From the oceans to ‘net zero’ targets, we’re in denial about the climate crisis | Adam Morton
www.theguardian.com
The scientific consensus is we need to aim for negative emissions by phasing out fossil fuels, not just removing carbon from the atmosphere

(opinion)

More bad news… Every climate catastrophe indicator is far above what anyone even considered just a year ago. It appears that the rate of climate change is beginning to increase exponentially, further evidence that enough climate tipping points have been reached to render change unstoppable.

  • CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    I don’t think that flood-proof is a thing, but their heart is in the right place.

    I mean, boats and submarines do it. Keeping seeds viable in the naturally cold arctic isn’t the hugest engineering problem really.

    Imagine if we could react to climate change with the same urgency as Covid. I imagine we could replace all the old powerplants in a few years, and all the old cars in 10. The thing is, that’s just not going to happen.

    • Avogadro Jones@lemmy.sdf.orgOPMEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      Yes, boats and submarines flood. And the conditions at both polar regions are changing more dramatically than anywhere else. There are lakes bubbling methane from melted permafrost in Siberia and Alaska. Norway is already too warm to have glaciers.

      I agree that It is completely possible to transition to zero emissions in just a few years. The process would be painful, disruptive, and cost $50 trillion. There’s a shot if it starts next week. It may be too late.

      • CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
        1·
        1 year ago

        I don’t think there’s a scenario where even the arctic is too hot to survive in. Keep in mind it’s not in normal Norway, it’s on the island of Svalbard, which is closer to the North Pole than anything and IIRC has an average temperature of -15C pretty much year-round. Assuming the arctic continues warming at 4x the global average it won’t start reaching thawing temperature on the surface until 4 degrees warming.

        Plus, the cold is nice but seeds can actually last a really long time even at room temperature. I’m reminded of the date tree seed they found and successfully planted after a couple of millennia in Israel.

        I’m kind of a doomer but that specific one seems both doable and actually being done.