• Critical_Insight@feddit.uk
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    1 year ago

    An asteroid impact or super volcano eruption has the potential to kill every single human on earth and end the human race. That’s what I mean by existential threat. I feel like many people think of climate change as something that’s on the same scale but it really isn’t. Saying stuff like “climate change will ruin us all” just isn’t true. There are degrees of bad and while climate change definitely is up there in the bad end of the spectrum there’s still events that are orders of magnitude worse.

    • Nudding@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      11
      ·
      1 year ago

      If we trigger tipping point after tipping point, we can turn earth into venus. You’re just wrong.

      • Critical_Insight@feddit.uk
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        1 year ago

        What am I wrong about? What happened to Venus was caused by the eruption of super volcanoes. That’s the exact example I used above of an actual existential threat.

        • qevlarr@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          6
          ·
          edit-2
          1 year ago

          I don’t know the details, but I’m pretty sure greenhouse effect has something to do with it.

          But it doesn’t matter, it’s beside the point. This person obviously means global warming could make the planet much hotter than we want, inhabitably hot like Venus. Not that we are literally Venus

        • hypna@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          1 year ago

          Doomerism is a vibe. You’re gonna have a hard time talking people down around these parts.

    • Redfox8@feddit.uk
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      Indeed, in terms of sudden impact and method of impact, no they are very different, and climate change probably won’t go so far as to make the human race extinct, at least not for a very long time. However, whether or not it will be catastrophic for the human race within the next 100-200 years no-one can accurately predict, given we do not know how much we’ll do to stop it before it’s too late (bare in mind that some scientists already believe the tipping point beyond which we can no longer stop it is well upon us).

      As mentioned, the collapse of farming may well undermine any efforts to stop climate change given the big knock on negative impact on the world economy. Though that could also save us as there’d be a sudden massive drop in fossil fuel use and carbon emissions in such a scenario. There’s a lot of variables, but a catastrophic collapse is definitely a possibility. I think the human race is capable of saving itself from this, but capitalism and the corporate economy I fear stand in its way.

    • witx@lemmy.sdf.org
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      1 year ago

      At this level killing all humans vs killing/crippling almost all is irrelevant.

      • Critical_Insight@feddit.uk
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        11 months ago

        Climate change is not going to kill/cripple “almost all” humans. Not even close. Even the most extreme climate models don’t forecast anything like this.