I wish we had a useful and practical way of reversing climate change

[conuly]

but what am I even saying? We can't even get people to agree on simple steps to stop or slow it. So I guess what I'm really wishing is that everything was different and people were better, overall.

*******************

How an Obscure Song Became an a Cappella Sensation

The Last Days of the Barcode

Snapping The Cable

Monumental ancient map re-emerges in new Rome museum

A Famous Explorer, an Obsessive Son and the Reappearance of Flag No. 98

The female marines Japan is training for war

How to deal with same-sex unions? It’s a question fracturing major Christian denominations

Who Was the Mysterious Woman Buried Alone at the Pet Cemetery?

Funnily enough, I was just thinking about this book when somebody else linked to this thread on it

Nearly 10,000 died from COVID-19 last month, fueled by holiday gatherings and new variant, WHO says

Skipping School: America’s Hidden Education Crisis

Scientists explain why the record-shattering 2023 heat has them on edge: Warming may be worsening

Why Are American Drivers So Deadly?

Escape from Mariupol: how one Ukrainian soldier fled the Azovstal steelworks against the odds

US warns ships to stay out of parts of Red Sea as Houthi rebels vow retaliation for US, UK strikes

Comments

[mama_kestrel]

I read an interesting op Ed recently that observed that economic factors may force the big companies to pay attention. The major insurance companies are withdrawing from coastal markets or else raising rates beyond affordability. That means homeowners/commercial property insurance becomes unaffordable, which in turn means mortgages become complete unobtanium. The dominoes fall from there. I'll need to dig further to see if the information the analysis was based on holds up, but at least superficially it makes sense. I do know that Allstate and State Farm both withdrew from Florida, but I haven't gotten further.

[ioplokon]

The really amazing and horrible thing is we've actually invented a lot of cool things to make energy more efficient. But it doesn't matter because then it is cheaper so we consume more...

[siliconshaman]

So far I think the only option to reversing climate change is carbon capture. There's been some advances in that field that show promise, but yeah, reducing the amount we pump out is all we've got for the foreseeable future. Which only means the problem gets worse, slower.

[conuly]

Speaking practically I know it’s a bad idea to have any decent carbon capture until we get output under control or hopefully down to nil.

[peristaltor]

Ah, but that's part of the problem. We have decent carbon capture (I can do it with tin cans, and it's useful); but too many in the scientific community insist we need to phase out fossil fuels completely. That cannot happen without massive die-outs, sadly, if done too quickly.

They do this to avoid the stigma of "engineering" the environment. I disagree. We have come to the point where anyone who uses fossil fuels and emits carbon is a climate engineer and must be shamed as such.

After all, we know the culprit. Do that thing with that car, that airplane, that boat, that home furnace, and you should pay socially as well as financially. Capture carbon, though, and you should be rewarded.

Put the incentives in place, and we stand a chance.

[conuly]

We're not moving too quickly on phasing out fossil fuels. We're not moving quickly on it at all.

[andrewducker]

This might cheer you up: https://www.wired.com/story/global-emissions-could-peak-sooner-than-you-think/

[conuly]

Meh. It's like pointing out that human population levels will peak in my lifetime. That's great, but... I really think we've got about 3x the population on earth that I'd like, and all methods of reducing the population are fraught with problems (and probably unethical).

[smokingboot]

Carbon capture is becoming a thing in Scotland. There are schemes to help farmers/landowners monetise their land through carbon capture via soil as much as trees, rather than sell said land for roads/houses. But how long this will last is the question.

[conuly]

My understanding is that this form of carbon capture has been overrated and oversold in many respects, some of which are more obvious than others.

[conuly]

(But don't ask me to list those off the top of my head. Most of them are "people are scammers" and some are "preliminary evidence suggests...." so - maybe the preliminary evidence is wrong?)

[smokingboot]

I've no idea tbh. It seems the Scottish government is taking the idea seriously. There seem to be a whole bevy of flawed solutions out there and all we can do is try our best with what we have and keep looking.

[gatheringrivers]

Why Are American Drivers So Deadly?

Being on the road regularly, I can tell you one reason: "Emotional Support Monster Trucks".

Some jackass gets a "light truck" that's ALREADY taller than a tradesman's van, with an engine nose that's higher than a standard car's ROOF, and has a blind spot nearly 20 FEET LONG.

Then they get it "lifted" so the body is raised up over the wheels.

(Saw a picture of one on Reddit that basically ate the butt end of an expensive car.)

This problem is also why a lot of cars have their brake lights on the ROOF level now. When I get enough spare cash regularly, I'm going to be doing an aftermarket of that myself.

*Edit: yes, I'm a lot salty about people thinking with their wallet and not with their brain, lol*

[ironymaiden]

Finally read the acapella article - I have the original Billy Pilgrim album, which I got from my college radio station. I had no idea that it was considered so obscure. Wonder what other items in my CD collection qualify?

[peristaltor]

Ooo, many thanks for that There Are No Accidents link. That book was fascinating.

Right now, I'm spreading the TANA gospel, and have found so many examples of how this accident-prone victim shaming exists in our workplace (transit, I drive it) that people are getting pissed. (There are some real doozies in that list.)

Next step: the next episode of my podcast will introduce the concept (should come out Tuesday). After that, a spreadsheet friend of mine will dig through all the data we have at the union office and try to test statistical correlations to show (if possible) increases in accidents after long shifts, the move to longer shifts over time, decreases in recovery times and how that affects accidents; and anything else that sticks to the fridge.

The hope is to gather enough solid statistical evidence to shame management publicly, which should give us more negotiating power at the next contract fight, specifically to reduce the intensity of the workload without forcing us to surrender bennies in the process.

Thanks again!