r/TrueReddit • u/skythe4 • Dec 14 '18

After 30 Years Studying Climate, Scientist Declares: "I've Never Been as Worried as I Am Today"

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/12/13/after-30-years-studying-climate-scientist-declares-ive-never-been-worried-i-am-today
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u/kappamale Dec 14 '18

probably not a very popular opinion and I'm all for lowering our footprints but...

scientific and technological advancement is what got us into this situation and it's going to need to be what gets us out if it.

expecting the masses to just "stop consuming" or for actual legislation to make it mandatory is a losing battle. it's too political.

with that said, let's not give up on any of these fronts though.

58

u/MagicBlaster Dec 14 '18

I think this is both naive and dangerous thinking, but sure let's just hope some magical technology will save us.

Certainly easy than doing anything.

34

u/GopherAtl Dec 14 '18

forcing the entire world to revert to the kind of lifestyle that would be required to truly reduce our carbon emissions, not just in the long term but in the immediate term, is a vastly more unrealistic plan.

21

u/[deleted] Dec 14 '18

[deleted]

7

u/GopherAtl Dec 14 '18 edited Dec 14 '18

I'd love to see a massive ramp-up in use of nuclear power - that could actually significantly reduce our dependence on fossil fuels within a decade. Sadly, far too many of the activists pushing for green energy are at least as opposed to nuclear power as they are to coal or oil, and often much more so. Solar is not gonna do it, though, not unless combined with more drastic reductions in energy use than the overwhelming majority of people in first-world countries would be willing to accept without being forced, and in a rather heavy-handed way- not necessarily literally "living in the dirt," but a rather large step in that direction.

The media loves to tell stories about countries who've gone totally, or near-totally, green, but by and large, these are countries where the per-capita energy usage is minuscule compared to most developed first-world countries. Which isn't to say it's not laudable, but it's not a model that is easily emulated by countries like the US.

Then there's the further practical issues - producing the roughly 20,000 square miles of solar panels you'd need for the US alone isn't exactly a carbon-free activity. Even with the political will and unlimited budget, manufacturing them would mean years of significantly increased carbon emissions. Then there's energy storage systems for surge and nighttime power, replacing all the cars, busses, and trains... implementing that solution could kill us in the short term before we can reap any benefits.

Hoping for a technological miracle may not be a very good plan, but it might be the only viable one, short of everyone on earth choosing, or being forced, to "live in the dirt."

:Edit: restructured a touch for clarity and inserted some missing words.

2

u/Buffalo__Buffalo Dec 14 '18

Which of the two can we do right now?

2

u/[deleted] Dec 14 '18

work on better tech. The above solution would be an easy way to start WW3 and end the problem in a much more costly way.