The latest calculations from several science agencies showing Earth obliterated global heat records last year may seem scary. But scientists worry that what’s behind those numbers could be even worse.
The Associated Press asked more than three dozen scientists in interviews and emails what the smashed records mean. Most said they fear acceleration of climate change that is already right at the edge of the 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) increase since pre-industrial times that nations had hoped to stay within.
“The heat over the last calendar year was a dramatic message from Mother Nature,” said University of Arizona climate scientist Katharine Jacobs. Scientists say warming air and water is making deadly and costly heat waves, floods, droughts, storms and wildfires more intense and more likely.
And from what I understand it takes years for our emissions to react in the environment, so this is the consequences of our polluting from years ago… even if we stop everything today, we will still have a few decades of heating before it can level out.
It may be time to sell my snowblower while it’s still worth something.
One of the side-effects of global warming is more extreme winter storms. We’re getting hammered right now in my city.
And even, worse, you may need a more expensive snow blower. I thought I could get away with single stage, but last storm had 11” of heavy wet stuff that a lightweight snow blower just can’t handle. If that snow is more common, maybe it’s time to go up a couple levels of snow blower
Yeah I’m not going to even pretend like I’m smarter than these guys but I feel like ever-increasing heat should have been very obviously seen as an exponentially growing problem whereas it seems like everyone treated it as a linear one. After the amount of stuff Year 1 melted, Year 2 is going to be able to melt even more exposed frozen material, and Year 3 more still.
Yup. Lag. If we sit of everything, no cars, no fossil fuel power, nothing. Right here right now stopped all emissions from burning fuels, we’re still going to be warming for 10-50 years.
If we don’t immediately start proactive solutions, sequestering carbon, we’re all fucked. Go ahead and buy an EV so your high horse can FSD you into oblivion. At least you’ll be the last with AC.
Rezoning for higher density (in order to promote walkability/bikeability/transit viability, reduce the carbon footprint of construction by eliminating vast quantities of concrete used to build parking, improving energy efficiency of housing units by making more of them share walls, etc.) should be way higher on the list than sequestering carbon.
We need to mass sequester carbon right now if we want our great-great- great grand children to be able to live in the climates we currently know. We need to put more carbon in the gound than any of your “progressive” personal carbon plans claim to do.
Yeah,I think we’re there too. While we desperately need to stop making it worse, and sequestering carbon is not an effective way, we’re at the point of trying more desperate measures. I’d even say we’re close to the point where we need to try larger scale geo engineering
In order to get out of a hole, one must first stop digging themselves deeper. Changing zoning laws is that necessary first step.
Seriously, sane zoning should be the easiest low-hanging fruit to accomplish, since all it requires is the stroke of a pen (as opposed to speculative inventing or spending tons of cash). If we can’t even manage to get that done, it bodes really poorly for our ability to execute hail-mary tactics like carbon capture.
There are a hundred low hanging fruit that we humans are just going to let fall and rot. But at this point I think that’ll be better than allowing what is “traditional”.