<story><title>The world’s climate goals are not sufficient. They are also unlikely to be met</title><url>https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2019/11/20/the-worlds-climate-goals-are-not-sufficient-they-are-also-unlikely-to-be-met</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>NeedMoreTea</author><text>What many seem to forget is 2C or 4C of warming is not an end equilibrium state, it&amp;#x27;s merely an arbitrary date of measurement (end of 21st century) for the track we may irreparably lock in for centuries and millennia. One a tipping point tips it&amp;#x27;s damn near impossible to tip it back.&lt;p&gt;That seems more than a little cavalier given the limited range of regions we find our planet&amp;#x27;s landmass in. The future looks more and more terrifying, and despite public opinion supporting action in much the world, &lt;i&gt;still&lt;/i&gt; the political class have little to no answer anywhere...</text></item><item><author>CalRobert</author><text>We seem to be tracking for 4C of warming.&lt;p&gt;4C of warming would probably cause a collapse in the ability to feed the populace, and render large chunks of the world uninhabitable without active cooling, or because they&amp;#x27;ll be underwater.&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#x27;s hard to imagine how civilization survives this, without those regions that do continue to have arable land putting up walls and turrets and mowing down the streams of starving migrants.&lt;p&gt;At what point do you look at preppers and think &amp;quot;honestly they might be on to something?&amp;quot;&lt;p&gt;(edit: additions below)
Sources abound but &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.theguardian.com&amp;#x2F;environment&amp;#x2F;2019&amp;#x2F;may&amp;#x2F;18&amp;#x2F;climate-crisis-heat-is-on-global-heating-four-degrees-2100-change-way-we-live&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.theguardian.com&amp;#x2F;environment&amp;#x2F;2019&amp;#x2F;may&amp;#x2F;18&amp;#x2F;climate-...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Indeed, the consequences of a 4C warmer world are so terrifying that most scientists would rather not contemplate them, let alone work out a survival strategy.&lt;p&gt;Rockström doesn’t like our chances. “It’s difficult to see how we could accommodate a billion people or even half of that,” he says. “There will be a rich minority of people who survive with modern lifestyles, no doubt, but it will be a turbulent, conflict-ridden world.” &amp;quot;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Since 2005, total global greenhouse-gas emissions have most closely tracked the RCP 8.5 scenario, &amp;quot;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.theatlantic.com&amp;#x2F;science&amp;#x2F;archive&amp;#x2F;2019&amp;#x2F;01&amp;#x2F;rcp-85-the-climate-change-disaster-scenario&amp;#x2F;579700&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.theatlantic.com&amp;#x2F;science&amp;#x2F;archive&amp;#x2F;2019&amp;#x2F;01&amp;#x2F;rcp-85-t...&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>archi42</author><text>Well, the answers won&amp;#x27;t get you (re-)elected:&lt;p&gt;* Subsidize public transportation (maybe even 100%), and make it a feasible mode of transportation for as many people as possible (at least for daily commutes; bonus: many people are concentrated in cities, so start there).&lt;p&gt;* Regarding daily driving: If public transportation is a feasible alternative, punish those who still use their car for commuting.&lt;p&gt;* Massively increase taxes on all kinds of fossil fuels; no matter if used for driving or for electricity (initially ease this in regions with difficult&amp;#x2F;bad public transportation).&lt;p&gt;* Make it easier to build regenerative energies (e.g. solar and wind) plus storage systems (e.g. pumped water or battery).&lt;p&gt;* I&amp;#x27;m personally undecided on nuclear fission, but compared to coal it could be the lesser of two evils?&lt;p&gt;* On the packaging of any product (from bottled water over electronics to toothpaste) print the amount of energy used in production and for transportation.&lt;p&gt;* Punish producers of goods that break early (e.g. define minimum durability requirements for various product groups).&lt;p&gt;Would you elect someone with this agenda? I would have a hard time, though I think these points could all be appropriate responses to the climate crisis.&lt;p&gt;Even better: Try to get elected with that ;-)</text></comment>
<story><title>The world’s climate goals are not sufficient. They are also unlikely to be met</title><url>https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2019/11/20/the-worlds-climate-goals-are-not-sufficient-they-are-also-unlikely-to-be-met</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>NeedMoreTea</author><text>What many seem to forget is 2C or 4C of warming is not an end equilibrium state, it&amp;#x27;s merely an arbitrary date of measurement (end of 21st century) for the track we may irreparably lock in for centuries and millennia. One a tipping point tips it&amp;#x27;s damn near impossible to tip it back.&lt;p&gt;That seems more than a little cavalier given the limited range of regions we find our planet&amp;#x27;s landmass in. The future looks more and more terrifying, and despite public opinion supporting action in much the world, &lt;i&gt;still&lt;/i&gt; the political class have little to no answer anywhere...</text></item><item><author>CalRobert</author><text>We seem to be tracking for 4C of warming.&lt;p&gt;4C of warming would probably cause a collapse in the ability to feed the populace, and render large chunks of the world uninhabitable without active cooling, or because they&amp;#x27;ll be underwater.&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#x27;s hard to imagine how civilization survives this, without those regions that do continue to have arable land putting up walls and turrets and mowing down the streams of starving migrants.&lt;p&gt;At what point do you look at preppers and think &amp;quot;honestly they might be on to something?&amp;quot;&lt;p&gt;(edit: additions below)
Sources abound but &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.theguardian.com&amp;#x2F;environment&amp;#x2F;2019&amp;#x2F;may&amp;#x2F;18&amp;#x2F;climate-crisis-heat-is-on-global-heating-four-degrees-2100-change-way-we-live&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.theguardian.com&amp;#x2F;environment&amp;#x2F;2019&amp;#x2F;may&amp;#x2F;18&amp;#x2F;climate-...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Indeed, the consequences of a 4C warmer world are so terrifying that most scientists would rather not contemplate them, let alone work out a survival strategy.&lt;p&gt;Rockström doesn’t like our chances. “It’s difficult to see how we could accommodate a billion people or even half of that,” he says. “There will be a rich minority of people who survive with modern lifestyles, no doubt, but it will be a turbulent, conflict-ridden world.” &amp;quot;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Since 2005, total global greenhouse-gas emissions have most closely tracked the RCP 8.5 scenario, &amp;quot;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.theatlantic.com&amp;#x2F;science&amp;#x2F;archive&amp;#x2F;2019&amp;#x2F;01&amp;#x2F;rcp-85-the-climate-change-disaster-scenario&amp;#x2F;579700&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.theatlantic.com&amp;#x2F;science&amp;#x2F;archive&amp;#x2F;2019&amp;#x2F;01&amp;#x2F;rcp-85-t...&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>rayiner</author><text>That we face serious “tipping points” are not a mainstream scientific view and the IPCC has not said anything along those lines: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.science20.com&amp;#x2F;robert_walker&amp;#x2F;no_scientific_cliff_edge_of_12_years_to_save_planet_or_18_months_can_ipcc_challenge_deadlines_make_headlines&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.science20.com&amp;#x2F;robert_walker&amp;#x2F;no_scientific_cliff_...&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>