a "good world" (has there ever been such a thing?) but we can always fight for a better world.

[LAKISYLVANIA]

Sadly, yes.

[Hope For A New Era]

This isn't binary. Personally, I've transitioned over the last few years from being a strong climate doomer to a strong climate optimist. It feels like "things are finally happening."

[Biden his time]

In 2014, we were on track for ~3.9-4.2C of warming

In 2021, we were on track for ~2.7-3.0C of warming

Daaamn that's crazy, good to see it 👍

Could you also include a link to the source as well for sharing?

[Kahane's Grave Is A Gender-Neutral Bathroom]

In 2014, we were on track for ~3.9-4.2C of warming

In 2021, we were on track for ~2.7-3.0C of warming

Daaamn that's crazy, good to see it 👍

Could you also include a link to the source as well for sharing?

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/10/25/climate/world-climate-pledges-cop26.html

[Schiff for Senate]

We simply cannot afford to lose this battle to be lost. Just because a few brainlets in charge of our governments have their heads stuck in the sand on this issue doesn't mean we have to concede defeat. Nay, we must win this battle with the ferocity and the willpower needed to do so.

[Biden his time]

In 2014, we were on track for ~3.9-4.2C of warming

In 2021, we were on track for ~2.7-3.0C of warming

Daaamn that's crazy, good to see it 👍

Could you also include a link to the source as well for sharing?

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/10/25/climate/world-climate-pledges-cop26.html

It seems like they're expecting only a mean of +2.7°C by the end of the century now. Progress!
💪

[Pericles]

Humanity continues to be able to influence the degree of warming that occurs, just because the best-case scenarios are starting to get ruled out doesn't mean we can't reduce suffering or that we should do nothing.

[compson]

In 2014, we were on track for ~3.9-4.2C of warming

In 2021, we were on track for ~2.7-3.0C of warming

With the IRA and other legislation, that number is likely around ~2.5-2.8 now.

I'd hardly call that 'lost', even though we do need to take more action.

Solar, wind, energy storage, and EVs will be together sufficient to hit around 3C or lower end of century. If you read Nordhaus' Climate Casino, this is highly unlikely to be a devastating level of warming in terms of aggregate global economic impact.

[Mr. Smith]

We simply cannot afford to lose this battle to be lost. Just because a few brainlets in charge of our governments have their heads stuck in the sand on this issue doesn't mean we have to concede defeat. Nay, we must win this battle with the ferocity and the willpower needed to do so.

One can do a lot when of things for a cause once mortality/definite victory are no longer holding oneself back.

When one hits the rock bottom, there's only remaining there or going up.

[Orwell]

There is no real proof to man made climate change, this is a normal occurrence, we had ice ages, wasn't Al Gore and the Liberal media dooming about another ice age back in the 1980s? Then all the Ice caps were going to be melted by 2013?

[jamestroll]

Not really.

The was always going to be an end game to society as a whole. But we will be able to work around climate change as technology improves.

[FT-02 Senator A.F.E. 🇵🇸🤝🇺🇸🤝🇺🇦]

There is no real proof to man made climate change, this is a normal occurrence, we had ice ages, wasn't Al Gore and the Liberal media dooming about another ice age back in the 1980s? Then all the Ice caps were going to be melted by 2013?

[Vosem]

I'm gonna say yes. After discussing this over with a friend, by 2097 Florida is going to be underwater and all the coastal cities, including New York, will be flooded and that will ultimately lead to climate migration. I'm hoping that I don't live to see it, and I'm glad I won't have any kids to deal with that future either.

Places that are below sea level can be kept dry by medieval technologies, much less modern ones. Even in the most apocalyptic climate-change scenarios, where there really are hundreds of millions of climate refugees, food supply chains are broken and forced to change radically, and the average global temperature has risen by multiple degrees Celsius, I'd imagine Florida actually continues to be a wealthy and growing retirement community.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

I'm gonna say yes. After discussing this over with a friend, by 2097 Florida is going to be underwater and all the coastal cities, including New York, will be flooded and that will ultimately lead to climate migration. I'm hoping that I don't live to see it, and I'm glad I won't have any kids to deal with that future either.

Places that are below sea level can be kept dry by medieval technologies, much less modern ones. Even in the most apocalyptic climate-change scenarios, where there really are hundreds of millions of climate refugees, food supply chains are broken and forced to change radically, and the average global temperature has risen by multiple degrees Celsius, I'd imagine Florida actually continues to be a wealthy and growing retirement community.

Well, yes. Florida, and all the coastal cities, absolutely need the infrastructure. It's an indictment against the government that New Orleans was allowed to have its crappy levees, because the worst effects of Katrina could have been prevented quite easily.

But even if the doomsday scenario for Florida doesn't come to pass, that's not going to stop it from getting rammed by a new hurricane every three months. Climate change will continue to increase the intensity and speed of those hurricanes, and if technological development is unable to keep up (there's no guarantee either way), obviously it won't matter how large those barriers are.

After reading some of the posts in this thread I've come to reevaluate my dooming. But whether we're on the "winning" or "losing" side of climate change will depend on how many people are killed or forced to uproot themselves.